During the past few weeks, life has thrown me a curve ball that I obviously was not prepared for. Being a typical teenager, I was preparing for my world to come crashing down. Senior year comes with abundant joy, but also immense amounts of stress. Friends are awesome, but sometimes having a social life puts other factors of your world at risk. One day you're prepared to face the world, and the next you don't want to change out of your PJ's. All of these factors are constantly running through our minds, and at your breaking point, you swear you won't make it. That is not true!

I was driving to work early in the morning blaring music, probably louder than I should have been. A song came on my Spotify station that I recognized, but had never really taken the time to actually listen to. One of my best friends from chorus in high school that I was a part of performed it once, so I knew the tune, and a few words. The song is called Dream Big, by Ryan Shupe and the Rubberband.

Really listening to the lyrics for the first time opened up my eyes. A verse from the song reads, " when you dream, dream big, as big as the ocean blue. When you dream, it might come true." Going through all of these rough patches is just a small bump in the long road of life. We dream up big things for our future all the time, and this song made me realize that we cannot focus on the negative in life. I first realized that's what I was doing when I couldn't remember the last time I was happy about something. Focusing on the negative is a poison that we cannot afford to have. Our dreams are far too big to be poisoned and shot down. Focus on the good!

Another verse that really caught me is "When you walk, walk with pride, and don't show the hurt inside, because the pain will soon be gone." I love this verse because it reassured me that this is only temporary. If I don't walk with pride, I'm showing signs of defeat. That's not what we want. Walk with pride, because we are proud! You are proud of the person you are, even if for that small moment you think you're not. Hold your head high, and don't let anything get in your way. Winnie the Pooh once said "Always remember, you are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, smarter than you think, and loved more than you know."

Being a Christian, I do pray. Have I been praying for the right things though? The last lyric that I want to talk about is "And when you pray, pray for strength to help you carry on, when the troubles come your way." I realized that when I prayed for help through my rough paths, I was praying for my situations to improve, for God to just take them away completely, change the story, or anything to make me feel like I wasn't drowning anymore. Instead, I should have been praying for strength. God wouldn't have put these obstacles in front of us if he knew we couldn't handle them. We don't need the easy way out, for all of our problems just to disappear- even though sometimes that seems like the best solution. Psalm 46:1 says "God is our refugee and strength, an ever-present help in trouble." God knows when we're in trouble, and he also knows that being his children, we are more than strong enough to push through with his guidance.

The next time you think you're world is over, please listen to this song and look at all the good you have in your life. We are all blessed and at some point we take things for granted. But hey, we're also human. It's okay to cry, and it's okay to be upset. Just remember that you have such a bright future ahead of you and your dreams, your strength, and your pride are far bigger than any obstacle that you will ever face.