Purple Clover Book Earrings

smallbookcompany on etsy sells these adorable little book earrings. They vary in color and pattern, but each has a playfulness for the quirky accessory wearer. These purple ones caught my eye for their lovely pattern. There would differently start some interesting style conversations.

Conquring the "I Cant"

"I Can't." I say that a lot. More often than I need to and it's a lie every time. Is it habit? Is "can't" one of those things you say when you're too lazy, tired, busy to try. Does it really belong in our language after causing so much damage. We have given it so much power.

"I can't." It's not even a pair of words anymore but a force. A force to be reckoned with. And something in me wants to fight to it. I want to gauge it, tear it, stomp it down and force it out out of existence. I want to conquer it!

It won't be easy I know. It's so simple to say, so easy to believe.

Can you? "No I can't."

But if I try, if I look at it in the eye and say you, you are but a mere illusion. You have false. A lie. A remarkable clever deceit! If I can stop branding every challenge with this stamp "I can't" then I can triumph over it.

I will begin with loving the challenge. I will relish in it. Appreciate the fact that God thinks I'm strong enough, worthy enough, trusting enough to see it through.  

I will be patient with myself and others remembering that "can't" is just waiting for me to rush into its arms.

And I will boldly criticize myself when I feel myself giving into "can't."  How dare I, when God already knows I can. He's already set about my victory. I cannot disappoint him.

"I can't" cannot have a place in your life if you are to be all you want to be. Say goodbye to it now and brace the power of can

Love that life challenges you and know that you can do it!

Unleash my imagination

Dress: thrift store

Tights: thrift store
Shoes: thrift store

Necklace: Borrowed 

I want to fling myself off the corners of my imagination into the depths of a dreamy realm to question my sanity and play with illusions. I want to supper with monsters in disguise and fairies with tales. I want to walk through misty marshes with knights who looks for princesses with crumbly hearts held together by mere hope and wishes.

Make It Happen

FULL TILT Make It Happen Womens Top

I feel I need this t-shirt, for the sake of motivation and encouragement. If I felt distracted or unambitious I could stand in front of the mirror with this shirt on and boost my diligence. I normally do not like tops with words on them but this one would serve a greater purpose than just being cute.

Teddy's Advice for the Day

 

Love each other as your creator has loved you

John 15:12

Is it a sin to be unhappy?

Have you ever been sitting in your room alone, ready to burst into tears, or possibly already in tears and no one knows it. No one even knows that anything is wrong because you don’t want them to know. You walk through your life with a smile that hides the frown in your heart, hoping that no one guesses because you don’t want to seem unhappy?

Our society has made it almost impossible for anyone to be openly unhappy. Look at the way we treat those who have come out of the “unhappy closet.”  They’re seen as bad luck, as if being unhappy is a disease that spreads to others, they are often ignored, and in many cases asked to just get happy, as if they are choosing to be unhappy. 

What we’ve been taught is that if we’re going to be unhappy, do it on our own time where no one else has to deal with it. Thus the 14 year old who is battling depression struggles on their own. The 30 year old business man who is grieving has to leave his sadness at the door and the elderly woman who feels alone has to find a way to just get over it.

What’s more, being unhappy  is thought of as so taboo that one must cure it immediately, eat something, buy something, and leave the country if you have to, but fix your unhappiness. But the problem is, if I can’t be open about being unhappy, how am I going to get happy again?

The problem with happiness is it’s become synonymous with joy. It’s not. Joy is a great spiritual feeling that sits inside of you. Happiness is an emotion. And like all emotions it comes and goes. You may wake up one morning feeling happy, but by the end of the day enough has happened to make you unhappy. Happiness is always linked with something external. We fall in love, we’re happy. We go on a great vacation and we’re happy but if we lose that love we naturally become unhappy. Because happiness is not something that is meant to be experienced consistently we as a society need to stop pressuring people to always be happy. Negative things happen that make us unhappy and allowing ourselves to just feel unhappy actually helps you to heal from it faster.

But when you are forced to grin and bear it, you actually prolong your unhappiness. For one, you’re keeping a secret that causes you stress. It would be easier to say, I broke up with someone and I’m having a hard time with it, instead of pretending to fine.

Two, you are forcing yourself to be in an unnatural state. Can you force yourself to be angry when you’re not? Probably not, and you can’t force yourself to be happy when you’re not. But when we can’t admit our unhappiness that’s exactly what we’re doing. It’s like living two lives, the fake happy one and the real unhappy one. 

Three, you become target to more unhappiness. When one thing is wrong it seems more follows. Because you are trying to suppress all that unhappiness, you’re actually very sensitized to it. All it takes it is one word or action and it all comes back up. You’re more vulnerable. It’s like carrying a large stack or plates, you’re so focused on keeping it under control, but even the smallest nudge can make it all come down.  The littlest things start to get to you, and the simple unhappiness becomes a deep depression.

Being unhappy isn’t a sin, it’s a perfectly natural reaction to negative events in our lives. It’s to help us know and understand what we don’t like and what to avoid. It’s an emotion, like anger and sadness and it comes and goes.

Real Beauty