Monday, February 23, 2015

Make Plans.

When thinking about the future, it scares me. One thing that helps me think about the future is making a plan. I am facing so many decisions that I have to make and having a plan is helping. If I move back to Illinois, which would be next week if I do, I have two different plans that I need to follow. Obviously to get a job is priority number one, the rest will fall into place. If I stay where I am, then I continue on the plan that I am currently working through.

If you have a dream, it is one thing to say that you are going to chase the dream and it is another thing to actually have a plan that you can put into action. How are you going to make that dream come true? What is your next step? Plans change and nothing ever goes as it is supposed to, but the best part about having a plan A is that you can also have a plan B or C. Plan A would work in a perfect situation, and I wish you all the luck in having success with that plan, but also be prepared just in case something doesn’t work out the way it was supposed to.

My plans:
  • Plan A – Move to Georgia. Get a job. Save money. Move to Nashville.
    • I have failed all aspects of this plan so far.
  • Plan B – Move back to Illinois. Get a Job. Save Money. Get a job in Nashville. Move to Nashville
    • This is my next plan
  • Plan C – Stay in Illinois.
    • This is probably only if I got married or something. Then the plan isn’t just about what I want.


The future is a scary place and things happen that aren’t planned. It is simply all about how you go from there. What is the next step? I had it all planned out for when I got to Georgia, I am a great example of things not going according to plan. I also know what my next step is. I have this week to get a job and if I don’t, I will be back in Illinois, starting over, and hopefully having more success.

Have faith in your own decisions, wants, and needs. Do what is best for you! Seek advice from friends and family members. Do what you have to do to make sure that you are prepared. Make a plan that is obtainable. Don’t set yourself up for failure, but also get outside of your comfort zone. Don’t live a life where you are constantly saying, “one day I will,” do it now. Take a chance and do what you need to do to make sure that you are happy with your life.

Write down where you are now and then write down where you want to be. Fill the space in between with the steps to get there.

There is no time like the present. That I am certain of. If you keep putting your dreams off, they are going to be harder to go for. Never give up, but start now! Make a plan of who you want to be in 5 years and where you see yourself. It isn’t going to just happen for you, you have to make it happen!


I do feel as though our lives are books. Each day we write a new page. It is going to be a boring book if it is the same thing over and over again on each page. There are obvious exceptions to this though. If you love your job, it isn’t going to be boring. If you spend time making memories with friends, it isn’t going to be boring. Anything you do that makes you happy is going to change the story. Start now. Make those pages something to remember. 




Comment Your Thoughts

Tuesday, February 17, 2015

The Power of Music

           One of my favorite things in the world is music. I am constantly adding new music to my iTunes and I love watching the amount of music I have go up. it has always been an outlet for me. If I’m sad, I know what song to play. If I’m happy, I know what song to play. I hate silence, except when I’m sleeping, so even while studying in college I had classical music playing while I studied. It is something I love learning about and getting new information on. I love hearing the great artist in each genre and who paved the path for artist in that genre today.
            
I have a playlist for everything. Road trips, songs to listen to when I’m in the shower, songs for when I’m sad and want to be happy, and simply songs for everything. I am organized when it comes to my music.
           
Do you have a song that every time you listen to it you have a memory attached to it? Those are my favorite. You might not know it when you’re listening to it, but if it is worth a memory it is an amazing song. Even if the song itself isn’t that special, memories are. Find those songs. I will put my iTunes on shuffle and songs will play from forever ago and I can see myself dancing around in my room to them, I love it.
           
            Find music that speaks to you. I love falling in love with a new song. Give all genres a chance. Find songs that are you’re go to songs. I’m happy, I’m going to listen to….. I’m sad I’m going to listen to… I need something to brighten my mood…. I know my list of songs, it’s important to know yours. Music might not be that important to some people, but it is always there, playing somewhere.

            You don’t have to know anything about music to care about it either. I used to take voice lessons and can play a few instruments, but that was also 4 years ago, and now I focus on what the lyrics say in a song. How do they speak to me? I listen to hear the drums in the background and the guitar. I listen. Music is there to enjoy, enjoy it.

            It’s hard to do this post because it’s hard to put into words how important music is to me. I spend hours being OCD with my iTunes making sure everything is organized because it’s important to me. I am constantly writing down songs I hear and artist I think I should look into to see if I like their music.
          
Even if music is simply finding a good song on the radio, enjoy it.

Figure out what music can do for you. Let it be your escape.


“Where words fail, music speaks”
- Hans Christian Anderson -

“If music be the food of love, play on.”
 -William Shakespeare -

“Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible to be silent” -Victor Higo -

“Without music, life would be a mistake.”
- Friedrich Nietzche -

“Music can change the world because it can change people.”  
- Bono -

Sunday, February 8, 2015

Friendships.

Friend
  • A person whom one knows and with whom one has a bond of mutual affection.

It is important that you have someone in your life that you consider a friend. Someone that you can talk to and someone that you trust.

Find a friend that makes you a better you.

To be honest, I really only have one friend that I really talk to. We talk a few times a week and I am very thankful that I have her. The best part about the friendship is that we both care how each other is doing. If I’m having a bad day, she listens, if she’s having a bad day, I listen. The 12 hour distance between us sucks because I would love to have a girl’s night with her. Drink wine, eat stuff that we will regret later, and just talk. I wish it were that easy. I love her and I miss her. The best part about the possibility of moving back to Illinois is that we will eventually be roommates! If I move back I at least have that to look forward to. I have other friends that I talk to. One that calls me every once in a while and I can’t blame her for not being in contact more, she works a lot, but still I feel forgotten sometimes and we were so close when I lived in Illinois. I have another friend who we were close and we talk every once in a while, but it’s never really about how our lives are going, it’s about random stuff and then the conversation is over.

I had this coming to me when I up and left Illinois. With the possibility of having to go back constantly in the back of my mind and closely approaching,  a week away if no job, I need to figure out what friendships are worth keeping if I go back and even if I stay.

I don’t ever want to be someone who is a friend that you call when there is nothing else to do and I am that to a few people right now. It shows how many friends you actually have when barely anyone checks up on you since you moved 12 hours away. A simple “hi, how are you test” would work. I don’t need constant communication. It is ok, people drift part.

The whole point of this post is that I want to stress the importance of having a good friend. You can’t have as many friends as you choose, but how many can you really count on? Figure that out and keep those friends close to your heart. It is ok to have one really good friend and a bunch of acquaintances. It is also ok to have more than one best friend. What is important that you figure out who you can get along with and who you can trust with anything?

Who would you call at 3 a.m. just to talk? Who would come help you if your car broke down? Simple questions like that are how you figure that out. I have one answer to all of those. I also have friends who I would consider as a second or third call, but I would probably call my parents before I call them. Finding good friends can be hard. I of course have no friends living near me and it makes it hard, but a good friend will stay in touch.

Friendship is important. The whole marry your best friend thing, I cannot wait for that. To have a person there that I can talk to about anything, as well as also having my best friend to call when my husband is driving me nuts. J Friends have a powerful impact on our lives. Looking back now on who I have been friends with in the past and who I am friends with now is a definite difference. We discover who we really are as we grow up and our life experiences will bring us close to people and then take us farther away from them also. The real friends stick.

I keep to myself a lot and I tend to keep my problems to myself, it’s just how I am, but I like that I have a friend who I can talk to about my problems if I do decide to talk about them. That’s what everyone needs to look for, someone who listens, someone who is honest even if the honesty isn’t what you want to hear, and someone who simply cares about how you’re actually doing.


Find a friend that makes you a better you.

I know that I will have to find all new friends because eventually they will probably be gone, unless I have found a friend for life. Of course I won't know that until I am a lot older to see if they are still around. Time will tell. We shall see.





Monday, February 2, 2015

Quotes to make you Think.

1. “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do, so throw off the bowlines, sail away from safe harbor, catch the trade winds in your sails.  Explore, Dream, Discover.” —Mark Twain

2. “Accept responsibility for your life. Know that it is you who will get you where you want to go, no one else.” —Les Brown

3. “The world needs dreamers and the world needs doers But above all the world needs dreamers who do.” —Sarah Breathnach

4. “When I was 5 years old, my mother always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down ‘happy’. They told me I didn’t understand the assignment, and I told them they didn’t understand life.” —John Lennon

5. “The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any.” —Alice Walker

6. “The mind is everything. What you think you become.” —Buddha

7. “You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.” ―Mae West

8. “Remember that happiness is a way of travel, not a destination.” —Roy Goodman

9. “You never fail until you stop trying.” —Albert Einstein

10. “First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, and then you win.” —Mahatma Gandhi

11. “Every strike brings me closer to the next home run.” —Babe Ruth

12. “The Chinese use two brush strokes to write the word ‘crisis.’ One brush stroke stands for danger; the other for opportunity. In a crisis, be aware of the danger–but recognize the opportunity.” —John F. Kennedy

13. “Forget all the reasons it won’t work and believe the one reason that it will.” —Unknown

14. “The higher your energy level, the more efficient your body. The more efficient your body, the better you feel and the more you will use your talent to produce outstanding results.” —Anthony Robbins

15. “I don’t regret the things I’ve done, I regret the things I didn’t do when I had the chance.” —Unknown

16. “Count your age by friends, not years. Count your life by smiles, not tears.” —John Lennon

17. “What we have done for ourselves alone dies with us; what we have done for others and the world remains and is immortal.” —Albert Pike

18. “Its hard to wait around for something you know might never happen; but its harder to give up when you know its everything you want.” —Unknown

19. “Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear.” —Ambrose Redmoon

20. “Live in the present, remember the past, and fear not the future, for it doesn’t exist and never shall. There is only now.” —Christopher Paolini

21. “Always do what you are afraid to do.” —Ralph Waldo Emerson

22. “I believe that imagination is stronger than knowledge. That myth is more potent than history. That dreams are more powerful than facts. That hope always triumphs over experience. That laughter is the only cure for grief. And I believe that love is stronger than death.” —Robert Fulghum

23. “Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.” ―Mahatma Gandhi

24. “The best way out is always through.” —Robert Frost

25. “What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals.” —Goethe

26. “What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals.” —Goethe

27. “Vision without action is daydream. Action without vision is nightmare.” —Japanese Proverb

28. “In any situation, the best thing you can do is the right thing; the next best thing you can do is the wrong thing; the worst thing you can do is nothing.” —Theodore Roosevelt

29. “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” —Mark Twain

30. “Take the first step in faith. You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.” —Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

31. “If you worry about yesterday’s failures, then today’s successes will be few.” —Unknown

32. “Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will.” —Mahatma Gandhi

33. “Do first things first, and second things not at all.” —Peter Drucker.

34. “There is no education like adversity.” —Disraeli

35. “Peace begins with a smile..” —Mother Teresa

36. “Do what you feel in your heart to be right – for you’ll be criticized anyway.” —Eleanor Roosevelt

37. “You can’t live your life for other people. You’ve got to do what’s right for you, even if it hurts some people you love.” —Nicholas Sparks

38. “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” —Winston S. Churchill

39. “Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.” —George Bernard Shaw

40. “It is never too late to be what you might have been.” —George Eliot

41. “Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.” Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

42. “Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.” —Mahatma Gandhi

43. “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” —Eleanor Roosevelt

44. “Be the change that you wish to see in the world.” —Mahatma Gandhi

45. “Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.” —Oscar Wilde

46. “We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty.” —Maya Angelou

47. “Pain is temporary. Quitting lasts forever.” —Lance Armstrong

48. “It’s not the load that breaks you down, it’s the way you carry it.” —Lou Holtz

49. “Rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life.” —J.K. Rowling

50. “Years teach us more than books.” —Berthold Auerbach

51. “The searching-out and thorough investigation of truth ought to be the primary study of man.” —Cicero

52. “A wise man learns by the mistakes of others, a fool by his own.” —Latin Proverb

53. “The only journey is the journey within.” —Rainer Maria Rilke

54. “If we do not plant knowledge when young, it will give us no shade when we are old.”
—Lord Chesterfield

55. “If you have an hour, will you not improve that hour, instead of idling it away?” —Lord Chesterfield

56. “Follow your honest convictions, and stay strong.” —William Thackeray

57. “Insist on yourself. Never imitate.” —Ralph Waldo Emerson

58. “Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.” —Aristotle

59. “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act but a habit.” —Aristotle

60. “Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we must do.”
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

61. “Energy and persistence conquer all things.”
—Benjamin Franklin

62. “If we all did the things we are capable of, we would astound ourselves.” —Thomas Edison

63. “Exert your talents, and distinguish yourself, and don’t think of retiring from the world, until the world will be sorry that you retire.”
—Samuel Johnson

64. “Every artist was first an amateur.” —Ralph Waldo Emerson

65. “Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.” —Ralph Waldo Emerson

66. “First say to yourself what you would be; then do what you have to do.” —Epictetus

67. “Reputation is for time; character is for eternity.” —J. B. Gough

68. “People are like stained-glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in; their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light from within.” —Elizabeth Kubler Ross

69. “And, when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.” —Paulo Coelho

70. “None but ourselves can free our minds.” —Bob Marley

71. “A ship is safe in harbor, but that’s not what ships are for.” —William G.T. Shedd

72. “Meditate. Live purely. Be quiet. Do your work with mastery. Like the moon, come out from behind the clouds! Shine.” —Siddhārtha Gautama

73. “Is it so bad, then, to be misunderstood? Pythagoras was misunderstood, and Socrates, and Jesus, and Luther, and Copernicus, and Galileo, and Newton, and every pure and wise spirit that ever took flesh. To be great is to be misunderstood.” —Ralph Waldo Emerson

74. “Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?” —Mary Oliver

75. “Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.” —T.S. Eliot

76. “Your life is an occasion. Rise to it.” —Suzanne Weyn

77. “With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.” —Max Ehrmann

78. “And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music.” —Friedrich Nietzsche

79. “Whatever you are, be a good one” —Abraham Lincoln

80. “Promise me you’ll always remember: You’re braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.” —A. A. Milne

81. “We are repeatedly what we do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” —Aristotle

82. “Stop wearing your wishbone where your backbone ought to be.” —Elizabeth Gilbert

83. “Anything or anyone that does not bring you alive is too small for you.” —David Whyte

84. “Your life is not a problem to be solved but a gift to be opened.” —Wayne Muller

84. “Weakness of attitude becomes weakness of character.” —Albert Einstein.

85. “Remarkable is a choice.” —Seth Godin

86. “Love is what we are born with. Fear is what we learn. The spiritual journey is the unlearning of fear and prejudices and the acceptance of love back in our hearts. Love is the essential reality and our purpose on earth. To be consciously aware of it, to experience love in ourselves and others, is the meaning of life. Meaning does not lie in things. Meaning lies in us.” —Marianne Williamson

87. “If consensus is overrated, I think balance is, too. I have no interest in living a balanced life. I want a life of adventure.” —Chris Guillebeau

88. “All mankind is divided into three classes: those that are immovable, those that are movable, and those that move.” —Benjamin Franklin.

89. “Nature and wisdom never are at strife.” —Plutarch

90. “The things you do for yourself are gone when you are gone, but the things you do for others remain as your legacy.” —Kalu Ndukwe Kalu

91. “The art of being wise is knowing what to overlook.” —William James

92. “The first step in the acquisition of wisdom is silence, the second listening, the third memory, the fourth practice, the fifth teaching others.” —Solomon Ibn Gabriol

93. “The journey is the reward.” —Chinese Proverb

94. “Life is 10% what happens to us and 90% how we react to it.” —Dennis P. Kimbro

95. “Give yourself an even greater challenge than the one you are trying to master and you will develop the powers necessary to overcome the original difficulty.” William J. Bennett

96. “The quality of a person’s life is in direct proportion to their commitment to excellence, regardless of their chosen field of endeavor.”Vince Lombardi

97. “All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them.” —Walt Disney

98. “Enter every activity without giving mental recognition to the possibility of defeat. Concentrate on your strengths, instead of your weaknesses… on your powers, instead of your problems.” Paul J. Meyer

99. “The tragedy in life doesn’t lie in not reaching your goal. The tragedy lies in having no goal to reach.”Benjamin Mays

100. “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.” —Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

101. “What we have done for ourselves alone dies with us; what we have done for others and the world remains and is immortal.” —Albert Pike

102. “You must be the change you want to see in the world.” —Mahatma Gandhi


John Green Quotes: 20 Awesome Photo Quotes From Tumblr OH MY GAWD I FINALLY GOT MY HANDS ON 'The Fault In Our Stars' AND (I haven't gotten to the cry-your-face-off part yet) SO FAR THE SADDEST THING ABOUT IT IS THAT HAZEL GRACE LITERALLY HAS CANCER AND CANNOT ATTEND SCHOOL OR SOCIAL FUNCTIONS AND STILL HAS A BETTER SOCIAL LIFE THAN ME.