I am inspired by basically everything. One word, one action, one piece of nature -- anything. It's these tiny pieces of inspiration that manifest into even bigger thoughts and ideas that sit in my mind begging to be let out. And what better way to let them out than to write about them. Which brings me to this blog, and where it leads, well that is unknown.
It's been a while since my last post, my apologies. The life of a college student can get a little hectic every once and a while. Warning: it's about to get hectic again very soon... like tomorrow...But anyways..
Over the course of my career as an avid "StumbleUpon-er," thus far, I have accumulated a lot of absolutely fabulous and thought-provoking quotes and images. So, today I wanted to share just a glimpse of a few these lovely images and quotes with you all because what good will they do if i keep them all to myself right?
These are just a few images and quotes that inspire me. Hopefully, they inspire you too.
If you are anything like me, you probably tend to make your life a little more chaotic and hectic than it needs to be. I find myself doing this all the time. However, I have been trying something a little different lately -- taking a break from all of the chaos [or at least trying to when I can] and just try to be happy and content with the simple things in life.
How often do we go through the daily motions of life and forget about how wonderful and beautiful everything in the world is that we just take for granted? Pretty often, I would say. I mean think about it, when was the last time you took 5 or 10 minutes just to sit outside and enjoy nature?
We all do it, we get so caught up in the rush of life, and we think that the only way to be successful is by doing everything and anything. But that's really not the way to be successful,or at least I don' think it is. I think the best way to success is through happiness, and I think the way to get to this happiness is by taking a step back and just enjoying all of the simple things in life. We take so many things for granted every single day. I think this is something we all need to think about more, how often do we really stop and enjoy the simplicity of life. We are constantly wanting more and more. But why can't we just be happy with what we do have? It always seems like someone else has it better or that you always seem to get the short end of the stick. If we could just learn to enjoy the simple things in life and stop fretting over what we don't have and wishing that we had more, I think we would slowly become much happier people in all aspects of life.
I was listening to a song today that I hadn't listened to in quite a while. I listened to it a few times in a row because today I felt like it had a really special meaning to the way I was feeling. And it hits everything I was feeling perfectly. It talks about how we don't need a lot to hold us, even if we are alone we have the big sky to hold us. I think this song is so beautiful, and I hope that you can find the same beauty and develop your own understanding of it, just as I did. --It is called Big Sky, by Rachel Loy--
I hope you enjoy this song, as well as the beauty and simplicity of life.
This is probably one of my all time favorite quotes. Why? Because of how much truth is behind it.
I had a teacher in high school who used tell us that in life many people will ask us, "what do you want to be when you grow up?" but she always said that she would never ask us what we wanted to be because that's not what life is about, rather she would ask us, "Who do you want to be?" It makes complete sense. We get so preoccupied on being a doctor, lawyer, or business man that we forget about the real meanings in life. Instead I think it's more important focus on what kind of person we want to be just as this 5-year old did, and we should want to be happy.
Is that not what life is about after all, finding what makes you truly happy? This kid and his mom had it right, happiness is the key to life. If a grade were to be given on this assignment, I know for sure that my high school teacher would have given him an A+. Life shouldn't be just about what career you want to pursue, but what kind of person you want to be. I think the ultimate goal in life is to be happy -- truly, genuinely, happy.
For myself, I would like to be happy when I grow up. I hope that you all have the same hope, because as the mother in this quote said, "happiness is the key to life."
Why is is that a lot of times we are so afraidto try new things or go outside of our comfort zones? Probably because we are creatures of habit, and we are scared of what will happen.
I think that one of the best things we can do is scare ourselves every once in a while. No, I don't mean go watch the scariest movie you can find or camp out in a graveyard. What I mean is try something new, take yourself out of your comfort zone. I think that a lot of times we hold ourselves back because we are scared about unknown result. But why not replace this sense of not knowing with curiosity?
We need to learn to be comfortable with being uncomfortable, because if you haven't noticed by now, life is all about uncomfortable situations. Whether you decide to embrace those uncomfortable situations or not is up to you.
I know for myself some of the best things in my life have resulted from embracing uncomfortable situations. When I made the decision to move all the way across the country people always asked me "don't you think you'll get homesick" and "aren't you scared?" and well, my answer for them tended to be, and still is, yes I'm sure I'll get homesick and miss my family, but I think that's perfectly normal, and am I scared? I moved across the country knowing no one and having no idea what would happen... The way I answer that question is -- I think it's good to be scared. For myself, this was something I always wanted to do, and I had the opportunity to do it so I did. I was curious I wanted to see what life was like somewhere else, so I did. -- I purposely placed myself in a world of the unknown because I knew if I didn't then I probably never would.
So start right now. Stop holding back, do the things you've always wanted to but have been to afraid to. Take that trip you've always wanted to. Ask the questions you've been scared to. One thing that I don't understand is when people say how unhappy they are where they live or in their work. So why don't you leave? Is what I always ask. The answer tends to be the same, "I'm scared to leave" or "I'm comfortable here" You know what I say to that, do you want to be unhappy and 'comfortable' wondering what could have been? Or would you rather take that risk and see what life is like in that city you've always wanted to live in, or what it might be like to be the painter you've always wanted to be. I mean, honestly, what's the worst that happens, you decide you don't like it and you go back? But you know what you can say that the others can't? "Yeah, I tried it. I did what I had always wanted to." and that in itself says an awful lot.
We get so scared all of the time because we cannot control everything and because there is so much that is unknown to us. Maybe we can't control everything,but what we can control is whether we decide to live life in fear of the unknown, or embrace our curious mind and be adventurous and take chances and stop being so afraid of what we don't know. Because not knowing and being curious will cause us to go outside of our comfort zones and just might lead us to the place we have been searching for.
"In your soul there are infinitely precious things that cannot be taken from you." -- Oscar Wilde
Photo from weheartit.com
When I see this quote I think of things such as creativity and imagination as well as love and compassion. No one can take these things away from us. Sure, sometimes it might feel like it.
Have you ever thought about the person you are the hardest on? The person you constantly criticize or knock down? I would guess for most people it is yourself. But why do we do this? Why do we constantly beat ourselves up? We can become so obsessed with perfection that we lose sight of reality.
It doesn't make sense. We are so hard on ourselves -- we doubt ourselves.
The same situation occurs, we fail at something, so we get discouraged, and we don't want to try anymore. We want to give up, or stop trying. But why not take this failure as an opportunity to better ourselves? Why not use this as motivation to be better next time?
We all have the ability to be great. We can change the world. What it takes to do this is belief. Not only belief in the world, but also, and even more important, belief in yourself. If you cannot believe in yourself why should anyone else believe in you? I know the times when I believe in myself are the times that I feel others believe in me too. In order to this we have to learn to be honest with ourselves, we have to learn to be open with ourselves. Am I saying that I believe in myself all of the time, and that I am open and honest with myself all of the time? NO, of course not. I wish I could say this.
However, what we can all do is not give up, and be confident in our words, actions, and thoughts. Because with all of this we will slowly come to terms with believing in ourselves.
We all have something special that we are meant to share with the world, whether we know it or not, we do. I think that is what Oscar Wilde is trying to say. We all have something so precious so wonderful inside of us -- yeah, maybe we don't know what it is yet but it's there -- and no one, can take that away. How do we find out what this is? Well, I am guessing the best way to find it is to stop searching, let it find you, let it reveal itself. Who knows it could reveal itself in a failure or in a second attempt after you fail. Or maybe it could reveal itself when you feel like you are holding onto nothing or you feel like your alone. But I do think that the greatest gift is to believe in yourself. Because when you believe in yourself, you are the best, most confident, loving, compassionate, you there is. When this happens you can make a difference in the world. We have to believe in ourselves. We have to love ourselves. It won't always be easy -- no one ever said it would be, but I have a feeling that it will be worth be. because in believing in yourself so many doors open and the world just gets closer and closer to being a better place.
I think this song is a perfect example of taking that step to believe in yourself and make the world a better place. I hope that someone can enjoy it as much as I do.
Life is full of so many setbacks, so many challenges. How are we to know which path to take? How to overcome a fear? How to face these challenges head on?
One thing I have slowly come to realize is that we do not always know the answers, and that sometimes we have to fail before we can succeed.
I have a yoga teacher who says, "the strongest people are those who surrender." It took me some time before I fully understood this, well at least understood in my own mind and way. Those who can admit to themselves that they can not do something are incredibly strong. Most of the time we put up a front, and we are afraid to admit when we are wrong or when we can't do something, we constantly make excuses instead of just being honest and admitting that we aren't 'superhumans.'
From this I am slowly coming to terms with the fact that it is okay to fail, and it is okay to not always win. We talked about this again in my yoga class today. Accepting that you don't have to win every time, and that yoga, and LIFE, is not a competition. We also talked about how you should not feel guilty for taking time for yourself. We so often do this! We feel guilty when we take time to relax, or sit in silence, or meditate, but there is not reason to feel guilty. Why shouldn't someone be able to enjoy the "sweetness of doing nothing," dolce far niente?
Sometimes it seems like we have to be doing something all of the time, but why? Why can't we just take a little bit of time everyday to do "nothing?" To just sit in silence, to pray, to meditate, whatever it is you like to do.
I know for myself, the more I take time for myself in prayer, silence, or meditation, the more I come toknow myself and the happier I am.
So, "this is the part where you find out who you are." All of life is a journey. We can not always control what is going to happen next in the world, however we can control ourselves, and how we deal with everything in the world. Being able to have control over yourself is one of the greatest things I think a person can do. I think that this helps everyone to find out who they truly are, because really isn't that what life is about, finding out who you are?
