#I am barely awake so it’s possible I made a mistake on the exact details but the thesis holds. 6 months and 13 are hard canon

[mangekyokai]

The timeline is ludicrous for many reasons, but can we talk about Itachi and the Anbu.

He joins ~1 month before he turns twelve (the scene where Fugaku mentions his prospective membership is in April, his birthday is in early June).

Six months later, Shisui dies. Itachi can be assumed to be almost twelve and a half years old.

Meaning, ~7 months later Itachi is promoted at thirteen - potentially more, but the consensus seems to be that it was fairly immediate.

Unknown period of time elapses, almost universally agreed to be less than a year, Itachi commits the Uchiha massacre - the oldest he can feasibly be is fourteen. Itachi was in the Anbu for approximately two years, give or take a few months.

Why is Shisui dead for the majority of the time he was in the Anbu.

[angelicmichael]

Hey! What about 12 from the kiss prompts with Hawthorne!michael? If you like?

A/N: Thank you for requesting this 💖 I made it a little long (and added a slutty makeout scene lmao) so I hope you don’t mind! This fic kinda flip flops between fluff and angst also, so fair warning hehe. More thots will be in the tags! Enjoy <3 ALSO Michael is 18+ in this and so is Reader 😇 okay bye

~

You and Michael haven’t talked in weeks. You knew the new school he’d been attending, Hawthorne, kept him impossibly busy since he was basically considered a child prodigy there. You knew from the letters and messages he used to consistently send you that he was basically treated like some type of god; but it had been a while since you had heard from him at all. You just really fucking missed your boyfriend.

The anxiety of him not being in contact with you for so long seemed to only amplify your feelings of how much you missed him, and it had you worried sick.

At first you blamed him being unresponsive due to him being busy but it got to the point where it started to eat away you - you couldn’t think about anything else. All you thought about was Michael. You trusted him of course but, you knew due to his naturally clingy nature that something serious had to be happening for him to ignore and neglect you for this long.

So.. that led you to where you were now.

The air was cool and damp on your skin as you swiftly moved closer and closer to Hawthorne school. You had lost track of the exact time hours ago, but you knew instinctively it was probably midnight - maybe even past. The world was currently pitch black, the moon set high in the sky was your only source of light - which led you to stumble rather clumsily through the night. Hawthorne was isolated enough but not too isolated, Just far enough away from the city to let some of the stars peak through and shine bright through the evening sky.

You approached the talk, dark building - stealthily slipping inside; praying that no one happened to be awake.. except for Michael.

You knew there was a very good chance of him being asleep, he wasn’t expecting you after all. Fuck; you really weren’t even planning on seeing him until just a couple hours ago. This whole visit was unbelievably last minuete, but you really couldn’t help it. You atleast needed to see him, to know he was okay.

You heard the rumors of what was happening with Michael, who he was supposedly going to take the seven wonders test but you know he wouldn’t hide something that big from you.. right? You even came to terms with what to do if Michael didn’t want to see you; if him ignoring you for two weeks was some pathetic scheme to just break up with you - but you needed to know for sure. You wanted to make sure that you daydreaming about kissing him during the day when you had better things to do was foolish or all for not. You needed to know he was still yours.

The soft colored pallete of the interior of Hawthorne seemed to only agitate your pre existing anxiety. The bare, undesigned walls forced you to focus on what was at stake here - no pretty paintings or pretty colors to take your mind off of things. The bare ness and almost.. sterile.. atomsphere this place gave off almost reminded you of a hospital, which only sent chills down your spine.

You turned a corner, not sure where exactly to turn too - you didn’t think this part through, you’ve never been to Hawthorne before. Michael had talked about it to you plenty of times; boasting about his powers and how everyone treated him here but.. he never gave any details of the layout or where his room is.. there was no need for him too.

You felt your stomach drop once you heard echoey footsteps - immeaditly you whipped your head around, thinking it was someone behind you but.. there was nothing. Just the long empty, bare hallway.

You shook your head, feeling slightly disoriented before taking a couple steps forward - trying to shake this slightly unsettling feeling that seemed to sit in your stomach when your turned around and gasped. Loudly.

Seeing another human in front of you when there previously was no one made adrenaline shoot through your veins - but pure euphoria seemed to immeaditly chase the feeling once you actually registered who it was. The nearly combed blonde hair and the bright blue eyes gave it away; It was Michael.

You couldnt help but notice a gleam in his eye and how the way the corner of his mouth was slightly upturned in a smirk. Could he be happy to see you? However you reflexively took a couple steps back - you couldn’t help but feel that was a mistake when you noticed him wince.

“Michael, I was looking for you-“

“Shh”. Michael responsed, cutting you off.

Your eyebrows furrowed - immeaditly offended that the first thing he did when he hasn’t seen you in weeks is to shush you but he quickly grabbed your hand and led you off.

You stumbled behind him, trusting him as you followed him to god knows where he was dragging you too.

He didn’t take you too far; he quickly pulled you around the corner of the hallway before harshly shoving you into the wall. You gasped again, this time out of pain and embarrassingly a bit of pleasure.

Michael nearly immeaditly pressed his mouth to yours, resulting in a very wet open mouthed kiss. French kissing was rarely your forte, but; you hadn’t seen Michael in weeks so the last thing you were worried about was being gross. You were incredibly happy that he even wanted to see you - let alone makeout with you. You supposed this meant that you two were on good terms atleast.

You felt his hands roughly grip your arms, his nails slightly digging into your skin which should’ve hurt but instead only made you want him even more. His body was pressed tight against yours, leaving your back pressed up against the cool wall. With his arms around you and the way he hungrily kissed you, you almost felt trapped but you knew you were safe with him.

The smell and taste of him drove you wild; your hand went up to his hair, slightly tugging on his tousled blonde locks - not wanting him to stop. Too in bliss to even consider the reality of the situation. How you two were basically eating others face in the hallway of his highly prestigious school.

You barely even noticed when you felt one of his hands leave your arm and travel quickly down your side, gently slipping under your shirt. Just as you felt his hand start to travel up you broke off the kiss, immeaditly having to bite your lip in order to stifle a moan. His hand was only at about your stomach, close to your waist - you supposed it was the skin to skin contact that made you so needy. You missed this.

“Miss me”? You heard Michael say.

The way he seemed to pinpoint exactly what you were thinking was almost creepy at times but you simply blamed it on him knowing you so well.

“Of course I have, Michael”. You replied back quickly.

You felt kind of stunned that he would even question how much you missed him or your feelings for him and this started to send your mind into a state of panic. Were you never affectionate enough? Should you have came to seen Michael sooner instead of waiting two fucking weeks before doing anything but, again, as if he knew what you were thinking- he cut off your nearly manic train of thought by placing his hand on your arm softly; bringing you back to reality. Your gaze met his - and you nearly drowned staring into his cerulean blue eyes.

He didn’t even have to say anything at this point to calm you down; just staring at him and finally being in his presence was enough to make you feel safe and comforted.. almost in a serene state where no bad thoughts could linger in your mind. Even though no words really had to be spoken between you two he chose to speak anyway.

“Hey. Look, I’ve been really busy-“

“-your taking the seven wonders, arent you”? You cut him off.

You knew there was a high possibility of him having to take the test; and you really couldn’t think of what else would be keeping Michael so busy. It was painfully obvious he wasn’t cheating on you now.

You looked at Michael and you couldn’t help but almost laugh at his facial expression. He looked completly shocked; his mouth slightly ajar which quickly turned into a uncomfterable smile as he tried to laugh it off.

“Yeah.. I am actually. I take it tommorow”. He said.

“Tommorow? Are you sure your even ready? How could you not tell me sooner”?! You said, talking quickly.

You knew how your words could sound offensive but you didn’t really care; you were just in pure shock. How could Michael already take the seven wonders? The same test that was notorious for being dangerous and even claiming lives. The fear and anxiety you felt quickly morphed into anger.

You weren’t really sure what you were expecting Michael to do; maybe to storm off or to tell you to fuck off and leave - or something in between but instead he merely approached you. His arms wrapped around your frame and he buried his face into your neck.

You were speechless.

Out of all the reactions you were expecting him to have; it definetly wasn’t this. At first you just stood there; not really knowing what to do so you reluctantly wrapped your arms around him and stroked his back - one of your hands finding and tracing his spine. You felt him lean into your touch ever so slightly, and you couldn’t help but relish in this feeling of him again. His scent filling your nostrils, feeling his body against yours was incredibly comforting but this didn’t change the reality of tommorow. You felt your stomach start to drop again at the thought of what Michael taking the test really meant.

You knew how unlikely and irrational it was to imagine things that weren’t even a reality yet but.. you knew deep down that this could very well be the last time you would ever see Michael. Last time you would see, hold, kiss or even talk to him. You felt your throat start to tighten as you very poorly tried your best to hold back tears. You knew Michael was incredibly gifted when it came to his powers but you couldn’t stop being anxious and thinking about the worst. You know understood why he didn’t tell you this previously or contacted you in the past weeks. You supposed this way his way of saying how he was scared too for tomorrow and you couldn’t really blame him for that.

“Are you okay”? You asked.

You felt him suddenly pull away from you, his hands still lingering on your arms. You were half expecting for there to be tears in his eyes when he pulled away and sure his eyes looked a little wet but if anything.. pulling apart only exposed your state of being - not his.

The tears you were trying so fucking hard to hold in, pathetically spilt and ran hotly down your cheeks. You took in a sharp inhale, your breathing now incredibly uneven and rapid due to crying. The way Michael was holding you by your arms made it impossible for you to hide your tears, so instead you pathetically stared at the ground - too embarrassed to even meet his eyes.

“Darling.. look at me”. Michael instructed. His voice was soft but held a certain authority to it, enough to make you actually listen and look up.

“I’m going to be fine tommorow. There’s no need to be sad or worried, if anything we should be celebrating. I’m going to be the first alpha and by this time tommorow we’ll be celebrating. Okay? I promise”. Michael said, as he enveloped you into a hug.

You immeaditly reprocipricated it, not really wanting to let go because you knew how fucking foolish you sounded. Although, you still knew it was a valid fear and something to still be mindful of that could be a real possiblility. After all, even though he seemed completely confident about tommorow you knew he was scared too.

You were the first to let go of the hug. You knew it was already ridiculously late and that you should be going if you wanted Michael or yourself to get any sleep. You brushed off the couple of tears that still remained on the bottom parts of your cheeks before replying to him.

“I’m sorry I got upset, I didn’t mean to-“

“No, it’s okay. I’m sorry I didn’t see you (y/n), you shouldn’t be apologizing”. He stated.

Michael quickly stepped forward to place a kiss on the corner of your mouth.

“No matter what happens tommorow I promise I’ll see you”. Michael said.

Your chest slightly tightened at those words but you quickly brushed the feeling off and blinked the annoying upcoming tears away.

“Bye Michael. Be careful”. You said before quickly turned around and nearly running while you wiped the tears off of your cheek with your sleeve.

You ran through the hallways of Hawthorne, knowing you would probably get lost in the never ending hallways that all looked identical but soon enough you found the door that led outside. You couldn’t help but feel kind of dissapointed that all that was left was to wait for tommorow for Michael to take the test; and to pray to god you would see him again.

Tags: @mina672 @michaellangdonstanaccount @langdonsexual @jimmason @blakewaterxx @thewarriorprincessxo @dark-mei-rose @9layerdevilfoodcake @prophecy-is-inevitable

[janeykath318]

Meet Your Daughter: A Pirk Fic

@mrseclipse9856

“I see congratulations are in order, Kirk,” Admiral Richard Barnett told the young woman in civies with a baby strapped to her chest. After resigning from the fleet seven months ago, Jen Kirk had come back to San Francisco to see her mother get her captain’s stripes, undeterred by having a two week old newborn in tow. Her abrupt departure from Starfleet just after the Nero tragedy and graduation had been the topic of much speculation, but Jen had hidden away from the world in her old hometown of Riverside, Iowa until her daughter’s birth. She had braced herself for a barrage of questions and eyebrow raising silent judgment from the brass, knowing most of them already had a pretty low opinion of her. The worst part, however, was facing baby Emma’s father, who just so happened to be one of said Admirals now and had no idea he had offspring.  

“Thank You, Admiral,” she said graciously. “I thought this might help explain why I chose to leave the Fleet.”

“Very good reason,” he smiled back at her. “You doing okay?”

“We have our ups and downs,” she admitted, looking down at Emma’s little head, “but we’re getting along okay. She’s a pretty content baby. Adjusting to the weird sleep schedule has been the challenge for me.”

“Ah, yes, I remember those days,” he replied fondly. “She’s a real cutie, though.”

“I think so too,” Jen agreed.

Nearby, she could see Admiral Pike engaged in tense conversation with her mother. The man had barely acknowledged her presence and when he’d seen what she was wearing, well, he hadn’t so much as looked at her. It was deeply Disappointing, but not surprising, given how things had ended between them. Nevertheless, she’d have to find a way to talk to him.

Politely taking her leave from Barnett, she approached Winona and Chris, steeling her courage to face the man who’d broken her heart.

“Excuse me, Admiral,” she announced in her most polite, formal tone, cringing at how stiff she sounded. Pike looked like he wanted to flee, but Winona’s stern gaze held him firmly in place and he finally nodded, not really looking her in the eyes.

“Of course. Here, or in private?” he asked.

“Private.” Jen admitted.

“Very well. We’ll go to my office. Captain?” he asked Winona, indicating she could come too if she wished.

“Nope. This is between the two of you,” Winona declined. “I’ll wait out here. Try to act like adults,” she implored them and they both flushed. Chris still looked spooked at being near her, but slowly made for the door.

“After you,” he said, waving her to go first. He’d always been the gentleman like that, Jen recalled with a pang of nostalgia for the good old times before he’d let the fear of what the brass would do ruin everything. He’d used to treat her like a queen when they were alone.

Now, they were just two awkward exes and she was about to unleash the proverbial elephant in the room.

Once in his office, they faced each other with a silence so thick, Jen felt like the gravity had been turned up. Unable to stand it long, she took a deep breath and spilled her secret.

“Chris-- I mean, Admiral,” she began, bouncing on her heels a bit to settle down Emma, who stirred restlessly.

“I hate to spring this on you like this, but I tried repeatedly for months to contact you and was ignored so I decided now was as good a time to spring this on you as any: Meet your daughter, Emma Renee Pike.”

She let these words sink in as the Admiral turned a sickly shade of whitish green and gripped the edge of his desk for balance.

“You’re kidding me.” he said faintly. Jen shook her head. There was no other possible man it could have been.

“How?.......” He looked like he was going to pass out. Jen felt slightly sorry, but it was his own fault he’d ignored her calls and changed his number.

“Oh, you know how, Christopher,” she said with an evil grin. “I could give you the exact details of the exact night she was conceived if you wish. I figured it out when I was trying to keep myself from puking my guts up early in the pregnancy.”

The greenish white shade swiftly changed to a dark red as he flushed at the suggestive tone and use of his full name. She knew how it riled him up being called Christopher and she’d once taken full advantage of said knowledge. Even now, it was still useful.

Chris sat down hard, swallowing and staring at the baby as if he was just now seeing her.

“Daughter.” he said faintly. “So this is why you disappeared after you resigned.”

“Yes,” Jen admitted. “I decided I couldn’t end it--end HER, but with all the publicity and still hurting from the breakup, I went home to Iowa.”

“Makes sense. When was she born?”

“Two and a half weeks ago. Bones was there and helped me through it, best friend that he is.”

“So that’s where he went all in a hurry,” Chris mused. “About bit my head off when I asked where he was going. Now I know why.”

“Yep. Bones doesn’t like you very much at the moment,” Jen informed him.

“That’s putting it mildly,” her ex admitted with a rueful expression. “Glares daggers at me whenever I run into him. If looks could kill, I would be murdered many times over. Did the labor go okay?”

“I was told It was typical for a first time birth,” she sighed. “But for a few hours, it was indescribably awful. I probably cursed you in twenty different languages. When they mention a ring of fire, they aren’t kidding!! But she was more than worth it, the sweet little darling.”

She dropped a kiss on the baby’s head. Emma had fallen back asleep and was the epitome of newborn angelicness.

Chris cleared his throat and looked awkward again.

“You were pregnant when we were fighting Nero then.” he stated. “When did you find out? Before or after I ended our…...thing.”

That irked her. How dare he call it a thing?

“A relationship. We had a relationship, Chris,” she corrected him coolly. “As for when I knew, I found out after I collapsed on the bridge on the return to earth while you were still in surgery. When I woke up in sickbay, Bones yelled at me, fixed me up, and then told me I was pregnant. He offered to murder you in cold blood. Be glad he takes his oath as seriously as he does.”

“I am,” the repentant looking admiral admitted.

“I should have just told you once you were awake and cognizant, but I couldn’t deal with facing you then. If you thought us being together was too risky, what would you have said about me carrying your unborn baby? By that time, I decided I was going to go through with it and didn’t want you to talk me out of it.”

“Jen, I’m very, very sorry you had to go through that alone,” he apologized.

“Don’t be,” she said firmly before he could continue. “She’s a precious baby and the light of my life. All I need from you is to know whether you want to be involved in her life or if you’d rather treat her like a dirty little secret, in which case we’ll get out of your hair and never trouble you again. I’m not here to blackmail you or beg for money. Much as I hate the way you dumped me, you do deserve to get the chance to know your kid.”

She could see him wince as her pointed words hit home. The ball was in his court now. Gently adjusting the sling so Emma’s head was visible, she turned so Chris could get a better look. The look on his face went from weary regretfulness, to interest, to fascination, to awe in a matter of seconds as he looked his fill of the adorable infant.

“Wow!” he breathed, getting back up and moving around his desk. “It’s been awhile since I’ve seen one that small. She’s beautiful, Jen. Takes after you.”

“I think she has your stubborn chin and scowl, though,” Jen commented, trying to ignore the pang of bittersweet joy at his subtle compliment. She was relieved to see he was beginning to relax a little.

Cautiously, Chris took a few steps closer and Jamie’s heart lurched again as the smell of his cologne brought back more memories. She’d loved his scent and used to nuzzle against his jaw on purpose to smell it. Chris would usually kiss her head and pull her close with a light chuckle.

“I, uh, hope you don’t mind I gave her your last name,” She said, scrambling to think of something to break the awkwardness.

“Of course not,” he said softly, still gazing at Emma. “It’s amazing she survived all the stuff you went through during the Nero crisis. That’s one tough little girl.”

“Her dad survived Romulan torture and her mother survived ice monsters, and Vulcan beat downs, so I’d say she comes of strong stock,” Jen agreed proudly. “Speaking of which, I’m glad to see you walking so well,” she continued, genuinely glad to see the progress he’d made. When she’d left, Bones hadn’t been able to say whether he’d ever walk again. Now, he was getting around pretty well, with only the occasional use of his cane for support.

“That’s the result of six months of pain, sweat, and a general desire to spite the entire universe,” Chris admitted ruefully, glancing down at his legs. “My therapists were saints to put up with me for so long.”

“Now that sounds more like the Pike I know,” Jen grinned. “Bones said you’d surpassed his wildest expectations.”

“He hasn’t said a thing like that to my face,” Chris snorted. “Just gives me a hard time. He may have saved my life, but he definitely wasn’t happy about it.”

“What can I say? Bones is loyal to a fault. The one person I can always count on,” Jen added, perhaps a tad passive-aggressively. “It might be awhile before he forgives you.”

Chris wiped his hand over his forehead in a troubled manner and sighed.

“Jen, I admit I made a terrible mistake by underestimating how much you’d be hurt by ending our relationship, but I don’t know what I could have done that wouldn’t have threatened everything you worked so hard for.”

“You didn’t KNOW that, you just assumed it,” Jen retorted. “You didn’t even give me an option of riding it out with you. Whatever it was, we could have faced it together. You know they would never have had any evidence that our relationship influenced my grades or was coerced and technically, Bones got my on that ship against your knowledge when I was supposed to be grounded. Sure, we would have probably taken some crap, but they wouldn’t have enough to kick either of us out. It’s all a moot point now, since I ended up leaving anyway. Your doing the “right thing” had the exact result you were trying to avoid. We thought we were careful. I still don’t know how my birth control failed, but it did and here we are.”

“If I’d had had the self-control to wait until after graduation, to act on my feelings, we wouldn’t have ended up in this mess.”

“Maybe, Maybe not,”Jen shrugged. “But the question remains, will you accept Emma as your daughter or try to pretend she doesn’t exist?”

Chris paced back to his chair and sat down, leg starting to stiffen up from standing too long. He was very taken with Emma, but clueless about fatherhood. And how could he be involved without embroiling all of them in a scandal? Jen didn’t need that stress on top of caring for a newborn.

It came down to a simple choice: take responsibility and be a good father, risking censure and scandal, or protect his career by turning away and permanently breaking all ties with both Jen and Emma?

The stifled part of him that was still very much in love with Jen violently objected to this as well as the newly awakened part that had a definite interest in helping parent this tiny little one, who was now blinking awake and revealing big, beautiful blue eyes.

“Oh, my.” he whispered, eyes suddenly welling up. “Jen, I have no idea how this will work, and I have no clue how to be a…..dad, but I would like to be in her life, and maybe in yours again, if you’ll let me.”

Jen wasn’t sure about that last part, but for Emma’s sake she was glad he’d offered. She allowed a relieved smile to curve up her lips.

“Thats…..wonderful, Chris, and way more than I expected when I came out here.” That stung him, but he knew he deserved it and bowed his head in acknowledgement. He used to be the one she confided in, looked up to. He’d been both dazzled by her and very proud of her as she’d headed for the career he knew she was capable of. Now, he’d only just met their child two weeks after her birth.

“Tell me what I can do, Jen.” He implored, meeting her eyes full on and getting lost in their blueness for a moment.

“You can start by communicating. Maybe give me your new number? Come to Iowa for occasional visit. Tell the Brass the truth when they ask why you’re always going to Iowa. Maybe ask Phil for tips: he’s got experience in the parenting department.”

Chris smiled. That he did. Phil had a grown son from his late wife Alicia and very lively twin red-headed daughters from Cait. He’d heard plenty of crazy tales of mischief, cuteness and woe from his best friend. Phil had stuck by him after Nero and made him get the right help as he worked through the trauma and difficult physical therapy. He’d also disapproved of Chris’s treatment of Jen, but didn’t say much about it, preferring to let McCoy do that part.

“Certainly. Is yours still the same?” he asked, pulling out his device and looking at the contact list.

“Yeah,” Jen confirmed, getting out her own and carefully punching in the code he gave her. “There we go! The first step.” She slipped it back into her belt just as Emma started to fuss.

“Uh-oh, sounds like someone’s ready to eat again,” Jen crooned. “You’ve been such a good girl for mama! Time for a well-deserved meal.” Reaching around her back, she untied the ends of the long piece of fabric that held the baby to her chest, then sat down in the chair across from the desk and eased Emma out of it onto her lap, pulling her out of the wrap and grinning down at her.

“Hi, honey, you getting hungry?”

Emma confirmed this with a little wailing sound that melted Chris’s heart. Heaven help him, he was falling for her already. He got up from his chair and engaged the privacy glass.

“You go right ahead and feed her here, if you want to. I’ll clear out and try to pacify her grandma by informing her of our agreement. I forgot how intimidating that woman was until I caused you grief.”

Jen smirked. “Maybe don’t do it in the future, huh? Just a thought. The whole “mama bear” saying exists for a good reason. We protect our offspring fiercely.”

He smiled at her and Jen’s own heart melted a little. She’d never been able to totally resist his smile, even now when she wasn’t sure if she would be able to forgive him for a while.

At least, he’d accepted Emma and not forced a paternity test. That would have been the ultimate sign of distrust and made her even more wary of him.

“Thanks, Chris,” she told him. “We’ll plan on talking more before I go back, right?”

“For sure.” he confirmed, and slipped out the door, leaving Jen alone to feed the baby.

Wide-eyed, he leaned against the wall to catch his breath as he slowly processed what had just happened. Jen had popped back into his life. He was a dad. She didn’t punch him in the face. She was going to let him co-parent their daughter. Their daughter was beautiful and tiny and precious. He was suddenly terrified.

“Hey, breathe Chris,” a voice said beside him. Winona and Phil stood there, looking both worried and amused at the same time.

“I was an absolute IDIOT.” He declared, once he’d calmed himself down. “Utter, utter fool. She’s gorgeous, Winona. I think I already love her.”

Winona’s expression softened. “I’m glad you’ve seen the error of your ways and yes, Miss Emma Renee Pike is the most beautiful baby in the galaxy. Did you and Jen reach a truce?”

“I think so,” he said, still a little dazed. “I’m gonna need help, though. Phil, I have no clue. How do you be a dad?”

“Trial and Error and a lot of love and patience,” Phil answered. “I think you’ll do fine. Congratulations, by the way. What a way to find out, huh?”

“Like I said, I was an idiot. Thought she’d be better off without me in the long run.”

“And maybe she will,” Winona put in. “But that’s a later discussion. I’m thankful you two are talking again. She missed you terribly.”

“And I missed her,” Chris said honestly. “I’m going to start by working on winning her trust back so we can be civil and cooperative parents at least. Anything else…….well, it’s much too soon to say.”

He tactfully left out the part where he was still hopelessly in love with her and wanted to win back her heart as well as her trust. No more cowardice for him. Chris Pike was on a mission.

[atiqahmdali]

Don’t Be Afraid to Do These 10 Hard Things for Yourself

WRITTEN by MARC CHERNOFF 

“You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.” ―Mae West

This morning a close neighborhood friend, Alison, passed away far too early.  While Angel and I have spent most of the day grieving, I’ve also spent this past hour thinking about the fact that our lives are often much shorter than we expect, and that we need to do some pretty darn hard things to maximize our very limited time.  Alison strongly believed in doing the hard yet necessary things in life—we talked about this topic on several occasions, and she never backed down from a challenge.  So today, I want to reflect on this with you.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: you absolutely need to do hard things to be happy in the long run.  Because the hard things ultimately build you up and change your life.  They make the difference between existing and living, between knowing the path and walking it, between a lifetime of empty promises and one filled with more possibility and progress.

You know this is true, so…

1.  Don’t be afraid to accept and appreciate life’s changes.

You’re not the same person you were a year ago, a month ago, or a week ago.  You’re always growing.  Experiences don’t stop.  That’s life.

Sometimes there are things in our lives that aren’t meant to stay.  Sometimes the changes we don’t want are the changes we need to grow.  Let this sink in.  Growth and change may be painful sometimes, but nothing in life is as painful as staying stuck where you don’t belong.

The bottom line is that you can’t reach for anything new if you’re holding on to yesterday.  You may think holding on makes you strong, but oftentimes it’s letting go and starting anew that truly builds your inner strength.

2.  Don’t be afraid to trust yourself.

You may not be where you want to be yet, but you’ve also come a long way from where you once were.  Appreciate how far you’ve come.  You’ve been through a lot, but you’ve grown a lot too.  Give yourself credit for your strength and resilience.  You have good reason to believe that you can trust yourself going forward, not because you’ve always made the right choices, but because you’ve survived and grown from the bad ones.

Good things take time, and you’re getting there.  So don’t allow yourself to be crippled by stress and self-loathing.  Everything is only as it is.  There’s no reason to let it cripple you.  Remind yourself to breathe—to let every moment be what it’s going to be.  What’s meant to be will come your way, and what’s not will fall away.  And remember that life’s best gifts may not always be wrapped the way you expect.  (Read The Last Lecture.)

3.  Don’t be afraid to live your truth.

Tell yourself, “I am ENOUGH” anytime you begin to feel otherwise.  Accept your flaws.  Admit your mistakes.  Don’t hide and don’t lie.

Deal with the truth—your truth—every step of the way.  Learn the lessons, endure the consequences of reality, and move forward.  Your truth won’t penalize you.  Your mistakes won’t hurt you.  Only your denial and cover-up will.  Flawed and vulnerable people are powerful and strong.  Liars and phonies are not.  Every beautiful human being is made entirely of flaws, stitched together with good intentions and finished with trials and errors.

So keep reminding yourself that you are YOU for a reason, and that the journey is worth it.  Ignore the distractions.  Listen to your own inner voice.  Mind your own business.  Keep your best wishes and your biggest desires close to your heart, and dedicate time to them every day.  Don’t be scared to walk alone sometimes, and don’t be scared to enjoy it.  And don’t let anyone’s ignorance, drama or negativity derail you.

4.  Don’t be afraid to craft a daily routine that’s right for YOU.

If your life is going to mean anything, you have to live it yourself.  You have to choose the path that feels right to YOU, not the one that simply looks right to everyone else.  It’s always better to be at the bottom of the ladder you want to climb, than the top of the one you don’t.  So don’t wait until you’re halfway up the wrong ladder to listen to your intuition.  Every morning, ask yourself what is truly important, and then find the courage, wisdom and willpower to build your day around your answer.

In the end, it’s not what you say, but how you spend your time that counts.  If you want to do something, you’ll find a way… if you don’t, you’ll find an excuse.  (Angel and I discuss this in more detail in the Rituals chapter of our New York Times bestseller, Getting Back to Happy: Change Your Thoughts, Change Your Reality, and Turn Your Trials into Triumphs.)

5.  Don’t be afraid to say “no” to unnecessary obligations.

In a world with so much noise and clutter, you must make room for what matters.  That means pruning nonessential commitments and eliminating as many distractions as you possibly can.  No wasted time, no fluff, no regrets.

The mark of a successful and peaceful person is the ability to set aside the “somewhat important” things in order to accomplish the vital ones first.  When you’re crystal clear about your priorities, you can painlessly arrange them in the right order and discard the activities and commitments that do not support the ones at the top of your list.

6.  Don’t be afraid to give yourself enough mental and emotional space.

If you think and you think and you think, you will think yourself right out of happiness a thousand times over, and never once into it.  Worrying doesn’t take away tomorrow’s troubles, it takes away today’s peace and potential.  Stop over-thinking everything.  Life is just too short.

Your biggest limitations are the ones you make up in your mind.  The biggest causes of your unhappiness are the false beliefs you refuse to let go of.  You are capable of far more than you are often thinking, imagining, doing or being.  But in time you will gradually become what you habitually contemplate, so clear your mind and let your hopes, not your fears, shape your future.  How?  Meditate.  Run.  Breathe.  Write in your journal.  Find the space…. to set your mind free.

7.  Don’t be afraid to make more time for the right relationships.

Not everyone will appreciate what you do for them.  You have to figure out who’s worth your attention and who’s just taking advantage of you.  If your time and energy is misspent on the wrong relationships, or on too many activities that force you to neglect your good relationships, you can end up in a tedious cycle of fleeting friendships, superficial romances that are as thrilling as they are meaningless, and a general sense of wondering why you always seem to be chasing affection.

Choose yourself rather than settle for those who treat you as ordinary.  YOU certainly aren’t.  Never settle for being someone’s option when you have the potential to be someone’s priority.  You are the sum of the people you spend the most time with.  If you hang with the wrong people too often, they will bring you down.  But if you hang with the right people, they will help you grow into your best self.  These people will love all the things about you that others are intimidated by.

8.  Don’t be afraid to learn something new.

As Mahatma Gandhi once said, “Live as if you were to die tomorrow.  Learn as if you were to live forever.”  Life is a book and those who do not educate themselves read only a few pages.

When you know better, you live better.  Period.

And remember that all education is self-education.  It doesn’t matter if you’re sitting in a college classroom or a coffee shop.  We don’t learn anything we don’t want to learn.  Those of us who take the time and initiative to pursue knowledge on their own time are the only ones who earn a real education in this world.  Take a look at any widely acclaimed scholar, entrepreneur or historical figure you can think of.  Formal education or not, you’ll find that he or she is a product of continuous self-education.

9.  Don’t be afraid to live out some of your dreams.

There are thousands of people who live their entire lives on the default settings, never realizing they can customize everything.  Don’t settle for the default settings in life.  Don’t hide behind laziness.  Find your loves, talents and passions, and embrace them fully.

Seriously, too many people dream only at night in the quiet of their own minds, and then awake to find it was all an illusion.  Don’t be one of them.  Dream by day, too.  Be one of the people who dream with their eyes wide open, and who works to make some of them come true.

And forget popularity too.  Just do your thing with passion, humility, and honesty.  Do what you do, not for an applause, but because it’s what’s right.  Pursue it a little bit each day, no matter what anyone else thinks.  That’s how dreams are achieved.  (Read Tuesdays with Morrie.)

10.  Don’t be afraid of other people’s empty judgments.

The greatest and most gratifying experiences in life cannot be seen or touched.  They must be felt with the heart from the inside out.  There’s nothing more inspiring than the complexity and beauty of human, heartfelt feelings.  Sadly though, many people let the fear of judgment numb and silence them.  Their deepest thoughts and feelings often go unspoken, and thus barely understood.

Do NOT let people invalidate or minimize how you feel.  If you feel something, you feel it and it’s real to you.  Nothing anyone says has the power to invalidate that, ever.  No one else occupies your body, or sees life through your eyes.  No one else has lived through your exact experiences.  And so, no one else has the right to dictate or judge how you feel.  Your feelings are important.  Never let anyone or any circumstance lead you to believe otherwise.

Remind yourself that there is a great freedom in leaving others to their opinions, and there is a huge weight lifted when you take nothing personally.

http://www.marcandangel.com/2019/01/27/dont-be-afraid-to-do-these-10-hard-things-for-yourself/