“We have what we need to be happy. We just don’t have the right perspective.” ~Joel Osteen

In this past year of my life I have done more, seen more, learned more, and grew more as a person than I have in 28 years combined. The number one lesson over this past year I’ve learned is that “If you want happiness, make it happen” Am I saying I’ve always been happy? Absolutely not, but I finally realized that happiness does not come to you, you must change the way you live your life in order to be happy. Sometimes that may mean taking risks, stepping out of the box, sometimes you have to MAKE yourself happy.  It starts with choices and thinking. I am NOW a firm believer that the way we think has a lot to do with how much happiness can come to us. Happiness is a choice, if you choose to be unhappy you will be, plain and simple. If you choose to be happy you will be, plain and simple. I spent a lot of years feeling like I was “stuck” in a life that I was just ok with. Was I completely happy? No, but I felt like there was nothing better for me and this was my life I was stuck with. I never thought I had potential to do anything or live anywhere but where I was because it was safe. If you don’t take risks then you don’t have to face rejections right? You don’t have to suffer disappointment, you never have to find out what failing is like if you play it safe in life, even if it means sacrificing happiness. Well here I am a year later with a COMPLETELY different mindset in the fact that dammit, EVERYONE deserves happiness! If I could go back a few years ago and tell my then negative thinking self I’d say “Abby, if you aren’t happy with what you are doing or where you are then change it!” However, I believe that all the things I’ve done and gone through in life have been for a purpose and I would never be where I am today without going through the things I did and doing things the way I did. Sometimes it takes the worst situations in life to realize our true potential and sometimes we must go through difficult times in order to find the happiness we want. In this past year I have: Gone through a divorce, moved across country, learned to live “outside the comfort zone”, and looking today, I wouldn’t change a thing. I’m a work in progress daily. I have issues I still deal with, things I need to be better at, and please don’t get the wrong impression, I am not perfect and have imperfections just like any other person in this world. My challenge is to overcome those things and strive to be better.

 I’m a believer now that life should be treasured and each and every day we should wake up and look forward to great things. Not every day is going to be great, I know, but it’s how we deal with the bad days and the bad times that push us forward to become better and stronger individuals. If I can help one negative person turn into a positive person then I have succeeded. Life isn’t perfect, but we should all strive to make it as enjoyable as possible and it all starts with attitude! (Next blog topic)

Always remember….Live Awesome