5 Reasons To Be Happy

I mean, there are a million and one reasons to be happy,  but it's still not always easy.  Here are a few of my favorite reasons to smile. 

1.  Your smile could help someone else feel better! 

2. God sends you trials to help you learn, and he is ALWAYS with you.  (Even if it doesn't feel like it). Pray. I promise you he'll answer. 

3. Smiling is proven to make you feel happy, even when you're not!  Try it!  Bet you didn't know you can totally trick your brain!

4. 2 Nephi 2:27 "Men are that they might have joy."  We are here on Earth to be happy!  So cool.

5.  Life is pretty dang short in the grand scheme of things.  It's not worth it I waste it with worry.  Handle your grudges and sorrows and then move on to the very best of your ability.  Remember, if you don't do everything you can do first, You can't expect others to do theirs! 

Testimony:  I know all of these things to be true.  Why?  Because they have ALL happened to me!  I have been in some pretty dark places, but I got through them by smiling on, helping other people feel happy, and staying close to God.  You can do it.  I believe in you! 

5 THINGS I almost never leave my house without

In mostly random order-

1. My phone.  I'm borderline addicted, if that's possible, and I need to work on it. Oops.

2. Altoids cinnamon breath mints.  They're my favorite. 

3. My little Book of Mormon.  I was given a little (probably 3 by 5) BoM by a secret sister at girls' camp a few years ago and I  love that it's the perfect size to take with me anywhere. 

4.  My contacts/glasses.  I never thought my vision was that bad until I started wearing contacts every day.  Man am I grateful for these little plastic lenses!

5. My headphones.  What can I say?  It's super nice to have a way to block things out and just listen to things that make me happy.  

5 THINGS I day dream about

If you don't know me well, then you probably don't know this about me. I'm a huge day dreamer. I can't focus to save my life even when I'm trying really hard. You can sometimes see it in my bouncing knees and tapping fingers, but mostly, my mind just wanders like crazy. Even in classes that I really love and am interested in something might trigger an idea, a thought, a place that I would rather be, and my mind just runs with it. I can't help it! My dream is to travel all over and do amazing things. How can I focus on algebra when my mind is envisioning pirate ships and sky diving? There are a lot, and I mean A LOT of different places I would love to go, but here's a list of my most frequented imaginary vacation spots.

1. California. I know this is the most cliche thing I could possibly say, but there's just something about salty waves swirling around my ankles, cool little skate shops, and that chill style that Californians are known for that I absolutely cannot resist. If I can whip out a Shaka sign and say rad without people batting an eye, I know I'm where I belong. Oh California, you're totally day dream worthy.

2. The guy I'm crushing on. I'm not even going to lie to you guys (whoever may have found their way to my blog). If I like a guy, my mind is about 50,000 times more likely to wander during class. Sorry kids. I'm not the best example on that front, but as long as you still think boys have cooties you should be OK for focusing in school.

3. Little book stores full of dusty old 50's science books. I know that's the nerdiest, but come on, the illustrations in 50's-70's time period science books (especially ones about plants and birds) are sooo cool. I would read comic books, browse through second hand Cd's and look at tacky art in Goodwill all day if I could.

4. Concerts. My own to be more specific. If you know me at all you know that I love music more than almost anything. I never thought I'd ever consider music as a serious thing, but the more I've fallen in love with creating and writing music and had the chance to perform my songs in front of people, the more I've considered being a performing artist as a real possibility. It's a dream, not a reality right now, which is why I include it here in my list of things I day dream about quite frequently. Oh man, reading my poetry for my language arts class is fulfilling, but can you imagine how wonderful it would be to play your work in front of a concert audience? Sigh.

5. Summer camp. Ever since the enormous dark green pine trees, colorful woven friendship bracelets, and creaky white washed cabins at Clear Creak summer camp grabbed my imagination as a fifth grader, I've always dreamed of being the camp counselor that every kid looked up to. There's just something really amazing to me about scary stories told by girls hanging out of bunk beds at night and spending long days in the warm sun with kids you click with but have never met before. Summer camp will always feel like home to me.

5 THINGS that I would tell my middle school self if I could

Actually, the current me is quite a lot like middle school me was. My style's changed a bit, but on the inside I'm pretty much the same Megan. Although I think I've been blessed to always be somewhat confident in myself, middle school was a hard time for me. Everyone's learning who they are and what they're about and because of that they sometimes block other people out. Hence my middle school social anxiety. I think a lot of times kids between those ages of roughly 12 and 14 get kind of brushed to the side because they're not cute little kids any more, but they're not contributing to society in the form of a job or big hobby like lots of high school age kids do. That doesn't mean they're not still super important though. Those awkward tween years can really impact you for better or for worse. I'd like to think that the uncomfortable times I had in middle school helped me to treat the people around me better and be more understanding of others' trials, but that doesn't mean I couldn't have used some advice from high school aged me. Here are 5 things I would tell my middle school self if I could.

1. Be patient with yourself.  Just take a moment to think about how incredible you really are.  You've got a body full of working organs, muscles, and bones and you've got a mind with so much capability to think up new ideas.  You might forget a paper at home or say something awkward to your crush, but no matter what you do, you're of infinite worth and have so much possibility ahead of you.  Your crush will probably forget about your tongue slip anyway. ;)  Life's a lot easier when you love yourself, so try your very best to find the good inside of you.

2. Be forgiving of the people who wrong you.  People are going to be mean to you.  People are going to say things you don't like.  People might even make fun of you.  Those people are wrong to do that to you, but they've got issues and problems that they're dealing with just like you.  They may be dealing with them the wrong way, but the best way to help yourself through those really hard days, is to stop and find all the wonderful things about yourself and then about that person.  That's part of the reason I started doing 5 THINGS journals and now this blog.  Finding the amazing things about the people around me helped me to move on from other's wrong doings and stay positive.

3. Don't stress out too much about school. Think of people you look up to and imagine them when they were in middle school. President Thomas S. Monson was a regular boy scout. My favorite musician was a mediocre student.  Do the very best you can, stay confident in yourself, and remember that you've got your whole life to do amazing things.

4. Get involved.  When I was in middle school I had this irrational fear that I was too old to try a new sport or activity.  I felt like everyone around me had been playing their sports since they were little and that I had missed my chance.  Boy was I wrong!  I was on my yearbook staff as a middle schooler, and it was an amazing experience that led me to be on my high school staff as well, but there were so many opportunities that I missed out on by not just putting myself out there and trying things I wanted to do.  That fear as a middle schooler has led me to be much more proactive as far as trying new things in high school and I haven't regretted it once.

5. You're not missing out by not going to those parties.  I wish that I could save my middle school self the frustration of thinking that I was missing out on everything.  I had just moved to a new state, so I knew that I was new, but what I didn't realize, was that everyone around me was just as new to middle school as I was.  The kids around me seemed to always be having fun, but what I found out later was that those "super fun" parties actually got them into a lot of trouble that stuck with them, and is still following them around in high school.  The choices you make and the friends you hang out with when you're young will shape the person you turn out to be, so even if you only have a couple of friends, choose ones that will help you make good choices.  Luckily, I did.

5 THINGS that stress me out

When you live in the same body for sixteen years you figure out how it ticks, mostly. I mean, I can't say I completely understand myself yet, but I'm working on it. I know what foods make me sick and what sounds make me cringe. I know which words inspire me and that I like the feeling of heat on my back more than chill on my nose. I know these things. But when it comes to trying to decipher which kinds of things stress me out and which ones don't- it's difficult to say why it's difficult to say! I get anxious extremely easily, but here's a list of five things that I know I must stay away from or learn how to work through or else I'll be a ball of nerves forever.

1. Not being in control. This is one that I can't completely escape from, but instead have to learn to work through. I can't be in control of every situation, but I can remind myself that I've been put in some pretty amazing situations because things fell through for me on other ends.

2. Group projects. There's something about relying on other people especially when there's a lot on the line that freaks me out.

3. Being disorganized. This one I've got pretty well under control. I write everything in a planner and check it all the time so I don't forget things.

4. Letting people down. This is sometimes unavoidable, but I think it can be pretty easily side stepped by just being the best person you can be and surrounding yourself with people who are forgiving and who care about you. Easier said than done, but well worth the work.

5. Looking stupid. Alright, I know we all have our embarrassing moments. That's a given in life, but there are the kind of embarrassing moments that you can laugh through, and then there are those "cringe for a month inside every time you see that person you embarrassed yourself in front of" moments. Shudder.

5 THINGS that blow my mind

I don't know about you, but I have days where nothing interests me or even matters and days where little things will just blow my mind.  I'll be sitting in a class and hear the teacher say something that I've never even considered before, and I honestly think that's the most amazing feeling.  I hope someday I can be the kind of person that says things in ways that inspire other people because I know how grateful I am for those people in my life.  Without further ado- 5 things that completely and utterly blow my mind.

1. The way the planets align perfectly with each other.

2. Cameras

3. All of the thousands of languages spoken by people worldwide.

4. The way bodies works (anatomy class is my favorite)

5. Radios and the way the music travels through the air in waves to get to all sorts of places.