Life Is What You Make It

I'm not always a positive person. I'd like to think that I am but a lot of times, especially the last couple of years, I just haven't been.  Although, I am pretty good at hiding it, so most people don't know.  Sometimes I can be downright negative but almost always it's directed at myself.  No need to tell me that negativity is not the most attractive thing to possess.  I am well aware of that. I often engage in negative self-talk and manage to convince myself that I can't do something, mostly out of fear I guess. Fear of failure maybe. Fear of the unknown...I don't know.  Lack of self-confidence, most definitely.  Fear of success?  Possibly.  Probably.  I am working on improving that but it's a slow process for sure.  I met a new friend last night, Melissa, who said, and I quote "this attitude you got going on, it's gotta go". Another friend, Allison, tells me "it comes down to making a choice". And yet another Melissa-Friend says "things will go the way I intend" meaning I just gotta get my thoughts right and put positivity out into the universe.  All of my friends each have told me some piece of brilliant wisdom and they are all absolutely 100% correct. The thing is though, I already know this stuff they're telling me.  There's been some major circumstances in the past few years have made me forget this wisdom...or suppress it.  Something.  No doubt I have gotten in the way of my own potential success.

I wrote the following words 10 years ago in 2003. By accident. I was trying to write a greeting card for someone and was poring through Shutterstock books I got in 1997 from from my friend Anna, who's father is a photographer and had a ton of them. Now there's Google Images (and using them is probably copyright infringement) and old Shutterstock books are a thing of the past.  I had found several pictures that I liked for the front of the card and wrote a caption. Which one to choose? Hmmm. They were both good. I found a few others and captions were written for them too. Then I thought of a few other things I wanted to say and looked for a photo to go with it. Before I knew it and completely without trying, I had written a 55 page picture book. I made a physical copy out of craft foam for the cover and bound the printed pages with string. Over the years, I've shown tons of people my little book, so much so that it has completely fallen apart.  Funny thing though, I've only read it a couple of times myself.  Recently I let a friend read it who commented that it was written by my past self as a gift for my future self.  Never before had that thought occured to me.  I wound up reading it again and for the first time was a completely dumbstruck by it...not because it's profound or anything or even well written but because it is SO pertinent to what I have apparently put myself through in the past several years.  I have been struggling to do almost everything the book talks about!  Go figure.  For those who have read it before, I updated the pics and edited it slightly but the content is all still there. Choice, yeah I know. Attitude, I'm aware. Intention, got that too. That's not to say that I don't need reminders and a good swift kick in the pants and a friendly smack upside my head. I do. Daily. I'm doing my very best to internalize my own words and everyone else's and put them into practice...So with that said, I present:

Life Is What You Make It

Dedicated to my "udderly" wonderful and relentlessly positive friends, who are truly
"outstanding in their field". 
I thank you for your friendship.
You know who you are.

  

Life is what you make it. 

It's totally up to you.

   

Whether it's good or bad, depends on your outlook.
  

Is it positive or negative?

With the right attitude, you can choose to be happy and good things will happen to you.

  

Happy people do things like dance in public places. 

It's fun and it makes you feel good.

Or you can choose to be terribly sad and grouchy 

and do nothing but frown. That's a major bummer.

Sometimes your body is tired and cranky.

Yawn big.  It helps you feel better. 

  

  

 Exhaustion occasionally takes over. 

  

Other times you have so much energy

you can run like the wind.

Sometimes it's boring

WORK, WORK, WORK, never-ending. 

   

If you plan ahead, you can make time to

play and have lots of fun.  

  

It happens that you might be lost, deep in thought...  

 

...and wear a serious expression.  That's ok.

Or you might be feeling downright sillified. 

Make funny, unserious faces...even better.

 

It's nice to hang out with young children and forget all your worldly cares and concerns. 

You can even pretend you are one of them.

 

Of course it's also important to

hang out with your own friends.

     

Sometimes you like to run with the pack.
 

Or, you might prefer to stand out among your peers.

 

Or maybe you'd rather stand alone.  

Don't be afraid to explore and make new friends with people you didn't think possible.

Some of the best friends come in different packages.

    

Unfortunately, sometimes it feels as if the whole world is hostile and going against you. 
It's not, it just feels that way.
 

It may feel like its pressing its

heavy burden down on you.

Help! 

 

You may feel scared, nervous or worried about things and you'll want someone to hold you tight. 
Hug a pet if no people are available.
 

Confused and have no idea what to do? 

Perfectly normal. 

 

You might feel trapped and unable to get anything done.  That's a whole lot of no fun.

  

Angry? How will you show it? 

Try growling. It's good therapy.  

 

If you feel like screaming at the top of your lungs,

go ahead and do it.  No one will care. 

Maybe someone will join you.

 

It helps to talk to a good friend with whom you trust and who knows how to listen. 

Having more than one of these kinds of friends on hand is even better.

 

With a lot of hard work and perseverance,  

 

And maybe a little help from a friend
to get back on your feet,
you will overcome any obstacle you put in your own way.
 

Then you will soar. 

  

Then you might attract the attention of a particular someone with whom you have lots in common. Yay!

 

You'll spend countless hours

getting to know each other. 

   

There may be some cuddling or handholding...  

 

...and long walks. Or swims.  

   

There will likely be some smooching. Mwah!!

 

And "makin' out". 

    

Naturally we all know where that leads. 

Or maybe they're just hugging.  Yeah, that's it!

    

Don't get too caught up in the excitement though...remember to take good care of yourself. 

 

  

 Get lots of good quality sleep.
 

Stretch and get plenty of daily exercise.  

 

A long, hot, luxurious bath once in a

while is simply delightful.  

 

Be sure to be well hydrated...water, not coffee.

 

 Eat plenty of leafy greens.
 

But no matter what,

make sure you take enough time out just for yourself. 

 

Stand tall, proud and confident.  You can do it! 

 

Face things head on.
 

Be assertive and go out there and get what you want... 

  

...while still being kind and compassionate.  

   

Remind yourself that if you feel beautiful or handsome, you will be beautiful or handsome.
 

Don't be shy, show it off, strut your stuff.  

 

Flare out your colors.
 

Show off your stripes... 

 

...and all of your spots, even your so-called blemishes.  

 

No matter what you do or how you do it, how you think and feel, in the end, life is what you make it.  

There are endless possibilities.

It all starts right here and today is just the beginning.