Who Do I Think I Am??

This one's about moving on.

THE PROMPT: "Invalid Entry" 

Good afternoon y'all...I'm in a little better mood today. The sun's out, it's gorgeous, I got out of work at 1:45pm (the prize for going in at 5:45am), and in an hour I'll have the house to myself for the bulk of the evening...what more could I need?

Bonnie14222 has supplied a nice entry for today's prompt, and she nailed it. But it's important to note that her methods aren't limited to grieving the death of a loved one. There are other situations where Bonnie's tips can come in handy.

One is the loss of a job. Research has shown that people often equate the loss of a job to the loss of a loved one. I mean, how many of you out there know someone in your real world who seems like they're married to their work? I'll bet you can think of someone with little-to-no thought involved whatsoever. That's who I'm talkin' 'bout!

You only have to look no further than yesterday's headlines. It happens every year...an athlete retires, struggles off the field, can't really find a place, gets in trouble, or worse. I don't know how many of you reading this are football fans, but I am, and the ugliness of a man removed from his livelihood reared its head just yesterday.

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/7886111/reflecting-football-junior-seau-death

Surely, in many ways, this could've been prevented. I understand the argument that he chose to play a violent sport for as long as he did. And yes, as one of the top players at his position for so long, he got paid pretty handsomely for it as well. But ask his young kids if that money's worth it. I guarantee you they'd trade it all just to have their daddy back.

The coping skills could've saved this man's life...instead, his family's now using them in some way to reconcile his life with his death.

The second use would be during a divorce or the end of a relationship. I know nothing of the first part, but I've been through the second part. I know all about the second part, boy. Even though you know it's coming...even if the writing on the wall bears your penmanship...letting go is the easy part, and moving on is the hard part. Unless you've got that golden parachute of a lover waiting in the wings. But sometimes you don't.

My close friends will know of a woman I'll speak of (as but one example). We'll just call her Crazy for lack of a real name. And the best way I can describe that relationship is it was a 2-and-a-half year relationship that went on for three years too long. We were in our late twenties...the primes of our lives. Everything was almost great (man, did I have bad eyes for the multiple red flags straight from the get-go ) from the start. Well, no, it wasn't, but as they say, love is blind. However, in this situation, love was not only blind, but deaf, dumb and stupid as well.

Over time, there was pretty much one characteristic we shared that kept us together through all the fighting and drama and bullshit. And if you have to ask what it was, you'll never know . But toward the bitter end, when I knew we weren't gonna last, even then you're never really prepared for what happens when the other shoe finally drops. You don't know what's coming for you until it hits you. When the phone stops ringing; when the texts stop coming. It's almost a sickness; you'll take the fighting and the bullshit over the silence just to hear her voice, even if you're the one who pushed and pushed and pushed...even if you drove her to her limit.

There was no replacement. Well, there was, but not in human form. I was suddenly alone. As you get older, friends become harder to connect with on a personal basis. It was easier to become a recluse. I'd basically go to work, go home, sleep, and repeat, until there was no longer a place to go to work. And when that happens, well, that's a story for another time.

Well, now that I wasted enough of your time speaking to a perfect prompt entry...it's only time for the best part of my entry...

MUSICAL BREAK!!

Hmmm...what goodness does YouTube have in store for me today? Let's see...do I go with death or breakups?

VITAL STATS:

Earlier in the spring, we toyed with the idea of buying a hammock. And dammit, I wish we'd quit playin' around and get one! Cuz getting up at 5:20am is no damn fun, and now I could be chillin' in shorts takin' a nap on a sweet-ass hammock. Damn. The bed? Doesn't seem quite as interesting actually.

Ugh. Anyway, I'm off to catch a little sun or somethin' just to kill a few hours of alone time. Tryin' to make the best of it. Peace, love, and GOODNIGHT NOW!!