My Girlfriends Mom Posted this on her Facebook Page

**This is very relevant to me, as it should b to everyone. One day when i head back to DC me n her gon burn one and build on this a lil bit more...love u mommy**

Dance in the Rain, Cause Life's Lessons are Sweet
(words by Alison Henderson)

Pondering my past I realize that life is for lessons. Lessons that take us on a path to greatness. Some lessons are hard, painful and will take us to our knees begging God to free us from His wrath. But God is not punishing us. The lessons and what they bring are helping us to become better, and are bringing us back to Him. I am not religious, but I am very spiritual. What that means is I dont need to go to church or follow any religious dogma to find my God. God lives in me. I speak to Him/Her constantly. She guides me directly, speaks to my heart and leads me to my Light.

After a 25 year marriage to a man who I would consider a "good" man, I had to reorganize myself, find myself again. Divorce is devastating to the spirit of even the strongest soul. Especially after so many years of love and child raising and building a life together. Wondering what went wrong and finding answers to the whys and wherefores is unending, perpetual and frustrating. Coming to a point of acceptance and finding peace is the challenge I have decided to pursue. Continuously trying to figure out what went wrong is useless and only makes the heart bleed more. The past cant be changed. If I could go back 5 or 10 years and not make the same mistakes, listen more, not be so stubborn, not be so critical, not be so.... me. Ah! see, useless. Everything happens for a reason. And if you choose not to continue learning the lessons in your relationship, and bail out, you will eventually face the same lessons again. You must learn them, you cant run from them. If you have a bossy wife who tells you what to do and criticizes you, you leave her, then your new girlfriend will possibly have the exact same lessons for you, or worse, and you will have to face the challenge anyway. It is your energy that draws to you the people that teach you the lessons you must learn. Divorce is fruitless.

Do I regret my 25 year marriage, no. I cherish the memories, I cherish the fruits, the children, that were born out of the love of the marriage. I learned so much about myself. I learned not to look outside of myself and my home for what I thought I was not getting at home. I learned that all you need is inside of you. Everything that you need to be happy is in you. You cannot find happiness in someone else, you cannot expect to find someone to make you happy, you must be happy and then find someone to share that happiness with.
As time is one of the greatest teachers, it teaches us to respect the now. Live in the now, not the past.
Forgive yourself for any mistakes you made and move forward. Dont worry about what mistakes you may make in the future.

I just stepped in from dancing in the rain. I wanted to just feel the now, be in the moment of life, enjoy one of God's greatest gifts, rain. Rain washes away negative energy, cleans the air. I looked up to the sky and let the rain kiss my face. I felt an inner sense of peace as I realized my life is being controlled by a Greater Force, and that everything is perfect. I realized God is giving me a second chance. Dancing in the rain, frees the soul.

This time I will not compromise who I am for love. This time I will be happy just being me. I will not look outside for the approval of others. I know God loves me as I am. My hair, my skin, my body was made by Him, who is perfect, and since I am the divine daughter of my Father and Creator, I am perfect. I will never again allow someone to tell me who I am, what I should do, wear or be. I will never again compromise my hopes and dreams for the self satisfaction of another being. I will dance in the rain, and roll in the snow, I will float on the ocean staring at the blue sky, I will laugh and play like a child and cry like an old woman, as I please.

I hold no hatred, regret or contempt for anyone who has hurt me or attempted to use me or recreate me to their own fancy. I give love from my heart so pure that you cant help but smile, and that love will melt the hardest heart. Forgiveness is a medicine that will cure any pain, heal any heart. Holding on to the past will cause heart disease. Free yourself from past regret, hurt, and sorrows. Live for today, because tomorrow is not promised. Look at what is real in your life and eliminate anything in your life that is not true to who you are. It may be painful at first, but in the end, you will find a sense of peace and happiness that is sweeter than a North Carolina watermelon.

I waited a year after before I allowed my heart to fall in love again. I was so afraid. Did not want to repeat any mistakes. But in that year before, I healed my heart and taught it to love again; I sat alone and pondered my life's lessons. I learned to forgive myself for my mistakes, realizing that those mistakes took me to myself. I found happiness just being with me, I accepted myself and became my own best friend. I complimented myself, made love to myself, and treated myself with respect. And I realized that I was all I needed, me and my God. I was enough.

When I met my new love, I was already happy. I did not look to him to make me happy, or tell me who I was, or make me feel whole, I was already there. And holding that energy drew to me a man whose energy was the same. He also had found happiness in himself, lived alone and realized he was enough.
We joined our lessons together and realized that our paths were parallel and then we merged. We dance in the rain, we can spend all day just sitting on the farm watching the fire we built. We find ecstacy in juicing vegetables from the farm, smelling essential oils, riding bikes in the country or just doing absolutely nothing at all. We dont need fancy vacations to the Bahamas, or other events to make us happy. Of course, we enjoy these things when we want, but we realize that everything we have is what we need and nothing more. When two people can be satisfied with life in that way, that is heaven on earth. Simplicity. Never having to look outside of ourselves for happiness because we are surrounded by it all the time.

So if you are in a challenging relationship, or going thru a divorce or looking for a new love. First, look in the mirror and tell yourself "I love myself and I am enough", for until you find happiness and love in yourself, you will never be able to embrace true love, and dont forget to dance in the rain.