I know there are countless people out there who think positive thinking is a joke. People who can't understand how reading positive things, speaking positive things and trying your best to surround yourself with positives can possibility make things better if things are already so negative. That's okay, people can believe what they want, and not everything is for everybody. I however, believe in positive thinking 100% because to put it simply, it changed my life.
Flashback to age 11, last year of elementary school, good grades, great group of friends, loving family, enjoying my childhood year's as a child should.
Flash to age 12, first year in junior high, self esteem starts to drop, eating issues arise, self harm takes place, a cloud of sadness makes an unwelcome appearance.
Flash to age 15, the same demons that started at age 12 are still being fought.
Flash to age 17, my eating issues have more or less been figured out, still fighting the urge not to self harm, cloud of sadness still drifting in for visits
Flash to age 18, self harm free, attempting to maintain a healthy weight, about to graduate high school, trying to fight away the sadness. This is where my journey to obtaining a positive mental attitude towards life starts, also my journey on the road body positivity, and radical self love.
A lot of my time in spent on the internet. Probably too much, but we all have our vices, right? Now I've found a lot of great things thanks to the world wide web. Through the blogging world of Tumblr I started following some pretty inspiring people. Somewhere along the way I found Jetta Vegas and her awesome blog/zines/podcasts at The Radical Uprise. I started listening to Jetta's podcasts, reading her awesome weekly installments of "Seven ways to kick this week's ass" and I even went on to dish out a few well spent dollars on a few of her amazing zines. Through Jetta's YouTube videos and zines I realized there was this whole awesome world of having a positive mental attitude. Something as simple as "looking on the bright side" but it had never really sunk in before.
The summer after I finished high school I grew a lot as a person. I mean, who doesn't do some growing at that point of their life? I couldn't have asked for a better time for myself to discover the power of positive thinking. It's different for everyone, but surrounding myself with inspiring words and keeping an open mind about life with my a smile on my face works for me.
Now flashback to now, 2012, I'm twenty years old and although I may not be where I thought I would be (I don't think I really ever had much of any idea though to be honest). I can happily say that I am a happy person. I feel happiness towards myself, others and life in general. Each day I wake up and embrace whatever it is that day shall hold. I don't dread days, I embrace the rain, the wind, because it's all part of such beauty.
I encourage you to give positive thinking a try. Even try doing something small and simple, like putting together a vision board. I made a small one with a piece of cardboard, a few pieces of string, some staples and paper-clips! Go through some magazines, print out some pictures and put together a collection of things that inspire you. Positive messages to look at each day. I keep a few zines opened at some favorite pages hanging on mine (which I assure you, as you'll see is nothing fancy).
Sorry for the low quality of these photos, they're just snapped from my iPod!
If you take anything from this post I hope it's the notion that it's okay to be happy, and the power is in your hands to do so! Keep those positive vibes flowing!
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