I'm alive! I have all the body parts with which to put together sentences on this thing called a blog! Shocking, I know.
Today I received a tweet from my friend, Hannah, saying she is jealous of my life (as well as the life of my friend and padawan Ashleigh, but this is my blog so we're mostly going to talk about me). This is all I have been thinking about for the past couple of hours and I really just wanted to talk about this. Obviously, since I am here writing a blog for the first time in over a year.
I am a 24-year-old girl who lives with her parents and works a crappy retail job with no particular talents to speak of. I'm not sure anyone has ever told me (at least not seriously) that they are jealous of my life. There are many days where I am unhappy and don't particularly like my own life, but when my life is great it is because I have made it that way. We all know that cliche "Life is what you make it" and I am here to tell you how true that is.
There are always going to be circumstances in your life that are less than ideal. To a lot of people, I'm probably just a loser who has no life. There are some days when I work all day and just come home and watch shows from over a decade ago on Netflix and I am one of the people who think I have no life. The reason my life is actually sort of awesome is that I go on a lot of adventures. I'm guessing these adventures are what Hannah envies about my life. You know what's cool about adventures? Pretty much anyone can go on them. Yes, some of them are expensive, but there are a lot of things you can do for free. I just got back from a really awesome hike and all it cost me was gas, which is the biggest cost in basically all my adventures.
Life is about priorities. If you are unhappy with your life, think about what you are prioritizing. Are you broke because you buy a venti soy chai with a shot of caramel everyday? Stop going to Starbucks everyday. Do you spend too much money on shirts because you check Teefury at exactly midnight east coast time every night and you can't help but buy that new Doctor Who shirt? Stop checking TeeFury. If you buy lunch everyday while you're at work or school, you're doing it wrong. Bring it with you every once in awhile. Think about where your money is going. Make a list of everything you spend money on for a week and see what you can cut out. I struggle with a lot of these things, but my point is that there are probably ways you can save money for doing things that will make you enjoy your life more.
If money isn't what's holding you back from having the kind of life you want, ask yourself what is. Today I was tired and just didn't want to get out of bed to go hiking but I forced myself to do so and I'm so glad that I did. If there is something you really want to do, don't let 4 hours of sleep hold you back. It's ok to be the anti-social kid who stays at home on Friday nights reading science fiction, but don't let a natural inclination to be alone keep you from having fun. Not that reading isn't great fun, but you need to go outside sometimes. Plus, you can always have adventures on your own if you feel so inclined. That book will be there later when you're trying to wind down from all the fun you've had.
A huge reason why I enjoy my life is my friends. I wouldn't have done a lot of the things I've done over the past 3 years or so if I didn't have Ashleigh by my side. There are a lot of other really great people in my life, too, the kind who agree to go on a trip to the beach at the last minute when we had something entirely different planned. By no means do I have a lot of friends, but the ones I do have are wonderful, caring people who share a lot of my interests. I know this is not always something you can control in your own life, but make sure you get rid of any toxic relationships in your life. You may find beautiful new friendships if you cut people out of your life who are constantly hurting you.
If money isn't what's holding you back from having the kind of life you want, ask yourself what is. Today I was tired and just didn't want to get out of bed to go hiking but I forced myself to do so and I'm so glad that I did. If there is something you really want to do, don't let 4 hours of sleep hold you back. It's ok to be the anti-social kid who stays at home on Friday nights reading science fiction, but don't let a natural inclination to be alone keep you from having fun. Not that reading isn't great fun, but you need to go outside sometimes. Plus, you can always have adventures on your own if you feel so inclined. That book will be there later when you're trying to wind down from all the fun you've had.
A huge reason why I enjoy my life is my friends. I wouldn't have done a lot of the things I've done over the past 3 years or so if I didn't have Ashleigh by my side. There are a lot of other really great people in my life, too, the kind who agree to go on a trip to the beach at the last minute when we had something entirely different planned. By no means do I have a lot of friends, but the ones I do have are wonderful, caring people who share a lot of my interests. I know this is not always something you can control in your own life, but make sure you get rid of any toxic relationships in your life. You may find beautiful new friendships if you cut people out of your life who are constantly hurting you.
I am a lover of lists and goals. I find that if I list specific goals for myself, I do a lot more than I would have otherwise. Make a bucket list of things you want to do for the summer. Make it way longer than is conceivable to complete, but do whatever you can to check off as much as possible. It's quite satisfying to see on paper (or a screen) what you have done with your time.
Be spontaneous. Go on that last minute trip to some place you've never hear of with your friend. Be flexible. We all have busy lives and people's plans change. Be willing to go with the flow and do something different if things don't go the way you originally intended. I had plans to go out with a group of people, half of which cancelled at the last minute. I almost didn't go out that night because I hadn't hung out with those people before, but I made myself get over my anxiety and had a really great time. I have hung out with those guys many times since then. That forcing yourself to do things really works.
Remember that you have power over your life, it's not just a thing that is happening to you. Don't wallow in your circumstances; make a conscious decision to do the things that make you happy and fulfilled. Life's what you make it, so let's make it rock.
Listening to: "Waiting for the Dawn" by The Mowglis
