Running Through Life

The summer before my Sophomore year I started running with my dad in the morning. He asked me if I wanted to do a 10k with him on the 24^th of July (Utah’s pioneer day). He had made the effort to prepare for this race a few years in the past and had done it before. I asked him how many miles it was because at that point I had no clue what a 10K was. I said, “sure.” I did pretty good at waking up and going running. My dad was faster than me. Well, he was faster than me until my little brother (9 years old at the time) decided that he wanted to do the race also. My dad would stay back and run with him. I did a 5K on the 4^th of July with my dad and brother. My friend who is very good at running did it too. After finishing the race I realized that these events were a lot of fun. I liked the idea that a bunch of people got together and ran and cheered for each other. There was also free food at the end which is always a plus. I got a little more excited to run the 10K a few weeks later. When the 10K rolled around I ran it and did fairly well for a first time runner. I finished in my goal time and didn’t stop running the entire race so I felt like I had done my very best. After that I began talking to some people and friends who were runners and they encouraged me to join my school’s cross country team. So by the end of the summer I was a part of the team and had practiced with them and pushed myself and improved a lot.

Naturally after I picked up the hobby I started to be more aware of other’s running when I saw them. Driving by runners I started to wonder how far they have ran. All sorts of people are out running: young and old, fit and not-so-fit. It is interesting that all of these people are running different lengths and different speeds and for different reasons. Running isn’t necessarily enjoyable but as I had discovered running can give you a sense of achievement. I think we can apply this to how we see others.

As we come to understand that we all have very different “health conditions” in life we will be able to be much more understanding of people. “Heath conditions” may include: a broken family, a mental or physical illness, financial instability or any trial. We all run at different speeds because we are all in much different shape. We all move through life differently because we all have different situations.

I have experienced health conditions both literally and figuratively. I faced muscles spasms and other problems that made it very hard to run. I have also watched my best friend face depression which has pushed her to her limits mentally. Trials like these cause us to slow down our “running” through life significantly. Next time your drive buy a person who seems like they should be in good shape struggling to run you might realize that they could be on their twenty-sixth mile for all you know. Maybe the person who seems to have an easy life is actually going through a lot that people don’t know about. You never know a person’s situations or “health conditions” so we should all strive to be a little less judgmental and a little more understanding. After all, it's the slowest runners who need the most motivation. 

Truly Successful Women

The world has enough women who are tough; we need women who are tender. There are enough women who are coarse; we need women who are kind. There are enough women who are rude; we need women who are refined. We have enough women of fame and fortune; we need more women of faith. We have enough greed; we need more goodness. We have enough vanity; we need more virtue. We have enough popularity; we need more purity. -Margaret D. Nadauld (The Joy of Womanhood)

The world cannot tell you what success is. Success is different for everyone however I believe you are successful if you are the kind of person who lifts those around you. You not have to look like the models on the magazines. Instead you should have a smile that brightens the day of all those you come in contact with.  Truly successful women are those who are confident, loving and selfless. 

Confidence

I think we can all agree that people who are confident seem happy. Confidence is such a funny thing because sometimes the people who look confident are the most insecure and those who seem quiet and insecure are the ones who are the most self-sure. I think that this is because we have forgot what confident means. When we think of confident it’s safe to say people would think of someone they know who is prideful and self-centered. That is not what confidence is – that is being prideful and self-centered!! Confidence is simply knowing who you are.

Seriously...knowing who you are, knowing what your style is, knowing what food you do and do not like, knowing what your laugh sounds like, knowing your favorite type of music, knowing your personality, knowing what you enjoy doing on a Friday night, knowing what you look for in the opposite sex, knowing your opinion, knowing what makes you – you.

This might sound crazy. Okay most likely it sounds really weird. How can knowing something like your favorite breakfast cereal help you have confidence?

In the world we live in we have what people call trend setters and hipsters, these are the “cool” people. Everyone wants to be like them. People act like them, talk like them, and dress like them. But, it’s not this simple. It’s actually really quite confusing because as soon as too many people are like them, it’s no longer cool. If there are too many “cool” doing what the hipsters are doing it becomes lame. Now the hipsters are doing something new that is totally different and “cool.” Hurry and start listening to that music and do what they’re doing before everyone else is doing it and it becomes lame all of the sudden. Weird and confusing but it is true isn’t it? This is what the world sees as confident now. Really this type of people are extremely insecure because they don’t know who they are. They have to be something they aren’t because this standard of “cool” is constantly changing. This just becomes extremely difficult and confusing. We are trying so hard to become something we aren’t because someone else SEEMS confident. This is not confidence.

I am a pretty confident person. I am outgoing. I am secure with who I am. That is because I actually KNOW who I am. I am a crazy girl. I love floral patterns and big stud earrings, I love chocolate and cucumbers, I hate mustard and pickles, sometimes when I laugh I snort but usually my laugh just comes out sounding loud and strange, I love listening to 80’s music and sing along with my dad, I talk a lot (sometimes too much), I love to sit at home in sweats and eat a quart of ice cream by myself sitting in front of a TV playing a romantic comedy, I am terrible at volleyball, I am a sucker for a guy who can tell a great joke, I have a long bucket list full of places I want to go and things I want to do, I love to dance, I don’t have enough patience to sit down and read a novel but I sure do love non-fiction, I am a go to church, love God type of gal and I love it. I love who I am. Sure my interests might change. Sure I will discover I like things I didn’t know I did. That is just fine, I’ll just add em to the list!

I’m not going to stop watching my favorite movie just someone thinks it is dorky. I’m not going to start swearing just because someone thinks it’s silly I don’t.  We have a choice to be we want. I’m not going to let someone influence that choice. I’ve made that choice and I will stick to it. I’m not going to judge someone else who made different choice then me, cause they aren’t me!! But if you don’t know who you are and who you want to be then you won’t be able to make this choice. You’ll just choose what everyone else is.

If everyone had confidence no one would compare themselves to another person. People would know their differences and be okay with it. Everyone would know their strengths and weaknesses and there would no longer be this need to be something. People would focus on who they are instead of what they aren’t!! They wouldn’t strive to find confidence in being accepted. They would strive to be the best version of themselves they could be.

Knowing who you are is simple.  We are the ones who complicate it. You don’t have to be like everyone else! Go try new things and decide for yourself if you like it or not! Stop being wishy washy on life! Decide!!

Start your list today!!

                I am           (your name here).

                I love to                .

                Someday I want to           .

                In my free time I                .

                My hobbies and talents are                  .

                I am not good at                .

                I am never going to                 .

                I am always going to              .

                I am me because _________.

The list goes on and on! It is not hard!! You might be surprised how little you actually know about yourself. How are you supposed to be confident if you don't even know who you are!! If you don’t know an answer, go find it out.

Being yourself is more than not being afraid to be a little weird. Being yourself is not following what everyone else is doing. Not having to look perfect like the girls on the magazines. Just looking like you! However, being yourself not trying to be different than everyone else.  I don’t do things just to be different. You couldn’t pick me out from a crowd just by looking at me. I’m a pretty normal teenager. But no one else is exactly like me. I know who I am, and I be me. That’s what being yourself is, knowing who you are and being it!!

The more confident you are, the happier you will be. Making decisions will be so much easier because you will already know what you want. You’ll be happier with who you are and you will be able to live life not having to worry about being someone to please others. You will please yourself! Confidence comes with knowing yourself. You will be surprised how simple it is.

Change

The one thing that keeps life moving is change. The world is constantly changing, or else time would just be frozen.  Change can be big, change can be small. Change can be exciting, change can be scary. Some changes we can control, others we can’t. We change and other people change.  Whatever the case the world around us is changing. The big ones are the ones we notice most because they have a big impact on our lives. We have a hard time accepting these things. It’s difficult at times for people to accept a big change or in life because it’s new, it’s different, it’s something they don’t know. When in reality, life’s changes are just another step of our journey, and just a small part of our entire lives. Change is just a refinement to bigger and better things.

Tomorrow will be a new step for me: High school. There are multiple emotions I am feeling right now. High school is very scary because it’s a transition I know will be big. It’s a change I can’t control. Is it a bad change? No. It just means my life is moving forward. I think that this is such a hard step for me because I loved Junior High. I had so much fun in middle school and would repeat those three years in a heartbeat. Funny thing is, looking back at it I was terrified to enter middle school. I was scared of that big adjustment. What seems like a trial in our lives now may become a blessing later. I had such a great expierence in middle school and I was very lucky to have been blessed with the people and teachers who touched my life. High school is a pretty big step for me. Sometimes the big steps seem more like a leap of faith. I don’t feel ready for this change in my life but that is so often the case. Life knows we’re ready so we just have to trust it sometimes.

In order for a person to grow and develop they need to change. Every day we shape who we are by the choices we make and the habits we develop. Learning opens new opportunities in our lives and creates new interests. I’ve already become interested in very new things and involved in different things in my school. The pathways we choose in life often shift. Our outlook on life even changes. Sometimes we don’t realize our transformation. Mentally, emotionally, and physically we never stop changing. Because this change is necessary for us to become the person we want. It's more like becoming us rather than changing us.

Holding on to the past gets us nowhere but neither does worrying about the future. The future can be scary at times because we can't see the curveballs that life will throw at us or the maze we often get stuck in.  Corrie Ten Boom a Dutch women who saved many Jewish lives during the Holocaust said, “Worrying does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow; it empties today of its strength.” Don’t spend too much time on the tomorrows of life or you will miss out on all of the fantastic todays. Enjoying right now in life will help you accept changes when they come at you. Even life’s hardest, darkest and saddest days have something to offer. Let the past go and let the future happen. As for today, just make the best of it.

It's really crazy to think that three years of middle school went by that fast and three years of high school will go by even faster. Then I'll be in college, just another step in life. I'll have a blast in high school, college will be a whole new adventure. The future is exciting but it is what you do with your "right now" that makes all the difference in the rest of your life.

When life hands us new experiences, new opportunities, and new relationships, we sometimes don’t want to accept the new, or are afraid. We loved the old ones but who knows, we may like the new memories even more. Change is just the refining moments in life. Love what life hands you. Love the things that make you wake up and groan because they’re the things that will make you appreciate your blessings that much more. Without change our lives would be very much nothing. We’d never become better people. We wouldn’t have the chance to experience moments that build us and make us, us. Wither it be the little things or the big things everything happens for a reason and it’s all part of our life and our story, and a part of us.

The Goal of This Blog

Too often in this world  we let other's words and actions get the best of us. Too often do we change who we are because people have a problem with us. And too often we get so caught up in life. We need to take a step back and look at the simple things in life that bring us joy.
So here is the goal of this blog...to make sense and remind us of the things we already know but tend to forget.

If you ever need a boost of self esteem or a smile here's the place to find it :)