Whether you want to give a little to those around you, or take a little for yourself, I hope you can follow me on this journey on the things we struggle with so often, yet hold so close to us.

Everyone has different virtues. The dictionary defines a virtue as "behavior showing high moral standards" with the synonyms of goodness, righteousness, integrity, dignity, and honor. Our virtues easily change throughout our lives depending on the battles we face and the happiness we experience.

As we dive into this summer, we begin focusing on ourselves again, rather than our jobs, school, or other various activities. Many people join their gyms again, or return to their parents houses, or take up old hobbies and activities. We return to the safer world. We go back to the world who made us the people we are today.

But as we go about our summers in our various spread out states, we tend to forget to give a little more to others, while taking a little more for ourselves. Give others what they need, but take what you need. This isn't a game of 'wants', it's a world of 'needs'.

Truth

Trust and truth go hand-in-hand. So many of us want the truth, but so many of us don't serve the truth ourselves. We struggle to have a perfect life, so we try to distance ourselves from the truth, but when people don't offer us the truth, we get offended, and even hurt. Let's be truthful to ourselves.

Admit things you haven't yet accepted, try to focus less on understanding and more on happiness, and work to serve others, rather than try to beat them.

Forgivness

You know that thing that is sitting on your chest with the weight of an elephant and the height of a pea that you've held onto through clenched fists for hours, days, weeks, months, or even years? We have those little ounces of hurt that we, sometimes unwillingly, hold onto until we either crush it or it eats us alive.

Move on. It's not worth it anymore. What has happened has happened, you cannot change the past, but you can let it effect your future.

Let's forgive. Maybe a simple "I'm sorry" text will be enough, maybe it needs a lengthy phone call, or maybe it needs, my favorite, a handwritten letter. Or maybe it needs nothing but your conscience to finally free itself.

But forgive, not for them but for yourself, even if you never got that "I'm sorry".

Humor

So often we forget what a true laugh sounds like. We mutter cute little laughs when our crushes make a stupid joke, but I am talking about the stomach hurting, tears in your eyes, can't speak a word, snorting laugh. The laugh that can literally cure anything. Let's do that.

And if you can't do it yourself, give it to someone else. Tell a knock-knock joke, be sarcastic, or just be yourself, but give people a reason to smile today, for it might be their only smile.

Hope

We all struggle, we all fail, and we all have to have hope in something that makes us get back up again. Without hope, none of us would get out of bed in the morning.

We hope for a college degree, and we hope for a job, and we hope for a million dollars, and we hope that the guy we winked at comes to talk to us, and we hope that our debit card won't be denied, and we hope we won't trip walking down the stairs, and we hope for happiness, love and affection. We, as a human race, hope. A lot. But sometimes we lose our hope. Maybe you lost your hope.

Hope is just a dream. Start dreaming again. Dream big, dream better, and dream in colors that don't even exist. Don't stop hoping just because someone told you to or told you that you couldn't do it. And if you can, share your hope with others. Be an inspiration. Give the hope you have, and take the hope others so graciously offer to you.

Love

But most importantly, love. Love yourself for everything you are worth, because you are worth more than the moon and the stars. Be in love with yourself, and let yourself know what you are worth.

Simply all can healed through love.

So whether you need more than you can give, or you give all that you need, I hope you find yourself in utter happiness this summer. And smile, it burns calories.