When you've been stuck somewhere for a long time, it may seem like the hardest situation to get out of, but sometimes you just have to approach things with a smarter and more positive attitude.

For a very long time I would blame everybody else for mistakes that were my my own. I would make excuses that allowed me to sit and think all too often. I became entangled in my own thoughts and I felt could not escape them, no matter how hard I didn't really try…

I thought I was being myself but when school, relationships and work began to take a toll, I knew something needed to change; but I didn't know what could it possibly have been. I changed my hair color, many times, I changed schools, I changed clothes, I changed the way I went to sleep at night and the food I began eating became more bland, but nothing seemed to make me worry any less. I was losing weight fast and I was being mean to everybody around me. I quit my job because school was going to be hard and I felt I couldn't do it. It felt like karma. Everything bad happening to me was because I was doing worse to myself. I couldn't be myself. I KNEW I could do better, I tried. It wasn't my best, but at the time I felt that is the be I had.

I realized that it was really my state of mind and where my heart was set, led me to believe that most things I was worried about weren't true; or to feel as though I needed constant excuses for not only my behavior but the behavior of everyone around me.

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It's a silly thing to say, but I would say it all the time; "I don't care about my happiness, I just want you to be happy." I laugh now because of course I want everybody in my life to be happy, but it's important to know your worth before believing that anybody else's happiness should come before yours. It's not like you don't want them to be happy, but their happiness isn't your responsibility.

It isn't about finding faithfulness and happiness in a home; especially one that isn't yours. It's in you.

You can't find happiness in someone else's dreams because you're going to wake up and realize that it was never your dream and it was all for someone else. Distance yourself from those who held you back and kept you from reaching full potential. Not to say to kick them out of your life, but they're not helping you on a personal level.

When change isn't happening to you, but everybody else in your life, add new people into your life and new opportunity will come.

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I made irrational decisions for the sake of other people because I felt as though these people in my life were more important than who I was as a person. Recently, I have been able to really analyze myself and catch myself making mistakes or acting out, in order to reel myself back into reality. I left people in my life who I never thought I would leave. I took challenges that stepped me out of my comfort zone, not only at work but with friends and family. Coming back home for a summer and really being alone and working on myself has been something I would never have guessed would work. I am more focused and I understand that loving myself and working on myself is something that promotes well-being happiness and positivity. The things I do for others brings them joy and in return, I feel it.

SPOILER ALERT: That is how happiness is supposed to work!

It's a process and a difficult one at that, but if you find yourself smiling more, more relaxed, and having better conversations and relationships with people, then you're doing something right. I thank the people in my life today for never leaving my side, no matter how out of control I might have become. A positive attitude and the right support system can get you anywhere.

"Once you replace negative thoughts with positive ones, you'll start having positive results."

— Willie Nelson