The walk that changed my life....

Dear Readers,
    Today has been one of those days that I will remember for the rest of my life. I had some amazing things happen to me, and I just wanted to share with y'all my new outlook on life.
     While I was on my walk jammin' to some of Haley's tunes I had put on my ipod, I started to do some real deep thinking and began reevaluating my life. I am typically a very happy person, but lately almost every day I have been feeling either stressed, angry, or cranky. So, today I made a promise to myself that I would no longer live my life that way, every day is way to precious to waste being in a bad mood. I had tears coming down my face as I walked, but they were not tears of sorrow they were tears of joy. I knew that today marked the day that I would change my life around, and begin seeing things in a different light.
     I will be the first one to say that I have a lot of issues, but admitting to your faults is the first step as they say. I worry and stress entirely to much about running, school, and what I eat just to name a few. When something wouldn't go my way or I didn't make a certain grade on a test, my day or even week would be ruined by this one minor mishap. My mood would then affect how I treated others or even how I viewed myself, and this was not a positive or fun way to live at all.
   Today on my walk it was like my whole world did a full 360. Everything made sense, and I realized what I had been doing for a majority of my life was making me unhappy in some sense. I realized that making it to Nationals, winning some award, or having the best clothes were not the things that defined me. Those things were simply icing on the cake. Don't get me wrong I am very thankful for all of my accomplishments, but these "things" are not what make a person happy at the end of the day. I am the happiest when I am doing things for others, spending time with my family, or simply making it through the day without any complaining.
     I have realized that my mind is a very powerful thing. If I tell my mind that I am angry, then every little thing is going to make me angry. With that being said it seems very simple, tell my mind I am happy, and then I will be happy. Okay so it's not that simple, but I now know the first step and the second step is to actually believe it! This can be hard at times, but I strongly believe that if I do this my life will be filled of joy and happiness. Now, that being said I might slip up sometimes....I wish one walk and reevaluation of my life was all it took to be this amazing person, but I made a promise to myself to work on this every single day!
     I suggest all of you "go on a walk" and look for areas in your life that you can make better. That being said I hope you don't read this and think that you never have to study for a test, start eating poptarts everyday, and quit your job because those are things that will make you happy. You still have to use wisdom which is an important quality to have. All in all don't dwell on the small things, and try to do as many things as possible that bring happiness into your life and to others around you!
      So go on, put your shoes on and get walking.... I promise you won't regret it :)
                  Love,
                     Tara