Courage to Let Go

I am an avid Pinterest user. I think it's brilliant and I have not only found great fitness tips, food ideas, and other various things of interest, but I have also been able to find a number of really great quotes.

While perusing my Pinterest today, I discovered the following quote:

 

I found this quote to be rather interesting. Courage to let go of what you can't change. I never really thought about how courage can tie into letting something go, but as I pondered the meaning it made sense.

I think that all of us are or have been in a situation where letting go of something--or someone--was the last thing in the world we wanted to do, regardless of whether we knew it would make us happier to do so. 

Someone close to me is in a relationship with a guy who, while he isn't the worst guy in the world, he is no longer the right person for her. Maybe he was right for her five years ago, because it seemed like they both wanted the same things and therefore they were a good fit. However, over time it has become apparent that she wants to change and become a better person while he does not. Again, he is not a bad guy. He has stuck with her through some very tough times while lesser men would have walked away. It's just that they no longer want the same things. 

Multiple people have advised her that it would be best for her to move on, to let him go. However the concept of doing so just devastates her. She knows it is the right thing, but she refuses to do it and I find myself wondering, why? She knows it would be better, that she would ultimately be happier, so why? Why keep a hold of it? Why not just let it go?

Fear. 

Fear is a powerful weapon when it comes to discouraging us from doing what we know is right. Perhaps she is afraid that if she lets him go she'll never find another guy. Maybe she thinks that her worth is based solely on the fact that she be in this relationship (which I wholeheartedly disagree with, by the way). Or maybe it is simply the fear of how much it will hurt, how badly she will feel once it is over. 

Whatever the reason, whatever it is she is afraid of, the fact still remains that her fear is keeping her from truly moving on to where she wants to be, where she needs to be.

My first semester of college I went to a hypnotist show. At the end of the performance, the hypnotist said something that has stuck with me for five years.

"Fear is False Evidence Appearing Real."

False Evidence Appearing Real. That's all fear is, just a wolf in sheep's clothing. And once we realize and accept that, we can conquer our fear.

I have also heard that fear is the opposite of faith. I believe this to be true. Whether it's faith in a higher power or powers, or simply faith in yourself, having faith will blot out your fears every time.

So I am issuing this challenge to all of you. Take courage, and let go. Realize that your fears are not real, have faith, and press forward with your life. Choose to be happy and to let yourself be happy. It won't be easy, and it will take time (you can't retrain a lifetime of thinking overnight ya know). If things are hard just remember that everything will be alright in the end. If it's not alright, it's not the end.

Keep smiling everyone, and no matter what anyone says know that I have every faith in you to be your very best happiest self.

Per chance to dream...

I had an epic dream last night that would make for an awesome story. I know, I know, I have a hundred stories to work on already, I don't need another. But anyone who is a writer knows, that when you have an epic idea for a story, you can't just forget about it, no matter how many other stories you have or how far you are with other stories. You have to at least write it down, or it will be lost forever.

Back to the dream. I was about high school age and I was part of this little team of heroes I guess you could say. There was Adam, the leader of the group, just older than me and my love interest. Next was Dilas, 13 years old (male) and a girl whose name I don't know but she was about 15 or 16. Then there was the youngest in our group at 8 or 9 (I know, weird that the youngest person in the group hadn't even hit the double digits yet, but that's how it was).

I don't know what any of the other people's abilities/powers were, but mine were pretty sweet. I had visions of the future and I could put people to sleep by giving them a kiss (not every person I kissed would fall asleep, just when I wanted them to). I also had the ability to sense and perceive things about other people. It was pretty cool. :)

In my dream we had another person that was supposed to join the group (I had seen him in a vision). The kid was in high school and a member of the pep band. The band just got back from an away game so we went to meet him at the bus. I didn't know the kids name, but I knew his face, so I had to look for him in the crowd. When I spotted him our little group went over to meet him. It was my friend Austin (funny that the guy in the dream was in the high school pep band and my friend Austin actually was in the pep band).

We were able to convince him to join up with us and had him make an oath that was required of all members. Now not everybody could see the evil that our little group fought every day. Because of this, there was a special pair of glasses that new members had to wear as they swore the oath. Apparently the glasses had some kind of special power that enabled the person to see the evil once they made the oath. I don't know all of the details, but that's how it worked. So Austin put on the glasses and made the oath.

One other person I forgot to mention. Adam's dad. He didn't know what was going on with us kids at first but eventually found out.

Continuing on, as I mentioned before one of my abilities allowed me to sense and perceive things that others could not. Well, I perceived something about one of our members that nobody else knew. The youngest one, the eight year old, had something dark inside of her. I didn't know what it was or what was going on, I just saw a flash of the darkness, kind of like a reflection or shadow of the little girl but it was evil (WAY trippy, I must say).

Austin could tell that something was off about her, but he didn't know what (he didn't have the same ability as me to actually see what it was). The three of us--Austin, the little girl, and I--were sitting in one of the rooms at Adam's house talking and while she was playing Austin commented on the fact that something wasn't right. I decided to talk to him about what I had seen however I had the problem of the little girl being present (I didn't know if she knew about the darkness in her or what was going on exactly). I decided to use my magic to make her sleep so that I could talk to Austin without troubling her (why I didn't just send her out, I have no idea). So I cradled her in my arms and kissed her forehead. Her eyelids grew heavy and eventually closed.

Just as I was about to start talking to Austin, the little girl's eyes opened and she looked at me, confused. She asked what was going on. I told her not to worry and to go back to sleep. I kissed her again, thinking that maybe I didn't really use my magic the first time, but nothing happened. The little girl glared at me as she figured out what I was trying to do. She ran out of the room and told Adam, freaking out because I was trying to make her sleep.

Adam came into the room and asked what I was doing. I hadn't told anyone about what I had seen with the little girl. Our group had been together for a long time and I didn't know what they would say. Plus, how do you convince someone that a little girl has something evil in her when they can't see what you can see? So when Adam asked why I was trying to make her sleep I came up with a lie.

Before he could question what I said I changed the subject and told him about how my magic wasn't working on her. See, normally people would stay asleep for hours after I gave them one of my kisses, but that hadn't been the case with her. Adam thought it was weird and suggested I test out my magic on something not human. Adam had a hamster named Steve (awesome right? I totally want a hamster named Steve now. Lol) and he decided to have me test out my power on it. So I did.

At first Steve went limp like he was in a deep sleep, but after a few seconds he started to convulse like he was having a seizure, which had never happened before. I started to freak out because I didn't know what was going on. Adam tried to console me but it didn't help. I said something about how I was cursed and ran out of the house crying.

I went to this playground where our group liked to hang out and discuss things, wanting to get away from everyone as quickly as possible and to be left a lone for a while. I climbed up into this tree house, hugged my knees, and continued to cry. Out of nowhere dozens of little kids showed up and started coming towards me, asking what was wrong. However, it wasn't in that cute way that little kids sometimes do. It was downright creepy. They all tried to grab me and it was like they were zombies or something, moaning and saying things I couldn't understand.

I freaked out, started telling them to go away and leave me alone. Suddenly, the zombie children were gone and Adam was right there, kneeling beside me and trying to get my attention. There was also a group of girls, about fifth and sixth grade age, asking me to help them with some bullies that were giving them trouble (apparently I had helped them in the past).

I realized that I had been hallucinating, that the talking had been those girls and the grabbing was Adam trying to get me to snap out of it. I looked at Adam and saw a mixture of confusion, fear, and worry in his eyes. I started to cry and he pulled me into a hug, telling the girls that I couldn't help them today.

That was when I woke up. Weird, but TOTALLY awesome dream, right???

Some other things about the dream that weren't really part of the story line, just little tidbit facts. Adam had light brown hair with sea green eyes (super attractive... :P ). Also, Adam and I weren't actually dating. I liked him and apparently I had some kind of vision with the two of us where he kissed me, but I didn't say anything because I wasn't sure if it would change the vision. Lastly, in my vision that I had where I knew Austin would be part of our team, I also learned that he would go all dark side and we would have to fight against him. But, my dream self seemed to forget that part of the vision or something, because she had no idea when she found him after he got off the bus.

And once again, my overactive imagination strikes my dreams again. Seriously though, I don't mind when it does. I actually like it a lot. :D

What kind of awesome dreams have you had? Dreams that were super sad, happy, or even very freaky? Please feel free to comment below!

Have an awesome day everyone!

Getting to Know My Readers

I was thinking about this blog a little while ago and how I have so many people that read it and yet there are little to no comments ever posted. I understand some people may not have anything to say so that's probably what it is, but as I continued to think about it I found myself wanting to get to know my readers a little more, especially my international ones.

So, I am using this post to tell all of you that I welcome your comments very much. Be advised, any spamming in the comments or negative remarks will be removed. I want this to be a happy blog. If you don't have something nice to say, don't say anything at all.

Thanks for reading! :)