Finding Yourself

I always say, "you get out of life what you put int it." If you constantly just sit back and either do nothing with your life,or just follow in the footsteps of someone else you're not going to get anything out of it. Branching out and exploring all the wonderful opportunities life has to offer you is one of the most rewarding and satisfying feelings. Think about it, why follow in the footsteps of somebody else, when in reality they could be the ones trying to follow in yours?

You need to be able to have an open mind about the way the world works. Not everything is going to go your way and you need to realize that and learn to be okay with it, because if not you're never going to be fully satisfied.

Be confident in who you are. Even if its about something so simple. If you always wear your hair down and your getting sick of it, throw it up for a change.Own that ponytail girl, work that up do! Whoever you are, you are AWESOME and don't let anyone ever tell you any different. Anyone who puts you down is just super jelly of you and your sparkle. And believe me, there is NOTHING worse than someone who is lime green jello and can't even admit it, so you're welcome you're already winning :)

You don't have to be the best at everything. Don't listen to Abby Lee Miller, second is NOT the first to lose. As long as you did the absolute best that you could do, you're already winning.

Be involved in society! I mean how are you supposed to find out that you actually love doing yoga if you don't take a class, am I right???? The best way to find out who you are, and what you like is to be involved!

BE LOUD AND BE PROUD. Go back and read that sentence again except this time scream in your head, unless you read it out loud then scream it out loud as loud as you can! Voice your opinions, let others know what you're thinking. No matter what anyone else tells you, you're opinion DOES matter!

Never give up on yourself. Not even for a second, not even for a half a second. Nobody should be able to change who you are except for yourself. But keep in mind you should also never change yourself for anybody. Change because you want to change, not because somebody wants you to change. If there is one thing in this world that is worth spending a lot of time on, its finding out who you are, and not giving up until you do. Don't get discouraged. As I've said before, nothing great in life comes easy, and nothing easy in life comes quick.

Xo~ Mandy

Your Impact On The World

I remember it like it was yesterday (even tho it was in fact a little over 2 years ago) I was sitting in my college English 101 class. It was my first day of freshman year and I was TERRIFIED. I was no longer a big fish in a small pond, I was now a small fish in an ocean. As I sat in my seat (which i might add was not assigned because the cool thing about college is you can pick your own seats!!!) I held my sparkly pink pen ( come on you knew that was coming) in my VERY clammy hand and waiting for my professor to come in. As he walked in I studied that man from head to toe trying to see what kind of person I would be dealing with every morning for the next semester. As he strolled in glancing over every student, he had a look in his eyes. And you know the look I'm talking about. It was a "they have no idea what they're in for look" He dropped his bag on the table, looked me straight in the eye ( because having a last name like Yates got me a permanent spot in the back corner all through high school I decided to take it upon myself to have a different perspective of a classroom and sit in the front for once) and he said "What is your purpose in life?" At first I didn't know what to say, because I didn't know exactly what my purpose was. I figured I must have a purpose because why else would I be here if I wasn't meant to do something. And then it hit me, and I said back to him :I want to change the world, one step at a time."

I want to do something big. Like, really big. Super big. Grandé big. I want to do something so huge and so positive that I become something more than I ever thought I could be. I want to be recalled, and talked about. I want to make such a big impact that our descendants look back  and say "I want to be like her!" I want to make an immediate impact too; I want to enlighten people. I aspire to be the reason people want to get up in the morning. I'm on a mission to make a difference. 

I know I'm only 20 years old, and most would say I haven't even experienced HALF of what life is going to throw at me yet, which is very true. BUT, I do know a thing or two about how to be happy, which is half the reason I created this web page in the first place (the other half with this being my homework) and in my short 20 years of living, the biggest lesson I've learned is if you're not happy with your life, or something in your life you have to change it. You're probably thinking "wow easy". Others would say differently. YOU have to be the one to change it. That's the catch. Nobody can change your life like you can.

“Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending.”
Maria Robinson

BELIEVE ME, I know what it feels like to want to go back and start everything over. To want to reverse time and make a few changes. Or to even just relive a few things. Unfortunately, that isn't exactly the way the world works.  You can only move forward. if everybody could just turn their negative energy into something positive this world would be full of rainbows, unicorns, smiles, and be an all around much happier place :) Get rid of all the negative vibes in your life and replace them with something wonderful! Instead of sitting, pondering about the negatives, we should all rejoice and be grateful for all the marvelous things life has to offer us! And for goodness sake if you don't like the way something is going in your life, change it! If you don't life the color o your hair, dye it another color! If you're getting tired of your hand bag, homegirl go out and treat yo' self to a new bag! If you feel like you're surrounding yourself with people who are kiling your positive vibe, drop those eggheads and get yourself some positive noodles in your life!!!

The point of very lengthy post in particular is part of my goal to make a difference. I'm not looking to change the whole world in one day. What I am looking to do is make a difference, even if I only impact the life of one person per day/week/month/ect. I'm perfectly okay with that. Nothing great comes easy and nothing easy comes quick. I'm also here to tell you nothing is impossible. Do what you love to do, even if you may think its impossible, make the impossible, possible!

In the grand order of the universe, we are all specks. Our lives go by in an instant as far as the universe is concerned. But it is what we do with our lives that make it so special and precious. It's how we treat others, and how we treat ourselves.

“A year from now you may wish you had started today.”

Karen Lamb

Xo~ Mandy