Genuinely Being Positive

April 19, 2013 AuroraLeave a comment

I made this quote into a picture because I love it and have always believed in it’s value. We live in a world where it’s easy to take someone who is always happy and in a good mood and categorize them as something negative. “You’re too happy,” “How can you always be smiling?” “You know, some people might take your optimism as being fake or think you’re a push over.” (Those are a few of my favorites). This has to be one of the biggest battles I have faced over the years, because it’s hard for people to believe that genuinely happy people do, in fact, exist.

It hasn’t been a battle in that I feel a need to defend myself, rather, I struggle in helping others see that many live their lives this way, and choose to put their best foot forward each and every day. It’s a choice. You have to wake up each day, or decide in difficult moments, that instead of letting difficulty, anger, fear, anxiety, jealously or negativity take over, that you are knowingly and willingly going to choose the higher route.

This subject came up in speaking with my best friend the other day, as she was dealing with a situation similar to this and knew I would be able to relate. It is not easy being a positive source for the people in your life, especially when at times they are determined to try to provoke negativity within you, or worse, doubt that you’re being genuine. It’s people like my friend who remind me that it’s worth it to live positively and this makes me appreciate our friendship even more.

So why is it viewed as UNrealistic for us to lead a life that’s more positive, or has a silver lining in difficult/challenging times? Because it’s easier to get angry, react impulsively, yell, blame others, be in denial, etc. As with many difficulties, the challenge is to recognize your behaviors, overcome undesirable reactions and change!

As I write this, I must begin getting ready for work, have not slept all night, and am looking forward to a long 10 hour day ahead with no rest. But I’m still optimistic because I got to write for all of you and it’s FRIDAY.

Let’s do this together, shall we?

Xo Aurora

Goals · Motivation · Uncategorized

The Importance of Birthdays

April 10, 2013April 12, 2016 Aurora1 Comment

Anyone who knows me, knows I make an incredibly big deal about birthdays. My entire life, I’ve made these days special for myself, my family and friends whenever and wherever possible. From decorating friends desks in grade school, lockers in high school, cars in college, to now planning surprise parties, hosting parties and making sure every one feels extra special on their day, one way or another. I’ll admit it, I love birthdays! It’s the one day a year that is all about you and you can enjoy life, carefree.

So many times I come across people who don’t enjoy their day, and tell me “who cares it’s just another day, no need to celebrate.” UGH. I welcome these comments as a personal challenge, as I have no idea how everyone can’t experience the excitement that I feel. I wonder who taught them that it’s a normal day, and why don’t they take time to feel a little bit special and enjoy themselves? These people motivate me to make birthdays even more special for the ones I love, as they have me in their corner to help make their birthday a little more sparkly.

Why else do I see importance in birthdays? For me, I compare April 11th (my day), to the New Year. In recent years, as I’ve grown more into womanhood, I’ve decided to look at the new birth year as an opportunity to keep moving forward and challenge myself to reach another goal or aspiration that I’ve been vying for. When I turned 25, I knew I wanted to start a website and inspire others to be their best self. Having begun this process, how can I take it a step further? What is going to take me to the place I’ve been dying to go? This is still the exciting, challenging part when I look ahead to year 29– “where will I go next?”

The new birth year, much like the turn of the year on Dec 31st, allows us to reflect on what happened over the last year: things we’re happy about, not so happy about, successes, failures, steps forward, steps backwards, new relationships, letting go of old relationships… everything.

Your birthday is an amazing opportunity for progress! When it is your birthday, take time to truly reflect and see what you’re thankful for in your life and what you deeply wish for in the next year to come. Whether it’s a separate moment throughout your day when you stop and breathe for a few minutes, or laying in bed at night, you deserve to take in the special moments of your day and feel good. We all deserve it.

To the amazing people in my life who believe in birthdays, and helped to make 29 amazing already, I love you more than you know and appreciate your faith and commitment to birthdays. Having all of you in my life makes me thankful for all that I have, and all the fabulous friendships I have in you.

Happy Birthday, to me. :]

Cheers,
Aurora

Motivation · Uncategorized

The Two Wolves Within Us

April 6, 2013February 28, 2017 Aurora2 Comments

I’ve held on to this quote for a long time now, because every time I read it, I’m able to relate different parts of my life to it and it reminds me that all of us are human. Each one of us has the capability of allowing different sides of ourselves to surface at different points, occasions, situations etc. To elaborate, I apply this quote to my own life currently. What are the things that I’m happy with and proud of, and what areas of my life am I currently not happy with? Depending on how I personally feel about these things, will indicate how I react to them, thus, “feeding” that side.

When I write for all of you, I’m happy, excited, passionate and thrilled to know so many of you read this and tell me how it helped you/ made you think. In the beginning of my website, I was worried. I wondered who would read The Weekly Sparkle?; Will people like it?; Will they take something positive from it?; etc. I fed my insecurities. I filled my head with negativity and almost allowed it to scare me into not doing this. With encouragement from Joe (yup, that amazing guy who started all of this for me), my family and positive self talk, I began to feed the part that wanted to spread positivity and make a difference in the world. I fed the good.

What do YOU feed?

It’s important to consider this question, because there are literally 100’s of decisions we make each day and depending on how we speak to ourselves (getting back to positive and negative self talk from a few posts ago), we steer the direction of how we answer these questions. Ultimately, these little decisions can snowball into some of the larger decisions of our lives, making a bigger impact than what we realize.

Had I fed the negativity and insecurities I felt with The Weekly Sparkle in the beginning, I would have never been able to interact with all of you amazing people and connect at a level I hoped to one day achieve. Do not allow someone or temporary situations to dictate the feelings you feed. Temporary feelings, arguments, jobs, relationships, anger etc. are just that, temporary. We are all human, so at times we will accidentally feed the wolf that deserved to starve in certain situations, but the key, as always, is recognizing which wolf we fed, why, and adjusting the feeding cycle the next time a similar event occurs.

Think before you feed 🙂

Aurora