Recently, I’ve read Shonda Rhime’s Year of Yes. Probably one book in particular that has changed my perspective on life so much. I’m sure I will go into detail about how this book has changed my life in a later post, but I wanted to quickly share with everyone the inspiration I felt all over again from her earlier today. I hope others can take away something great from this video.
-L
(Living with Anxiety) 12.1.15
Looking back, I can remember a time when I didn’t have much personal experience dealing with anxiety outside of the butterflies I would get when I was about to go on stage or speak in front of a crowd. There was a time, maybe 5 years ago, when I hadn’t used the word anxiety in a sentence more than a few times. And then life happened. Adult life. Shit got real. And before I knew it, I was always stressing. I could be sitting in class or at work and feel those same butterflies, nervousness, and even shortness of breath. What I was feeling was more than stress, it was chronic anxiety. Since then, life has gotten so much more real and my anxiety has gotten worse. I have to take control.
But it’s true, it’s always something. There will always be a reason to stress or something you wish was different. In the midst of life, I am learning to allow myself peace. How? By simply breathing. I’m working on being increasingly mindful of my body and the stress that lives within me on a daily basis. Every time I feel myself tensing up or getting anxious, I take 5 deep breaths and focus on nothing but my breathing. In that short period of time, I notice that I feel more calm. Whatever was stressing me out is suddenly put into perspective. If you really pay attention, you will notice that stressors in your daily life include things like rushing to work, road rage, someone cutting you in line, a coworker disagreeing with you. I am realizing that it’s really not worth it to stress over the small things. And holding onto even the smallest bit of anger from petty day-to-day interactions is not worth my peace. I am learning to let it all go. And for the bigger problems, I turn them over to God. And then breath.
-Ness
Welcome to our world!
We're so excited to see something we've been talking about for months come to fruition. We are both writers, we both always have new ideas, we both live inside of our minds sometimes. One thing we don't always do...is follow through. That stops now.
We've both been keeping a journal for a while now. Sometimes more consistent than others. You'll find some of our past entries here along with new content. In addition to writing, there are so many things we're excited to explore. Join us as we find what's outside of our comfort zone.
Love,
The Outsiders
Some people don’t even realize that they don’t believe in themselves. It's a simple skill — a cliche phrase. But still, not many have mastered it.
They use excuses like “I’m a realist.” And trust me, so am I. But sometimes you pigeonhole yourself into a box that says “that’s not realistic” or that’s not real life. You can be a realist and still understand that you create your own reality. Your perceptions of yourself and your world influence your choices and those choices dictate your life.
You know that you’re good at something, but you think “not good enough.” I found a journal entry of mine from 9.9.13 talking about all of the things that I know I’m good at that I don’t pursue. Asking myself why I thought it was too late. If I had started something every time I thought that, I can only imagine where I'd be.
But here I am… two and a half years later and there are still so many things that I talked about that day that I have not started.
Why?
This blog is apart of my effort to suspend my disbelief and try new things. My goal is to put action behind ideas. I'm really excited but can't lie, I'm nervous too. Regardless, it’s time to follow through.
-Ness
“I’m just here to free my mind.”
I spend a lot of time thinking about what I should and shouldn’t be doing in life. I usually make myself feel guilty about going out too many nights in a row or prioritizing fun over the more practical necessities of life. I know that I could (and will, lol) keep my house a little cleaner. I should probably be more organized. I should have saved more money by now. I want to read more books. I should probably spend my money on traveling vs. weekend bar tabs.
But then I realized…
As a 26 year old woman who isn’t married and has no children, I can do whatever I want. I shouldn’t feel guilty about taking advantage of the one phase of life that allows this type of independence and freedom. Of course I should be cognizant of my choices and how they will affect my future. I should do the things that make me happy and set me up for success. But I don’t have to judge, scold, and punish myself for just living life.
Peace, not Prohibition.
-Ness
In 2015, I've managed to watch my father pass from lung cancer, watched my grandmother pass almost a couple weeks later, watched my friends go through their problems, lost the person I thought I would get married to, lost myself, got severely sick in which the doctors initially thought I had cancer myself, oh yea...and thought many times of taking a handful of pills and calling this thing called life quits....
But I'm still here. Some. Way. Some. How. I am still here.
I didn't think I would ever be "ok" again. I didn't think I would ever find my purpose of living ever again. But I'm getting there. Don't get me wrong, I do have my moments where I sit and think about all that has happened which brings me to tears....but I'm finding peace more and more everyday.
It's the little moments of happiness I've learned to hold on to. It's the little flashes of inspiration God places in my heart that keeps me going. It's realizing that LIFE GOES ON. It's ok to cry and hurt. But one must be able to come back from that. So I am determined to get through this. I am determined to make my father so proud of me (even though he already was :)). I am determined not to give up on myself. I am <determined>
Note to Self:
The beauty of getting older is...you realize that you just aren't meant for everyone. Not everyone will like you, not everyone will see how great you are, and not everyone will agree with you. But you eventually get to a point where you accept it and move on. I remember when my feelings would get so hurt when someone spoke negatively of me. But I'm at an age where I'm feeling too old to even really care past a day. You just have to snap out of it and realize that other people's opinions of you are truly none of your business. You have to be confident enough to tell yourself "Well that sucks that they feel that way because I'm still going to be me. I'm still freaking awesome." Life is way too short to be focused on negative energy. It's so crazy to me how we as humans have so much influence on one another. One little comment from another associate can make or break our day. Have you ever tried to analyze your thoughts in that moment and go "But why is this affecting me like this?" Like really sit there and analyze that emotion you feel at the moment. We have the ability to make our brains stop controlling so much of ourselves. It's time to start controlling our brains...before we go nuts. So take the time to refocus on what's really important. As long as you know that you aren't cheating yourself out of life and trying your hardest to do what's right in whatever circumstance...you're good! Let those who are secretly miserable and stuck in their own screwed up way of thinking...continue to be screwed up. Be great and nothing less!
-L