embrace the current season of your life

10 ways to be happy

1. accept the things you can't change.  if you can and want to change them do it.

i love this idea of letting go of things that you can't chage.  i'm what some people might like to call a control freak so this idea of changing what i can change is really appealing to me.  one of the things that i have been working on changing in my life is how gaurded i am.  i am trying to be more open, more myself and letting my personality show to those who don't know me.  the hard part about this is accepting the things i can't change.  i can't know now what is going to happen in the future.  this drives me crazy because i just want to know right now who i'm going to end up with and where i'm going to be so that way i don't waste time on something that isn't worth it.  but maybe that is the point of making something worthwile... the struggle to get there.  This is something me and my bff syd talk about all the time we just want to know what is the most important thing for us to be concentrating on right now... btw if you want to read a fantastic blog check out imperfections are beauty and madness is genius it's Syd's blog and i love it. 

2. let go of the people that are holding you down.  if you considered them, you all ready know who these people are. 

i don't think that letting go of people means that you have to block them from your life.  i think really we just need to let go of caring about what they think about us, mentally let go of letting what they say and do hurt us.  learn to let your own opinion of yourself matter more than any body who might try and belittle you.  that doesn't mean though, that you should never change or accept critisizm.  That is something i have been trying to work on lately taking suggestions that my room mates, parents, and others give me and trying to impliment them.  somtimes you need an outside opinion on what you can change, but that doesn't mean at all that i let people treat me badly or walk all over me. 

3. blast your favorite upbeat song and sing at the top of your lungs, dancing as you go.

i honestly think that dancing out your woes, fears, and stresses is some of the best possible therapy (eespecially when you are in your kitchen with the people that you love most) i have a goal in life "to never be mature" and really what i mean by that is to never get too old that i can't have fun and still act like a kid sometimes.  some of my favorite memories have been when me and my room mates or friends have just completely let loose and gone crazy dancing.  right now me and my room mates favorite jam for this is call me maybe by carley ray jepson.  it's really kinda a pointless song but it is prime dance party material.

4. go for a run. a nice long ,run. run until you feel good; at the very least you'll be tired enough that the feeling will seem less major.

if i wasn't a member of the church of jesus christ of latter day saints i would be a member of the running church.  i honestly think that running is the best way to get rid of any thing that is troubling you (that and dancing but running you don't have to be in a good mood to go running).  get your ipod plug in the music that matches your mood and run out everything.  run out your heartbreak, run out your anger, run because your so hyper and your room mates are going to kill you if you don't shut up.  run because by running you are mastering yourself you are becoming stronger than before.  you have control over your mind and body... prove it.

5. call someone you love.  just hearing their voice can make your day better.

up until michael left in november i would always call him when i was upset. in fact i still have a voice mail that everyonce and a while i listen to it (pathetic i know) but lately i have taken to calling my parents.  on saturday night i was feeling completley heartbroken and discoruaged (i tell you this so you don't think that i am one of those annoying people who never struggle... i do i'm not perfect haha) and i called my mom i just vented to her but i love just listening to her talk about her day or when she tells me about funny things that my sisters do.  family is everything, and they always have your back take advantage of that give 'em a call.

6. smile at a stranger. it will make both of you smile.

i love doing this! last week when i was walking up to campus i saw this guy who was wearing byu lacrosse apparel and i was just going to smile at him but all of a sudden words were coming out of my mouth and i was like "BYU lacrosse! good luck on your game this friday!" (my room mates were so embarrassed for me)  and he smiled and was like "thanks" but now i see him like every day on my way to campus and we don't really say anything any more but we both smile and it makes me happy.... i wonder if he's thinking there's that psycho girl... whatever it's fun i like our simile exchange :)

7. send an anonymous compliment

last year when i lived in helaman halls we had little paper pouches on all of our doors that people could leave notes for you.  it never failed that on the days that i felt like i couldn't make it through i would come home to find a note from one of the cute girls in my hall telling me they liked my hair or outfit or i made them smile or SOMETHING and i was reminded that people do care and my heavenly father is very aware of all my thoughts, moods, and needs.  I still have each one of those notes i read through them sometimes, and i like to think that when i do the same thing i am helping someone else through those days that seem to never end.

8. write down everything you don't like about yourself. rip it up. burn it.

this goes back to the things that you can change change it.  i generally don't think very negative things about myself because really what good does it do than to cause me to feel sorry for myself.  i haven't always been that way though. when i was like 12-14ish i probably had the lowest self esteem ever (it's what happens when you have a little sister that is practically a super model) but then one day it clicked i wouldn't ever make a good rylee, but i make a pretty great kalli.   me and my room mates have a rule that for every negative thing that you say you must counter it with two positives one to cancle it out and the other to build you up.  obviously you don't have room mates to censor your thoughts, only what is said aloud, so write down those terrible things that you think about yourself and for heaven's sake STOP IT! nothing is gained by belittling yourself, you can't help anyone else and you don't help yourself. so be you be amazing!

9. watch your favorite movie.

sometimes you just need to escape and what better way than to just veg on the couch watching your favorite movie. generally when i get in these moods i want to cry so i watch my favorite chick flick (a little princess, the notebook, the last song, ps i love you) get my blanket, earnest the unicorn pillow pet (ernest is a girl btw) and some chocolate and cry till i feel better.  sometimes my emotions get so built up that i can't figure out what i'm feeling any more... crying is like giving myself a new start and emotional do over. 

10. realize that you are your own biggest critic.  people do not see the faults that you see in yourself. so realize that they are not faults, not imperfections. they make you, YOU!

if there is one thing that i wish every girl, well actually everyone on this earth, knew is that you are so unbelievable special.  i am a counselor for a program called retreat for girls and it's a camp for girls ages 11-15 (aka THE AWKWARD STAGES) but what we concentrate on is how wonderful each one of those girls is.  if there is one thing that i have learned from life is how awesome it is that people are different and can contribute a different perspective on each situation.  be yourself, don't try and be something you're not.  it is just going to make you feel self concious and awkward.  embrace quirkieness.  find what makes you happy, what makes you  you and grow it.  learn to shine through everything that makes life difficult.