The Idea Of Friendships

As I have been laying here in bed all day sick (my least favorite thing because I feel so unproductive), the idea of friendships is something that popped into my head. It has also been all over Facebook today so it has very much been in my face. I have had many different kinds of friends throughout my life, but most of them fall into two categories, temporary and permanent.  It is much harder to land into the permanent category but once they are in it, they stay in it. If there is one thing that I have learned from those temporary friendships though, don't have high expectations for them.

I have always had a habit of having high expectations for my friends and how they should be.  I also tend to dive all into relationships and then when I realize that they are temporary, it is a shock to me.  That is why I learned the lesson to not dive into friendships too fast, the same as relationships.  The friends who I have in my permanent group, are everything to me and are the people that I will drop everything for.  The lengths of the relationships range from being friends since we were 6, to being friends since we were 18.  But nevertheless, these are my people and nothing can get in the way of those friendships.

Another idea that I have learned is to not put in more effort into the friendships than that person is willing to put in.  I have been guilty of this too, and the most recent time is the friendships that got me thinking the most and made me look into this topic more.   I was putting more effort into the friendship than the other person and it rally got to me.  At first I thought that it was all my fault for putting too much pressure on that person, then I was upset with them because I thought they were just being selfish.  Recently I started thinking about it more in a class that I am taking, stress and human health.  I realized that it is causing me far too much stress than it should be.  You can't be friends with everyone and that is something that I realized and have accepted.  Also, you aren't going to be everyone's cup of tea. I know that not everyone likes me and I am totally ok with that.

The most important friendship that is in everyone's lives is the friendship that they have with their self.  Being able to look at yourself and think "yeah I would like to be friends with that person", is a thought that is one the think about and have an answer to.  I know there have been times that I would not have been friends with myself, but I can say at this point in my life, I would really like to be friends with myself.  Once you are able to be best friends with yourself, it will be easier to look into the other friendships in your life and see which category they fall into.

If you are reading this and it is sparking thoughts about your friendships, that's good! I want to spark new ideas and thoughts for you all!

Life is a Balancing Act

As many of you know, it is extremely difficult to balance life. For me, I have work, school, and trying to keep some sort of a social life. I use my planner religiously and pack it full for everyday. My weekly schedule is work 5 days, school for 2 days, doing homework in between, and then if I ever have a free few hours I try to make the most of it and do a lot. That is why I go downtown on my days off is to get away from the places I see everyday. But I have found the solution to balancing it all. 

The key to balancing everything in life, is to realize that you can't balance everything. I am very much type A and life to have an order to everything and make sure everything gets done. But that causes a great amount of stress to me, so I have come to the conclusion that I can't do it all. I can sure as hell try to do everything that is on my daily list, but it's alright if it doesn't get done right at that time it's scheduled. Just as long as it gets done, is what matters. 

The one constant I have is working out, which is something I make sure to do everyday. That time for me, is my relaxation time to have for myself. 

This is a very new realization for me, so I don't want you all to think I have known this all along. But since I have realized this, my stress levels have come down quite a bit and I am able to enjoy things more. 

This is also a picture I found on my phone of the things that bring me great joy; my dog and my family's chickens. 

New Year, New Me

So I know I have been super MIA from writing, but it's a new year, which means a new way of doing things! I am going to make sure that I am making time to keep up with the blog updates and writing new articles. Also, as many people have, I have made my New Years resolution to have this be the year of me. What that means is focusing on things that make me happy and eliminating things that don't make me happy. 

I have already started that by changing the way I am eating and I have been working out like a maniac. In preparation of this, I decided to go crazy on new workout clothes from Adidas. Having a new outfit always motivates me to do something more. I have also started drinking a vegan protein shake in the mornings. The great thing about this is that it is a vegan protein powder, but also has nutrients that I don't usually get, such as omega 3's. This shake also curves your appetite, making it so you aren't always hungry and snacking on different foods. I mix mine with unsweetened coconut milk (less calories), one banana, and 4 cubes of ice. It's the best way to start out my day. 

The new and improved blog will feature lots of articles on fitness/health, fashion, and my meals (on cheat days and normal days). 

I hope you are all as excited as I am to be back on this journey of blogging!