Another...

Another spring.
Another heartache.
Another set of lessons learned.
(although not necessarily in that order)

I'm talking to Ricco the other day, and he, in guy language, says to me, "Wen, we boys are different. To us, it's no big deal. We see a girl, and say 'Oh, she's hot. Sure, I'll go out with her.' But you girls, wow. You've got a whole checklist the first time you meet us. You're sizing us up already before we even say hello. Are we tall enough? How long is our nosehair? Are our toes crooked? [you see, I knew me and Ricco got along well for a reason] We men, and I can speak for most of us, are just different about that kind of thing...

Now Ricco is incredibly intelligent when it comes to people. You will commonly find him with his head in a book about relationships or the brain, or most recently, the female brain. When he speaks on behalf of most men, I take it with more than a grain of salt.

But he's right. And in the end, women do take relationships differently. And I have decided, as of late, that my checklist of no-way criteria includes Nobody named Chris, and No South Pacific men whose name starts with the letters J and O. It seems that men of that nature cause me more grief than any man with copious nose hair or crooked toes.

Ok, so that's a lie. I'm actually really fond of the memories and spring relationships I've had with my Aussie/Kiwi men. But, the news about my break with Jono (a collective sigh from you all, please), and all of the time I have spent thinking about it has most recently led me to believe that the 'J-O's, combined with spring time, mean heartbreak'. This will be my second in three years (and I don't intend on making it a pattern!).

Unlike last time, though, where April meant that I was facing a broken heart while heading into the dreary of cold of a New Zealand fall, I am in ever more awe of the unique April surroundings here, as well as the beauty and wonder of the freshness and warmth of spring. I nearly missed the cherry blossoms last year, and, although I refuse, by principle, to participate in the standard full out picnics to watch and take pictures of them, I do appreciate their very, very raw beauty. I have never seen anything like it.

So, the cherry blossoms, along with such pleasures as quick-drying laundry, growing tulips, playing softball, and opening the windows are keeping me light on my toes right now. I've decided to stop making lemonade (I was getting really tired of lemonade), and instead satiate my thirst with post-run banana-almond-soy-and-peanut-butter shakes (which also comes with an up-and-coming bikini body).

It's funny that in the light of a new love, or an old one lost, we seem to find that every song was written for us. It could be said that we can say the same for a good quote, or a good piece of advice. It is not unnatural that this happens, it is merely our mind's ability to take a piece of information and most closely associate it with our own true self, much like how you could probably read any horoscope and find that it matches you. Two such quotes that I have recently learned to make my own come from some incredible people,

"In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: it goes on."
- Robert Frost

"I believe that everything happens for a reason.
People change so that you can learn to let go,
things go wrong so that you appreciate them when they're right...
and sometimes good things fall apart so better things can fall together."
-Marilyn Monroe

I guess it is safe to say that life will always have heartache, and from that we learn lessons. We learn to be strong from what we don't understand, and we learn that pain is sometimes necessary, but almost always temporary.

Fortunately for all of us, though, life will most definitely (and most thankfully) bring the spring. It reminds us that all is well and good again, and that no matter the circumstances that, if we are strong, life will go on.