sometimes friends are the best.

i was super bummed when i received news that i didn't win tickets to see james taylor and the mormon tabernacle choir. i was even more bummed when i found out that not a single one of my out-of-state family members won tickets either. i love james taylor with all my heart and i couldn't imagine him coming to utah and me not seeing him. (except that it did happen once, but i went and saw him in portland instead...i mean, that counts.) i was planning on standing in the standby line but kept having visions of not being allowed inside. so sad.

so you will understand the sheer excitement i experienced when i received correspondence (mind you, in two forms...texts and instagram comments) from the bestest friend ever stating that she had tickets and was asking me if i wanted them. i mean, i can't even express in human words how excited i was...i could "eek" it to you, or screech it to you, but not words. i made her promise she wasn't playing a joke on me, i was so excited. she definitely made my day...my year, even. james taylor, people...james taylor. i just can't get enough.

anyhow, after i calmed down a bunch, her generosity got me to thinking. i am blessed to know someone as kind and generous as she is, besides the fact that she is talented in every way you could possibly think. i love that i know her and that she is someone that i get to call friend. i am truly grateful for her friendship. but the part that really got me to thinking is how i should be more generous in my own life.

i'm not going to lie...i feel like, as of late, that i haven't been very focused on others. i can even admit that i have been pretty selfish. i don't like that about me right now. but i don't know how i got to this place. i can see where i steered the wrong direction on occasions and where i should have and could have done some things differently, but there wasn't an outright decision to be this way. and now i realize that i am going to have to step outside of a comfort zone to change things. and i really dislike stepping outside of comfort zones...i mean, it's so uncomfortable...but it must be done.

and so i am challenging myself...be more generous. or be less selfish. how ever i need to frame it to help myself change. because i do need to change. and i'm glad that on top of being gifted james taylor tickets, my friend could also gift me with this realization about myself.

this picture is old...like, over 10 years old...and i love that it exists. that is my dear friend, the gift giver, on the left. my baby sister in the middle. and me on the right. i don't know where we were or why we were taking this photo, but believe, i love it. (and that is a scanned-from-a-print-never-been-edited photo for your viewing pleasure...keepin' it real.)

do you struggle with generosity?
are you grateful for delightful friends?

that's all.