Time To Start The Life You Always Wanted

So recently I have been wanting a change. I want to start feeling like I am living life and not just watching it pass by. I want to start accomplishing more than just what is expected of me and what I ought to do. So with this being said I am taking a stand in my life and diving head first into the next chapter of my life.

I am going to do all the things I have wanted to do since I could remember. I am going to go out and do things for the sole purpose of having fun and enjoying life. I am going to cook foods that I have never made before, take trips to places I want to explore and most importantly try to find out who I am and what I want to do in life.

For the past 17 years I have been doing everything that has been expected of me, but now it is my turn to see the fun side of life. I want to be able to look back and see that I did things for me and not just because it was the next logical step in my life. At this point I am young and have my whole life ahead of me why not explore the world around me and take the time to really see the person I am and the person I want to become. Everyone is always waiting for something in order for thier life to start, but why can't it start right now?

When I started this blog originally I wanted to inspire people to be happy and I also want to show people it is never too late to do what makes you happy, better late then never. I want to try and capture the magic of life and share it with those of you who choose to read. I want to start doing things that I would never imagine doing just because I want to do them. You are only young once and nothing lasts forever so you must enjoy the time that god has given you while it lasts. Tell people that you care about that you love them and take the time to be there for your friends because things change and people change. No one is guarrenteed any particular amount of time on this planet so we need to make the most of it while we can!

So As I open the next chapter of my life I hope to share it with those who read my blog and hopefully inspire someone to do the same thing in their life. It doesn't need to be life altering to make an impact on your life it could be as simple as taking an hour out of your day to just focus on you and where you want to go in life or taking a day trip exploring your state in ways you never have before. Just listen to your heart and what you can feel will make you happy. It may not be easy, but then again when is life ever guarrenteed to be easy? If it were easy we would all be to bored to enjoy it.

There is no maual to how to live your life you just need to ride the rollar coaster and hold on tight only sometimes falling off.

Judge Not

So recently I have tried to work to be a better person and as part of this transformation I have tried to resist the temptation to gossip and judge others. Each person has their own story and their own struggles in life and who am I to tell a person what they should or should not do or even have an opinion on how they decide to live their life? I have no more insight into this life than they do and on some issues I could never image being in such a position. I am fortunate in the life that I have and honestly have enough in my life to worry about I don't need the added worry of others lives. By judging others we are not defining others but ourselves. How we treat others around us is more of a reflection of the people that we are and less about the other person. Think about it when we judge others aren't we just commenting on weaknesses and failures we see in our selves. We bring up the failures of others to deflect the failures we should be trying to focus on in our own lives. But why do we throw stones at others as if we have no problems of our own? I think we would rather see how others are lacking than truly look into in our own hearts. Its our lack of self-confidence and our unwillingness to take a good hard look at our own lives that that leads us to see others and feel as if we have a say in their lives.
In the bible Jesus tells a group of people who want to stone a woman for adultery that the person who has not committed any sins can throw the first stone by doing this Jesus was trying to show people that no one is perfect and no one has the right to judge another since we all have our failings that we need to deal with.
We see people everyday and everyday we interact with them, but do we ever really know what is going on in their lives? We are only able to see as far into their lives as they let us and in some situations that is not very far. So then how are we, who are secondhand judgers, really going to make up in our minds how we feel they should live their lives? No one has the ability to judge your own life other than you because you are the only one who has all the information. Sure others know the stories and events that go on in your lives, but none of them know the feelings and emotions you have felt behind those events. 

So my new rule of life is going to be to try to be to only say something about another person that I would say if they were standing right in front of me. If you wouldn't say it in front of them then why are you saying it behind their back?

Now I am in no way saying this is easy to do nor am I saying that I have been able to accomplish this goal yet, but it is defiantly something to strive for. I am no better than anyone else and most of the time I find it extremely hard to say what is on my mind because of insecurities I have with myself. But I guess that is the thing about judging others you judge based on insecurities you have and project onto others who don't deserve such treatment. But who am I to judge I am just an average person trying to do what is right, but knowing that sometimes I will stumble along the way. In order to be truly happy you need to let go of the hate and embrace love and compassion for others around you. Each day gives you the chance to start anew and leave the worries and bothers of yesterday behind you. If you don't move forward you will stop growing and when you stop growing how will you continue to thrive?

Don't Worry Be Happy

We are all waiting for that one moment when we will be happy. When everything will fall into place and when our life will be in order. We say once we get that job promotion, or find "the one", or buy a house to live in, or have a baby our lives will be perfect and we will achieve everything we ever wanted in life. But all though these things will help improve our lives and one of them is a true miracle that will forever positively impact our lives they are not everything. They can not fix the unhappiness we feel today the instant they appear. They can not take away the years of agony we have felt. The are counterfeit happiness. On first thought they seem to be the answer to our despair but once we attain them we quickly see that they are not all that they are cracked up to be. If we want to be happy we need to start today this very moment.
Everyday we have a choice of how we will approach the day--with eagerness and excitement or anger and frustration. We choose no one else can choose for us. We need to start feeling happy today in order to ensure happiness in the future not just assume that one day when we have the right combination of life events or objects in our life that we will then gain the key to happiness.
So with that being said who will you be? and what kind of person will you let the world see that you are? Hopefully you can be happy and see that life is a gift from God and he would not give us anything we could not handle. 

Things I have Learned

Life is an unexpected and crazy ride that each of us has the ability to learn from and grow. One thing I have recently been able to learn from life is the quality of being honest and freeing yourself from previous burdens. There is no way to move forward if you do not examine your life and see where forgiveness can fit in. You must forgive those in your past in order to help your future and have a happier life. Everyone makes mistakes and everyone fails us at some point, but it how we react to this that will affect the happiness in our lives and the lightness we will feel in our souls. Sometimes this forgiveness will manifests its self in doing something nice for someone we do not particularly like, or telling someone they are forgiven, or even just letting go of the anger we hold in our hearts. Whatever works for us needs to allow us to resolve the issue in our hearts so that we can greet each day with a smile and not with pent up anger and resentment for the people around us.
Next we owe it to the people we care about to be honest with them and tell them when they have hurt us in order to move from a place of hurt to a place of healing. No one will ever know how you are feeling and the thoughts in your head unless you tell them! Even your best friend can know most of your thoughts and how you will react to different situations, but they still will never fully understand you as a person because you are unique creature of God that has thoughts and feelings every second of everyday.
God allows us to forgive others by forgiving us for our own shortcomings. How do we expect God to forgive us if we ourselves can not forgive others? Forgiveness is a big step and comes from the realization that we are all human and make mistakes. Freeing ourselves of this burden of holding ill feelings towards another will allow us to feel better about ourselves and the world we are creating to live in with those lucky enough to share our life. You never know where life will take you and when someone will leave this world for a better place so always leave loved ones with kind words to comfort them and never hold grudges that affect your well being for in the end none of us are going to make it out alive, but we need to make the most of everyday in every way possible :)

Letting Go

Moving on, we all have to do it at some point in our lives we move on from kindegarden to elementry school and eventually from college into the real world. We spend most of our young lives living with our parents and then must move on to growing up getting a job and supporting ourselves. And then there are relationships, we get into relationships hoping for the best and when they don't work out we have to move on, but how exactly do we do that? How do we go from loving someone with all our heart to cutting them completely out of our lives?
Breaking up with someone is never easy for the dumper and the person who is being dumped. Most people tend to side with the person who is dumped because they had no choice in the matter all the control for the decision was in the hands of the dumper, but what people fail to see is how for some dumpers they are just doing what they feel is right and that the decision they are making is not any easier on them because although they made the decision they really would have preferred not to. Now I know this is not the case in every relationship, but in my experience both sides still have equal right to miss the other. Because you got into the relationship in the first place means that something is there between the two of you that at one time you both recognized, but now you both have to let go.
What i have come to learn is letting go suck. excuse my lack of a better term, but I find that the more you have let someone in the harder it is to let them go out of your life and no matter how many people tell you, you will find someone else and that he was a loser you still know in your heart know how you felt and probably still feel about him.
We try to make the best decisions in life that hurt the least amount of people in the process, but sometimes as if often said the right road and the most difficult road are often the same. We often struggle to do what's best for both parties involved, but end up hurting both them and ourselves in the process. So what does that mean? I think it just means that in the process of letting go is also the hidden affect of us growing. Humans are only able to grow when they are faced with difficult times and getting through these hard times shows us how strong we really are. Did we make it through the day without going on his facebook page? Did you not text him recently? Those are the babysteps we need to be taking to let go and move towards where God wants us to be in our lives and that is happy.
Relationships end for many reasons, but the important thing is to recognize the good things that came out of them and identify the things that did not work so that the next time we enter into a relationship history will not repeat itself leaving us heartbroken for the same reason a second time.
Honestly I think I will always love him and he will always be a special person to me, but the fact is that I can not keep sitting here hoping things will change, but knowing deep down that they won't. I want him to be happy and not weighed down but my dissatisfaction when I am not happy with the way the relationship is going. I truly wish him all the best in life and in love and want him to find someone that will complement what a great person he is and I would like to find someone who makes me happy as well. Maybe sometime in the future we can be friends, but until that day I just want him to know that I never meant to hurt him and I wish much happiness and love to come his way.

Random Acts of Kindness

Today is random acts of kindness day so the only question is who will you chose to show your kindness to today? but really we should be doing random actas of kindness every day. Brightening someone eles's day can in turn brighten our own day as well without doing much on our part. How many times a day to we fail to even say hi to those around us...the driver of the shuttle we are taking, the man sitting on the corner of the street, the janitor sweeping the floor infront of us. We all have the power to recognize the people around us and make them feel valued yet why don't we? Are we too busy with the affairs of our own lives or do we just not want to get involved in the lives of others around us? Either way brightening up someone's day can really brighten up our own and give us benefits that go far beyond the simple gesture we did for another person. Helping others who are going through a rought time can make us see that we are not alone in struggles to our pursuit of happiness. Everyone has a story and everyone needs some support along the journey of life. Its funny how we look at others as being so much different than ourselves when in reality we are all just people trying to do our best and at times failing in our efforts. Each of us has a story and each of us has expeirances with hard times and suffering. We all fight a different battle, but our end goal is always the same to have a good life in which we can be happy and prosper. Sometimes, like the song states, we just need a little help from our friends. 
so as we go on our day to day routines and place our mark on the world don't forget to show some kindness and compassion to those around you and maybe in return they will reciprocate the gesture. Karma has a way of coming around and maybe something you do for someone else will inspire them and the cycle will only grow :)

Nightly Typings

what is happiness and how do we achieve it? That is the question I have recently been faced with as I go forward in my life. Is happiness an ever evolving ever moving aim that changes as we grow older or do we know deep down what will make us happy we just get too distracted by the noise of the world around us. What if in our search for happiness we become enveloped in sadness and despair? I feel like for the most part I am a pretty happy go lucky person, but recently I have the ever increasing feeling that happiness does not have as strong a hold over my life and that I am failing to grasp at the way it is evolving. Is this a normal feeling to have. I mean when you honestly think about it when we are young we have very little to worry about and very little responsibility so why not be happy most of the time, but as we grow older were are bombarded with worry about the future our lives will take, who we will be and how the choices we make today will effect us for the rest of our lives.

But is all this stress really the cause of our unhappiness solely or can we break free to a world of happiness by just changing our attitude about the things we are going through. How much of our happiness depends on the state of our mind and how we chose to view the world? Is it my mind taking over with negative thoughts and feelings that is the real problem at work or am I just coming to the realization that something in my life should or needs to change?

We all just want to be happy and have our dreams come true, but how do we do that when we feel like our life does not seem to be leading us down the path we want to be on. how to we make the right decisions when we have expectations placed on us by others and commitments to other people?

I guess my real question is how do we be happy in a world that does its best to tear us down and make us feel insecure about ourselves and our lives? I just can't remember when it all changed. when my carefree happy life turned into something that seems dark and bleak. Or was it ever as happy and carefree as I thought? Do we look back on the past more fondly than truly was the case? and if so are we able to do that with our present and future as well?

How do we live a happy life?