1. "You can do everything you can to try to stop bad things from happening to you but, eventually things will happen, so the best prevention is a positive attitude." - Marie Osmond
As much as I like to try and convince myself that I am usually a pretty positive person, in reality this is something I really struggle with. However, I have started to notice that when I actually put effort into smiling through the pain and getting through the bad times with a positive outlook, I end up so much happier afterwards. I think this is largely due to the fact that when I put effort into being happy it gradually becomes effortless and then I end up being so genuinely proud of myself for making it this far.
2. "Where there is love there is life." - Mahatma Ghandi
Especially with all of the tragic recent events we see in the news, holding your loved ones becomes so much more precious. It not only makes us realize just how short life can be but that we should make the most of it and be as nice to one another as much as we can. If people would be more quick to be loving and kind towards each other rather than bring each other down then the world be a lot safer and loving for all of us.
3. "Only I can change my life. No one can do it for me." - Carol Burnett
This is perhaps the most important thing I have learned so far. You can try to come up with as many excuses as you want to for why you are the way you are but what is the point? Is making excuses going to get you to where you want to be? No, it's not. So even though bad things may have happened to you in the past or things have come up that make your goals a little more difficult you are ultimately the one who has the control. At the end of the day, if you don't get to where you need or want to be you really don't have anyone to blame but yourself.
4. "In three words I can sum up everything that I've learned about life: It goes on." - Robert Frost
It is because life goes on that we shouldn't be so quick to take things so seriously. Things will happen to us, whether they be good or bad, and we have to learn to move on. I stayed stuck in the past and obsessed over things that I couldn't change unless I had a time machine. Once I learned to stop unnecessarily torturing myself with these kinds of thoughts I have been all the more happier and I could not be more satisfied.
