One Thousand Reasons To Smile

You guys are wonderful. My blog reached 1,000 page views yesterday! That makes me so excited and so ready to reach more people! I've been informed recently of the amount of people that I don't even know that follow this blog and that just makes my heart happy :) 

Rachel Berry :"It's pretty amazing what a good make-over can do. It's like you change the outside and the inside just follows."
Brody: "I think it's the other way around. I think your outside has caught up to how you feel about yourself."

This is quoted from the latest episode of Glee and it struck a chord with me. It's so utterly and completely true! I used to agree with Rachel, but what Brody says is the absolute truth. I haven't always felt wonderful on the inside, but I also knew that I was better than what I was feeling. I knew that deep down there was a confident, strong young woman just waiting to be released. When I finally decided to change my life, this woman finally made her first appearances. She's gradually made her way out into the world and is all the better for it. I agree with Brody that I've just made my appearance match what I truly felt deep down. I feel about myself the way everyone should be able to feel about themselves. Even if you're still not to the point of true confidence, surely you can look around and see that this life is actually pretty great. There are so many things to smile about, so many things to sing about, so many things to be grateful for. God has given you this life for a reason and has filled it with so many great things. Your task is to find those things. Not everything is going to just be handed to you, sometimes you have to go out and find them. I've learned that you can't just sit around and wait for great things to happen, sometimes you have to make them happen. Being lazy doesn't just apply to physical activity, it applies to every aspect of life. If you're just going to sit at home and wait for people to call you, you're going to miss out on a lot of things. 

"You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years trying to get people interested in you." -Dale Carnegie. Perfect quote for this topic. Yes, your truest and closest friends are going to call you and drag you out of the house. But sometimes, if you want to make more friends and have more opportunities, you've got to be the one to pick up the phone, send a text, or even just a Facebook comment. If you don't reach out, others are less likely to return the favor. Throughout this journey, I've found it easier and easier to do just that. Because I have always suffered from Social Anxiety Disorder, this is a big deal for me. I used to dread my phone ringing. I used to immediately come up with an excuse in my mind to get out of things. Not anymore. This change has turned me into the caller. I love going out, I love hanging out with friends, I love making new friends (which has been happening more and more lately). It's like I'm a different person, but I truly believe that this is the person that's been inside of me all this time. I just couldn't muster up the confidence I needed to live the life I desired. There are still major changes that need to be made, such as getting back into school, eventually moving out, stuff like that, but making smaller changes in my life has only built up more and more confidence within me. 

Your assignment is to stop, slow down, look around you, look at your life, look at the people in it and realize that it's all wonderful. Even if you're not living the life you had imagined or planned, you're living the life you were meant to live. If there's something you have the ability to change and that change is going to improve your life, then do it. Don't waste time on people who don't deserve to have your love, don't waste time on projects that don't matter. Spend time on activities that are going to benefit you and are going to improve your circumstances. Keep people in your life that deserve your love and will return it to you. Being around negative people is only going to bring you down. Surround yourself with positive people that will lift you up! You deserve the best and deserve to be loved by people who truly love you, you deserve true happiness, and the sooner you realize that, the sooner you're going see a difference in your attitude and life in general. I don't really know when my moment of realization came about, but I do know that because my outside has caught up with my inside, I feel like I am worth so much more than what I had put up with for so long. I do deserve the best and I deserve happiness. I never thought that I could actually be this person, but now that she's out, she'll never be hushed again. :)

Want to have a pleasant day? Try this: Smile at strangers. Slow down. Say thank you. Give lots of compliments. Dress nicely. Observe and listen. Be charming, laugh. Wish people a lovely day.

Spreading positivity will improve your own outlook, and making others smile will make you smile. I promise.