Okay, so it has been about 10 years (2 weeks) since I have posted. I did not forget about you girlies, I promise! I'm still thinkin about ya. The reason it has been so long is because we had a super early homecoming week and I barely found time to eat and sleep nontheless spend time on a computer. Anyway, I'm here, I'm alive and ready to get going again full force. Before I get started, if there is anything you would like to see me write about or discuss on my blog, please don't hesitate to email me at srayburn7@gmail.com. I am always checking it. Ok so this week, I want to talk about being happy. I do not know what makes you happy or what makes you smile. But I know a couple ways that may improve the quality of your happiness. When I finally started applying these tips to my life, I became a much happier and confident girl. So take notes, here we go.
Tip #1:
Do What You Have To Do
I know homework is not necessarily what makes everybody happy. A lot of times, it is the cause of our anger and negativity in the evening. But I have learned (thanks to my consistent mother) that if you just do it all, right away, with out making distractions for yourself, you'll be happier in the end when you have time to do things you enjoy. So if you bring your homework home, sit down and finish it with out doing things in between, I promise you will have time to go hang out with your friends or get some decent sleep at night. This does not just apply to homework though. Anything you need to do, get it done with out excessive breaks and you'll be proud that you do it right with out wasting time.
Tip #2:
Leave the Comparison/Contrast for English Class
I know you hear "Be Yourself" every day of your life. But here's how to do it: Stop comparing yourself to others. You do it with out even knowing you're doing it. I still do it and it is the hardest habit to try and break. Obviously, no one is any "better" than you are. Maybe a girl in your grade can put an outfit together better than you, or can play the sport you love better than you. Those are little material things that are not going to matter as you get older. I guarantee you, there things that other girls you are always around don't have, that you do. Stop saying what is so much better about everbody else and start realizing the things that you are good at, things you love.
But the other side of that is making sure you don't get in over your head with what you are better at. Just because you are better at little material things, does not make you any better as an overall person. The other girl being better at sports is not a hint that she is better than you. You are equal, because things that give you different personalities, balance you out as people. I can't help but think about my own experiences. There has always been at least one girl who has treated me like I don't matter, or that she is better than me for every reason possible. Been when I stopped comparing myself to her or to other girls who do the same thing, I realized that they might be jealous of things that I have that they do not, and that they are not better than me and I'm no better than them. But for the girls I thought I was better than, I started to see what they could do that I could not. It puts things in to a great big perspective of life for me and it felt awesome when I saw that.
Tip #3:
Be Yourself
I love the saying "Be yourself because everyone else is already taken." It states the wholesome truth. You can not be somebody else, because I can assure you, you will not succeed, and we all want to succeed right? I am going to compare this situation to clothes because I think we can all relate. I definitely understand going out and getting a shirt or a pair of shoes because you thought they were cute and they would definitely go with the rest of your closet, I do that all the time. But you wouldn't take all of your clothes in your closet, throw them out and go buy a whole new wardrobe to match another girl, would you? That's too much time you would waste being something you're not and would get expensive.
What I'm trying to say here is that find things you like and that match your personality with others'. But don't wipe out everything that makes you, you and replace it with a personality that you have not already lived with and been known for. Trading you for someone else is something that you will cost you your true friends and by the time you realize how much damage you've done, it will be too late to turn back and gain back everything you had before. I'm not saying it's impossible, anything is possible. It will take a lot of work and and a long time. But why put so much in jeopardy when you could just prevent it now?
I don't know why being anyone else would be so much better than who you naturally are. After all, you're a beauty queen and that's all that matters right?
Saturday, September 22, 2012
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
My Story...What's yours?
This past Sunday at youth group, we talked about being there for others, even when it seems out of place. Our youth leader, who I know is reading this, told us a story about herself in this situation. She knew she had to be there for someone she barely knew, but she got the courage to say something to this girl and as it turned out, they both needed each other. My youth leader got something out of helping someone she saw struggling.
I spoke up after her story as my thoughts rushed to my head in a jumble as they always do, so I didn't really know where to begin but I realized I can totally relate. If you read my last two blog posts, you'd know that I went through a rebel stage, a bit of a rough patch in middle school and into my first year of high school. I had friends, but it's not like they were good influences. I was at the peak of my cheerleading career, but I still wasn't satisfied. Boys liked me, but not for the reasons I would have liked them to. I didn't bother to go to church for at least a year, that was not a priority of mine. Cheerleading and my social life were, school work was wedged in there somewhere, and as for my family, who wants to hang out without them when you're 14?
Nottt This Girllll...
I missed out on some precious time with my brother before he left for college. I got into trouble, a lot of it. All I wanted to do was cheer and go out with my friends. But that all came crashing down when I realized one day that I had to stop being so ignorant. I was taking everything I had for granted. My parents, my friends, my family. It wasn't until I injured my back cheerleading that I realized all of this. I couldn't cheer anymore so I didn't know what the heck to do with my time anymore. I prayed for days and nights that God would restrengthen my back. He didn't. I couldn't go back to cheer until the doctor said my muscles were strong enough. But that's when God and I, we made a deal. He would talk to me more, if I would start the conversation. I knew he would help me, but I couldn't imagine how big he would. I got over my back and started recollecting myself, piece by piece, with Jesus walking next to me the whole time, hand in hand. I had to start surrounding myself with different people. For a few months, I went with out a group of solid friends, and I was devestated about that. I thought I was going downhill again. But in the mean time, my grades got better. My mom was pretty happy about that one in particular. I was involved in a lot at school and I even got accepted onto my high school's yearbook staff.
I saw things heading in the right direction. My relationship with my parents was in check and my brother became my best friend. No boys liked me, i didn't have friends at school, but at least God had my back and I always had my parents to fall back on.
Now here's where it all gets good. At the beginning of my sophomore year, I started French II, and in that class was on of my best childhood friends, and another girl who I despised in middle school. But that didn't matter now. Emily, the middle school enemy, soon became my best friend. It was hard to imagine how alike we really were. Her other best friend Natalie, became a bestie of mine too. The 3 best friends that anyone could have, boom, sophomore year. I asked God for a group of friends and he delivered. I have no idea how I could get along with out them now. I don't need boys now; I have awesome friends I'd rather spend my time with.
There was a point at youth group one evening where I realized how much I had changed in just a couple months. I had asked God to change me, change the direction of my life to where he wanted it to go, and he definitely did.
But, there was one more issue. I still loved cheerleading and my back was not 100%. Needless to say, I couldn't compete with KC Cheer anymore, that would be way too much for my injury to handle. But what I did decide to do is cheer for my school. I had tried out Freshman year and didn't make it. My sophomore year was my injury year. But since I had started tumbling again, I thought maybe I was strong enough to do something with my time. God was kind of nudging my shoulder in the direction of school cheerleading. So I tried out and I made Varsity. I can't even tell you how excited I still am.
But when it came back to the issue of my back injury, I wasn't sure how it would hold up. I had my doctor and a spinal specialist tell me that it was not able to ever heal, I would have to deal with it, and I accepted that. Until my mom's chiropractor overheard me talking in his office. He set a meeting with me and took some X-rays and called me back in when he had the results. I broke down in tears when he told me he could heal my back, and that there was no reason I couldn't be as strong as I used to be.
Now in my eyes, this was God saying that I have done what he wants me to do, I have found out my gift of helping other people through my own pain. I have fixed what I needed to fix and he gave me a gift in return. He healed me. Knowing this and seeing what he has done, only makes me want to continue what I do and love him even more than before.
What I pointed out to the girls at youth group this week was that I have used every negative point of my life to help other girls and say "You don't have to go through this tough time alone! I understand." This is what I want to do more than anything, is help other people through my pain. But more importantly, in this journey of helping people, I have been changed and have only been getting stronger every day.
So here's my challenge for you this week: Do what you have to do to find out what God wants in your life. It takes time, but completely clearing your life of the negative influences and such will make life a lot easier in the long run. I'm not perfect yet, but I'm a heck of a lot better than I used to be and you can be too!
It's a step by step process but after all, you're a beauty queen and that's all that matters, right?
I spoke up after her story as my thoughts rushed to my head in a jumble as they always do, so I didn't really know where to begin but I realized I can totally relate. If you read my last two blog posts, you'd know that I went through a rebel stage, a bit of a rough patch in middle school and into my first year of high school. I had friends, but it's not like they were good influences. I was at the peak of my cheerleading career, but I still wasn't satisfied. Boys liked me, but not for the reasons I would have liked them to. I didn't bother to go to church for at least a year, that was not a priority of mine. Cheerleading and my social life were, school work was wedged in there somewhere, and as for my family, who wants to hang out without them when you're 14?
Nottt This Girllll...
I missed out on some precious time with my brother before he left for college. I got into trouble, a lot of it. All I wanted to do was cheer and go out with my friends. But that all came crashing down when I realized one day that I had to stop being so ignorant. I was taking everything I had for granted. My parents, my friends, my family. It wasn't until I injured my back cheerleading that I realized all of this. I couldn't cheer anymore so I didn't know what the heck to do with my time anymore. I prayed for days and nights that God would restrengthen my back. He didn't. I couldn't go back to cheer until the doctor said my muscles were strong enough. But that's when God and I, we made a deal. He would talk to me more, if I would start the conversation. I knew he would help me, but I couldn't imagine how big he would. I got over my back and started recollecting myself, piece by piece, with Jesus walking next to me the whole time, hand in hand. I had to start surrounding myself with different people. For a few months, I went with out a group of solid friends, and I was devestated about that. I thought I was going downhill again. But in the mean time, my grades got better. My mom was pretty happy about that one in particular. I was involved in a lot at school and I even got accepted onto my high school's yearbook staff.
I saw things heading in the right direction. My relationship with my parents was in check and my brother became my best friend. No boys liked me, i didn't have friends at school, but at least God had my back and I always had my parents to fall back on.
Now here's where it all gets good. At the beginning of my sophomore year, I started French II, and in that class was on of my best childhood friends, and another girl who I despised in middle school. But that didn't matter now. Emily, the middle school enemy, soon became my best friend. It was hard to imagine how alike we really were. Her other best friend Natalie, became a bestie of mine too. The 3 best friends that anyone could have, boom, sophomore year. I asked God for a group of friends and he delivered. I have no idea how I could get along with out them now. I don't need boys now; I have awesome friends I'd rather spend my time with.
There was a point at youth group one evening where I realized how much I had changed in just a couple months. I had asked God to change me, change the direction of my life to where he wanted it to go, and he definitely did.
But, there was one more issue. I still loved cheerleading and my back was not 100%. Needless to say, I couldn't compete with KC Cheer anymore, that would be way too much for my injury to handle. But what I did decide to do is cheer for my school. I had tried out Freshman year and didn't make it. My sophomore year was my injury year. But since I had started tumbling again, I thought maybe I was strong enough to do something with my time. God was kind of nudging my shoulder in the direction of school cheerleading. So I tried out and I made Varsity. I can't even tell you how excited I still am.
But when it came back to the issue of my back injury, I wasn't sure how it would hold up. I had my doctor and a spinal specialist tell me that it was not able to ever heal, I would have to deal with it, and I accepted that. Until my mom's chiropractor overheard me talking in his office. He set a meeting with me and took some X-rays and called me back in when he had the results. I broke down in tears when he told me he could heal my back, and that there was no reason I couldn't be as strong as I used to be.
Now in my eyes, this was God saying that I have done what he wants me to do, I have found out my gift of helping other people through my own pain. I have fixed what I needed to fix and he gave me a gift in return. He healed me. Knowing this and seeing what he has done, only makes me want to continue what I do and love him even more than before.
What I pointed out to the girls at youth group this week was that I have used every negative point of my life to help other girls and say "You don't have to go through this tough time alone! I understand." This is what I want to do more than anything, is help other people through my pain. But more importantly, in this journey of helping people, I have been changed and have only been getting stronger every day.
So here's my challenge for you this week: Do what you have to do to find out what God wants in your life. It takes time, but completely clearing your life of the negative influences and such will make life a lot easier in the long run. I'm not perfect yet, but I'm a heck of a lot better than I used to be and you can be too!
It's a step by step process but after all, you're a beauty queen and that's all that matters, right?
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