On Motivation

This is going to be another update post - I apologize, there's just so much going on! I'll be sure to get back to my deep, philosophical posts soon!

In general, I like to think of myself as an active, motivated person. However, lately, it's been really hard for me to focus or get motivated to do anything. Maybe it's my awful sleeping patterns, poor eating habits, or maybe I'm just stressed out. Regardless, it's about time to get back into the swing of things, as they say.

Soon, I will be starting a new meal plan, so I will finally be eating properly again. I think I'm finally starting to catch up on all my school work, so hopefully I'll be able to sleep properly again soon and my stress levels will go down. And of course, I always have my motivation wall, filled with sticky notes to remind me of all the good things that are going on in my life.

I've also been getting a little more active, and I think that's helping. This week I started to learn how to dance salsa, and I had a blast with it. I felt so energized and so much better afterwards. I also played in a volleyball tournament last night - our team came in second-to-last place, but it was still so much fun, and it was nice to make some new friends.

Do any of you have certain methods you use to get yourself motivated? I'd love to hear about them!

Thanks for reading! <3

On The Post-It Project

In my last blog post, I mentioned that I was working on a little personal project to keep myself thinking positively. Basically what I've been doing is keeping a diary of the good things that happen in my life. The fun part is, instead of keeping it tucked away in a book somewhere, I've been sticking them on my wall on post-it notes, where I can see them every day:

As much as this probably doesn't seem like a big deal to most people, it's actually helped me a lot to be more positive. If something bad happens, I can literally look back on my week and see all of the good things that happened, and then it doesn't seem so bad. I would love to see other people doing this, so if anyone decides to, I'd love to see pictures!

On another note, I may have a collaborative project with Tara coming up, so keep your eyes open for that!

Thanks for reading, and keep smiling! <3

On Loose Ends

Just a few quick notes today, because I have thoughts in my head that just won't seem to form proper sentences... I'm working on it.

First off, I can't believe that this is my 50th blog post. I had no idea I had that much to say, and yet I feel like there's still so much more in my head. To the people that actually read this blog: thank you. I have wanted to be a writer ever since I was a little girl, and even if it's just a small blog that only my friends and family read, it's nice to know that I'm writing something and that someone out there is reading it.

Secondly, I am working on a little project that I'm kind of excited to talk about but also nervous to talk about, so I am going to save that for another post. I will say this, though - it is really helping me to keep thinking positively and to think about the good things in life.

Finally, I didn't get a chance to put a post up on Monday, but it was Remembrance Day back home. I hope that everyone took some time to think about the people who fought so that we could be free. It's important to be grateful for the things that we have, and I, for one, do my best to not take freedom for granted.

Thanks again for reading <3

On Cheering Up

Do you ever have those days where all you can do is hope tomorrow will get here fast because it feels like today is just kicking you in the throat repeatedly?

Well, I've been having that kind of week. But instead of talking about all the things that have gone horribly wrong or been utterly disastrous, I'm going to talk about the little things that have been really fun or have gone really well, because frankly, I need a little bit of positive energy right now.

First off, I've been making a lot of friends here now that I'm more open to being social and going out and having fun. It's nice to think that I can actually strike up a conversation without worrying about the person wondering who I am.

Of course, I don't really worry too much about having to make new friends, because I already have the best friends in the world. I know this because only the best people could manage to get something like this video (featuring Tara, of internet fame, and our friend Brandon) from studying for an exam. I had more fun trying to dance to Single Ladies that day than I've had in a long time.

As a little added bonus, I got my mark back for the exam that we were supposed to be studying for when we created that video, and I am very pleased with my results.

In general, things are going fairly well. Sometimes, things happen in life that aren't as good as we'd like them to be, and I guess the main point of this post, for me, was to focus on the good things, because it's all too easy to dwell on what's going wrong.

On Definitions

I am a 19 year old Canadian girl who is spending her second year of college abroad in the Netherlands. I don't know where this blog post is going, but I really feel like I have something to say, and I'll be damned if not knowing what it is will stop me from saying it.

Looking back, I have changed so much and yet so little since this time last year. It was around this time last year that I was going through a hard breakup and trying to figure myself out - which is, oddly enough, happening again this year, but that's beside the point. Basically, I have always had a lot of trouble defining myself. I've always thought I was weird because growing up I was constantly told, "just be yourself!" and I felt like I was the only person on the planet who didn't know how to do that. Now, I think there are a lot of people out there who don't really know who they are, and that's perfectly okay. I'm not even 20 years old. With some luck, I'll have plenty of time to figure all that out.

Another problem I've had with defining myself is that I've always tried to fit myself into one nice little box. Geeky, girly, family-oriented. I've always felt like I had to pick one and be that person. The truth is, I can't fit into one nice little box like that. I overflow. I'm messy and that makes me a more interesting person. I can be girly and still enjoy curling up to watch Day[9]'s Funday Monday or Doctor Who now and then. I can enjoy shopping malls and city lights and still listen to Clint Black or Garth Brooks. I don't have to be one or the other. Sometimes it's hard for me to accept that there are parts of me that are the polar opposite of other parts of me, and that's just one more part that I need to learn to accept. I can like whatever I like, and that's what allows me to "be myself" - it's not about falling into one nice little box. It's about all the different boxes that a person falls into. 

I guess what I'm trying to say is that people are messy. When it comes to enjoying things, there isn't always "one or the other," there isn't always a simple answer. There isn't a dictionary definition for every person out there, there isn't an antonym for every personality. Besides, who's to say that the messy things aren't the most rewarding?