Picture This.

"Those who bring sunshine to the lives of others cannot keep it from themselves."

Despite all of of our superficial things we tend to surround ourselves with, the things that make our lives seem rich and full, that distract us and make us believe we should never be without. What do they add up to? What do they create?


The superficial things for myself, well it would my car, my hair, a certain outfit,  the perfect body I strive for day after day at the gym, a perfect pair of shoes - what it comes down to is these things really mean little to none. 

In the end, or in the big picture, these 'things' are irrelevant. They are exactly that - THINGS. We strive for all these labels, objects and appearances we are convinced we need and desire. They give us something to work towards, to have, to make us feel never alone. But in the end they are still the same - things and objects. As unimportant as they were to start, they are there to distract us and keep us busy. 

The big picture here is that I am not any of these things. 

I am not defined by the car I drive, the clothing I wear, or how long I ran for this morning. All I am is made up of the people I know and the people I love. I am defined by my surroundings and who I decide to surround myself with. How you treat others and the amount of love you give. This is what makes up who you are.

Love is truly the answer to almost anything. The world is at your fingertips: love and life, it is present, it is there, always.

Realize this.

So I am built up of memories and friendships, of relationships and family. Its because of all the wondrous people I know that my adventurous life is so full and rich. For my life is filled with love and I choose to give that back to the world, to spread it, to share, to give. And still, I need to give more.

So I chose love.

For you have everything in the world if you just look around. You my friend, are never alone.

"Follow your bliss and the universe will open doors for you where there were only walls."

You are untouched and undefined, this world is what you make of it. The things, the objects, they are unimportant. Surround yourself with love and relationships built on trust, loyalty and fun - and you never will go wrong. Remember to always be the friend you want in return, to treat others with respect and understanding. 


To treat others the way WE would like to be treated. When did we forget this? The most simple of mantra’s we’ve been taught since we could walk. Practice patience and give more. Remember what it was like to be a child and install your fresh approach to everything as something new and exciting. For each day brings a new adventure.

Everything you give in this life eventually will come back to you. You must trust this.

Our lives change, that's the greatest part. For each person we meet is a new chapter. Be that powerful impact on someones life. Give them the strength, the courage for them to live big and free and to smile every day, as we each deserve nothing but the best.

And the best does come, whether we realize it or not. Most of the time we are too distracted, thinking on the next best thing. You are here, not there. Be present in your life, in your relationships. Be present in the memories you are making. For these are all the little moments, that will define and make, your big picture.

Paint your life how you like.

"Things always have a habit of getting better. When you think things are bad, dark and devastating...chin up. The sun will shine again soon.”

Sit Still

"Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek." - Obama

We spend a lot of our mornings, our afternoons, weeks and even months in a daze. We walk around waiting for the next best thing, for someone to finally forgive, to come around, to grow up. For that big moment, that big opportunity to change us. We wait for ourselves to be ready, to really want something, we sit still.

We wait. And as we wait, time passes us. Quicker than the moment before. We waste our days waiting. Waiting for others, waiting for more. This is it, everything you could ever have is right in front of you. You can't wait for someone else to be ready to start a life, to move forward, to accomplish a dream. This is your world, your dreams, your life. Define it how you like.

You know your limits and you know what you need to do. You can sit back, and wait, wait for yourself to feel ready, wait for other people that might never come around. You can waste your time. Or - you can live. You can move forward, create your own change, go after your own goals.

We need to move forward, we need to grow and change and feel life. Just like the seasons, we need change. We need to constantly change our atmospheres, our attitudes, our lives. We need goals and dreams to show us how beautiful this life truly is.

I want you to dream big, bigger than you ever imagined. This world is filled with endless possibilities and you are capable of anything you put your heart into. 

"I feel very adventurous. There are so many doors to be opened, and I'm not afraid to look behind them." - Elizabeth Taylor

I think the greatest gift to have, is heart. To have passion, love, determination and drive, we need this. We need all of those in our lives to keep us moving forward and really, to keep us moving. We can be defeated, let down, heart broken, next to the end of giving up...and if you have heart, you will find a way. You'll find a way to get back up, to get back out there and do big things, to change the world you are set in. Your life is what you make of it. Make something big, powerful and passionate.

Define your world with your passions and heart. Go into every situation without holding anything back. Stop waiting for others, dream and do big. You CAN do this. You ARE capable. You just need to realize it.

"I have to admit, I've always been ruled by my passions." - Elizabeth Taylor

Life takes effort.

"Some of the biggest challenges in relationships come from the fact that most people enter a relationship in order to get something. They’re trying to find someone who’s going to make them feel good. In reality, the only way a relationship will last is if you see your relationship as a place that you go to give, and not a place that you go to take."-Anthony Robins

Some of the most challenging, exciting and important times in our lives, are the times we spend with others. This world is big, full and constantly moving forward. We have a population of over 6 billion people. That's over 6 billion hearts, a trillion emotions, millions of feelings swirling around in this great big world. 

The honest truth: we need others.

Relationships are important. A lot of the time we like to pretend we are fine on our own, that we are independent, can rely on our selves. We go into jobs, friendships, even families thinking what does this have to offer me? Me, me, me. In this great big scheme of things, this great big world, it isn't just you. This world is about you, and about others. But mostly, life is about the relationships we make throughout our lives.

There comes a time when we grow up and realize it is us who get to decide who we want in our lives, who we need in our hearts and who we can simply let go. There are people that weigh us down, others that bring us up. You are smart, you can figure out who fits which place in your life.

Leave the bad ones behind.

But the more we seem to push others away, the more we try to get along on our own,  it's like were taking two steps backwards. The truth: we need others, we need emotions, feelings, love, hate, anything as a simple as a touch. Interactions and conversations, communication on it's own, we need it every single day. If we didn't talk or laugh, or even curse at the world once a day, we would go crazy.

What we need to realize is relationships take balance and decision. You are giving this person every opportunity and chance to come into your life, to be a part of your world. You are opening up your heart to hurt, experience, happiness. This is a big deal. But as much as you are letting them into your world, they are also letting you into theirs. So as much as this day, this world, feels like everything is about you - please remember, there are others. Everyone is struggling with a fear, a demon, an experience that weighs them down - the great things is, we are here, to bring each other up.

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Relationships; whether love, friendship or even family, take work. We need to work to have things run smoothly, fight in order to get along, life takes effort. You are going to get back as much as you put in. So I say put in 110%. Give everything to your life, your job, your passions, your relationships. Never go half-ass into anything, you'll end up with nothing...and you'll know why.

Why do anything half way?

Relationships will be give and take. They take work, communication, heart and passion. We must realize the impact we can have on others, with the reflection those people have on our world. 


Are they supporting you? Loving you? Do they bring you up? What do they bring to this relationship? And in turn, what do you bring? What can you offer? What will you commit to give them? Your answer: 110%.

You are going to meet people who have hurt you, who will bring you down. Relationships you needed to let go of a long, long, long time ago. And yet, they were in your life for a reason. To help you realize how much better you deserve, how much love you can give, and how great your life can be - without them. We need to realize the reason of the bad, to help us appreciate the good. Sometimes we overlook the good things, the good people in our lives, the things that are right in front of us. The hard part is, it takes experience and pain and loss to simply change our outlook. The good is generally there all along...

Realize the people in your life that are meant to be there, the ones who support you, care, curse you to push harder, to be the best person you can be. Realize the people you finally need to let go of, the ones holding you back, weighing you down. Drifting is a part of life. The relationships that are meant to last, will. 

Things happen for a realize. The good and the bad, they will happen. We are the one's with the power to decide who we want to surround our lives with. Who we will smile with, laugh with, play with. 

Choose wisely, as a heart is a precious thing. And always, always, handle with care.

"A heart will never be made practical until it is made unbreakable." - The Wizard of Oz

Your Life.

"It's not about what happened in the past or what you think might happen in the future, it's about the ride for Christ's sake. There's no point in going through all this crap if youre not going to enjoy the ride - and you know what, when you least expect it, something great might come along, something better than you ever even planned for." - Along Came Polly

Let go of your fears, dive into your dreams and your desires. Wanting something can be the best feeling in the world. It shows you you care, your heart is beating, that your life matters and you my friend, You Are Alive. Take advantage of your beautiful life and live. Conquer things that stand in your way, forget about your enemies, and smile with your family and friends.


What matters in life? Are the important people you spend it with, the goals you achieve, the amazing experiences and the memories. So don't fear life, don't fear change. Dive in.

"Your work is to discover your world and then with all your heart, give yourself to it." - Buddha

Devote your life, your love, your dreams to something big and beyond your limits. That comfort zone, those lines you have drawn for yourself...cross them. We make these ideas, these designs, these assumptions of who we are, what we think others think about ourselves, what we think we are capable of. So what? Who cares what your neighbor thinks, your co-worker or how someone is going to size you up. That's life, it is going to happen. What YOU can do is to stop judging and start living. Stop sizing up others and stop sizing up yourself. Stop setting boundaries and limits. A lot of the time we set our goals low and our expectations way lower than we ever should because we are afraid of failing, of not achieving. We need to dream big, go new  places, conquer ourselves and our fears. We need to cross those lines, break those rules and really live and dream big. The best thing you can do is impress yourself. Because you can always do better, achieve more and reach higher than you ever imagined.

"The minute you settle for less than you deserve, you get even less than you settled for. "

- Maureen Dowd

"You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection." - Buddha

You deserve love and affection and to laugh, just as much as the next person in this world. You need to let yourself be loved and open up to new possibilities. Change is natural and fear, fear is natural along with it. We are scared, uncertain, fearful of our future as we can't control the things and the people changing around us. Life is constantly in motion. So what? Be scared, let the uncertain settle within you, embrace the surprise, take on the challenge, the fight...this means you want something. You want something better, something more. This means you want something so badly you are willing to work for it, to be different, to challenge yourself...better yet, to challenge others. You want to move forward in your life, to progress and move up in this world. 
"Follow your bliss and the universe will open doors for you where there were only walls."
With all the excitement and fear for your future and the absolute potential that lies within your life...don't forget to enjoy this moment, right here. With every experience, bring happiness. Through every moment, remember to smile. Embrace this moment in your life, in today.  Don't get too wrapped up in the future and all the amazing things that are going to come - Remember to stop and smell the flowers...they are beautiful. This moment, today, your life....is beautiful.

“Sometimes we don't put walls up to keep others out, but to see who cares badly enough to break them down. ”

Risk

"I've been thinking a lot lately about taking chances. And how it's really just about overcoming your fears. Because the truth is, every time you take a big risk in your life, no matter how it ends up, you're always glad you took it." - Scrubs

Life is a mystery, it is different for everyone. Each moment, each second...is spontaneous and different. People will constantly drive advice into your head. Do this, believe that. Constant, constant, constant chatter. My advice? Listen, be thankful, accept, but live your life your own way. We have to learn and make our own mistakes, without failure or regret we sometimes cannot learn.

So with all this uncertainty, life is going to throw a million new and different and scary things at us. Some will bring us down, others will make us smile. They are all sorts of different shapes and sizes. What can we do? Do we wait? Wait for something new, something big, bold, different and exciting? I guess we could wait on the sidelines, wait for something exciting in our lives to begin...or, we could jump. Jump into something new, something different. Take a chance on the unknown, the unbelievable...and just maybe something amazing might happen.

So today take a chance, on yourself, on an adventure, a goal. Take a chance on someone...an experience, something new. Life is constant and changing and high pace - and sometimes, we get stuck in neutral. We get so comfortable in our lives, in our present stage that we reject new and different. Fresh is what we need, we need change. We deserve change. Life is constantly changing, moments are constantly happening. Life is constantly moving forward...you my friend, must move with it.

"You can clutch the past so tightly to your chest, that it leaves your arms too full to embrace the present." - Jan Glidewell

Sometimes we hold so close to our past, what we know, the familiar, that we get stuck there. So don't sit, don't wait...jump, leap into something different, something new. It's the uncertainty of life that can be exciting. And behind every closed door lies a mystery. A new beginning, a new chance, a new change. Let it happen. Take a chance on something different today and don't be scared of the brand-new-bold things that could happen. Let them happen.

Sometimes life is about taking chances, taking risks. For the most part, we are always thankful we took them. Sometimes it's trying something new, going somewhere different...taking the long way around. And sometimes, it's forgiveness and taking second chances on others. Beyond everything we believe...it's taking risks that can make our lives exciting. Going beyond what we believe we deserve, can achieve, who we are. Most of the time, we deserve a lot more credit than we give ourselves, and a lot more than we allow ourselves to believe.

Take a chance on something different. Change your life.

Hero.

"Do just once what others say you can't do and you will never pay attention to their limitations again." - James R. Cook

Never let others hold you back. Sometimes, as humans, we are afraid of failure. We are afraid of working hard and not succeeding, afraid of actually caring and putting ourselves out there and being left out in the cold. Sometimes, we are afraid of being human. We are terrified of emotions, of hearts, of caring...

Things happen. People happen...we can't control a lot of the things that happen around us, the only things we can control are ourselves and our reactions. This life is exactly what we make of it. So I decide to make something good, something passionate and something powerful. I'm not going to dwell on the past and the things I might have failed at, things I didn't achieve and the bad things that happened to me. I am going to focus on the future and all of it's potential. 

I realized one day that there are two types of people in this world. One set of people who support you, believe in you, who will always be there when you turn around. No matter what task, what challenge, they will keep yelling and cheering you on in the background.  The other type are the people who choose to be jealous. Those people who bring you down, they hold you back, make you feel bad, so they can feel better about themselves. What I've come to believe is you either support me, or you don't. I hope you support me, push me, believe in me, because I believe in you.

Jealousy is a natural emotion for us. It happens, we get jealous. We want, want, want and sometimes we never feel like we're enough. That's life. We are allowed to feel, that's the great thing. We just have to make sure we don't let it take over. We can feel that way for a moment or two, breathe and let it go. We can't hold on to that or it will reflect in everything we do and say. We must let go and support, express, feel good for others. Be proud of what they can achieve, what they are capable of. That positivity and persistence will shine back on yourself and you won't give up, you'll keep trying until soon enough, you start believing in yourself as much as you believe in others. 


Sometimes...a lot of the time actually, it needs to be about you. What do you want? What can you achieve? How much greatness do you possess? The answer: Too much.

"Sometimes things happen in our lives that tear us apart inside, but if we don’t learn to look past them and see the sun shining above the clouds, we will forever be standing in the rain."

The best feeling I'll get is when I achieve something you told me I was never capable of. When we are told we can't? What we must do is show the world we CAN. Sometimes, the person holding us back is ourselves. We say we can't, we aren't good enough, no way in hell. 

This voice will repeat over and over and everything thing you're putting into that head of yours is coming out to others - negativity. Not good enough. Nothing is ever going to be good enough.

Wrong. Make a decision to believe in yourself and stop listening to others. People are either going to support you or not. I hope you decide to support others, push them, believe in them. We all sometimes need to believe in someone else, and we sometimes need to be reminded that we have people who believe in us.

Sometimes...we have to be our own heros. We need to be able to pick ourselves back up after we've fallen. We need to get right back at it and not give up. If we keep moving forward, keep learning, there is no way in hell we are ever going to fail.

Do not hold yourself back.

"There’d be no good days, if there weren’t any bad ones. The sky wouldn’t be blue, if it were never black. And sometimes you need to fall halfway down the mountain to find a new trail that will take you straight to the top."

good things.

Just a few words of wisdom...

"Fear less, hope more, eat less, chew more, whine less, breathe more, talk less, say more, hate less, love more, and good things will be yours."

Loser

"Confront the dark parts of yourself, and work to banish them with illumination and forgiveness. Your willingness to wrestle with your demons will cause your angels to sing. Use the pain as fuel, as a reminder of your strength.” - August Wilson.

Sometime’s winning isn’t everything. We think that if we don’t win, we lose. That we are losers, not worth it, not worthy, we have failed. But failure, not winning…isn’t losing. With everything we do, we gain something. We gain an experience, the knowledge, the emotions, the lesson. We learn what we’re missing, what we need to work on and what our strengths are and what we are good it. From there you can get better. You can work your way up to greatness. Perfection? No such thing. We all have weaknesses, we all have places and times where we will fall short. If you don't know your weakness, that is a weakness right there. Someone will always seem to be better, bigger, prettier, stronger, faster, smarter…this thought you have, this is in your head. It is ridiculous. You my friend, you are enough. 

"Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth; oh never mind; you will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they have faded. But trust me, in 20 years you'll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you cant grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked. You are not as fat as you imagine." - Class of 96'

You control your thoughts. You control how much you actually like yourself. If you don’t think very much of who you are, no one else will. How do we make it through the day? We sell ourselves. We make sure we are the person we want to be, the person people want to know, talk to, come to for advice, to love, to laugh with and smile. We are the people we want to be. We decide. We decide at the beginning of the day how much we are going to love ourselves, and if it isn't enough...the day is going to seem long and cold and devastating. We decide how much greatness we possess. We are enough. We need to like who we are and what we've been given. 

"Enjoy your body, use it every way you can. Dont be afraid of it or what other people think of it, its the greatest instrument you'll ever own.." - Class of 96'

So with failure and not winning and not technically ‘succeeding’ it doesn’t make you not good enough because you haven’t lost anything. There is no such thing as a loser. You will gain something with everything you ‘lose’ and sometimes, it’s the best thing that could happen to you.

When we are hurt, injured, sad, heartbroken. When we are in the darkest of places, that is sometimes the best place. From there you can build yourself up, create this possibility of everything you can be. It’s the dark times in our lives that have created strength and persistence to have us keep changing, keep pushing, striving for greatness. It’s when we think it’s all over, when we think things could never get any worse…that we are determined to make things better for ourselves. 


This life, this world, who you are…is exactly what you make of it.

So decide to make something good. Decide to take the lesson, the experience out of every loss, every gain, every let down, every happiness. There is something there for each and every one of us to find. We just need to look for the good, search a little deeper and not give up. We actively decide how much we are going to like ourselves, how big we are going to dream, how much we are going to achieve. We decide what to take out of every situation and how hard we need to be on ourselves. Decide to believe in who you are, what you are capable of and to take every loss as a gain. 


This set back, this failure, this loss...doesn't make you a loser. It doesn't make you not enough. It sets you up for success, to have you keep pushing, to keep wanting to get better. It's helping you see where you need to get better, what you need to work on. We all are a work in progress. We just need to start enjoying the journey to self discovery and self love.

You gain a little something around every corner you turn.

=)

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We need to do more of the things that make us happy, that make us smile. We need to do more of what WE want. 
We need to make plans for ourselves, dreams for ourselves and set goals that WE hope to achieve. We need to dream big in an effort to make ourselves complete.

I hope you choose to do what makes you happy.

I hope you smile every single day.

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3 of 3.

"Be a possibilitarian. No matter how dark things seem to be or actually are, raise your sights and see the possibilities - always see them, for they are always there."  - Norman Vince Peale

I hope you wake up today wanting to be better. To be better than you were yesterday; better, happier, more giving, more caring, stronger. I think the idea of being the best YOU you can be, can be a challenge. We have the habit of giving 110% only half of the time...the other half, were sitting on the sidelines, exhausted. Try being the best you can be, always achieve to better than you were the moment before. Be real and be you, almost all of the time you can. Sure, sometimes we need a break, some down time...take it. We need to be readjusted, rejuvenate, refreshed, just like everything in life. Wake up and enjoy your job, your life, your friends. Appreciate what's been given to you and try. Do not give up, do not stop, keep trying to get better, stronger, faster, more amazing. Try to be the best you you can. Just try to be better.

Growing is the best thing in life. 

 I think a smile is the prettiest accesory a girl can wear. People always look happiest when they are laughing. When you catch the small wrinkles of crows lines besides someone eyes, smile. These are people who have lived, who have laughed and loved and shared. They lived with passion, they enjoyed life.

Enjoy your life.

Think about your life and all the possibility left in. Those dark times, they  brought out your softer side. They reminded you that things might suck right now, but they will get better because they once were better. If you had everything you've ever wanted at your finger tips...what would actually be there? If you didn't have any fear, any fear of failure, of loss, of embarrassment or judgement...what would you achieve? Dream? What would you do if you weren't too scared to go after what you actually wanted? Think about your life and realize what it is that is holding you back.

Sometimes...you hold yourself back. Don't be scared. Go after what you want, do what you want. Be happy...be complete. It's your life, live it. You can have exactly what you want, most of the time. And sometimes, getting what you want isn't what you actually need.

"What do you do? You laugh. I'm not saying I don't cry, but in between, I laugh. And I realize how silly it is to take anything too seriously. If you don't laugh at yourself, life is going to seem a whole lot longer than you like. Plus, I look forward to a good cry. It feels pretty good." - Garden State.

Eat, Love, Pray

"As I focus on Diligent Joy, I also keep remembering a simple idea my friend Darcey told me once - that all sorrow and trouble of this world is caused by unhappy people. Not only in the big global Hitler-'n'-Stalin picture, but also on the smallest personal level. Even in my own life, I can see exactly where my episodes of unhappiness have brought suffering or distress or (at the very least) inconvenience to those around me. The search for contentment is, therefore, not merely a self-preserving and self-benefiting act, but also a generous gift to the world. Clearing out all your misery gets you out of the way. You cease being an obstacle, not only to yourself but to anyone else. Only then are you free to serve and enjoy other people.

At the moment, the person I'm enjoying the most is Ketut. The old man - truly one of the happiest humans I've ever encountered, is giving me full access, the freedom to ask any lingering questions about divinity, about human nature.

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Karma is a notion I've always liked. Not so much literally. Not necessarily because I believe that I used to be Cleopatra's bartender-but more metaphorically. The karmic philosophy appeals on me on a metaphorical level because even in one lifetime it's obvious how often we must repeat our same mistakes, banging our heads against the same old addictions and compulsions, generating the same old miserable and often catastrophic consequences, until we can finally stop and fix it.  This is the supreme lesson of karma (and also of Western psychology, by the way) take care of the problems now, or else you'll just have to suffer again later when you screw everything up the next time. And that repetition of suffering - that's hell. Moving out of the endless repitition to a new level of understanding - there's where you'll find heaven.

But here Ketut was talking about heaven and hell in a different way, as if they are real places in the universe which he has actually visited. Atleast I think that's what he meant.

Trying to get clear on this, I asked, "You've been to hell, Ketut?"

He smiled. Of course he's been there.

"What's it like in hell?"

"Same like heaven," he said.

He saw my confusion and tried to explain. "Universe is a circle, Liss"

I still wasn't sure I understood.

He said. "To up, to down, all same at end"

I remembered an old Christian mystic notion: As above, so below.

I asked, "Then how can you tell the difference between heaven and hell?"

"Because of how you go. Heaven, you go up, through seven happy places. Hell, you go down, through seven sad places. This is why it better for you to go up, Liss." He laughed.

I asked, "You mean, you might as well spend your life going upward, through the happy places, since heaven and hell - the destinations are the same thing anyway?

"Same-same," he said. "Same in end, so better to be happy on journey."

I said, "So, if heaven is love, then hell is..."

"Love, too." he said.

I sat with that one for a while, trying to make the math work.

Ketut laughed again, slapped my knee affectionately with his hand.

"Always so difficult for young person to understand this!""

Chapter 87

Eat, Love, Pray.

Elizabeth Gilbert

One of my favorite books. It kind of changed my life when I read it. You are never too old or too young to change your life. No dream, desire or hope is ever ridiculous. You can have everything you want. And things, will work out in the end. With every love loss, with every sadness and heartbroken, the sun will shine again. And with it, a new begining, a new hope, a new adventure. I hope you are never afraid to go after what you want and I hope that you always chose the happiest of paths.


I hope you always choose to smile.

Eat, Love, Pray - - Read it!

Sacrifice.

"Sacrifice is part of life. it's supposed to be. it's not something to regret. It's something to aspire to. Little sacrifices. Big sacrifices." - The Five People You Meet in Heaven

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Every day we get to make decisions and these decisions define our whole day, our whole outcome, our whole life. With each of these small, little, insignificant-at-the-time decisions, they alter our final outcome, our final cause, the final effect. Decisions are powerful, words are powerful, we are powerful. We contain so much control over the future of ourselves, of others. We need to understand that there are things we cannot control, and those things, we must let go. You make the best out of what you have, and let go of the things you cannot change.

We are powerful, we are in control of so many things in our lives. The decisions we make, the way we decide to act, interact, treat others, live our lives, take care of ourselves, these things define us. We get to decide who WE want to be. No judgements, no worries about the future, just YOU. This life is about YOU. We are constantly thinking of ways to improve ourselves, what can we do to get better? The one thing we can do - is start working together.

"When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace." - Jimmy Hendrix

The little sacrifices we make, the big sacrifices we take...they define us. They are something to be proud of, something to aspire to - they are not something to regret. To sacrifice something, a part of your life, a goal, a thought, a care...anything. To sacrifice something in your life for something else or another, shows you wanted something. This shows you cared for something more than what you thought the world had in store for you. That you weren't completely terrified to sacrifice the path you were wanting, expecting, hoping to take in life - to in turn take a different path, one you completely hadn't imagined.

Sometimes, most of the time, change is good.

Our days are filled with decisions, with opinions, memories, moments that define us. I hope in your life you have to sacrifice something, even something small. This will show you how badly you want something, how much you might care for another...

Sacrifice shows heart.

These decisions, no matter how small, define your day, your life, your world. Understand and settle with the idea that you are powerful and in control. You can define your own future and make the best out of what comes your way. When life throws you lemons? You make some lemonade.

"Hearts will only be practical, when they are made unbreakable." - The Wizard of Oz