Beginning Again.

Recently, I have been going through some really difficult transitions in my life with emotions, relationships, and other personal matters. I've been wanting to post one of these bad boys about all that's been going on but have been trying to think of exactly what I would want my message or revelation to be to everyone "if I were to die today."

Would it be on sadness and how to deal with abrupt changes or difficulties in life? 

Would it be on dealing with relationships, be it friends, family, or significant others?

Would it be on feeling like you are losing your mind sometimes in life and literally feeling crazy?

I could probably write on all of these topics right about now, but idk how beneficial they would be to those that read these besides being an outpour of my feelings, and that's not what I want this blog to be about. 

Final topic decision? 

How to begin again or start over in life.

For those of you close to me, you are aware of all that I've been going through in my own crazy little world and I have finally come to the conclusion that when everything seems like it is going wrong and you feel like you have nowhere to turn, you just have to take a deep breath, and realize that you can start fresh with whatever is happening to you at any moment! 

I have many friends that have had serious difficulty dealing with breakups, fights with best friends, the loss of a parent or loved one, feeling like they have no purpose in life. What I want to say about that is that no matter how low you feel, how down in the dumps things may seem, there is so much more to life than we see on a day to day basis and we have to understand and embrace that fact. 

Starting over seems like a hard thing to do sometimes; having to force yourself to stop thinking about someone you lost in your life, having to forget the past or memories that you want to hold on to, having to ultimately stop feeling sorry for yourself. 

So how do you do it without having to have all of the pain in the world still inside of you? 

I grew up listening to an amazing man named Wayne Dyer (thanks to mi mama ;) ) who has given me some of the most beneficial ways to live by. One of the things he says is that if you want to change your emotions or your energy inside yourself, you have to have a paradigm shift:

Think of driving down the road and seeing a dead dog lying on the side of the road, helpless and gone. It's a super sad mental image, I know. Now think of a beach with the sun setting over the ocean, palm trees and seashells scattered throughout the sand scape, and you laying on a towel enjoying the moment.

How did you do that? How did you just shift your thoughts from one bad thing to one amazing and beautiful thing?

You just did it! It's unexplainable but it is as simple as that. Just doing it.

Pain and memories may not ever leave your heart but there are ways to relieve it, and this is one of them. Taking a step back, shifting your thoughts(just like above) from the bad things in life to the beautiful and the good, and starting over. You can do it at anytime!

The past is what it is and no matter how much we may want it to, it's not going anywhere and is never changing. The only thing to do is learn from it, cherish everything about it; bad or good, and move forward one day at a time. 

So all in all, my point is that I am going to try to start over in life with love, relationships, and anything else I'm going through right now, and I want it to be known that it IS possible and you can do it too :) 

When we think about all the emotional stress or hardships or sadness in our lives, just think about young adults in other countries with no food, bad health, viewing death everyday of their lives within their families and communities, or struggles to survive. It sounds cliche, but realistically we are SO lucky to live in the lives that we do and we so often take it for granted and only dwell in the moments of OUR problems or OUR sadnesses. 

We have the world at our fingertips as our playground, so why aren't we playing on it!? 

Travel somewhere you have never been to, take a road trip with your family, meditate at a local park, find a missions trip and go help others in another country, adopt an animal from a shelter, go skydiving, horseback riding, or learn to surf! 

I focus so much on my issues and so often forget that the world has everything to offer me, I just need to take the initiative to love and embrace it! 

I have been to the beach with friends recently and just realized the beauty of the world in a moment where I was sitting with some of the most amazing individuals, watching dolphins jumping out of the water, and taking pictures galore together. It's these kind of small moments in life that we should cherish and not focus on the bad things we have to deal with! Think about the happy times you had with a loved one you lost, focus on THAT! Don't think about how you wish you woulda played the last day you had with them differently, or how you wish you had've been nicer to your old best friend. The past IS what it IS, so take out the amazing times of yours and think about THOSE :) Begin again tomorrow and start over with WHATEVER YOU WANT! Because it IS possible! Rekindle a relationship if you want to even! Do what you want in life because it could end at any second!

I have had a desire to take time off of my hands lately and give back in some way and I will be starting my volunteering position tomorrow at a local animal shelter! I love animals, and love being around them, so I decided to start doing this more! They make me happy, so why not make them happy in turn by socializing them and preparing them to be able to be adopted!? It's this sort of mindset that I want to stay in more often and find ways of focusing on happiness and loving the world and all it has to offer rather than focusing on the bad, which is so easy to do. 

An amazing new friend of mine recently told me in a conversation of me complaining about my life and my problems, "Girl, you need to stop focusing on others in your life and problems with them, and fall in love with YOURSELF; then you can add in the others that you want to be involved with this love and relationship you have inside of you, WITH YOU, into the equation." It made me think so much about how all problems are within ourselves, not with others. Get in this mindset and realize that we can change anything we want about life or our world and make it better at anytime! :)

We can start over at any moment, and that's what I'm going to try to do for myself at this time in my life.

Begin again, cherish every moment for what it is, cherish my past (the good and the bad), love unconditionally, and fall in love with myself before putting myself in relationships with others.

I love you all that read these posts and I hope and pray that they help you as much as I would like them to! 

Love, live, and laugh strong everyday and remember how valuable every second of your life is! <3

Here is a song that I love and listen to nearly everyday and it pretty much sums up everything I feel right now. You live, love, laugh, and learn from things everyday. Embrace it all! :)

You Learn- Alanis Morrisette

So that is that.
If I died today, I would want you to know these things.
xo, Jell.