In my last entry, I wrote that I have several journals scattered around online, including this one.  I've decided to end this journal today.  I look back on the writings I did and the crescendo that my life crawled up, with so many people reading what I had to write on a day-to-day basis. 

It's gotten to a point where I write so much and so often that people have taken advantage of my presence here.  They glance over the entries, keeping in the back of their mind that Matthew will write again tomorrow.  But friends, don't take anything for granted.  Sometimes, tomorrow doesn't come, and then you're left with nothing.

If you take anything out of any writings that I produce, it's this:  Don't take ANYTHING for granted.  Nobody guarantees you a tomorrow...and nobody guarantees anyone else one either.  Think about it--the person to your left, the person to your right...they could be gone ten seconds from now.  You could turn your back on a person, and when you turn around again, they could be gone.  Maybe they move on, physically or from this world.  You're never guaranteed one more second with someone you love, so cherish the moments you have with them now. 

Don't submerge yourself in the negativities that life brings.  Never live a life from regret.  Learn from everything.  Stop and smell the roses while you have time.  Drown in the positive.  Extend a hand to a new friend.  Extend your arms to the friends you have and the ones you love.

In the first post I ever made on this journal, I explained why I chose this name.  It's partially self-evident, but it's also in part to this rule I made:  There will be no other journals after this.  I won't cave in three days later and open a new Xanga.  I won't make another LiveJournal or any of those other blogging services.  But that doesn't mean I won't quit writing at all.  Blogging has become a huge part of my life, so I'll keep writing at Madrigal Skylark on LiveJournal, and for those who know of my California Xanga, I'll write there as well (and those entries eventually make their way to Madrigal Skylark anyway, so nobody's really missing anything).  I invite you all to read up on me there.  One day, I'm sure those will come to a close as well, and when they do, there will be no more writings from Matthew.

As I say goodbye friends, I leave you with a song who I dedicate to a very special person in my life named Kara.  One day, I extended my hand in friendship to Kara, and it's developed into a beautiful friendship that's as strong 1,000 miles away now as it was when I was 2 feet away a few months ago.  We all have a Kara person in our lives, we just need an eye-opener sometimes to see them.  We need to see the blessing and love that they bring us, or one day, it'll be our last, or their last...and we'll have no more time.

Goodbye, friends.