Sometimes I feel strong and invincible; but at other times I feel weak and vulnerable. My boyfriend tells me I am strong, beautiful and brave. He tells me this as I tell him how much I feel this way when we are together. I suppose, like Dorothy in her ruby slippers, I always have the powers that I don't always feel I do.

Does love make me stronger? I believe that by giving and receiving love I have become stronger. I have more room in my heart for more love. I just don't always have time for all of those people that I love to spend time with.

That doesn't make me a bad person or a bad friend. I tell myself this in writing so that I believe it.

I seem to be tired more lately. I am working lots more overtime than I have been. I chalk it up to getting older. As I tell my beau, I know it's a fact, but that doesn't mean I have to like it.

I will bask in spring and summer as much as I can. I have tickets to a concert by my favorite band. I will spend time with my sisters and celebrate graduations. I pledge to be more a part of life than just getting through it. I pledge to be able to say at the end of the summer that I'm glad I spent as much time outside as I did.

I'm blessed with strength and courage. I just forget where I put it sometimes.