Saw things so much clearer.

Rearviewmirror.

It is sometimes much easier to see what, why, and how - when it is over. I wish I could tell my friend to let go, to cut ties, to kiss his past goodbye. It is not easy to look at someone who is travelling a path you walked yourself - you know that load, you bore that pain, and you how it ends. And, you know how it feels.

But... you also know how it feels to come out from under that cloud. Been a whole lot happier since the bitch left town (little miss, little miss, little miss can't be wrong).

I've hurt. I've lost. I've been lost. I've been there before.

And I've seen the other side. Once you let go... you have freedom.

And that gets us back to risk vs. reward. And I'm the CEO of my heart, so I'm the one that makes the decision to risk what, how much, when. It is a tough call to make. It's damn tough. Having felt the heartbreak, that momentary loss of soul... it is harder to give again.

It is hard to open up.

You need someone who has the key.

But it also makes you more discerning. The bar has been raised. You have standards, morals, values. Sometimes it is too much. But you test, you try, you drag and kick and fight... and then, hopefully, you get it right.

Then you wait for your time, wait for your shot, wait for you moment in the spotlight.

Wait for the chance to risk it all. You don't love like you've never been burned - you love like you know what that feels like, so you love harder, stronger, deeper than before. Your heart, mess that it is/was, opens up more, larger. You take chances.

Sometimes... life can be circular. Life can be a cycle. Sometimes... you live to hurt again.

But I once believed that Love Conquers All.

And.

I still believe that Love. Conquers. All.

Sometimes it is hard to admit it. But faith, hope, love... they are all still there, lurking somewhere beneath the surface... waiting for their moments. They ebb, they flow, they churn into a maelstrom and burst free like a tidal wave.

They are the essence of being human.

I can't say I haven't hurt. But from the rearviewmirror, I can say that, having hurt, I'm better off for it. I'll appreciate what I see when I see it. Love gets sweeter and sweeter, in every possible way (thanks Julie Doiron and Wooden Stars).

So... you hope for your friend, you hope for yourself. You stand on the corner of thought and reason, watch it intersect with love and romance... you stand with your scarred self and stick out your thumb, hitching a ride.