With the Paris attacks a day ago has come a lot of reflection on my part. Tragedies like this make you stop and think about your own legacy and impact on this planet. My life’s goal is to make a positive and meaningful impact, first and foremost, on my daughter but also on my family, friends, and acquaintances. If there is one thing I’ve learned over my 37 years of life, it is that I can truly only depend on myself. This is just a fact. But I don’t allow that knowledge to make me bitter. I still love all of my friends and family, even more actually, because knowing this frees me from any expectation. When someone “lets me down,” I simply readjust what that person can offer as a friend or family member in my life. I still love them just as much as before, but I can release them from any obligation to me. This is a good thing. It reminds me that at the end of the day (or life), there is only me. That is also how I get through being alone much of the time. If you can’t be happy with yourself and by yourself, you will never be happy with anybody else. I can safely say that I love more deeply now than I ever have in my life. The reason is because, first, I love and accept myself more than I ever have, and second, because I can love my family and friends wholeheartedly and without fear of being abandoned or disappointed. I can release those people who need to be released from my life with love, and I can appreciate more deeply those who stay. If only you beautiful people in my life knew just how much I love you. Words nor actions can ever express that fact to the level that is deserved. No matter when the end of my life comes, I know there will only be God and myself at that moment. I also know for a fact that the love I feel in my heart will be so magnified that I will have nothing to fear. When we are brought to the brink of our existence, of grief, of heartache, of pain…I have found that only love remains as everything else falls away. People who know me know that I am not a religious person, but I have deep faith…deep faith in love, in God (however you choose to experience God), and in myself as an eternal being. I don’t know what eternity looks like. I can’t fathom it; it is beyond my comprehension…but I believe it is something magnificent and probably more wonderful than my little human mind could conjure up. So when we hear about these horrible acts of terrorism and destruction, definitely grieve and process and take it in…but then exude love and be grateful for this life and the gifts it has offered us as a human race. There are misguided people among us, but we mustn’t lose faith in humanity. Where acts of hate exist, we must show more love. Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” So go out and be love and light. Do not accept less of yourself. Goodnight and sweet dreams.