If you are reading this at the expense of spending time with your significant other or friend, stop reading and come back later. Put down your phone, take a deep breath, and spend intentional time with the people sitting in the same room as you.
This applies to anything we might think we need to be doing online - checking emails, texting someone back, sharing a funny video, etc. If it makes the person you're with feel less valued, you can usually find another time to do what you think you need to do on your phone.
2. You don't need any more useless knowledge, especially if it's presented in an enumerated list (like this one, ironically...and intentionally).
It seems like every article you see being passed around has those 5, 10, 15, or (like I saw on a headline today...) 47 "magical" things that unlock the secret to happiness, weight loss, marriage, motherhood, and the list goes on and on to cover anything you may (or may not) ever think of! And who are the people writing these articles? So many of us (including myself) are so eager to take the advice of someone we have never even met, so long as the page we are on has pictures and is seemingly professional. What?! How did we come to this?
The secret to happiness isn't in a list. A lot of it probably lies within the person who is still sitting in the same room as you, being ignored (seriously, this article will still be here after you spend some time with her, and you'll probably enjoy the read more, as well!).
3. It's more fulfilling to focus on things you're doing right in your life, rather than read about things you need to change.
I'm one of those (maybe annoying) people who try to look at the glass as half full...ALWAYS. Sometimes life is really hard and it sucks, but even then, you can still find something to smile about, even if it's just the fact that it's 2:04pm, which reminds you that it's happy hour at Sonic.
There are always things that you can work on or improve, and we are continually reminded about that with the seemingly endless list of articles, videos, and posts that we see on a day-to-day basis.
For me, one of my biggest distractions is Pinterest. The ideas are so creative, fun, inspirational, and...depressing. How in the world do I find time to make a tie-dye cake between diaper changes, runny noses, dinner, and bath time?
So, I honestly don't get on Pinterest much these days. I steer away from it because it makes me less happy with the already amazing life I have. Because sometimes, it's just more rewarding to hold my baby girl when she doesn't feel good and to see her two-tooth smile, than to have a bakery-worthy rainbow-colored cake sitting on my counter to show my friends.
What do you love about your life? What do you love the most about the person sitting beside you? Why don't you tell him?
"What if no one is sitting beside me?"
Focus on what you love about yourself. Are you a positive person? Are you continually taking on new challenges? There are many moms, workaholics, or whoever you might be, who actually envy the time you have to yourself, sitting on the couch in silence. Don't let yourself be a victim - find confidence in who you are and allow yourself to be you, because nobody else can be! The world needs what you have to offer.
Stop fixing and start embracing! Our flaws make us unique, and help us to continually grow.
4. The desires of your heart do not need readjusting.
Don't let society tell you what to focus on. What is on your heart? Do you want to travel? Do you want to finally make time to serve at the food bank? Or maybe you want to finally tackle that project you pinned last week (I do not think spending time on Pinterest is evil! For me, it's just something to keep in check).
Allow me to be a little cheesy in sharing one of my favorite scriptures:
"Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart." Psalm 37:4
To me, this means...
Embrace the goodness in your life. Be grateful for the blessings that you have. Focus on the beauty before you, and your heart will naturally be inclined to follow the passions inscribed in your soul - those aspirations unique to your journey, the things that make you "you." Because you're the only person in the world who can fill that role.
And lastly...
5. "Insert your Reason here."
Give yourself a reason why you don't need any more of these articles. What do you love about your life? Focus on that instead of what other people say you need to change. Your life is beautiful just as it is.
This is my best friend Mollie. We have been long distance bffs longer than we have been bffs in the same town. One positive to this situation is that every time we get to see each other, it's epic, and we do crazy things like teach little Molly how to take selfies.
Don't let others dictate who you are, or what you need to change.
Embrace your unique passions and be confident in who you are.
“You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. You're on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the one who'll decide where to go...”
― Dr. Seuss, Oh, The Places You'll Go!
Be YOU!
