This thing called life.

Lately, I’ve been looking at every person I come across and seeing them as my teachers, because I believe it’s possible to take something away from every person that comes into our life, whether it be for five minutes or fifty years. I had lunch with my good friend and her mother yesterday, and her mother is one of the most consistently happy people that I know. Both her attitude and perspective astound me! And she said something yesterday that really resonated with me. I can’t quote her words exactly because I don’t remember, but basically she said, all you have to do in life is make the right decisions. It’s really that easy! Every day, if you make good choices, you sleep better at night. You don’t have to constantly look behind you to see if someone’s watching. You don’t have to hide. You don’t have to worry about consequences. You make the right choices, you’ll feel GOOD about yourself and the universe will open doors for you and provide you with an abundance of blessings - more than you could possibly imagine. When she said that, I just realized how simple it really is. Granted, sometimes it's not easy to pick up that book and study when you'd rather be out with your friends, but think about how accomplished you’ll feel afterwards. You’ll just be giving yourself one more reason to feel proud, one more reason to think, “Wow, I really am capable.”

And you know what? Life is a gift. Our possibilities as human beings are endless - the only person that can stop you is yourself. You are not your circumstances! How empowering is that? You are not your circumstances. And each one of you has so much to give and offer the world - things that no other person on this entire planet can provide. One of the biggest crimes you could ever commit is to deprive the world of everything you have to share. You are beautiful, unique, and capable of more than you can ever imagine. You were brought in to this world to live the life of your dreams and change those around you, not to suffer! The world is yours for the taking if you just grab a hold of it.

So dream big. Smile just because. Tell your loved ones how much you appreciate them. Treat yourself because you’re worth it. Embrace life, because this isn’t a dress rehearsal, it’s the real deal. And above all, keep shining!

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate; our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. We ask ourselves, ‘Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?’ Actually, who are you not to be? We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.” Marianne Williamson