Dream Fearlessly

There are moments in your life where you feel you can accomplish anything extraordinary, anything beyond imaginable, something that takes hard work, dedication, knowledge, courage and most importantly perseverance.

Dreams are what make us unique and make us feel we are a part of something. My dream is to make a difference in this world. To some people this may be considered as performing random acts of kindness, for example smiling at a random person, carrying groceries to someone’s car or telling the person to have a great day. But my goal, my dream, my vision is to inspire people. I want someone to look at me and say because of you I didn’t give up. If there is one thing, I want you to know is that each and every one of you are not alone. If you want something bad enough, don’t let anyone stop you. As I have learned from Walt Disney, “Don’t Dream ordinary. Dream extraordinary. Dream beyond. Dream Above. Dream while you’re awake. Write your dream. Speak your dream. Align your dream with your passion and watch it ignite.”

I would like to share something with you that I have learned recently. Every dream may be a challenge, and there will be people around you that will try and bring you down because if THEY can’t achieve it YOU can’t either. But what I am going to tell you is that YOU CAN! Some people have this image or idea in their head that most people can’t see. That is where you have to show each person how awesome you are and ignite that light and show you can do anything you put your mind too. It doesn’t matter if it takes you nine years to write a book, it doesn’t matter if you failed, what matters is that YOU TRIED, and THAT shows you are determined and will work at it till you have achieved your dream.

Companies and people around the world have a dream. These three individuals inspired me to achieve my goals and what I want in life. To start, if Howard Schultz gave up after being turned down by 242 banks there would be no Starbucks! If J.K. Rowling stopped after being turned down by multiple publishers for years there would be no Harry Potter! If Walt Disney quit too soon after his theme park concept were trashed 302 times there would be no Disneyland! One thing I know is these people all had a dream, a vision, and a goal. If they gave up you would never know what we would be missing. Could you imagine going to the mall and not getting an Iced Caramel Macchiato? I couldn’t. 

I know each person reading this has a dream. It may be small or it may be big, but you must take that inspiration that I have shared with you and have the confidence, courage, and dedication to pursue it. Having something that you are truly passionate about and having that ambition to go after what you love will not only make you feel special but, you will know that you have accomplished something BIG! “When you are a child you think you can do anything. You have all kinds of ideas and think you can do any of it. It’s by encouraging this daring dream like a child again which will reawaken that innovative spirt that is missing in so many people.”

Dream like there is no tomorrow, be who you are, and fight till the end. One day your dreams will come true because I believe in you. Be the person who you were meant to be and believe that anything is possible. Always remember, you have the world cheering for you and you have me and just believe, “If you can dream it, you can do it.”

Self Confidence

As I sit here, starring at a blank sheet of paper, I reflect on what the word “Self Confidence” really means. To some, it refers to an individual’s clothes, the shape of her body, or whether or not she’s in a relationship.

From what we learn and see in today’s society, we feel we are not pretty enough due to not being a size two or not having the self-confidence to go out of the house without wearing makeup. Our experiences or childhood may also have an impact on why people believe they are not beautiful or self-confident in their own skin.

Now as you continue to read this, I would like to tell each and every one of you that no matter who you are, what size you are, you are all beautiful just the way you are! We as individuals should learn to be happy with who we are! Everyone is beautiful and self-confident in their own unique way. From what I have been told, my eyes, smile, and my optimism are truly what makes me beautiful. They define who I am as a person. Finding that spark or key feature that you like about yourself defines who you are which in turn makes you feel beautiful and self-confident.

I believe beauty and self-confidence go hand in hand because as they say, “beauty is what you feel about yourself, not what you see in the mirror.” There are so many factors that relate to this but beauty is all around us and many individuals do not see or realize that each and every person is beautiful.

People feel that we are not good enough because we have all grown up with media and have been taught that having a small body size and wearing a ton of makeup is what makes a person beautiful and confident. But what we don’t realize is that celebrities and others in the media are photoshopped. They have flaws and imperfections and are sometimes not confident in themselves. It is normal because we are all humans, and we have that weakness to judge ourselves and others. We must overcome that weakness and try to find the good that we have. Whether it’s the person’s smile, laugh, eye color, hair, personality, kind heart, bravery in fighting for cancer, or a good deed they did—these things show the world what self- confidence and beauty is all about.

We must love ourselves because there is only one you. Showing the world who you truly are and what you are truly made of will make a difference, in not only the people around you but in yourself as well.  Love yourself for who you are because in my eyes we are all beautiful no matter what people say. You must listen to your heart and go after anything you want to. Having confidence and pride in yourself will make you feel like you are the happiest person in the world. Nothing will make you more beautiful than the belief that you are beautiful the way you are.

Mirror Mirror

Mirror, Mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of them all?

OK, you have to admit you did this at least once when you were little. When you were a child you looked into a mirror and saw a beautiful princess who aspired to save the world or go after your dreams and goals. But in today’s society, we stare at ourselves and criticize all of our imperfections, flaws, and degrade ourselves, due to what we’ve seen on social media and from following celebrities. This is what I like to call Self-Esteem.

Now for all the girls out there who don’t wake up with perfect hair or don’t mind eating a big mac instead of a salad. To the girls who don’t wear makeup and would rather spend the day in sweatpants then skinny jeans. To the girls who stick to sneakers instead of heels and decide to wear a t-shirt instead of a fancy blouse. To the girls who want to look like Jennifer Lopez or Nina Dobrev, I’m going to tell you to stop being unhappy with yourself! You are all perfect in your own unique way.

Stop wishing you looked like a celebrity or a friend or wishing people liked you as much as they liked someone else. Stop hating your body, your face, your personality, and those awesome freckles or maybe a accent you may have. I want you to love every flaw, every imperfection, because without those qualities you WOULDN’T BE YOU.

I want each and every one of you to show the world who YOU ARE! Be confident; show the world your one million dollar smile. Go after your dreams and goals. If your goal is to get a fit body or a six pack… then you will work hard to achieve it.Your self esteem, your happiness depends on you and ONLY YOU! Don’t depend on others, because I know you are better than that.

I’m happy, because I love myself. I accept my flaws (I’m sure everyone has something they wish to change), but I learn to embrace it, without wishing I had a better body or changing some flaws on my face… I love who I am because it’s what makes me ME. And I truly believe that “ME” is pretty amazing.

As I thought about how I should end this piece, I thought of how I would feel if I were reading this. So I want to tell every single person reading this… you are all stars that deserve to shine. All the girls with self-esteem issues or even girls reading this to become inspired, I want you all to know that you are not alone. Love yourself and be who you are, because without you the world would not be a happy place. So to conclude what I like to call my masterpiece, I want to leave you with this, “ Why fit in when you were born to stand out”?

xoxo