Be Strong!

I saw this post on my Facebook newsfeed and I have a few things to say about it. 

I know these feelings very well, and I'm sure a lot of people do. But the thing that we have to realize when we're thrown in a terrible situation is that we are going to feel this way regardless. Even when you're trying really hard just to be happy there are going to be times when you can't stop yourself from feeling down, and that's totally normally and it's okay. Most of the time when we're in a bad situation our friends or family or peers will just tell us to get out of it. Sometimes, it's not that easy and you really are stuck, at least temporarily anyway. But there are a few things we need to realize: 

1) It's okay to ask for help, if someone is really truly a good person they will help you and asking for help doesn't make you a needy or a bad person, it makes you human. I know I have some issues with asking for help, I'd rather do things on my own. It's not that I don't want or need help, I just simply don't like asking people for things. So, I understand that other people probably feel this way too but things will move a lot faster and go a lot smoother if you take someone's hand when they reach out to you. 

2) It's okay to miss people or things, it's part of human nature. People do not like change, they like knowing everything and having routines that they follow so when something changes we're left feeling like we're lost and we wish we could just go back to when you were aware of how everything worked and when you were able to predict how things were going to go for the most part. But, there's a reason why we are no longer where we were and to miss things for too long can get out of hand. It's okay to remember the past but do not dwell on it. 

3) Don't just dream of a life you never think you'll have. If you figure out exactly what you want the next step is to figure out how to get there. It may seem impossible at first but all you need to do is create a series of goals for yourself. Work backwards. Figure out your long term goals (5+ years from now) first and then create mid-term goals (2-5 years) to help you get to your long term ones and then lastly, create short-term (days - 2 years) to help you get to the mid term ones. By working backwards you're ensure that you're following a path to get you exactly where you want to go. Be very specific and keep your dream in your head all the time, and constantly work for it, and you will achieve it. Nothing is impossible unless you tell yourself it is. 

4) If you're wishing you want to start all over again then do it. Nothing is stopping you from starting a new life, creating a new you with new ways of seeing things, handling things and feeling. Sometimes we're torn down completely, and this is a perfect time to rebuild and become an even better person. 

5) I know that when you feel so terrible you wonder why these things are happening and wonder what you did to deserve something so bad. You don't deserve to feel terrible but if you think about it, we learn most from these bad situations and become stronger people. Instead of looking at it as something horrible, think of it as a learning experience, I know it sounds totally cliché but it's true. 

Anyways, that about covers what I had to say, and I hope that this helps someone else see things more positively. I've been in quite a few bad situations but here I am still learning and growing every day and becoming a stronger, more successful person. Just don't be too hard on yourself and keep your chin up even in the worst of times. <3 

Don't Just Shoot For The Moon, Land On It.

How many times in our lives have we been asked where we want to be in say 10 years from now, or 20 years or so on? Probably at least a few hundred times. We get asked by our teachers, our parents, our friends, our peers and our answer usually changes through out the years. I personally have known what I want to do since before I was in high school. I want to work with young children, and I want to do this because no matter how frustrated I may get with them or if they do something bad, minutes later I find myself laughing. They always keep a smile on my face, and in my heart. I love how children question everything and see no reason not to question it. I love how everything is exciting and they're always having fun. So, back to my original point, I know what I want to do career wise, and have for a long time. I also know how I'm going to get there which would be applying to colleges for the ECE program, going through the program for the 2 years and then hopefully finding a career in that field shortly after. But, recently I had to do an assignment about goals for an elective college credit that I'm taking (to get ahead of the game before I get to college). When I first skimmed through the assignment I figured "huh, easy enough, I know exactly where I want to be!" but it's harder than that because it required so much detail. For example, for the short-term goal part of the assignment (the instructions were to pick one of the mid-term goals I had came up with and make short-term goals in order to achieve the mid-term one, yo dawg I heard you like goals) and one of my short term goals was this  "I will obtain my OSSD by July 2013 by completing the 3 necessary credits I have left in order to graduate." When I got my mark back I got asked to be more specific on that. I had no idea how to be more specific, I was thinking "I just wanna graduate so that I can go to college so that I can have a career, come on now!" That's when I realized that I know where I want to be and sort of how I am going to get there but I did not now the exact steps I was going to take, I was just going to end up "winging it". I then sat down and really thought hard and came up with this. "I will obtain my OSSD with a grade average of at least 75% by July 2013 by completing the 3 necessary credits I have left in order to graduate and gain at least 2 college credits through the program at the high school that I am already enrolled in so I can get a head start on my postsecondary education and get a feel for what college is like." 

The point is that once I sat down and was forced to think of exactly where I want to be and exactly how I am going to get there (not want, am) I was more determined and excited to get there and it made me want to work harder to achieve my goal in the present. I'm not sure about everyone else but I realized that I often had no clue what was going to come next and I would just wait for life to throw something at me and figure out a way to deal with it. Now, I feel like I am in control of my life. I am aware that I have options to choose from and many choices to make and the only way I'll get to where I want to be is if I grab hold of the wheel and steer myself in the right direction. Now, I'm looking back and wondering "what was I waiting for? Everything I want has been within my reach I just never tried to grab it." But now I've got a firm grip and I'm ready to get going. 

The reason why I'm sharing this story is because I hope that maybe someone reading this might learn something or it may give someone the motivation to reach for their futures too, I would love to know that something I said has changed someone else's life positively. But also, I am sharing this so that maybe one day when I feel like losing hope I will come across this, and it will restore my motivation, my inspiration and my drive and I can get back up and try again. 

There's a saying that goes "shoot for the moon, even if you miss you'll still land among the stars". But why stop at just the stars? It will be worth it to push that extra mile to get to the moon and you'll feel one hundred percent better. Just never give up. 

A Dozen Life Lessons.

Here are some lessons I have learned throughout my life.

1. Do not live to please other people, real happiness is making yourself happy. 

2. You are the only one who can achieve anything in your life. If you get things handed to you on a silver platter and one day it stops (which it inevitably will) you have no drive and you fail. 

3. Have a back bone. Do not be a doormat, ever. 

4. Do not live up to other people's expectations regardless of who they are, live up to your own.

5. Everyone has a different idea of what the word "successful" means. Live by your definition. 

6. Let any negativity bounce off you. You actually can force yourself to be an optimist, or better, an opportunist. 

7. Do not rely on anyone, ever. Independence is the first step towards being a strong person. 

8. Learn from every mistake regardless of whether it was your own or a complete stranger. 

9. Visualize where you want to be in the future, create personal goals, and work your ass off to achieve them. 

10. Life is easier when you choose logic over emotions. 

11. Observe everything. You learn a lot about people when you just sit back and observe rather than jumping in and being involved. 

12. Don't rush through life, you will have lots of time to settle down. Experience life while you're still young and able to. 

Who I Am

I had to do a write up for a project for my schooling and I just thought that I would share it with you guys. There is obviously so much more than me but here's a bit about me so you guys can get to know me better :) 

Who is Amanda?

When people ask me who I am and what sort of things that I'm into I don't usually know what to say because I'm passionate about so many things. I like to say I am a person of many interests and the values that I have are very important to me. I always set goals for myself and sometimes it takes awhile to achieve them but when I do it's the greatest feeling in the world. I pride myself in being the best that I can be; sometimes I get off course or fall off track but as long as I make in it the end and have accomplished something along the way I shine.

Firstly, a couple of my values in my life are family and aesthetics. Family values are very important to me because of a few reasons. About a year ago I had moved away from home on bad terms and was completely cut off from my family, after experiencing that I realized just how important family is. Families are the people who will always be there for you, support you and forgive you. My mother and I have always been fairly close but I feel that over the past year we've grown even closer. Since moving away from home and moving back in, although I don't live with my father we have also grown closer and are able to talk easier with each other. Although the experience of moving away from home was a bad thing I learned a lot from it and because of that mistake I've come so much closer with my family.

As well as family, aesthetics is another value I have. I tend to find beauty in everything, which a lot of people forget about. I like to take the time to stop and smell the roses or watch the sun rise. When I take the time to do these things I feel closer with nature and feel better as a person in general. Whenever I get upset or angry about something taking a walk usually helps me. I find walking and just looking at everything you're surrounded by is relaxing and helps you forget about the petty arguments and complications that come with life. Last summer I went for a 5 hour long walk and on that walk I learned a lot about myself, and life as well. I learned that you shouldn't get upset over every little thing that doesn't seem to go your way because we are surrounded by so much good all the time. We tend to ignore the good and only concentrate on the bad, but if we take that time out of our lives to be thankful for everything and admire the natural beauty we'd find ourselves much happier more frequently.

Secondly, I have set a few long term goals for myself. School has always been a struggle for me so I want to concentrate on my education. I was supposed to graduate last year with all of my friends but I was short 6 credits so I wasn't able to. Seeing all of my peers graduate and leave me behind was a really horrible feeling so I've set a goal to graduate this year to prove to myself that I have the ability to, even though my peers have already graduated. After graduating high school I want to go to college for Early Childhood Education because of my love for kids. Hopefully I will be going to a college in Winnipeg, Thunder Bay, or London.

Speaking of kids, another one of my goals is to visit my nieces more often. They live in Kenora so I don't get to see them as often as I'd like to. My nieces are only 7 weeks apart as my sister and my sister-in-law got pregnant around the same time, and they are both around 2 years old now. When children are younger they grow so fast and if you don't see them they almost forget you, this is something that I really don't want to happen. I love kids in general and I want to be apart of their lives and have them know me as Auntie Amanda. Every now and them I get to Skype with them but it's not the same as seeing them and holding them. Therefore I've decided that I will go up to Kenora to visit them at every chance I have.

Lastly, a few other things about me that someone might want to know is that I love animals and have two pets, and I have interests in music and travel. I love animals and enjoy having pets because they're almost like little furry people, or little furry children. I have a 3 year old Miniature Doberman cross with Chihuahua named Bella and a 5 month old kitten named Roxy. Both Bella and Roxy provide so much laughter and entertainment in my life. They can be a handful when they get into things that they're not supposed to, or when Roxy climbs the curtains but overall they bring joy into both mine and my mother's lives.

Along with being interested in animals I also have a bunch of other interests. A couple of those interests are music and travel. I have been interested in music ever since I can remember. I have been singing since I was in the crib and playing guitar for at least 6 years now. I have written many songs and performed at a few shows. One show that I performed at that really sticks out in my mind was when I performed at the Loud As Rock concert in 2010 with a close friend of mine, David Huffman. I remember getting up on that stage with all of the bright lights was so scary, although I had performed before. I was so nervous at first but once we got off the stage I felt amazing. I think that the fact that you can share your thoughts, feelings, hopes and dreams through a song is just absolutely amazing. Music has been a huge part of my life and always will be. Maybe some day I can combine my interest in music with my other interest in travel. I love to travel because you get to see new places, meet new people and make friends with them, and learn so much. Starting in 2008 I began going on trips with a youth group from Thunder Bay every two years in the summer. In 2008 we went to the Yukon which was such amazing experience that I decided to go on the following trip in 2010 to London, Ontario. It was going on those trips that made me decide that I want to keep traveling and go to different places all around the world.

Therefore, I would describe myself as a very family-oriented person that enjoys the little things in life and has many interests. Every experience I have in my life adds to those interests and the knowledge that I have. Every day I'm growing and learning more about life and about myself.