1. stop spending time with the wrong people. life is too short to spend time with people who suck the happiness out of you. if someone wants you in their life, they'll make room for you...the ones who stand beside you when you're at your worst are your true friends.
how many times have you had the "abused puppy syndrome?" you know, where you constantly seek out the companionship of someone no matter how horribly they treat you or take advantage of you. one thing that i've really found freeing as i've become an adult is realizing that i don't want to cultivate a friendship, or maintain a friendship, with someone who doesn't want to do the same with me.
8. stop berating yourself for old mistakes. we may love the wrong person and cry about the wrong things, but no matter how things go wrong, one thing is for sure, mistakes help us find the person and things that are right for us. we all make mistakes, have struggles, and even regret things in our past. but you are not your mistakes, you are not your struggles, and you are here NOW with the power to shape your day and your future.
there are so many things about myself that i wish i wouldn't have done or said. guess what? you can't change it. realizing that and embracing it is so liberating. everything i've done, said, or endured in my life, has lead me to the place i'm in now. like my granny used to say..."you've gotta forgive it and move on. you can't live in the past." easier said than done sometimes, but something that must be done in order to achieve peace and happiness.
9. stop trying to buy happiness. many of the things we desire are expensive. but the truth is, the things that really satisfy us are totally free--love, laughter and working on our passions.
oh materialism...how it's so easy to let you creep in and take over my life! as i've grown into adulthood, i've found that the times i've been the most anxious or stressed, is when i am comparing my life to that of my friends or family or random person on social media. yes, it would be nice to go shopping at chanel or travel to australia on a whim, but right now, my life isn't suited for that, and that's okay. what i have to realize, is that if it were, i would likely not have the most important thing to me, which is my husband, and that is something that i could never dream of sacrificing. besides, biggie said it best...the more money we come across, the more problems we see.
16. stop being jealous of others. jealousy is the art of counting someone else's blessings instead of your own. ask yourself this: "what's something i have that everyone wants?"
a great follow up to #9. how insulting it must be to god when i covet someone else's [fill in the blank with ANYTHING]. i'm learning to consciously name the things that i am grateful for in my life rather than focus on things i do not have. guess what? i probably don't need them anyway.
20. stop wasting time explaining yourself to others. your friends don't need it and your enemies won't believe it anyway. just do what you know in your heart is right.
confidence is key. period.
21. stop doing the same things over and over without taking a break. the time to take a deep breath is when you don't have time for it...sometimes you need to distance yourself to see things clearly.
my name is rachel, and i'm a workaholic. i kid, i kid, but seriously, i reeeeaaaaaaally have a hard time leaving work at work sometimes. it's so important to be present in the present. oftentimes, the mundane fleeting moments end up being the most important ones in your life. how terrible to miss one because you're consumed with what is going on at the office. i also have found that my greatest ideas and progress at work come after i've taken a break.
28. stop worrying so much. worry will not strip tomorrow of its burdens, it will strip today of its joy. one way to check if something is worth mulling over is to ask yourself this question: "will this matter in one year's time? three years? five years?" if not, then it's not worth worrying about.
THIS!!!!! i constantly have to remind myself of this. sometimes, you just have to remember that it the grand scheme of things, sometimes the matter at hand just doesn't matter.
xoxo- rachel
