You learn to choose to be HAPPY.....

When I was in 6th grade there was a new girl that started at our school and she was coolest thing since maroon Adidas (at the time....at our school....Go Wildcats!!! ). She didn't look like the rest of us blonde/brunette haired girls with blue-ish/green-ish eyes. She had long, curly red hair, big dimples and big brown eyes and everyone...and I mean everyone....wanted to be her "best friend".

Looking back I don't really understand why we all felt this way. I mean she was definitely popular but I'm pretty sure not a single one of us got to know her as a person. And it's not like I was friendless. I was always someone that had a lot of friends. I never really hung out with one group or another. I enjoyed being friends with everyone. Needless to say, she allowed me the opportunity and asked me to be her Best Friend one day and you were crazy if you turned THAT down. I felt special. I felt cool. I felt prettier. I felt more important. All because when she wrote me a note she signed it - Amy + Jodi = BFFL.

Why is it so difficult for people to see what they have to offer on their own? To know their own worth. I mean sure, my 12 year old self needed reassurance. It happens when your young. It's how you learn more about yourself. But even as an adult, I have experienced so much of the same. I have witnessed the same need for acceptance.  I have been the person that needed it in a desperate situation. But I feel like I have come out the other side knowing my worth. Being happy with who I am on the inside and doing my best to try to live with no regrets. Don't get me wrong, I'm not perfect, not in the slightest. But, I am human and I'm okay with messing up. I'm okay with that because I learn from it and move forward.

Jodi gave me about a month of her shady friendship - and then she broke up with me. She broke up with me the same day Gary Purdue broke up with me. By 3 o'clock they were dating. I was really hurt but not for long. It forced me to really look at what I had at the time. And there was some pretty awesome girls in my life. One of them stuck for nearly 15 years. Looking back, I never mistreated her. I was nothing but kind to her. Even if she wasn't kind to everyone else. Even if she was mean to me. Looking back, Jodi didn't really deserve a friend like me at all.

I'm thankful for all the disappointments I have encountered in my life. They force you to know your strengths. And when you know how strong you are, you know your worth.. And when you know your worth you begin to love yourself more. You begin to accept yourself and all your imperfections. You don't let the actions of others effect you as much. You don't let the negativity get you down like you use to. You do your best to treat people fairly. You tolerate much less. You learn to choose to be HAPPY.

Life's too short to be anything but.....

With Love,


Amy Marie

Friends Flex It Friday

THE RULES

For the first link up we are basically networking! So if you don't mind.....

Tell us 5 Facts about you

then

 Tell us 5 Fitness related facts about you

Insert pictures Mmmkay.. I wanna see you!

Then you will just add your link and link back to us!

( this means click the link at the bottom add your link and it will walk you through it… then when you post your blog add the Friends Flex it Friday Picture and the links when you mention “linking up with Crystal Michelle + Amy”  back to us.)

Make sure you add your link to my blog  & Crystal's as well!

We will follow your blog via blog lovin’ and stay in touch! In future link ups there will be prizes and fun stuff! We plan on linking up about at home workouts, quick and easy meals for the fambam, fill in the blanks and much more!



5 FACTS ABOUT ME

I love the beach but the ocean freaks me out. (Hello..Sharks!!)
My eyes turn green when I've been drinking special beverages.
I got my daughters name, Ella, out of a Pottery Barn magazine. 

My oldest friendship is 19 years and still going.
I do believe I am addicted to Spark. 

5 FITNESS RELATED FACTS

I have to have my Polar HRM and my music for a work out or forget it - it's not happening.
My favorite muscle group to work out is my Shoulders. Deltoids are pretty. ;-)
The stair master is HELL. But I do that for my cardio because it is more challenging to me than running is.
My favorite work out song is Til I Collapse by Eminem.
I dance while I work out. It's true.

 

Finish the Sentence....

You can link up here with Jake & Holly's Finish the Sentence if ya wanna...

If I had one extra hour in the day...When is the hour? Is the extra hour in the morning....Because I would sleep. Is it at night...Because I would finally finish a Law & Order SVU

I wish my name...was longer. Just my first name. I love my middle, albeit very common. My first name is so old school. No offense Mom.

I think anything chevron is...cute on anything that isn't huge or in my room. I got a new beach towel with Chevron print. Totally awesome. But not on my walls.

My last nightmare...I can't even remember. Seriously. I'm sure it had something to do with me losing my teeth.

Sometimes...I think....

My last meal on earth would be...it's a toss up...Either my moms round steak, mash potatoes and gravy with green beans or a filet mignon, caesar salad with asparagus and some steak house mac n cheese...that's how I roll!!

I would much rather be_____ than____... really hungry than really lost. Because I'm lost all the time. Like, all the time.
 
Mayonnaise...are delicious!!! And I would put them on everything if I wasn't trying to get rid of fat.
 
10 years ago....I didn't know life could be so good!!!


Selfishly...I don't want my husband to remarry if I die. And he's really young too. Hey, you asked....

My favorite show on TV right now....Naked and Afraid...Balls are fascinating.

And, George Zimmerman....There's a reason why we have a justice system in place. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. This time it did. And I think the decision should be respected and everyone should move on from it.

"Two hands, two feet, and one brain."

Sharing out of love....

I know it's long but it's absolutely worth the time. I promise.

The Daffodil Principle

Several times my daughter had telephoned to say, 'Mother, you must come to see the daffodils before they are over.' I wanted to go, but it was a two-hour drive from Laguna to Lake Arrowhead. 'I will come next Tuesday', I promised a little reluctantly on her third call.

Next Tuesday dawned cold and rainy. Still, I had promised, and reluctantly I drove there. When I finally walked into Carolyn's house, I was welcomed by the joyful sounds of happy children. I delightedly hugged and greeted my grandchildren.

'Forget the daffodils, Carolyn! The road is invisible in these clouds and fog, and there is nothing in the world except you and these children that I want to see badly enough to drive another inch!'

My daughter smiled calmly and said, 'We drive in this all the time, Mother.'

'Well, you won't get me back on the road until it clears, and then I'm heading for home!' I assured her.

'But first we're going to see the daffodils. It's just a few blocks,' Carolyn said. 'I'll drive. I'm used to this.'

'Carolyn,' I said sternly, 'Please turn around.'

'It's all right, Mother, I promise. You will never forgive yourself if you miss this experience.'

After about twenty minutes, we turned onto a small gravel road and I saw a small church. On the far side of the church, I saw a hand lettered sign with an arrow that read, ' Daffodil Garden .' We got out of the car, each took a child's hand, and I followed Carolyn down the path. Then, as we turned a corner, I looked up and gasped. Before me lay the most glorious sight.

It looked as though someone had taken a great vat of gold and poured it over the mountain peak and its surrounding slopes. The flowers were planted in majestic, swirling patterns, great ribbons and swathes of deep orange, creamy white, lemon yellow, salmon pink, and saffron and butter yellow. Each different-colored variety was planted in large groups so that it swirled and flowed like its own river with its own unique hue. There were five acres of flowers.

'Who did this?' I asked Carolyn.

'Just one woman,' Carolyn answered. 'She lives on the property. That's her home.' Carolyn pointed to a well-kept A-frame house, small and modestly sitting in the midst of all that glory. We walked up to the house.

On the patio, we saw a poster. 'Answers to the Questions I Know You Are Asking', was the headline. The first answer was a simple one.' 50,000 bulbs,' it read. The second answer was, 'One at a time, by one woman. Two hands, two feet, and one brain.' The third answer was, 'Began in 1958.'

For me, that moment was a life-changing experience. I thought of this woman whom I had never met, who, more than forty years before, had begun, one bulb at a time, to bring her vision of beauty and joy to an obscure mountaintop. Planting one bulb at a time, year after year, this unknown woman had forever changed the world in which she lived. One day at a time, she had created something of extraordinary magnificence, beauty, and inspiration The principle her daffodil garden taught is one of the greatest principles of celebration.

That is, learning to move toward our goals and desires one step at a time--often just one baby-step at a time--and learning to love the doing, learning to use the accumulation of time. When we multiply tiny pieces of time with small increments of daily effort, we too will find we can accomplish magnificent things. We can change the world .

'It makes me sad in a way,' I admitted to Carolyn. 'What might I have accomplished if I had thought of a wonderful goal thirty-five or forty years ago and had worked away at it 'one bulb at a time' through all those years? Just think what I might have been able to achieve!'

My daughter summed up the message of the day in her usual direct way. 'Start tomorrow,' she said.

She was right. It's so pointless to think of the lost hours of yesterdays. The way to make learning a lesson of celebration instead of a cause for regret is to only ask, 'How can I put this to use today?'

Use the Daffodil Principle. Stop waiting...
Until your car or home is paid off
Until you get a new car or home
Until your kids leave the house
Until you go back to school
Until you finish school
Until you clean the house
Until you organize the garage
Until you clean off your desk
Until you lose 10 lbs.
Until you gain 10 lbs.
Until you get married
Until you get a divorce
Until you have kids
Until the kids go to school
Until you retire
Until summer
Until spring
Until winter
Until fall
Until you die...

There is no better time than right now to be happy.
Happiness is a journey, not a destination.
So work like you don't need money.
Love like you've never been hurt.
Dance like no one's watching.

I'm apart of a private group on FB. It's a small group of women who are continually there for one another. We push each other, we sympathize with one another. We share triumphs and failures - we help each other move on from that. It's a really positive thing to be apart of. I have met some wonderful women in the last few months of my life. Each of them have inspired me in their own way. Each of them encourage me to see the best version of myself. Every. Day.

Today, Sara, from our group, posted this. It brought me to tears. I quickly related the story to my journey. My journey of finding my happy place on the inside and outside.    

I firmly believe that this is the secret to life.  

"That is, learning to move toward our goals and desires one step at a time--often just one baby-step at a time--and learning to love the doing, learning to use the accumulation of time. When we multiply tiny pieces of time with small increments of daily effort, we too will find we can accomplish magnificent things. We can change the world ."

We can change the world. Love the doing.