Relationships

Source: fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net via Paige on Pinterest

As I was thinking about my post for Embrace Your Life, I came across this and just thought it was perfect! This past summer, I went through a major change in my life. Now, I got married and that was huge but that's not the only change I'm talking about. Now, if you are married, you may remember some people acting just down right strange around you after you got engaged and even worse when you got married. I've come to realize that this is normal. I have one such girl, that did not even acknowledge my husband existed, which was odd and hurt my feelings so much. But, after some crying to Cody and some introspection, I realized that my true friends are happy for me when I'm happy, support me when I'm sad, keep my secrets and care about my life.  Anyone that didn't fit that bill, had to go. So I either let them know how I felt if they truly did hurt me or just stopped talking to them and a weight lifted off my shoulders. I wish that I had this list when I decided to make these changes as it really does spell out exactly what I did. So, if you are struggling in this area of your life, I encourage you to make a change and embrace your true friends and your happiness and own it. 

The Thief of Joy

I thought for a good long while what I wanted my next post to be here.  I think I'm going to talk to you about an area where I'm currently struggling.

Source: moneysavingmom.com via Paige on Pinterest

I saw this on pinterest and it was like a lightbulb went off in my head. See, I'm big on comparison. We all are, I think, because it's so easy to do. It's easy to see another blogger and think "Oh, why don't I have that many followers? I must not be good enough." With that one thought, you've brought yourself down for the day. Or how about "Why didn't I do as well as so-and-so did on that test? I studied just as hard. I'm so stupid." I can't even tell you how many times I've thought that. I think the quote in the picture above is completely true. Think about it. You are probably perfectly happy with your life and where you are, until you see someone else that does something you do better. Let's all try to remember this sentiment that comparison is the thief of joy and stop those types of thoughts before you complete them. What makes you compare yourself to others? How do you deal with it?

Please welcome Paige!

Hi Everyone! I'm a bit new here and I thought I'd introduce myself with my first post! Is that alright? Good! Well, first off, my name is Paige and I'm 21 years old and in my second year of nursing school which is my fourth year of college. I'll graduate in either August or December 2013. 

I'm also married to the love of my life, Cody.

We were engaged after six months and married in a private ceremony in Gatlinburg, TN after 11 months.

And I don't regret that decision for a second.

In high school, I struggled, just like any girl to fit in and I was depressed at least 90% of the time, mostly because of some family troubles that I'm not going to elaborate on right now. 

This continued throughout high school and into college.

It got a bit better but not by much when I was able to pay my own way through life and I had some independence.

But I still felt down all the time and didn't have the resources to get help.

Then one day, I decided enough was enough. I was going through life in a daze, living but not really. I was waiting for my life to begin without realizing that this was life. So why not live the way I want?

The change wasn't sudden but it was a conscious effort.

The major thing was that I decided that every single day had something good. See, it was so easy for me to focus on the hard and upsetting parts of my day, even the small ones. The smallest thing would send me into a spiral of sadness and I couldn't find the good parts.

So I decided to make myself remember something good about each day. For awhile I did this on my blog. Every Friday I'd take each day of the week and write what was good about it.

Sometimes it was something big, like when I got my new laptop.

Other times it was small things, like getting a krispy kreme donut.

It didn't matter. The point was that it was the good part of the day. Something that made me smile or made me think "You know, I'm really happy that I'm here"

So there are two points to this post.

The first was to introduce myself and I hope I did an alright job of that. I promise to reveal more to you later!

The second was to tell you how I consciously embrace life everyday. Every single day that you live has something good in it. Sometimes it's hard to see those things but I promise they are there. And when you realize even the small things, embracing life is easy.