The Noise

     Having had an open-book personality, when I go through something stressful or difficult for me to figure out, I tend to tell many people about whatever is going on so that I can gain different views and opinions on the matter. Often times though (now that I look back), my extroverted process of going through hard times led to even more blurriness in my own mind. When you become too much of an open-book, too many people allow themselves to voice their opinions on what you need to do for yourself. The extra noise only makes things more complicated. You begin to forget about how you really feel and you take into consideration everybody else's thoughts. The noise becomes too noisy and you begin to not even hear yourself. The noise may not always lead you to forget your own thoughts, but it may shape your own opinion of yourself. Not that judgement is always necessarily a bad thing, but when you open up your world to other people for their thoughts and opinions, you also open up your world for judgement (which is only natural for humans). Sometimes when the noise tries to help you, it is coming from a place of goodness, but, often times it does also come from a place of judgement (again, not that there is anything wrong with that- you opened yourself up to it in the first place). Some things just need to stay to yourself, or at most to one or two other people. Keeping a smaller circle may enhance your own clarity of thought because you avoid the noise. Take time each day to be alone with your thoughts and at one with your energy. Do not be harsh or overly critical of yourself, and do not take into consideration what others will think of you. At the end of the day, nobody is living your life but you, so make decisions that you know are good for you. Trust those who you know have your best interest, avoid the noise of too many people, and live life in a way that will make you happy. 

-B

The Pity Party

     Sometimes when you go through a negative experience in life, it is easy to become a victim. When you become the victim, you give your negative situation power over you. You give the negative situation the power to change who you are, the power to slow down your future, and the power to take away your present. Dwelling over what could have been does nothing for you. Sure, you may take time to grieve and feel sad, but eventually the pity party has to end. Someone once told me that there were many times in which she felt like she would never get out of bed over something but that after every negative experience, she has gotten right back on her feet and moved on with life. Basically, you have to know that we all have strength... We just have to learn how to use our strength. No matter what you are going through, you will be okay. Take a minute and think about what is positive in your life. Don't torture yourself by thinking about the past. Live in the moment. When you live in the moment, your future takes care of itself.

-B

Theory of Recollection

Plato & Socrates

     Our bodies are nothing but shells, they mean absolutely nothing. However, our souls mean everything. Our souls have always existed, even before we were born. Our souls contain all knowledge. When we are born, our souls are "reset" and we lose all knowledge. Furthermore, we spend our whole lives regaining the knowledge that already existed in our souls. 

-B

The Ladder

No Worries

     Stress is not good. Any time you feel yourself beginning to worry and tense up about things that are happening, just take a minute to breathe, relax, and smile. No matter what the outcome ends up being, you will be fine. A situation could always be worse, and nothing is EVER worth freaking out about. Create a positive environment for others, and for yourself. When you do this, you and the people around you will be less likely to become stressed out, which in turn, for whatever situation, is a good thing. It is a whole lot easier to function when you are not stressed out. If you are confident and willing to commit to the task you are given, that is all you can ask of yourself. Just do what you need to do and don't over think anything. No worries.

-B

Where?

Is there really a fighter in all of us?

Yes.

No matter what you are going through, you can always find a way to fight through it and move on with life.

     We are told that unfortunate events occur in order to teach us lessons, but for most of us, that is not enough of an answer for us to be satisfied with. However, most of us often fail to remember that we do not need an explanation of why unfortunate things happen to us. All we can really do, as cliche as it sounds, is take each lesson as nothing more than a lesson, and move on. If you do not understand the lesson you are being taught by what ever higher power you believe in, it is fine. Sometimes we are not meant to understand the lessons right away (or sometimes, at all). Where you are at is exactly where you are supposed to be.

-B

Just something that came to me the other day...

     Whatever stretch of an idea we come to in our experiences is perfectly fine, as long as we can convince others of our own arguments. But why must we convince others? Why is it not enough for ourselves to know what we are talking about? I think, because if we convince others to think and feel what we think and feel, we seem a little more sane and a little less crazy to ourselves... Our feelings are real, there is no arguing against what we feel. And if we can somehow find a connection to someone else who may have the same feelings and thoughts as us, we feel a sense of comfort. Does that justify our feelings and thoughts though? Do they need to be justified?
     Something to think about...
     Will follow up...

-B

Focus February III

Moving On

     If you need to move on from a negative situation in your life, you have to focus on the future and how to do better for yourself. I always say that it is okay to glance into the past to teach yourself lessons for the future, but you must focus on the future far more than you focus on the past. Focus on the specific things you need to do for yourself to find your own happiness. When you focus on the negativity from your past, you become a victim. Becoming a victim will prevent you from finding happiness because all you are doing is dwelling on "what could have been" or "what might have been". You have to let that go if you ever want to move forward with your life. All you have is "what will be", and if you focus on finding happiness in the future, then that is what will be.

-B

Focus February II

Positive Thoughts

     One way to improve your life every day is to focus on having positive thoughts. Whether you are at work, school, or dealing with family or friends, you must always focus on seeing the glass half full instead of half empty. When you constantly think about negative things that are happening or negative things that could happen, you are blocking yourself from moving forward and creating positive experiences in your life. 
     Every time you find yourself thinking a negative thought, replace that thought with two positive ones. Look at a negative situation, and find the positives. Even if you are at your lowest, what do you have? You have life. You are breathing. You are here. There is ALWAYS a positive, whether you feel it or not just depends on where you focus. If you have to, write it down! That way, when you start to become more of a pessimist, you actually have a visual to show you the up-side. Focus on going forward in your life and doing whatever it takes to do well for yourself and for others. When you focus on the positive, you become a happier person every day- there is no other way to put it.

-B

"Focus February"

     The month of February will be a time to learn how to train your mind to be able to focus on the important things in life. I want to take these next 22 days to share my thoughts on what us as people should be concentrating on in our lives in order to achieve and maintain happiness. I know my posts have always been super long, but I promise I will try to keep them shorter and to the point. I really want every reader to grasp these concepts so that we can all grow and live positively...
     In February, I will be writing about focusing on how to be a better you, how to channel your own positive energy, what we should be thinking about in our day to day lives, and also I would like to share some uplifting and encouraging stories of mine as well as some of my friends. 

COURAGE
     Today, for Focus February I, I want to talk about focusing on being courageous in your life. Not for others, but for yourself. So many of us hide who we truly are for infinite amounts of reasons. I, thankfully, with the acceptance of my friends and family, do not have to do that anymore. It's something that I often do not talk about because it can be an uncomfortable topic, but one thing that I have learned through experience is that if something personal makes you uncomfortable to talk about, it probably is something that needs to be dealt with. Anyway, in my junior high and early high school years, I always hid who I truly was. Sure, I knew that the people who mattered to me would accept me, but I just did not feel comfortable having the rest of the world judge me. Long story short, I one day no longer had the choice but to let go of that fear and in a way, it was something that I just grew out of. Of course I still deal with hiding who I truly am sometimes, but I am so lucky to have people close to me that accept me. Now, had I not had that support, the story would be different. It would probably still be difficult for me to show the world who I am, because if I didn't have the support of my friends and family, I would definitely not be okay with complete strangers judging me as well- so of course I would hide who I am! The ultimate question is: How does one find the courage to live the life one was destined to live? Honestly, there is no straight answer. We all have to work through this issue in our own ways. I would say, though, that you are who you are. Nothing will ever change your soul and its characteristics. So one day, the people that do not accept you (no matter how close they are to you), will have no other option but to accept you. You have to be who you are in life, not who you want to portray yourself as. You must think, when you are 99 in that bed, do you want to look back on your life and think, Wow what a waste...? Or do you want to look back feeling so fulfilled with the dream you turned into life. I know that this saying is such a cliche, but there really is almost no other way to put it: Be yourself, because there is only one YOU. We are all here for our own individual purposes, and you may not fulfill that purpose if you do not allow yourself to show the world who you truly are. No person should EVER have to hide that. Every day, I want you to look in the mirror or close your eyes and tap into your soul, and FOCUS on finding the courage to be who you are and live the life you know you were born to live.

-B

Nothing To Be Understood...

     Death is such an odd part of life, but it is a very real part of life. When someone you know and love dies, the feelings you experience can be unexpectedly surreal. You may not understand how you feel, and you may not understand how others feel because everyone deals with this inevitable event in different ways.

     Some may feel it is not okay to be happy when one dies. 

     Some may feel that the world should stop.

     Some may feel like they will never live another joyful moment again.

     But…

     Life has to go on. That’s how our deceased loved ones would explain it to us, I think.

Of course, being sad is something that we will all experience when death happens, but I feel that it is important to also be celebratory of the passing one’s life. Life is the greatest gift we will ever be given, and we must remember that it is something to be cherished- even long after we are gone.

     The gift of life is turned into a giant accomplishment once it comes to an end. Yes, life is about living and loving, but it is also about leaving your mark and affecting people positively even in the smallest ways. Sometimes, it is often difficult to realize these small gestures while someone is still alive in the physical world, but their passing will prompt many reflections from everyone who knew the person who has left.

The last breath is the finish line. When one crosses, they have finally made it.

     Death may seem unfair and awful and undeserving, but we cannot question it. We are all given an amount of time here on earth to serve our purposes, and while some time may seem cut short, and while it may be hard to understand what purposes we have served here, when we leave, it is because the time has come and our duties have been fulfilled.

     We may never fully understand the concept of death, but we don’t have to. All we need to know is that everything will be okay. Life is life, live.

-B

R.I.P. RONNIE