DO YOU!

"You can't let other people tell you who you are. You have to decide that for yourself." ~unknown

Hey positive people! This post is going to be a short but sweet one. I think the majority of us have spent a fair amount of our lives trying to be this image of ourselves that we think others want to see. We've often felt that we need to look, talk and even walk a certain way to please other people. Well, after 29 years of living on this earth, I've come to the conclusion that I refuse to change anything about myself in order to try and please other people. I'll give you several reasons why. 

The first reason being, YOU ARE NEVER GOING TO BE ABLE TO PLEASE EVERYONE! If this is truly your goal, give it up now because it's an impossible task to accomplish. Why? Because of my second reason, which is no matter what you do, not everyone is going to like you, and vise-versa. But you know what? That's okay! Really! It is! I know we would all like to live in this "perfect" world of everyone loving each other but that's just not reality. I'm not trying to breed any negativity by saying this, but it's the truth. And you don't necessarily have to like a person's personality to get along with them. All "getting along" takes is common courtesy and consideration for others feelings and that should be possible for everyone to do if they try. And the third and final reason why I refuse to change anything about myself in order to try and please other people is I have to be free to be me! I refuse to let anyone make me feel like not being me is okay.

As the quote above says, "You can't let other people tell you who you are. You have to decide that for yourself." So I say, DO YOU! You can pretend and be an okay someone else, but you can let the true you shine and be an awesome you! So embrace yourself for who you are! DO YOU! Why not? No one can do you better!

Staying Sane In An Insane World

"Staying Sane In An Insane World." What a title, huh? You know how I mentioned in my last post that when you're in a bad mood it may seem like everyone around you has an attitude but the reality is that it's really only you who is in the bad mood? Well, switch that up, turn it around, because we're doing a complete 180 in this post. When trying to live a happy, positive, moral, and in my case, Christian life, there are many times where you may feel like the "odd man out" but in reality, it's not really you, but them. And when I say "them" I don't want you to think that I mean anyone who isn't a Christian (I'm not that close-minded and I have no prejudices), I'm talking about the negative, amoral people out there who are more interested in spreading & promoting negativity rather than keeping it positive. They out number us and sometimes it can truly feel like you are the only sane ones in an insane world. But know that YOU ARE NOT ALONE. While positive people like myself may be "unpopular", there are plenty of us around.

I've found that people who have a passion for fitness and being healthy are some of the most positive, inspiring people to be around! You just can't be a "negative nelly" when you've got all those endorphins going! A couple of years ago, I went to Orange County, California for Chalene Johnson's "Camp Do More - 2010" event. It's a 3 day fitness camp held at The Hilton Anaheim Hotel. I went by myself, not knowing anyone. I just knew that I loved Turbo Kick and I wanted to be around some like-minded people who felt the same way I did. I came out of the whole experience meeting a lot of new people, making a lot of new friends, and feeling like it was easy to do so.

I say all that to say that not only is exercise a positive habit, good for not only your body but your mind & soul as well, but being around like minded people helps you realize that you're not alone in this world. There are other positive people out there, living their day to day lives, trying to make a difference, just like you. While I have to admit that I am sort of bias on the whole exercise thing, I can accept that may not be your "thing". Everything's not for everybody. But finding an interest and surrounding yourself with other people who share that same passion is essential!

So, yes, this world can be crazy sometimes, most times in fact. But it is possible to make it through! Have a wonderful Friday everyone and TGIF!


Your friend,
Jonelle

Taking Control of Your Bad Mood

So you're in a bad a mood, maybe someone said something to you out of line or in the wrong way, maybe you're still thinking about an argument between you and a friend the other night, or it could be that you just woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning, but whatever it is, you are NOT a in good mood today. So what do you do? Me? I try to either stay to myself or have as little contact with people as possible until I'm out of my funk. What do others do? I've found there to be 2 other paths that most people take. Some want to talk about. They may complain out loud or make some obvious verbal hints that they are in a bad mood, hoping you take the bait and ask them "what's wrong?" Or some may just walk right up to you and start venting. The second path I've seen people take are the ones who take their bad mood out on any and everyone that crosses their path. If they're having a bad day, EVERYONE is having a bad day. These are just 3 different paths to take, I'm sure there are many more, but which one is the right path? Not everyone is the kind of person who can work it out on their own and talking it out may be their best therapy. The third path mentioned, making your bad day everyone's bad day, is definitely not the right path to take. It may work in making you feel better at the moment, but in the long run you're going to lose a lot of friends.

I've come up with 3 steps to take when you find yourself in a bad mood. I think the first and most important thing is to recognize that it's not everyone else but it's YOU. When you find yourself in the position where it seems like everyone around you has an attitude and is saying things to tick you off, realize that if it's EVERYONE, then most likely, it's really ONLY YOU. YOUR THE ONE WITH THE ATTITUDE. Recognizing you're the one with the problem is step 1.

Step 2 is to find a way to relieve that stress, because all any bad mood or attitude is is pent up stress, no matter what the reason behind what caused it. So find out how to release it, whether that be spending some alone time with yourself, venting to someone (preferably someone who is already a friend because venting to potential friends is often is a good way to not make any new ones - no one really wants their good mood ruined by your bad one).

And Step 3 is moving past it. Our moods, up or down, no matter what the cause, are really up to us! I'm not saying that it's easy, you can't expect to say "I will be in a good mood" and instantly your mood is brighter, but willing yourself in a better mood is possible. Allow yourself to get past whatever was bothering you and move on.

Taking control of your bad mood isn't as hard as it may seem, it just takes some honest self evaluation, and that's the hard part. But hey, if you can't be honest with yourself, who can you be honest with? So keep these steps in mind whenever you find yourself a little cranky. 

It's All In The Plan

So I guess you've been wondering, "Where has she been?" My goal had always been to write a new post in Mind & Soul at least once a month, but life has had me busy... very busy! But busy in a good way, though, so I'm not complaining. :) God has really been blessing me lately and I am so grateful.

My prayer since I was 12 years old has been for God to order my steps and it is truly awesome when you can sit back and look over your life and see God doing just that. Even when I want to turn left, it's as if my feet are set in stone because God won't let me make a move that is not going to be in my favor.
I'll admit, this can be a little annoying at times because all of us, myself included, are impatient when it comes to God. We see the hear and now and we want what we want when we want it, without realizing that God sees the future and is always getting us prepared for what's to come next.

I say all that to say that no matter what you're going through, know that it's all in God's plan. Even the mistakes that we make, while some are things that God wouldn't have had us go through if we had chose to listen to Him, God will turn that into an experience that we can learn from. With God, NOTHING IS EVER IN VAIN.

I know sometimes it can seem that we pray and pray, waiting for God to answer, but my mother once told me and I believe it's true, God ALWAYS answers our prayers. Sometimes the answer is yes, sometimes we're told to wait, and sometimes the answer is no.

Don't ever think that God has forgotten about you because He cares and would never leave you.

I don't know about you, but whenever I'm going through some rough times in my life, it feels good knowing that God is still there and this bad time won't last forever. You might have heard that saying, "for everything there's a reason and season"? Well, that's really true! It's all in the plan.