refreshing my attitude.

Risa just told me the other day that she finally finished Liz Gilbert's "Eat, Pray, Love." For those of you who haven't touched it yet, YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE MISSING! It is definitely a new favorite. There are so many passages in this book that have stayed with me and have now resurfaced in my mind as they pertain to my current situation and help to shed a little light (I'm referring to the frustrated and aimless ramblings that I posted yesterday). These quotes below, which I recorded in my journal as I was reading the book, help remind me why I shouldn't stress out about what comes next in my life. Plus, they just make you feel a little warm and fuzzy inside anyway.

For my worries about what I should do with my life:

"There is so much about my fate that I cannot control, but other things do fall under the jurisdiction. I can decide how I spend my time, whom I interact with, whom I share my body and life and money and energy with. I can select what I can read and eat and study. I can choose how I'm going to regard unfortunate circumstances in my life-whether I will see them as curses or opportunities. I can choose my words and the tone of voice in which I speak to others. And most of all, I can choose my thoughts."
I have to realize that we don't know the answers until we stop avoiding the questions and face our actions with courage. Who knows what may be right for wrong for me in the future? I just have to trust that if anything goes wrong along the way, I will learn from it and do whatever necessary to keep my happiness in check, no matter how long it takes.

For the search for happiness:

"Happiness is the consequence of personal effort. You fight for it, strive for it, insist upon it, and sometimes even travel around the world looking for it. You have to participate relentlessly in the manifestations of your own blessings. And once you have achieved a state of happiness, you must never become lax about maintaining it. You must make a mighty effort to keep swimming upward into that happiness forever, to stay afloat on top of it."
I may use my journal, this blog, my friends etc. to release pent-up frustration or confusion, but I know how spoiled I have been in this life and I don't plan to ever lose sight of that. I literally have the best friends and family I could ever ask for. I have traveled to countless places and met all kinds of crazy, interesting, funny, and warm-hearted people. I have been blessed with amazing educational opportunities from Marin Academy and UVM. I pride myself on being a kind person. I am motivated. I am healthy. I am loved. I am taken care of yet not dependent. I am moving forward in this world. If I can remind myself of this every day, not only will it not be as stressful trying to figure out what comes next but it won't even matter.

For the people who reward my life and who have helped me get to where I am now and who have played a role in how I will proceed to shape the rest of my life:

"In the end, though, maybe we must all give up trying to pay back the people in this world who sustain our lives. In the end, maybe it's wiser to surrender before the miraculous scope of human generosity and to just keep saying thank you, forever and sincerely, for as long as we have voices."
And lastly, because love comes in many different forms:

"To lose balance sometimes for love is part of living a balanced life."