We have all had periods of time where we have been unhappy because of school, family, relationships, or a variety of other reasons. Picking yourself back up from troubling situations can be tough. You may want to wallow in your sadness or you may just feel too sad to even move. I am here to tell you that it is time to get out there again and keep living your life. It is important to feel your pain and cry it out, but it is even more necessary to realize when it is time to stop.

The choice has to be yours. No matter how much other people in your life tell you that you should go out and get over your problems, nothing is going to change unless you want it to. People can help you only if you let them. You can do anything you want, you can even try to feel what you want, as long as you believe you can. It is truly amazing how much more you can accomplish if you truly feel that you can.

I personally have worked very hard to change the way I think of myself and of life in general in order to accomplish more. I have attempted to stop comparing myself to others and thinking of my only competition as myself — I am the only person I am trying to be better than. Because of this I feel more confident in myself when I do better on a test than I did before, instead of always feeling bad because someone always does better than I do. I have learned that judging your achievements based on others will always result in failure.

For my thoughts on life, I think that you never know what is going to happen. Therefore, I try to keep my anger to a minimum because it is not worth my time to be upset about frivolous things. It is more important to cherish the people you have in your life and be grateful for what you have instead of what you have lost. Most of all, I feel that is vital that you try to do what you love, even if it is just as a hobby because it has the power to brighten any day.

Happiness doesn't come easy. We all have to work to get what we want in life and today is the day you can start.