Live the Life you Love. Love the Life you Live.

Today's new motto. This weekend brought new emotions, new goals, new plans, and it brought out a whole new me. I've learned that life throws curve balls everyday and that we should never back down. We need to always step up to bat, even if we strike out once we have 2 more tries. "Never let the fear of striking out, keep you from playing the game." Another one of my favorite quotes. This life is a test and we should never be afraid of it. Life is going to happen, whether or not your afraid of it. Its going to seem so hard at times but we have to keep smiling and pushing through the hard days. Yes we are going to have bad days but that does not mean we will have a bad life. We need to be thankful for the little things we have. We need to always show a giving and loving attitudes to others. Serving other, while forgetting yourself, is the biggest blessing because we get double the happiness. This is the only chance we get to live, so why waste it on worrying and complaining. Never let anyone tell you your less than what you know you are.

Anyways... this weekend opened my eyes and I absolutely have changed my out look on life and I will never waste another day being depressed over things I can't humanly change.

just keep breathing

this week has been just one of those weeks, where absolutely nothing goes right, everything feels so wrong and out of place even when its not. i've been depressed and sad, just upset at the world. i'm trying to change myself but some days its hard to keep pressing forward and its hard to even get out of bed, but i fell upon this very inspirational story that made me feel slightly better and i thought i'd share.

Integrity - The Carpenter's House

An elderly carpenter was ready to retire. He told his employer-contractor of his plans to leave the house building business and live a more leisurely life with his wife enjoying his extended family.

He would miss the paycheck, but he needed to retire. They could get by. The contractor was sorry to see his good worker go and asked if he could build just one more house as a personal favor. The carpenter said yes, but in time it was easy to see that his heart was not in his work. He resorted to shoddy workmanship and used inferior materials. It was an unfortunate way to end his career.

When the carpenter finished his work and the builder came to inspect the house, the contractor handed the front-door key to the carpenter. "This is your house," he said, "my gift to you."

What a shock! What a shame! If he had only known he was building his own house, he would have done it all so differently. Now he had to live in the home he had built none too well.

So it is with us. We build our lives in a distracted way, reacting rather than acting, willing to put up less than the best. At important points we do not give the job our best effort. Then with a shock we look at the situation we have created and find that we are now living in the house we have built. If we had realized that we would have done it differently.

Think of yourself as the carpenter. Think about your house. Each day you hammer a nail, place a board, or erect a wall. Build wisely. It is the only life you will ever build. Even if you live it for only one day more, that day deserves to be lived graciously and with dignity. The plaque on the wall says, "Life is a do-it-yourself project." Your life tomorrow will be the result of your attitudes and the choices you make today.