Nunca tenga miedo de ir por tus sueños

"The experience of another culture endows the traveler with a valuable open-mindness, making it easier for him or her to realize that a single thing can have multiple meanings." 

6th Lesson: Never Be Afraid to Go After Your Dreams

For me, the quote is the thing that inspired this lesson.  As I am reading through the book, Imagine by Jonah Lehrer I saw this quote and immediately was taken to one of my dreams from forever, to become an international traveler. Dreams like this and made for quotes like this.  Especially if you are someone like me that always believes in things happening for the greater good. I firmly believe in the thought that a single thing can have multiple meanings in a lifetime and that sometimes, you may not see what that greater good is until the end. 

This quote emphasizes that entirely and also includes the dream of traveling.  To fill you in on there plans, I will start off by saying that I am entirely too blessed for all of the things I have and will have in my lifetime.  I have worked hard to get where I am going, yes. But I have also been extremely blessed by the people in my life and God to be able to do what I am about to explain. 

My first out-of-country experience will begin this Saturday when I board a plane to Mexico.  I will start my traveling here with a family vacation that I am so, so excited about. 

The following week, by happen chance, I will be taking a cruise ship from Galveston, TX to the Bahamas, Jamaica, and Key West. This is part two of my travels. I am so excited for this adventure into someplace I've never seen before. (Especially because it will be two entire weeks away from everything. I cannot wait!) 

With these trips so soon, I am trying to plan and get ready for them. However, a bigger trip awaits me next summer.  I will be backpacking through Europe! 

Yes, you read that correctly. EUROPE! For five weeks, my best friend and I will be visiting Greece, Italy, France, the United Kingdom, and Ireland.  I must say, this one is really a dream come true. I have dreamed of going to Europe since I was little and now it is actually going to happen. This is definitely where the hard work will come in.  We are entirely self-funding the trip and I am working so hard to reach my goals. 

Moral of today's lesson, Go for your dreams! If you think it is too high for your reach, reach higher. If you would have told me three years ago that these things would be happening, I might be angry at you for teasing me.  Now, I am just so excited and ready for the journey to come. 

See you in a year, Europe!

Hacer amigos que duran a través de cualquier cosa

"A friend is someone who is there for you when he'd rather be anywhere else."
- Len Wein

5th Lesson: Make Friends That Last Through Anything

This lesson is one that was so good, it had to be shared.  Friendship is something that is special.  A relationship that two people share that makes them friends. This is incredibly important to have when discussing mental health. Friendship is a basic need and desire for all. 

This very important lesson starts with two of the best people I have ever met. 

  Hannah and Cody

Okay, good story on this one. So, I have car trouble. A LOT! Not necessarily anything of dire importance such as an engine or transmission but with tires.  I seem to have the world's worst luck with tires.

 So the story begins last Christmas.  I was babysitting for my boss and was on the way to his house. Long story short, my tire blew, I freaked and walked there.  He gave me a ride back to my dorm after and I was going to go get my car the next day. Problem is when I got to my car, I had no idea what to do with it. I didn't know how to fix a stinking tire! Enter studly hero, Cody, and he comes to my rescue. He showed me how to change the tire, took the tire to the shop and was basically Superman of the day.

Fast forward to Mid-September.  Cody has a job and is becoming involved in a Fraternity, so life is pretty chaotic. Hannah and I talked to him every so often and really missed Cody and our friendship. Not that it had dissolved or anything, everything was just so busy we couldn't hang out.

This is where my car/tire troubles fall into place. I ran over two nails both in my back tires. You know those low rider trucks? I looked like that, but my Altima wasn't supposed to look like that. Embarassing? Yes.

After much pride and agony, Hannah and I sucessfully failed at changing the tire.

Next Day, I see Cody walking down the sidewalk so of course, we stop to chat.

I tell him about my tire and how I am going to go and fix it. He chuckles and, of course, tells me he is going to come and fix it. Superman Cody, back again, to save the day.

Moral of the story? You don't have to be in constant contact with someone to be a great friend. Just as the quote says, it takes someone who is willing to step back, do the dirty work of changing your tire, even when they would probably rather be anywhere else.

BEST EVER!

(No, not because he's naked. My hair just looks great in this photo!)

Tarde o temprano, todo es mínima.

"Worry often gives a small thing a big shadow."
-Proverb

Fourth Lesson: Sooner or later, everything is minute.

The other side to lesson number four? DON'T WORRY!

So, this lesson is a good one.  A really, really good one.  In creating this title, I really enjoyed the word minute.  The word meaning small, not the count of time.  The spanish word it gave me is "mínima" which can also mean "minimal".  Honestly? I couldn't have picked a better word.

This lesson is all about a specific time we have all faced. Think about the time you got into a disagreement with a friend about a boy in middle school, or the time in high school when you may have lied about leaving class early, or in college, when your roommate wanted the side of the room with the window when all of your stuff is all ready moved in.  If you are anything like me, you freaked, right?  These are all examples of things that are so minimal, or minute.

At the time of each of these situations like I said, I freaked.  I thought, obviously, this is it. This is going to ruin my entire life.  Granted, every next day after each of these events, I have gotten up the next day with only a lesson learned (and the need for an eggo waffle).

Don't get me wrong.  There are big things in life that will have a huge impact on you and that will effect you.  However, we cannot spend our time worrying about the things we have no hope in changing or the minute things and the minimal situations we find ourselves in.  Lesson of the day? When the situation arises, be innovative.  Lose the worry, create a happier attitude and make a solution that will blow everyone out of the water!

Story time of real life examples I feel are the BIGGEST necessity.  Ya know, to keep it fresh?

My roommate,  Hannah, and I barely knew each other when we came to college.  When met through a mutual friend.  I was excited though, to be sharing my college experience with someone I didn't know.  I moved in a few days before Hannah because her family goes on yearly cruises when the move-in date is. When we moved in, I automatically put my things on the side with the window because I wanted it.  Honestly, it didn't even cross my mind to ask until a girl from across the hall asked if we fought about the window side.  I told her no, because I didn't ask and that, my friends, is when the panic struck.  How could I have been so rude to not even ask if that was okay?  Immediately, I text Hannah and asked if she wanted a window side. Well, if you know anything about ships and crusises, you know there is virtually no cell service.  That being said, Hannah couldn't reply to my text for the next four days.  I was literally in torture about this decision I had made without her until I got her text that said, "Oh, I don't care either way!" PHEW! Thank the Lord on that one.  My panic and worry for four non-stop days did nothing for me besides make me weird and unsettled.  Hannah and I are probably the best roommates you could ever choose to live in one tiny room, but I don't mind.  I had the window last year, she has it this year and we are still the best roommates ever.

Hann and I at BINGO during a Snow Day in our dorm. LOVE LOVE LOVE my roomie.

Está bien, a no estar bien todo el tiempo.

"We enjoy warmth because we have been cold. We appreciate light because we have been in darkness. By the same token, we can experience joy because we have known sadness."
-David Weatherford

Third Lesson: It's All Right, to Not be All Right, All the Time.

Lesson number three, so long in the making. 

Growing up, I was an incredibly emotional kid.  Since about the age of 14, I have lost that. I am still emotional but only about weird things like RomCom's and any Nicholas Sparks book I read.  I hardly get upset ab0ut real life stuff like money, time, bills, hard times, etc. 

That being said, I couldn't have learned this lesson myself. It took the help of a very special girl I know. I am keeping her name disclosed so when I refer to her, I will say Janine.

I was at a church camp a week ago, and we are broken into small groups called, "Family Groups" I was a sponsor and Janine was in my group, letting us become close friends and also allowing me to be a leader to her.

At the very end of the week, Janine had revealed to me a problem she had just learned about in her family.  This was a problem she had blocked from her memory and had only learned about because she read about it on court papers. 

As a child, Janine was beaten severly.

The sad thing was that Janine had been having nightmares about her father, a man she hardly ever knew, everyday for four years and never knew why until she found out by reading about it. It completely broke me.

After Janine told me about it, we went to find another group leader because being a child myself, I didn't know how to handle it.  I have learned growing up, that grown-ups often aren't sure of the right approach but sometimes they just guess, and sometimes it works. I think this is what happened here when we went to grab one of God's greatest women, my friend Andi.

As the night went on, Janine had induced herself into a panic attack and almost passed out. 
Her cousin told us that right after she found the paperwork that the exact same thing happened with passing out spells.

This is the part of the story where my lesson hit me right in the face. Not only will things get bad enough to make you ill, they can make you have symptoms that are beyond your control and ability to fix.

We cannot fix everything, by ourselves. We cannot be all right, all the time.

A hard lesson to be learned, but one definitely for the taking. If you feel as though you are bottling something up, tell someone. While it made me a nervous wreck when Janine told me what had happened, I am so glad and so blessed that she did. I honestly don't know what would have happened if she would have kept it all in. Life is rough, let it out.

Yes, I know this is cheesey, but really. One of my dreams is to have a project like this happen anywhere with my involvement. One of my favorite videos.. well.. let's say EVER! Enjoy, and remember to let it out!

Crear su propia felicidad

“Happiness is a conscious choice, not an automatic response.”
- Mildred Barthel

Second Lesson: Create your own happiness.

I know I am only on day two... however, I feel this is one of the most important lessons I will learn. Happiness is something we can always carry, and from the lesson I have learned sometimes we can't rely on others to make it for us, rather, we have to create our own good time.

About five months ago, I found out one of my favorite bands, Jack's Mannequin was coming to Oklahoma City. Of course, I freaked and I had planned on going with a few friends from work. Awhile had passed and no one had discussed getting tickets so the day before (great planning on my part!) I asked, and someone said they thought they had sold out. I was so upset! Tickets were so cheap and we let them blow us by. I thought it was okay though, I am sure there was a reason for the tickets passing us up.

So fast forward, next day.  I am still pretty bummed about the concert when my best friend Emmie tells me to go.  I am still sticking with the the "sold-out" notion.  She told me there was no harm in driving to the Diamond Ballroom where the concert was and trying anyway.   She definitely had a point.  So, two hours later I am there. For real. Getting awesome snapshots. Living out happiness.

Seriously, happiness is happiness. We choose to live it out or close it up.

BEST LESSON EXPERIENCE EVER!

Now, go out, live happy.

Utilizando sus recursos

How pleasant it is at the end of the day,
no follies to have to repent,
But reflect on the past, and be able to say
That my time has been properly spent!
-Jane Taylor

First Lesson: Learn to use resources.

This is such a simple lesson and after this day in particular, I have decided that resources will create a better life atmosphere and ,as the quote describes, a day that has been properly spent.

On this particular day, I had a day off, completely to be filled with my selfish desires of sleeping in, watching a movie and then heading into my second job at a pizzareia at night.  I was beyond excited for this day and then, the day was filled with other plans, watching my eight-year-old cousin Jaxon.

Hear me out. Love the little guy, he's my cousin but sometimes he can be the ultimate handful.  On this day, we would typically spend it out by the pool swimming and playing until pick-up time.  I decided, however, I wanted to attempt something different and fun than the norm.  Something like volunteer work. I enlisted my good friend, Alison and her younger brother Heath to come with us and have fun.

This is when "using resources" came into full effect.  Living in a town like we do, it is small and there is not much going on.  The nearest city with things to do is about a fifteen minute drive and I looked for places there.  I then recalled a great lady I knew from High School, my english teacher whose husband was a Fire Chief of a near by station.  I called her and scheduled a privaye tour with her husband for the boys (Jaxon and Heath) and then called my pizzareia to see if management would let us bring in the boys to make their own pizzas and let us eat them there.  They said yes! I knew the day was going to be fun because, knowing kids, I know they love to get into things, do new things, and I knew these were things Jaxon and Heath had never done!

The pizza making was just part one of a great day! We sat at a table where they brought out our dough.  We then got to top it with sauce, cheese, and all the toppings we wanted.  All this because of my second job at the pizza joint, Old Chicago.

After the great and delicious pizzas we made, we headed over to the fire station for our tour and to deliver the cookies we had made for the firemen! (Volunteering at it's finest. Who doesn't enjoy cookies?) We had such a fun day! Since we had a private tour (and because there were only four of us) the boys got to not only try on the gear, such as the air tank...

But they also got to do other fun things like spray the hose and climb into the insides of the trucks!

All in all, the boys had a great day all because of the connections we chose to explore! Using resources is a great way for things big or small, and I hope this will help you make your own resources come alive as well. 

Have a great day!  

Bueno, aquí vamos.

Well, here we go!

“Life isn’t about what happens to you, it’s about how you react to what happens to you.”

This blog will be centered around this quote by an unknown author. I have realized in the past few days that everyday holds an entirely new lesson to be learned. Each day holds something we didn't know or maybe just had forgotten about that we need to re-establish in our lives. 

I hope my "life lessons" can somewhat make you feel inspired to find your own lessons everyday and how to share those lessons with others! I am so excited you are reading this and I hope that you will learn a little something out of it too.

Kiyana