Happy Birthday to me! 18 years ago on November 28, 1997 at around 5 in the morning a legend was born... (that may be a bit of an exaggeration but you get the point!)
I've had a lot of good times and a lot of bad times through my 18 years and I've learned quite a bit from them. So I have decided to share with you guys the 18 things I have learned in my 18 years of life!
1. Happiness is a choice
I've blogged about this topic before because it is something that is very important to me. In any given scenario you face in life you can choose to see in the bright side. Although you sometimes have no control over your circumstances you always have control of how you react based on those circumstances. So wake up every day and just smile, think about how blessed you are, and choose to be happy every single day.
As you all probably know if you have read my blog post before or if you know me personally, my Dad passed away when I was 10 years old. As a child I always heard about death on the news and saw it around me but I never thought I would have to be affected by it. Death can come at any given moment to any person. You are NOT invincible and neither are the people you love so cherish the time that you have with them and let them know how much you love them like it's the last time you ever see them because it just may be.
3. Quiet time with the Lord is SO important
I'm a big advocate of being healthy. I try to eat good (notice I said try) and I workout daily a long with doing yoga for at least 20 minutes a day. I believe in taking care of my body because it does not belong to me. It's Gods temple so I plan to keep it clean for him. Along with being physically healthy it is so important that you are spiritually healthy! I believe that as a Christian you desperately need that quiet time with the Lord everyday. Pick a time when you can be alone, just you and God. Personally I always like to have my quiet time before I go to bed because that's usually when I'm in my thinking mode. If you don't know where to begin think about purchasing a study bible or a devotional book! I really love Jesus Calling by Sarah Young and Live Original by Sadie Robertson (links to these books will be at the end). It's important to read/study scripture but it's also important to just talk to God. Tell Him about your day and what your worried about or excited for. He is all ears!
4. You are too blessed to be stressed
This one has been a hard one for me to learn and live by especially since I've been so worried about college lately. One thing I have learned is that things always work out. Things may not work out the way you planned but they always work out. Take a step back and evaluate your situation before getting worked about and just think is this really that big of a deal? The answer is usually no. Being stressed does no good. It doesn't change the situation it just causes pimples YUCK! So stop stressing and give all your worries to the Lord because I promise He will take care of it for you!
5. Boys are dumb
Well not necessarily all boys... but a LOT of them, especially the ones in High School. You do NOT need a boy to have fun and I can promise you that because I've been doing it all through High School and I've loved the single life. I will admit that there are times when I feel lonely or get jealous of my friends "perfect relationships" but that's when I open up my bible and read Jeremiah 29:11. The Lord has a plan for your life so don't waste your time worrying about if those stupid High School boys like you and just live your life to the fullest and when God is ready to bring a man into your life he will.
6. Only God can judge us
Girls are born to be judgmental, it's in our blood. Although it's a natural thing for girls to judge others (especially other girls) that's not what God wants us to do. Think before you judge someone because you don't know them. You don't know the trials they have faced and what's going on in there life just like they don't know yours. It would be totally unfair for someone who doesn't even know your story to judge you, right?! Then stop doing it to them!
7. I have the best friends in the entire world
I have been so blessed to have my girlfriends in my life. They would do just about anything for me and I am so beyond thankful for all of them. The most important thing about my group of friends is we all believe the same way so we are basically just all each others accountability partners. It is so important when making friends to find ones who will help you grow spiritually and not ones who tempt you to do something you know you shouldn't.
8. Document everything
I have been writing for as long as I can remember. When I was younger I used to write these long stories about princesses and monsters and just about anything I could think of. In 2012 my cousin gave me a journal. I've had plenty of diaries when I was younger and the only thing I wrote was about three pages describing how annoying a little boy in my class was. With this journal I received in 2012 I decided to do something different. I decided to make a prayer journal. It started out with me just writing down my prayers and became this massive journal full of pages ranging from what I'm thankful for to my favorite scriptures to entries from the days that I was an emotional wreck and needed God again. I love going back and reading all the different entries from the last few years and see how much I have grown in my faith!
9. Sometimes things just don't work
A hard lesson for me to learn is that sometimes my plans and Gods plans don't match up... Don't be disappointed if something you have really wanted doesn't work out because that just means that God has a BIGGER & BETTER plan in mind for you and isn't that exiting!
10. You are SO beautiful
I've already made a separate blog post on this so I'll make this one short and sweet. You are beautiful! Do you know why? Because God made you exactly the way you are and God doesn't make ugly creations. By calling yourself ugly you are calling something carefully crafted by God Himself ugly and that's no okay! Society does NOT define beauty God does and God made you into your unique beautiful self for a reason! There is no one on Earth exactly like you, you are so unique and special and BEAUTIFUL!
11. Find your own faith
I've always grown up in a Christian house. By the time I was 6 years old I knew just about all the hymns and bible stories you could think of by heart. When I was about 14 I started questioning certain things, not necessarily Christianity but more of the smaller nitty gritty stuff that I was taught growing up, so I picked up my Bible and decided to see what I thought. I began to form my own opinion on things and I discovered God for myself! Although I do agree with my parents on a majority of it, my faith is now my own because when I had questions I studied the scripture and found the answers myself! Don't just go off of what your mom tells you or what you preacher says, find the answers yourself and it will make your faith so much stronger!
12. Take every opportunity you can
As I said before, life is SO precious. Take advantage of every moment you can to live life to the fullest. I don't want to look back on my younger self and remember sitting in my room and playing on my phone all day. I want to remember doing things and having fun and making memories! My simple solution for making the most of everyday is saying yes more often! Your mom asks you to go to the store to pick up some milk? Say yes because who knows you might meet the coolest person you have ever talked to while you are there! It's a little silly but it works! So seize every opportunity and make your life an unforgettable one!
13. Be filled with thanksgiving always
I don't care who you are, you have SO much to be thankful for! There are so many people who have it way worse than you and God could have easily placed you somewhere worse so thank God everyday for all that you have. You are blessed more than you can even imagine!
14. Social Media can ruin you
Social Media is a blessing and a curse. If you use it wisely it can be very beneficial! It's fun to check up on friends and family who you don't see very often and you can even spread Gods love by tweeting scripture or instagramming Gods beauty! But it can also destroy you... Social Media is full of negative influences that you don't need to see! What I have done to make Social Media more beneficial to me than harmful is deleting everyone who tends to post negatively. Sometimes its hard to do this because maybe one of your friends is always posting about how terrible her day is or your favorite celebrity tends to swear more than she should but it's not worth having that stuff rub off on you!
15. I like what I like and that's okay
Everyone is different and that's okay in fact, that's awesome! It used to be so important to me to fit in and be just like everyone else but I soon realized that I wasn't happy doing that. I like to dress differently sometimes and I like to listen to all sorts of cool bands that my friends have probably never even heard of but that's okay! Like I said before God made you to be you! He made you to be unique and special in your own way! So be different, because different is AWESOME!
16. Be a kid for as long as you can
You only get one chance to be a kid so dance in the rain, jump on the bed, and lick the batter off of the spoon for as long as you can!
17. Life is better with love
Love your enemies. It's a lesson taught all throughout the Bible and one of the hardest ones to follow. It's so easy to build up this hatred towards those people who just annoy the crap out of you (for lack of a better definition), but having that hatred inside of you doesn't make you any happier than you were before. Love those who persecute you because even though you may not like them you may be the only Bible they are ever exposed to. Like the song says, "Let them see you in me." By loving showing love to those who hate you they are able to see the love of God in your life!
18. I don't know much...
I may sound like I have my life together but trust me I still have a LOT to learn! I'm still a kid growing up, experiencing new things and learning new lessons everyday but these are just a few of the important ones I've learned so far and I hope that maybe you guys can learn through my experiences as well!
Jesus Calling by Sarah Young
Live Original by Sadie Robertson
Thanks Hannah. This has HOPEFULLY changed my life. You are a great friend and these 18 things has made me think about my life. ILY<3
ReplyDelete