Life is Hard...

Have you ever noticed how just when you finally feel like you are out of the slumps and you get so pumped up about life, that Life decides to throw things at you?

Ya.....Life is kinda being mean right now. *sigh* I did not end up running on Wednesday OR Friday. :/ That was pretty disapointing. I must confess that I let tiredness run my life. I haven't been sleeping well. last night I wasn't able to fall asleep until around 4 am, bleck!

What to do, what to do?...I don't like living in a slump. Its so...unhappy! I love this quote by a famous LDS speaker and comedian, John Bytheway. He said, "If Life were easy...it wouldn't be hard!" So true! I have to keep reminding myself that the reason Life is hard is for us to learn. There really would be no point if Life were easy....well it would just be easy! I know we all yearn for an easy day, which I hope everyone gets at least once a month, at LEAST!

What can we do to get out of slumps?!

Here are 4 ideas to start...

1. Go out and SERVE!- 

I find that when I have been stuck in a slump for a while, if I stop and ponder I will realize that I have not gone out and served for a while. I love to randomly knock on a door and ask if I can weed that person's garden or wash their dishes. Even if they decline, I can bet you it made them smile and...chances are you are smiling too :) But still, go knock on another door till they let you serve them, it is worth it.

2. Do something you love!-

Are you an artist or musician? Go start a painting or play a lively tune! Do you love to pamper yourself? Take a bubble bath! Are you an outdoorsy type of fellow? Have a picnic and hike in the outdoors. Maybe you simply enjo9y a good book or paintin your nails. I don't care what your passion is, JUST MAKE SURE YOU HAVE ONE! Dis cover what you LOVE and HAVE FUN! :)

3. Spend time with Personal Development-

Make working out a priority: I find that I am more at peace with myself when I am keeping healthy and inshape. (If you need any help with that, visit my other page about Herbalife Wellness). Another part of Personal Improvment is the mental side. Learn something new. Read a personal development book. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People is always a good one! If you desire, further develop your relationship with God and Christ (or whatever you believe in as your Divine Deity). Take time to study and pray.

4. Take time to Listen to a Family member or Friend-

Have you ever just listened as a child told you their fears and dreams? Their concerns and what makes them happy? I find it does wonders for the soul when one can listen to those around them without trying to FIX anything, just being there for them is enough. Take time to develop a stronger realationship with your friends. They can greatly add to the light in your life :) This is my sister and cousin after we ran a 5k Color run together :) That was a bonding experience for sure!

There you have it! Now Let me know if you have a fun experience with these ideas and post them in the comments! Share Light :)

Lets Discuss Simple Things...

This is a Sunflower!

I was doing some yard work for a wonderful Lady today. I was trimming her bushes and also her rose bush (beware! they like to bite..) when I saw this absolutely lovely sunflower! 

She had not intentionally planted sunflowers in her garden but here they were. Where did they come from? Well it just so happens that she puts all sorts of seeds in bird feeders all around her home and this little guy must have fallen out of the feeder. So, he decided to grow. 

I feel like sunflowers are one of the most common flowers used in metaphors about life but I am going to use him again anyways :) He wasn't supposed to grow tall and beautiful; his purpose was to feed the birds. He didn't let that stop him though...He bloomed where he was (accidentally) planted.

 What does this mean for us?

We are all planted in different soils. Some more rocky than others. And sometimes in life, people may try to tell you that you are not supposed to grow into a tall, beautiful sunflower...What do they know?!!

They are not all-knowing creatures with a life calling of ruling over you. No one but God and Yourself should have a say as to who you are "supposed" to be. If it is your desire to grow tall and share your talents and gifts with others, don't let people put you down and try to discourage you. Grow where you are planted DESPITE the rain and the hail. Maybe even a few avalanches... 

Just something to think on :)

Now! Another thought for the day...dun Dun DUNN!!

This is what the sky looked like as I drove home from working. My first thought was, "The sky is chasing me!!!" hahaha Very epic sounding, don't you think?
So my thought is, Enjoy the small things in life! You have heard it a million times but It is soo true! When you start to notice the cool looking clouds, the dandelion growing in the grass, or the tree that happens to have cool looking branches, Life all-of-the-sudden gets happier. You learn that life is a beautiful, glorious thing, instead of a dreaded Monday or Tuesday. I find that people will look at me strangely but who cares?! I'm having fun and enjoying life so It doesn't matter what they think. Life is too glorious not to notice the small things.

Take a look around..What do you SEE?

Went On a Run Today...

I Ran 3 Miles Today!

With my new view of life I decided that I want to run 5ks and maybe even move up to 10ks eventually. So this involves training! Today was my first day with my new mindset...it was quite entertaining! 

Here's what I'm trying: Monday is my "Maintenance" Run, a nice easy 2 to 3 mile run. Wednesday is my "Sprints" Day; Sprint, jog, sprint, jog...for about a mile or in the words of a marathon runner I met, "until you want to throw up". This will help improve my speed. And then lastly Friday is my "Distance" run. Run until I can't anymore. I am actually borrowing this routine from the marathon runner I met at the seminar. But I have learned that it is ok to borrow ideas from those with more experience, because you learn too and you can start improving! 

Now...During my run, my knees started hurting quite terribly, same with my ankles and I got this sharp pain in my left shoulder. In addition to that, my feet started killing me half way through because I don't have the right running shoes for my feet.

What do I do?!!! It hurts! A lot! 

So I start giving myself a pep talk. Kind of like the CDs you listen to that start yelling at you telling you not to quit. So that's what I did, I told myself that pain is good because that is when you start to grow, when it hurts, you have the opportunity to heal. I told myself that I love running, that I run because I can, because I deserve to do things I love because I am human and because I am ME! I told myself how proud I am of me that I'm running and that I love me. It was actually quite inspirational :) I was imagining myself giving this speech to a huge crowd of people, inspiring them to never give up! It was exciting to visualize myself doing this because that is actually one of my dreams in life to become an inspirational speaker...

This is one of my favorite quotes. I love archery so this stands out to me :) When Life is pulling you back, get ready for the take off and SOAR!!! 

Maybe next week on my maintenance run I will record myself giving this little pep talk and show all you guys. It could be entertaining haha. 

Hello! I would love to share a little story with you about how I decided to start my blog. I never considered doing one...Ever...in fact, technology hasn't always been my best subject ;)

 To start off, I went on a Student Ambassador trip to the British Isles in July of this year. I had an incredible time and I loved every minute of it. During my trip I learned a very important lesson. Its called Living Life Full On. I did not coin that phrase, actually I'm borrowing it from a program we experienced on my trip. It was our second day in Wales and we headed to our Full On experience day. We spent most of that day learning how to live life Full On, by giving life everything we had. 100% of us. The Full On leaders that day taught us that we have the power to tell our brains we can do anything! If we believe in ourselves, anything we set our minds to is possible. We ended that day by repelling off the Penryn Castle tower. An 80 ft. tower...on a castle. Oh yes! It was terrifying! But because I believed in myself and the Full On Crew kept encouraging us, we did it! So this was the first experience. Learning to live life Full On.
Now two days ago actually, I went to a self improvement seminar called Humans Being More. It was held at the gorgeous Treasure Mountain Scout Camp right next to the stunning Teton Mountains. For two days we focused on learning about ourselves, discovering our dreams, and learning how to take action and stick to our goals that we set. We learned how to be successful in Life. Now, during this seminar I decided a couple things. First, that I am starting my business on (or before) August 31, 2014. Second, that I am ready to live my dreams just because I CAN! Because We are Human Beings, and We deserve to live our dreams!
Now lastly, this was actually after the seminar came to a close while I was sitting at dinner, but I was thinking about what I was going to accomplish in the next year and this thought pricked my mind: "I am going to start a blog". So out of the blue! But I feel like I am supposed to write this blog, for whatever reason, God wants me to do a blog. So here I am!