Shine Bright
Another Monday, another day that you have the choice to make beautiful or ugly. How’d you do today? Did you think positively, or negatively? Did you make positive impacts in the people around you, or did you take those simple human connections for granted? Today I’m here to motivate you to make a positive and healthy influence in the lives of everyone around you, because you never know what tomorrow entails. I want you to think about the last conversation you had with someone you loved. it doesn’t matter if that is a romantic relationship, a friendship, or a family member - truly think to your last conversation with them. Would you be okay if that was the last one that you ever had?
If yes, that is WONDERFUL. But please don’t stop with just the people you love. We live in a society today that thrives on not caring. There is a major misconception that being strong, means being heartless. When in reality, being heartless is being too weak to put yourself out into the world at the risk of being hurt. Being strong is putting the true YOU out there and seeing who relates to your frequency. So, help me change this misconception. Care about strangers, about the environment, about people and things that truly matter. Leave the world a better place when it is your time - and leave people better than when you first met them, even if it is just with the way you treated them. So with all that in mind, maybe you were the one who said you wouldn’t be happy with the last conversation you had with that loved one. The good thing is, if you’re reading this and recognizing that… you are NOT too late. You can make the change, and the choice to STOP taking the people you love for granted.
if you want to make that change, the first order of business needs to be realizing that you are NEVER “too busy” for the people you love. And you may be thinking “You have no idea what my day is like”, or “You have no idea how many hats I wear on a daily basis”. And the truth is, no I don’t know the details of your every day life, but I DO know that one day the people you want to tell about that busy life won’t be here. And you will wish more than anything in the entire world that you could tell them about your “busy” day. So STOP ignoring calls, with the idea that you will return their call when you have a minute. MAKE a minute. Sometimes that is all that someone needs is a minute - to hear your voice, to let your spirit brighten their day. You never know if someone needs that minute, and they aren’t ready to tell you that. For those of you who have lost someone in the past, how many times have you tried to pick up the phone and call them, before you realize that you can’t? For me, it’s weekly. I know that sounds silly, and like I would be over it by now. But every time something awesome happens in my day and I get into my car to drive home- I reach for my phone to call my great grandma, like I always did on my long drives home from work or school. And everyone who knows this, tells me to talk and she will listen - but I will be the first to tell you that IT IS NOT THE SAME. I would literally do anything to hear her voice one last time. To tell her about my day and have her respond. To take just a MINUTE to say I love you, without having to speak into the sky. So, stop being “too busy” to pick up the phone, if even for just a minute. Make every minute count.
The second order of business, is realizing that it isn’t always what you do with the people you love, but the fact that you are around them. Often, we pick and choose when we are spending time with loved ones based on what the agenda is. For example, you might say you’re busy on Tuesday when your grandma asks you to take her to the grocery store (I know that sounds SO horrible when you reread that, right? But hey, some people are really like that). But when grandma offers on Wednesday to go out to eat, and you’re a starving college student you don’t hesitate to pick her up and go to dinner. (Again, it sounds horrible. Because it is.) This isn’t a guilt trip, but a realization, that one day you’ll wish that you could walk around the grocery store helping her find everything on her list….because you’re in her presence. Same concept with friends. You might re-schedule plans with your best friend when you know that you are going to spend the entire day trying to help your indecisive best friend look for the “perfect” outfit - knowing that she never finds one. It’s time to realize, that tomorrow is not promised to any of us. You never know when you will get the call that you’ve lost a friend - and maybe not in that moment, but months later you will realize while out shopping for the “perfect” outfit that you wish your best friend was there laughing in the fitting room with you. So, forget about the activity and focus on who you are doing it with. Don’t cancel dinner plans with your parents, because you’re too tired. Make dinner plans with your parents, to feel loved and get motivated. If your grandma invites you to bingo night on a Friday night, cancel your plans out at the bar and GO. If Grandpa invites you over to watch him work/tinker in the garage, GO, because one day you will be thankful for all that you learned and for all of the time that you spent with him. One day you will look back at your life and forget the many places you went, but remember every detail about who you were with and how much you loved them.
The last order of business is telling people you love them. Love is a word that is used so freely, and so many people believe that this is a bad thing. I used to agree, every time I got my heart broken by someone I said “I love you” to. But now looking back, I am thankful that I had the courage to love in the moment, let people know that I cared about them and that I was to feel strongly about another human - regardless of the outcome. So, TELL the people in your life that you love them. But even further than that, tell them that they matter. Let people know that you admire their strengths, and elaborate on what those strengths may be. Let people know that you are in their corner and that you have their back. Be the person that people are comfortable talking to and opening up with in tough situations. Be the person who lifts others spirits, especially when the world is so great at tearing them down. Be the light in your loved ones lives. Because one day the light of your life might not be around, and you’ll wish that you could see them just one last time.
Please spend this week making at least one positive impact in someone’s life. I don’t care if it’s your mom, or a complete stranger. I don’t care if it’s a compliment to someone’s outfit, or taking someone to dinner. It doesn’t matter what you do, or how you do it - but be the LIGHT in someone’s life. Believe that you will make a difference in the world, just by being a positive part of it. And just for loving someone. So, hug your loved ones, tell your friends how much you appreciate them, and make time to show them how special they are to you. Fill your life with love and memories, so you don’t have to look back at it with regret, The more love and light you surround yourself with, the more love and light you will have for yourself as well. Shine bright my little motivational army - I love you.
