The other day at work, a coworker played a podcast about happiness. Happiness is something we all talk about, strive for, and something we seek. But what is it?
“Happiness is the joy we feel striving towards our potential.” Beautiful right?
My happiness? I am striving toward being vulnerable & continuing to be an advocate for being your best self.
I am going to be honest, this past week has been extremely stressful. However, there are always situations that will try to rob you of what you’re moving towards. Always remember, you are in charge of how those thoughts or situations effect you.
I stumbled across a fantastic quote that is the perfect analogy, “The lilac branches are bowed under the weight of the flowers: blooming is hard, and the most important thing is – to bloom.” -Yevgeny Zamyatin.
It’s easy to get caught up on the ‘New Year, New Me’ mentality. I mean think about it, it’s a time to restart, refresh, and in a way reinvent yourself.
Sounds great right? Sure, but why is it that hardly anyone can keep their ‘resolutions?’
It’s healthy to make goals to move towards the best version of yourself, but I ask, are those goals really moving you in the direction you want to go in life, or are they just goals because “I’m this age and society tells me I have to do this.”
I know in the past years my goals have really fallen into the later category. The looming pressure of I’m 26, single, and still live with my parents while it feels like everyone I see on social media/ real life has their life together. Of course, it’s not true and is the ‘Instagram facade’ but I feel now more than ever people have more pressure to be cookie cutter perfect.
So, I was scrolling on Facebook, comparing, when my friend shared this video.
Wow. Of course it’s Oprah video…leave me alone. It’s so cliche, but this was what I needed to hear and what I needed to ask myself.
At this point in the ‘self reflective, cliche’ rant (if you even read this far) you are probably asking yourself, ‘Ok, so?’
Yeah, I hear you. This post isn’t all inspiring or all that creative, and frankly I am just a basic human being. However, I think that’s the kicker. I am a 26 year old, single girl who hasn’t been in a relationship in years, who lives with her parents and is comfortable, who is a goofball, who is a nerd, who compares herself to everyone else constantly, who feels stuck, who doesn’t live in the present but the past and the wishful future, who has some anxiety issues, who is passionate, and who never imagined in a million years that this would be my life at 26. Whew. That’s scary to admit.
It’s time for me to be vulnerable, and sharing it in a public forum is crazy and irrational, but if one person relates and knows they aren’t alone then that’s great. If no one reads and it’s just for me to reflect on my thoughts and share my likes then that’s fantastic too.
So here we go: Let’s document being vulnerable, let’s find out who we are, and let’s love ourselves because to quote Ru Paul “If you don’t love yourself, how the hell are you going to love someone else, can I get an amen.”
This is me. In my pajamas, at 12:46 p.m. with a zit on my chin, no make up, glasses imprint on my nose, eyebrows askew, and ready to find me.
Today’s Vulnerability- Being honest about where I am in life, how I am really feeling, and publishing this post.
Ardently Kelsey 