Last Week of School / Quote #8 – Saying Goodbye

It is June!  How did that happen?!?  (This was posted at 12:15 a.m. on June 1 – WordPress didn’t quite get the memo) Time goes so fast…  It is now finals week at the University of Denver.  It is our last week of school before graduation.  I’ve been trying to put off thinking about saying goodbye to people.  My post earlier in May described my feelings then and they pretty much remain the same – I do not like leaving people or being left by people but we are at a place in life when these transitions do/must occur.  Hopefully, what happens will happen for the betterment of all of us.

The following quote was just shared with me:

“Don’t be dismayed at goodbyes.  A farewell is necessary before you can meet again.  And meeting again, after moments or lifetime, is certain for those who are friends.”
– Richard Bach

I hope to meet my friends again, after next weekend, soon – and often.  I know that our caring about one another will continue.  Our graduation from the University of Denver should allow us to share that caring beyond DU and improve the world, just as we have improved each other.

From DU commencement website

Quote #7 – Life

I appreciate my friends and the conversations we have.  I also understand that we all have different experiences and come from different places.  These unique qualities make us all special.  I hope to cherish each and every person and all that makes them whole.

The following quote is my own:

“Sometimes life is more complicated than you wish it was – but through good friends, you can find life’s true meaning.”

Life & Risk Taking / Quote #6

As I have been reminded recently, Graduation is quickly approaching (Literally, in two weeks from the typing of this post I will be at the Graduation ceremony!).  Next year will be quite different and as I have continuously reminding myself, that’s okay.

I am great at making decisions but a more indecisive when it comes to myself.  I do not always like to put myself out there, but have made a point of doing better at that.  With only two weeks left until life changes, I am trying to take advantage of each opportunity as it presents itself.  Sometimes though, the alternatives may not always be the ones I would like to choose between.  I just hope for the best.  I know that what is meant to happen is what will be.

I’m a big fan of Mark Twain.  I mean, the guy is extremely intelligent, writes great books, and is from Missouri!  I believe that this quote is appropriate for my current mood and in relation to recent occurences:

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor, catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.
– Mark Twain

I’m only 22.  In 20 years, my life will be almost twice as long and I will be in a significantly different place.  As I have been asking myself and others lately, how many tomorrows will there be?  We need to take advantage of today.

Quote #5 – Friendship

This quote has meaning for me, particularly in reference to one of my best friends.  Two years ago within an hour of this post he shared this with me:

“A faithful friend is a sturdy shelter; he who finds one finds a treasure. A faithful friend is beyond price, no sum can balance his worth.A faithful friend is a life-saving remedy, such as he who fears God finds; For he who fears God behaves accordingly, and his friend will be like himself.” – Sirach 6: 14-17

The source is biblical.  While not from a Jewish bible, it is certainly relevant and applicable. 🙂

As Our Lives Change, Come Whatever, We Will Still Be Friends Forever

Graduation is coming up.  For DU, it is Saturday, June 5, 2010.  Because of the Dual Degree program I am in, I am not technically graduating (I’ll stay an undergraduate for the fifth year).  I am walking with my class though.  As the University of Denver Class of 2010 graduates, I will be forced to say goodbye to some of my closest friends and some of the best people I have met in my life.  I certainly hope that some of these people will still be in Denver with me for at least the next year, but whatever happens, things will change.  I can only hope that we will be friends forever.

I have been trying not to think about any of this because it makes me sad.  I watched How I Met Your Mother tonight though, and the whole “Robots versus Wrestlers” episode was basically about friendship, friend groups, and how things change and people move apart.  It made me start thinking again.

Ted shared a poem titled “Friendship” by Ralph Waldo Emerson:

A ruddy drop of manly blood
The surging sea outweighs,
The world uncertain comes and goes,
The lover rooted stays.
I fancied he was fled,
And, after many a year,
Glowed unexhausted kindliness
Like daily sunrise there.
My careful heart was free again, —
O friend, my bosom said,
Through thee alone the sky is arched,
Through thee the rose is red,
All things through thee take nobler form,
And look beyond the earth,
And is the mill-round of our fate
A sun-path in thy worth.
Me too thy nobleness has taught
To master my despair;
The fountains of my hidden life
Are through thy friendship fair.

He concluded by narrating to his future kids as follows:

“Kids, I’d love to tell you that over the years we didn’t all drift apart a little at one time or another.  We don’t mean for it to happen.  But it does.  But no matter what, to this day, come hell or high water, we still all get together every year for Robots Versus Wrestlers.”

While he ends on a light note, the purpose of his quote is not missed.  Even if we do move apart, we can still come back together, be with each other, be there for each other, and celebrate each other just as we always have. 🙂

One graduation song always touches my heart – Graduation (Friends Forever) by Vitamin C.  While the song is really about high school, it could also be true to college.  This song always makes me want to cry.

To my good friends: I truly hope that we really will be friends forever!  You mean so much to me!

Quote #4

I know, two quotes in a day.  That’s okay though.  I really like what this one can imply (besides the fact that I really do not like to run).

“The trouble with jogging is that, by the time you realize you’re not in shape for it, it’s too far to walk back.”
– Franklin P. Jones

Quote #3 – How to Save a Life

The Fray says this song is open to interpretation so I am going to take them up on the offer.  How to Save a Life is one of my favorite songs and I find that its words can be applicable to many situations.  In light of recent occurrences with some people I care deeply about, I think it may be appropriate.

The Fray – How to Save a Life

Step one you say we need to talk
He walks you say sit down it’s just a talk
He smiles politely back at you
You stare politely right on through
Some sort of window to your right
As he goes left and you stay right
Between the lines of fear and blame
And you begin to wonder why you came

Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend
Somewhere along in the bitterness
And I would have stayed up with you all night
Had I known how to save a life

Let him know that you know best
Cause after all you do know best
Try to slip past his defense
Without granting innocence
Lay down a list of what is wrong
The things you’ve told him all along
And pray to God, he hears you
And pray to God, he hears you

Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend
Somewhere along in the bitterness
And I would have stayed up with you all night
Had I known how to save a life

As he begins to raise his voice
You lower yours and grant him one last choice
Drive until you lose the road
Or break with the ones you’ve followed
He will do one of two things
He will admit to everything
Or he’ll say he’s just not the same
And you begin to wonder why you came

Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend
Somewhere along in the bitterness
And I would have stayed up with you all night
Had I known how to save a life

Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend
Somewhere along in the bitterness
And I would have stayed up with you all night
Had I known how to save a life

How to save a life

How to save a life

Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend
Somewhere along in the bitterness
And I would have stayed up with you all night
Had I known how to save a life

Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend
Somewhere along in the bitterness
And I would have stayed up with you all night
Had I known how to save a life
How to save a life

How to save a life

Quote #2

“It was one of those March April days when the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold:  when it is summer in the light, and winter in the shade.”

– Charles Dickens

I like the weather.  I am happy that it is finally getting warmer.  Unfortunately, my life outside of class and work involves the indoors – thesis, group meetings, homework, etc.

Quote #1

So I am going to start posting quotations that I come across on the blog.  I may not always have proper attribution for them, but I will try.  Each of these quotes will have some sort of meaning for me or relate to life in some way.  For some, I may offer an explanation of their relevance.

“So often times it happens that we live our lives in chains and we never even know we have the key.”
– The Eagles in “Already Gone”