Love yourself.

Get it!

Let Go.

This moment.

Kindness.

Being happy in the moment.

I think there's two kinds of people,
those who are consumed with today and what's going on now and getting through this moment.
And then there's people like me who live in the future.

I tend to worry about 5 years from now way more than I worry about tomorrow.
I wouldn't say that's bad, except sometimes I get so caught up in the future I forget about having fun and living life in the here and now.

I remember being 24 and single (man I felt OLD) and talking to a friend about how life would be SO much easier once I was married. Life would just be figured out and we'd live happily ever after.
Fast forward a year or two, we are both married and having a conversation like "hey remember when we thought life would be so much easier once we were married and now we're married and we remember how much easier it was to be single?"

Turns out I don't think there's any life events that can make you happy. You have to find the happiness in the midst of life.

This is one of my new favorite quotes, you are responsible for your attitude, your emotions, and ultimately your happiness. No one, no thing, no event, no amount of anything can make you happy. So just do it for yourself.

Be somebody who...

Do you ever wish you could redo certain events or situations in your life? 

Maybe it's just me, but I have a handful or memories that I'd really love to go back and do over, 

I'd even take a mulligan for them.

Most have to do with me not being the nicest person,

hurting someone's feelings,

talking poorly about somebody whose situation I didn't know,

trying to "get even" with somebody.

Worse yet, ignoring someone,

not taking the time to get to know people.

Thankfully, I have a few redeeming memories.

I remember in elementary school some kids a grade or two younger than me were making fun of a boy for having a hairy tongue. Which is sort of humorous now, I have no idea if he had a hairy tongue, but I remember telling them to leave him alone, and they did. The boy then proceeded to follow me around for a few days.

Being shy certainly didn't help. 

I wish I would have talked to more people, 

been nicer, 

made more friends, 

said some things I wanted to to some people, 

and not said some things I did to others.

Some people have a way of befriending everyone and making them feel important. 

Some of us are trying.

"The things I used to trip on, I walk over now"

I love this quote simply because it tells me I can overcome anything.
I remember working at the Boys & Girls Club and there was a quote on the wall that said,

"Use it to your advantage, abandon it when it becomes your limitation."

That has always stuck with me, to always be on the lookout for what's helping me or hindering me.
Life can be hard but we often make it harder on ourselves than it needs to be when we let our weaknesses hold us back.

I have this somewhat irrational fear of being attacked by a wild animal. A few summers ago we were camping at a yurt and I was left alone with the baby at a campsite while Nate and my dad went to get the rest of our camp stuff out of the truck. I'm pretty positive I saw a mountain lion on the hillside opposite of where I was and it totally freaked me out. I went and hid in the yurt for some time, sure that the lion was coming for me.

Funny now, but it wasn't the first time fear had paralyzed me and kept me from enjoying what I was doing.
I often fear getting chased or attacked by a dog while on a walk or on a run.
I'm probably about the only weirdo that worries about things like that, but some days it keeps me from going on the walk or run!
I don't want to feel trapped inside because of things that "might" happen. I want to enjoy everything! So here's to living life anyway and not letting things hold me back and overcoming my silly fears!

I recently heard another mantra that goes along with this too,
"The universe is for me, and so is everything else."

I'm going to take advantage and make the most of life.

Smile.

Yesterday was a rough day. 

I didn't get enough sleep, I ate like 5 more cookies than I should have, I couldn't focus, and I just wanted to go back to bed!

So I did my daily yoga, I took a shower, started some laundry, and made dinner.

Productivity.

I started to feel better.

I got more motivation.

Then I watched my little boy ride his "bike" (which is really more of a big wheel and his feet don't quite reach the pedals so it's entertaining).

We went for a walk and enjoyed the sunshine.

We watched the ducks in the canal, we kicked rocks, and we enjoyed life.

It's all about recognizing the good because there is beauty all around!