Chin Up, Beautiful

I was looking through my journal, as I sometimes do, and I came across a nice passage:

"If I've learned anything this past year, it's that time goes by slowly, but yet again all too quickly. You never know who you're going to meet, or what will happen tomorrow. So chin up, beautiful. It's going to be a good day."

At the end of January 2012, one of my best friends insisted I keep a journal that only spoke of positive things. The journal started with this rule:

Don't write anything negative in here.

This is all about love and personal growth and getting back up.

Fill it with beautiful images, reaffirming thoughts and quotes.

Write in it every day and each day write something you're grateful for.

It was the first time I kept a journal with the intention of staying positive, and it's the only journal I've made it past the halfway point with. See, I used to write only negative things, or things that bugged me, and eventually, you just get tired of all the negativity. Since I started this journal, I've felt myself not only being more positive, but also being more self-confident and more able to see the good in everyone and be happy when others are happy.

If I feel myself going negative, I open the journal. If I can't write, I read. It's filled with color and glitter and smiley faces. It's my happy place. Well, that and a little ruler I have that has dancing penguins on it. 

The thing is, I didn't realize until today just how much of an effect this journal has had on the way I choose to live my life. It was a simple suggestion from a friend, and I owe a lot to her. So, as of today, I'm accepting donations to help me move to Chicago (just kidding on that donations bit...). I love Orlando, but I want a change, and I want to be closer to my best friend, Carly. I can't move until after my lease is up, and I have no idea what direction my career will be heading... but I need a goal and a dream, and that's Chicago right now.

So, for now, chin up, beautiful, it's going to be a beautiful day.