Catechize \KAT-i-kahyz, verb:

1. To question closely.
2. To instruct orally by means of questions and answers, especially in Christian doctrine.
3. To question with reference to belief.

 ”Let us be grateful to people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.”  -Marcel Proust

People need people.  We all have people in our lives who mean a lot to us and make life a much more beautiful thing to experience.  My close friends and family mean the world to me and I love them dearly.  That’s not to say that I don’t sometimes take them for granted though.  I’ve been thinking a lot lately about all they’ve done for me and I don’t know how I can ever thank them enough.  There are no words to express my gratitude.  Things weren’t always perfect, especially in my family.  It’s still not perfect.  We’ve all hurt each other.  But at the end of the day I know that’s the past.  I know it’ll probably happen again but I also know that they’re worth it to me.  The benefits outweigh the losses.  I want to find a way to let them know how much I appreciate them and be better in all of my relationships.  I encourage you all to do the same.  I know life wouldn’t be the same without them.  Express your gratitude through the way you treat them before it’s too late.   

Pother: a heated debate, argument, or discussion; commotion; to worry or bother; a choking or suffocating cloud.

“Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.”  -Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Sometimes it’s easy to forget that there is always room to improve.  Change is inevitable. If we’re not constantly growing as people and changing a little or a lot over time, we’re a waste of human life. We can’t be the same people forever. We experience new things, meet new people, learn more, get heart broken more, and lose loved ones. All that makes us change our views on things.  My theme for this summer is self-improvement and self-discovery.  

Monthly milestones: 

-Break a bad habit.  They say it takes 21 days to break a habit.  

-Don’t take people for granted.

-Be more empathetic.

-Be a better listener.  

livinglovelyalways:

JUST REBLOG!!!

woah..

spiritualinspiration:

www.facebook.com/naeemcallaway

Palladium \puh-LEY-dee-uhm, noun:

1. Anything believed to provide protection or safety; safeguard.

This one is for anyone going through a hard time or has ever struggled with depression.  

Depression will make you think that it’s a part of you.  Depression will make you think that you won’t be the same person if you lose it.  It’s a lie. Break up with it.  Depression is a monster that tries to take over your brain.  Depression forces you to constantly battle yourself.  Depression tells you that you don’t need people because they’ll only disappoint you.  Depression will try to make you build up walls so that you do not let anyone in because it does not want to allow even the possibility of being happy.  Depression fails to realize that the “truth is, everybody is going to hurt you; you just gotta find the ones worth suffering for” or you’ll never be happy (Bob Marley) and that “only a life lived for others is worth living.”  (Albert Einstein).  Depression makes you think that you’re never good enough and that no one will want to be your friend or accept you as you are when the truth is, “be yourself and the people who matter won’t mind and the people who mind won’t matter” (Dr. Seuss).  Depression will tell you love is a myth when the truth is it’s real.  You just have to go out and find it.  You have to have faith and make it happen for yourself.  Depression will make you think that everything the world throws at you will always win so that there’s no point in even trying when the truth is, “fairy tales are more than true; not only because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten”  (G.K. Chesterton).  Depression will tell you that you don’t matter and that you’re a waste of life when the truth is, you matter and you will make a difference; you can “be the change you wish to see in the world” (Gandhi).  Depression will tell you that you may never have peace when the truth is, “peace begins with a smile” (Mother Teresa).  Depression is the confusing phenomenon that contradicts itself by leaving you both wondering if you’ll ever get out, even though it tells you that you don’t want to, and trying to do what you can to be as happy as possible simultaneously.  Do not succumb to its lies.  You have control.  ”Happiness depends upon ourselves” (Aristotle).  Depression is a monster.  Do. not. let. the. depression. win.  

I have personally struggled with depression before and it was a long battle but I won.  You can win.  You have enough to control to fight it, even if you biologically cannot do it on your own.  You can do great and mighty things.  You are capable of more than you know of.  I used to wake up depressed every single day and I spent the first hour battling that depression so that I could be happy.  Most days I won. The only times I did not win were the times I did not put up a fight, or much of one.  Throughout many of my days, especially during depressive cycles, my depression would whisper lies in my ear and I would have to constantly tell myself that they weren’t true and not to listen.  Sometimes I believed the lies.  As time went on, I learned the truth.  I finally cured it completely a few months ago by taking ashwagandha for a few months but now I no longer need it.  Please don’t be afraid to fight it.  Don’t be afraid to be yourself.  Do not be afraid to get help.  

Adroit \uh-DROIT, adjective:

1. Cleverly skillful, resourceful, or ingenious.
2. Expert or nimble in the use of the hands or body.

“If you judge someone, you have no time to love them.”  -Mother Teresa 

Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about whether or not I truly apply this to my own life. It’s easy to judge a person by their actions so much that you forget to treat them with love.  You forget that we all make mistakes, even if you don’t make the same ones another person made.  You forget that not making the same mistakes as another person doesn’t necessarily make you a better person.  We’re all only human.  When you put a label on another person and see them only by their mistakes, you’re passively refusing to contribute to that person’s life.  Each one of us has so much value in the world and over the lives of those around us.  When we give up on trying to make a positive difference, we’re only contributing to the negativity of this world.  One of my favorite quotes says that “if you’re not a part of the cure, you’re a part of the problem.”  (unknown)  If you’re not treating others with love, you’re not making a positive difference.  If you’re giving up on people and on the world, you’re a part of what is wrong with it.  So many people think that they don’t have the power to change the world and, because of that, so many people don’t.  Just by being different, you are making this world a better place.  Even if you only ever positively impact one person’s life, you still made this world that much better.  We never know how far our actions ripple or how strongly they affect the world around us.  Having a heart of love towards one person could stop that person from committing another Columbine incident.  (For those of you who don’t know, Columbine High School was massacred by a student that did not have any friends and was heavily bullied.  In his diary, he always talked about how he wished someone would be nice to him.  If someone had been, he wouldn’t have committed one of the most well-known school shootings).  Something to think about.  

Monthly Milestone:  Have a heart of love