Day 359. Goodbye summer

   The last day of summer feels just like the last page of that wonderful book you don't want to end. It's the last spoon of your favorite cake, the last drop of coffee with your best friend, the last minute of a breathtaking sunset. 

   This day has so much emotion in it that you don't know what to do with it. It's like you're holding a jar full of bits of happiness, melancholy, longing, ecstasy, sadness and eagerness altogether. It's what you felt these past 3 months. It was the time when you were able to fulfill your dreams, the time you were looking forward to, the most time spent dating... yourself:) And now it's coming to an end just like any other beautiful thing. The good part about it though is that you stored all the memories you made. Now you can go back to them whenever you'll feel blue during those long, rainy autumn days. 

   So open the lid and take out happiness. Hold onto it. Because knowing you were happy during summer will give you enough energy to be happy during autumn as well. And remember. Autumn can be an awesome season. So don't spend time feeling melancholic for the past summer, invest it in making new memories that would make you just as happy as summer did. Smile:) An awesome, golden autumn is just around the corner:)

Day 357 & Day 358. Textbook sleepover

   Yaaaay, time for this year's sleepover at my best friend's place <3 This time we wanted to make it textbook. So I planned some activities that teenagers do at a sleepover. It's one of those things you wanna do right, you know?:) Like in the movies. 

   We had a looot of fun with the Friendship test where we both succeeded to get a really high score out of 37 questions! Our 10 year friendship was productive:) Then we cooked and sang and danced while cooking and we ate some yummy food (seems like we cook best when we're together:D) and started watching a movie. When... I got all sleepy cos I woke up early. 

   Today we watched some more movies, had a Truth or Truth (cos we didn't need dares:)) ) game and an awesome pillow fight. 

   At the end of the day the whole list was checked:) And boy, did we have a good time! We decided to continue this habit every year no matter where we are. Get together and spend 2 awesome days while going crazy, young and beautiful. Because life has to be lived and friendships have to be celebrated!:)

   When I got home I felt like I was gone in a trip in a different city:) I had my bonding time, my relaxation time, the awesome time I needed before summer comes to an end. So now I am ready. Let there be autumn!:)

Day 356. The lovely bones

   I just saw a powerful movie. The lovely bones. It messed me up completely. Now anything I see on Facebook seems so mundane, random and useless. Because it was about a 14 year old girl who was murdered and kept in between the worlds the whole movie. I know, it sounds rather cliche but it was so painful to watch the reaction of her family. A beautiful, perfect family who didn't deserve this. How do you get over something like this? How can you continue to live your life and cope with such an intense pain? And how can a serial killer not get caught after more than 7 similar acts?

   The ending messed me up more than anything: "I was here and now I'm not. Have a long and happy life". I connected to that more than anything because I once had a dream where I was murdered myself. And in the dream, after I realized what had just happened, my voice narrated: "This was my life: short and unfulfilled." Yep. I was here and now I'm not. I had my whole life ahead of me and now I don't anymore. That freaks me out. Death freaks me out. 

   My high school psychology teacher used to say that we'd be nuts not to be afraid of dying. So I guess it's all natural. I don't wanna go though. I wanna get old and bored of living before going. I don't wanna see dear people die. I couldn't bear it. Death is such a frightening concept. And we keep living life avoiding it as much as we can with the illusion of immortality imprinted in us. Because how else could we step over the lovely bones of all the painful experiences we've been through? We close our eyes and step in the unknown. And hope for the best.

Day 355. Forever ago

   Today I accidentally plunged in my past and I noticed it didn't hurt so I decided to swim deeper and deeper. It made me realize how much I miss a dear friend I lost contact with, how much things have changed around during the past 5 years and I ended up asking myself if I had changed as well. 

   So I called my best friend over to take a look at our life then (during high school teenage years when we were desk mates) and now (when we're already employed emerging adults). It was kinda difficult for me to remember past experiences so way back because once I closed that book and forgot it on a shelf in the attic I only remembered closer experiences from university. So I had to go back to the attic and dig for the lost book. Then I started comparing. Then and Now. Now and Then. 

   You'd say the result is expected. Kinda like textbook development. I still like the same general things, just that now I know exactly which ones and how I like them to be. Take psychology for example. Back in high school I started being interested in the field and I knew I wanted to become a psychologist because I loved listening to people. Now I am practicing it but I'm a school psychologist not a clinical therapist because I realized I love kids more than anything and that therapy is way more complicated than it seemed back then:) 

   You could say my search has been refined and now not only than I know exactly who I am and what I'm looking for, but I'm also in a stable relationship for 4 years. So THEN was all about exploring options and NOW is all about a single road I chose to follow. I love photography, writing, English and people. That's who I am and that's who I'm always gonna be:) I didn't change, I just evolved. I got out of my cocoon and now I'm flying around as a beautiful butterfly:) 

Day 354. Empathy gone wrong

   Today was one of those days when you empathized with the weather more than you had planned to. You let the gloomy clouds and the heavy rain get to you, so you were cranky and bored all day and you knew nothing you do could change that. 

   You wish things could be different and you could be like other people who just see rain as mere water coming from the sky and gloomy clouds as random weather. Today you wish that more than ever. You know everything is an illusion and it's all in your head as much as you know you can't really control it. You tried it before and it was always more powerful than you. 

   It is what it is. So maybe the only option available in this case is finding something that would turn your day upside down. A reason to smile, a reason to fall in love with today:) Guess what, when you want it hard enough, that reason reveals to you and even if outside it's pouring rain the sun inside will keep shining:) At least that's what happened to me, even if it was just a little movie which totally spoke to me. It was enough to make me go to bed full of hope like any other day.

Day 353. It's funny

   It's funny how we can place our trust more easily in the hands of others rather than in our own hands. I guess it's easier to accept others than accept ourselves. Because we know ourselves better than anyone and we can see our flaws when the others can't. I guess they are the ones that stop us from embracing and loving ourselves the way the others love us. 

   It's funny how we can't believe it when people tell us we're beautiful or amazing. Maybe because we truly believe others are better. Why do we want to be perfect? Is it because of the society we live in? Because of the competition that is instilled in us since kindergarten?

   It's funny how we worry so easily and we over analyse every little reaction of a person we want to be accepted by. And it's even funnier that, without acknowledging it, that person feels the same about a different person he/she wants to be accepted by. It's a never ending circle of confusion and worry. 

   It's funny how often we say "I don't know what to do" when the answer lays right within us. Why would we rather ask people for solutions to our problems when all we have to do is close our eyes and listen? 

   It's funny how the social networks teach us to show off who we want to be rather than who we are. And so we post photos, we check in and we write statuses that show people how perfect we are and how awesome our life is when we're only doing it because we long for validation and appreciation and then we break so easily if they don't show the interest we're expecting.

   It's funny how we're all so messed up in our own way. It's sad that we don't accept ourselves for who we truly are and that we always try to be More in order to be liked when all we have to do is find the people who are just as messed up as we are:) But no, we want to be liked by everybody. Weird brain:) That's never gonna happen and at some point we gotta accept that. 

   So yeah, you're weird and you worry too much and you wanna be awesome but just stop for a sec and realize that you are perfect just the way you are right now. You just have to love yourself too:) The important people already do:)

Day 352. When you dream out loud

   I always dare to dream out loud. And I keep dreaming till I reach the stars, I grab one and I fulfill my dream.

   This last one didn't seem too big for me, even if all the people around me said I should let go of it. I knew I wanted to climb this mountain no matter what it took. It was difficult and it involved a lot of sweat and tears, mostly self inflicted, but here I am today, standing on its peak and enjoying the view. Today I fulfilled my dream. Even if the mountain is just metaphorical, the feeling is the same.

   I expected the road to be much longer because I know that clouds usually hide the peak of the mountain, but sometimes life gives you a chocolate from that well known box when you least expect. And boy did I enjoy that chocolate:) 

   I expected the arrival to be awkward because the vision of the destination is never the same with the actual experience, but again, I was surprised to see that I prepared well. I grew to love my road up there and it seemed like the road got used to me too. So in the end we were two old pals who were to meet at the top of the mountain:) The beautiful thing is that we can still go on together. Because this one was just the first peak in the many to be reached:) So let the journey continue!

Day 351. Bonnie and Clyde

   Today was one of those days when you realize how awesome it is to have your best friend as your boyfriend. Because not only that you love him and wanna kiss him and cuddle with him all day, but you're also terrific partners "in crime". We're both so excited about a project we're gonna develop together soon. Very soon. 

   In two weeks time "My photo diary" will have gathered 365 days of euphoric, wonderful, interesting, boring, sad and angry experiences. A whole year of ups and downs, discoveries and awesome movie moments I lived during the first year of my working experience (yeah, first step into adulthood). 

   I will continue to write in My Photo Diary even after the year ends, but it will only be twice a week because I want to make sure I share my most powerful experiences. Until then, let the daily emotional roller coaster move on:)

Day 350. Life is a movie

   Do you remember the movies that turned your life around for some minutes? The ones that made you question life, your whole existence and the purpose of being here, on this planet? 

   Do you remember the movies with magic or aliens which made you think that maybe there is something else out there, something we know nothing about because it's so tabu and hard to explore and control that it's better not to scare people with it? Or the movies with wars and freaky criminals that made you be thankful you're living a peaceful life without having to face all those atrocities?  

   These are the movies you'll always remember. The ones that make you face your deepest fears, the ones that answer questions and help you find yourself in the middle of it all. They make you look in the mirror and see reality with different eyes. The way you should have always seen it. They are glimpses of your soul, pieces of puzzle you have to stick together to encounter the real you. And you need that more than anything because

But first you must know who you are. So learn that by watching movies. Let them help you find yourself and open your eyes to all possibilities. There's more out there can you can grasp right now.

Day 349. 28 years later

   Today it's 28 years since my parents got married. That sounds like a lot, huh? A lifetime spent together. Ups and downs, laughs and tears, a lot of hard work raising me and my brother. 

   I know that many times we're not on the same page regarding life issues and I know it's difficult for them to see beyond the bare necessities like having a good job, getting married and having a beautiful family but in the end I admire them. Because they're still together, still loving and respecting each other. They raised us beautifully even if I thought they're over protective. I guess they're just parents. And they want the best for their kids. 

   I wish I'd get my 28th wedding anniversary too. And be happy and in love just like them:) 

Happy anniversary, dear mom and dad!

Day 348. Rules are meant to be broken

   ... or at least bent. That's what they say. I know, it sounds rather teenagerish and rebellious to say that in a society that's based on rules, one than cannot survive without them. I am aware of the fact that the world would be a total chaos without rules or if we wouldn't stick to them, but from time to time if you get out of that shell and you go your way instead of their way, life suddenly seems way more interesting and exciting. No wonder, huh? 

   Yeah, I bent a rule today and I felt good. Then I felt guilty (of course). But after that I remembered I always stick to the rules and I follow them blindly. If there's someone who does that for a living, well, that's me. But today I chose not to. And boy it felt good. "Eating the forbidden fruit". Mmm. Just as exciting as when we're kids and we steal a French fry from mommy's plate. Just as exciting as when we're teens and we skip a class and go on the highest hill in the city with out classmates and we listen to "Sweet escape" while wildly running around playing tag. Mmm. The sweet feeling follows us everywhere. And it's just as sweet every time we bend a rule. 

   In the end, if you don't hurt anybody and if you don't cause others damage, I guess bending the rules from time to time can sparkle your life a little bit. And we all need sparkle, don't we?:) 

Day 347. Get ready, set, go!

   Today I was reminded that summer is not all about having fun and making nice memories. It's also about preparing for the winter to come. And this involves a lot of work and sweat. My dad told me that "if you want to be happy during winter, you gotta work a lot during summer." And so we did. 

   Preserving vegetables for winter is a tough process that seems never ending. Especially if you're part of a family who eats a lot during winter. It was certainly another test for my patience. I might have lost a battle or two, but I think I won the war.

   My lesson after all this is that even if you don't like some things, they gotta be done. And working now means happiness after. So it's better to be the ant than the grasshopper. Always.

Day 346. That special feeling

   From time to time you get that special feeling of being in love with the world. It's that unexplainable thing that makes you be high on happiness, that feeling of "I wouldn't change anything about how my life looks right now." You forget about anything that needs to be solved, anything that's not perfect and you just wear that dumb smile on your face and you feel like you'd hug everybody. 

   That feeling usually comes on a perfect summer evening. You just lay down in the sunset light, close your eyes and realize you finished solving the puzzle, that every piece is now put in its right place and you're proud to have figured things out. You open your eyes and you're still smiling. Because you're looking forward to solving the next puzzle life has prepared for you. And because you know that if you were able to finish all the ones you were given until now, you're trained enough to finish the ones to come too. And that gives you strength and peace. The peace of knowing you're in control. What better feeling do you need?:)

Day 345. The stillness before the change

   Summer's slowly moving on. I can feel it in the air, in the temperatures, in the fact that it's already getting dark sooner. But these last days are the most beautiful ones. 

   The light is soft and the sun rays feel warm and protective. There's that smell of hay and that stillness that comes right before a big change. These are the perfect days to lounge and take some time off from the everyday rush. The time to read a good book, to make plans for the following months, to put your life in order. 

   The last summers days are like the last spoon of Nutella. You realize how awesome it is cos it's almost over. But you're always looking forward to the next jar to enjoy the same feeling again:)

"A vacation is like love: anticipated with pleasure, experienced with enthusiasm and remembered with nostalgia."  

                                                   - Anonymous

Day 344.The things we take for granted

   Today I rediscovered how awesome the things we have might seem after we lose them for a while. I'm not talking about people but about the things we're so used to in our everyday life that we take them for granted. 

   One of them is health. We don't realize how important it is until we're sick and we recover. Man, feeling healthy again seems like a blessing. Even if it was just a headache that bothered us. 

   Another one is water. We don't acknowledge how vital it is until we're really, really thirsty and we get back home and drink the best glass of water in our life. Right then water seems like the yummiest thing we ever drank.

   Electricity. We've all gone through power outage many times and we all know that if it's longer than 5 minutes we already feel bored. No Facebook, no Youtube, no Tv Shows, no movies of any kind, no games, no TV, no nothing. Not even light for reading. Yep, power is awesome! 

   And the one I experienced today... rest. We don't realize how awesome it is to just sit down and do nothing until we physically worked for many hours. Today I understood how difficult it has to be to physically work 8 hours a day and how tired you must feel when you go home. So the fact that I can work in a kindergarten seems like a  real blessing now.

   We need these experiences in order to understand that we should be thankful. I am thankful today because I am healthy, I have a happy life and I got everything I ever wished for. Minus a dog. But that's gonna happen too, I know for sure. Until then I feel my life is way awesomer now than it was yesterday:) What about yours?

Day 343. Stay positive

   We read motivational quotes every day on Facebook. Either because our friends share them or because we stumble upon them on different pages. We feel they're true but we only think about them at a metaphorical level and that's where they stay. We don't remember them in everyday life like we do with the 9gag posts or memes. Nevertheless, we keep liking them because we somehow want to be guided by them. "Live a happy life, don't care about the others, go on your own path, stop pretending to be someone else, enjoy life while it lasts" and so on. 

   Today I remembered one of those many quotes precisely because I saw it happening in real life. And then I understood its whole meaning. 

   Sounds pretty cliché, right? But what does that really mean? Why should we surround ourselves with Positive people and not just People in general? Why so much hippie attitude? I'm gonna tell you what I discovered and then maybe you wanna learn from it too. 

   I've been spending some days with some dear friends lately. Some awesome people, full of optimism, good vibe and energy. Artists or generally people who understand art. I've enjoyed myself so much and looking back I know those are the kind of people I want to be surrounded by all the time. Because they bring out the best in me. They make me accept myself just like I am even if I make mistakes. They're not the kind of people to criticize every wrong step. Instead, they help you get back on track while making you smile or they ignore your mistake knowing that you'll learn from it either way. They see life as a gift and they enjoy every little thing that could brighten their day, be it a yummy soup, a good concert or drinking a beer while you're sitting on the pavement. Surely, they have reasons to be unhappy. The society we live in is not perfect, but they know that they shouldn't pay attention to that if they want to live a happy life.  

   And then I came home. Here I have different type of people surrounding me. The kind of people who call themselves "realistic". The ones who think about every little thing that could go wrong before starting an action, the ones who criticize and judge people around them. The same ones who think that life is a burden and it would be better if we moved to a different country in order to live a decent life. They make me feel uncomfortable and indirectly they make me think like they do even if that's not who I wanna be. But they are the ones who surround me every day, so it's hard to think differently. I'm not happy when I'm around them and I feel I'm not accepted so I have moments when I can't wait to get away from them. 

   So here it is. Here's how positive and negative people can make you feel and this is why you should choose to be surrounded only by positive people. I know, sometimes you have to live with the negative ones cos they're family, but try to accept them and still be you. Listen to their opinions but live life your own way. In the end that's why it's called YOUR life:) 

Day 342. Seems like forever

   Time flies. Then it suddenly stops and for a while it forgets to move on because you found something that makes you happy and it doesn't want to steal it from you. After some time It tries to step carefully ahead, as slowly as possible, to let you linger on your moment of happiness. Then it moves on naturally on its path and sometimes you both go hand in hand with it. You and your inner happiness:) 

   It's 4 years now since our beautiful love story began somewhere near a lake on a summer night. And it's still growing, just like a child. We'll continue to raise our love the way it raised us until now: with honestly, trust, communication and generosity. The beautiful thing is that we didn't have to try a tad bit to make it what it is today. It all came naturally like it was there since the beginning of times and we just had to meet at the right time and in the right place. I always felt it was like that. And even if it's been mostly sunny around us, we learned to stay cuddled up under an umbrella each time there was a stormy weather around. 

   Look at us now!:) We're 4. I can't imagine sharing my life with anybody else. And I can't wait to see what lays ahead. Because I know that with him by my side, I can face anything. And I'll do that knowing that whatever happens he will be my shoulder to cry on, my right arm, my everything:) 

I love you, honey!

Day 341. Forever happy

   Today I went out with an old friend to catch up. It's always awesome to see that some friends never fade away even if you don't talk to each other in a long while:) 

   The conclusions we both came to are that sometimes you can be mediocre in a place, but a star in another; that unfortunately nobody is irreplaceable but that shouldn't make you hopeless. Instead you should look harder until you find a suitable option for you. And whenever that moment happens you ought to stick to it real hard and not let anyone take it from you. Fight for it and never let it go because that's what makes you happy. 

   We realized that parents will always think they know better but that they often get lost in a conventional way of seeing life, a protective way, but not one that's up to nowadays reality. 

   In the end what matters in life is going for what you want and defending your right to be happy. Because real happiness is worth fighting for and nobody can take it away from you if you don't let them:)

Day 340. The dark at the end of the tunnel

   We grow up always asking questions. When we're babies we want to know all the object names, then when we're kids we start asking "Why?" every 2 minutes. When we're teens we ask "Who am I?" and when we're adults we get all metaphysical and we start questioning the purpose of life and death. I'm there. 

   I had this talk to myself again tonight and I still didn't get an answer. I never do, but I keep asking because I want to know: "Why do young people have to die?" Why kids? Why teens? I get old people dying but youngsters are supposed to have their whole life ahead. What's the purpose of all this? I'm tired of always getting the "they have to teach the others a lesson" type of answer. I just don't get it. 

   Some get sick and others commit suicide. Why do they go through all this? The worst part is that no matter how hard we try to help them, they just go. 

Day 339. That weird feeling

   Today I had that weird feeling again. Supermarkets are ready for school so they're promoting school supplies now. So every time I go in a supermarket these days I run into them. 

  The weird feeling comes from seeing the amazing variety of schoolbags, notebooks, pencil cases and other things pupils need for school. They all make me melancholic. Back in my time we didn't have all these amazing school supplies. Many times we didn't even have cool options to choose from so I kinda envy pupils and it makes me miss being in school. But then I remember I had a happy childhood and a happy adolescence still, even without having so many cool things. So I guess that's what counts in the end: traveling through life in a constant state of happiness and looking ahead with hope knowing you made peace with your past. And how does that happen?

Day 338. Beautiful people, beautiful places

   I love visiting cities. I always did. But today I rediscovered how awesome the countryside life is:) 

   It was one of those special days when you meet beautiful people and beautiful places that fill you up with joy. I felt peace. That kind of peace that makes you say "This right here is perfect. Thank you, God! I love my life.":) 

   Away from all the technology we're surrounded by every day, I understood why everybody wants to leave the city at some point. I found bits and pieces that I didn't see back in the city. That smile all the people have there, their kindness and their generosity, their happiness when talking about life and their optimism coming from doing what they love. They don't need the city and all it involves. They're already happy:) I truly admire them.

    I felt at home. Even more, I felt in heaven:) I feel so blessed to be able to live all these things and write about them. I'm sure difficult times will come too but then I will look back to all of these and I will remember what I need to be happy: a place like Sibiel:)

Day 337. Live life fully!

   Mmm... how shall I put it? Tonight was the best night of my life! And it was all due to Within Temptation. I know it sounds big but it's true:)

   I always loved the band. I loved the guys so much I was sad when I found out they previously came to Romania and I didn't know. So given the fact they came here years ago, them coming back to our little country and going to a concert of theirs here seemed like a dream that would never come true for me. Little did I know:) 

   When I found out they were to come to ARTmania festival this year I was thrilled! I knew it was going to be the best time of had high expectations regarding the concert but I didn't know it was going to be EPIC!!! I never head banged to a concert before but this time it just felt right. For more than an hour and a half I got lost in a deep feeling of ecstasy surrounded by people who felt what I felt. And we were all caught up in a sea of intensely living the moment. It was going to be a movie moment we'd all remember our whole life:) 

   At some point during the concert I just stopped. I looked around and I told to myself: "This is how life should be. We should live fully and stop thinking about the money. We should go to concerts and make awesome memories that stick with us forever."

   I don't know what the best night of your life was, but I know this was mine:) And I lived it fully:)

Day 336. Let's shake the dust

   The day before a long awaited trip is always full of emotions both good and bad. On one hand you're filled with enthusiasm, you can't wait for time to pass more quickly and you're making plans in your head about how awesome the trip is going to be, but on the other hand you're anxious because you feel there's too little time to organize everything so you're afraid you'll forget something or you think that maybe you won't wake up when the alarm clock will ring. And that's exactly what's awesome about trips:) Oh, not to mention you'll probably not sleep the night before. It always happens to me:)

   Long awaited trips make life worth living. They put a huuuge smile on your face and make you happy even before reaching your destination because you already know you'll come home with some amazing memories you'll hold onto for the whole year to come and that they will be the ones to give you energy until the next awesome trip. 

   Tomorrow I'm heading for Sibiu to attend one of the most awaited concerts of my life (Within Temptation). I can't wait to feel like heaven is a place on earth again:) 

Day 335. Finding the key

   I've been playing some lateral thinking game today with a good friend and it made me realize we're all brought up to think inside the box. Add up numbers, look to the left and to the right instead of looking up, pay attention to the general message instead of paying attention to every little detail of it, and so on. 

   We're brought up to generate the exact information we're given instead of being set free and promoting our creativity and critical thinking. After studying for the exam this year I know exactly how important those two are and how much they can change the whole educational process and the students' minds if promoted in schools. 
   Why do you think we can't answer the lateral thinking questions?:) It's not because we don't have it in us. It's simply because it's unlocked. It's just like an amazing garden full of colorful flowers that stays up hidden behind a huge lock with no key to be found around. And we're the knights in shining armor who have to go through the journey of their life to find that one key that solves every problem, that key that leads us to the garden of Eden. And unfortunately, many of us search for it their whole life but still find nothing. Because we're looking for the prototypical type of key. And I bet that's exactly NOT how the key looks like:) 

   So why not help those knights while they're still young and teach them how they can get to unlock that amazing garden before it's too late? Why not help them believe in themselves and use every little shred of idea that comes into their mind for a useful purpose? Why set them boundaries that only lead to routine, unhappiness and lack of self esteem? 

   Being a teacher means you can teach a content in whichever way you like. So teachers out there, let's promote creativity and critical thinking! The kids will thank us later:)

Day 334. The odd one out

  We all want to fit in, be accepted and appreciated by the people we like or admire. Some will just be themselves and hope that will work out fine while others will feel like they have to change some tiny parts of them to make sure they do fit in. If they get to do that, at some point when they look in the mirror they will be facing a stranger, a person way too different than they are. It sounds cliché, but it happens every day. Mostly, to people who have self esteem issues. 

   It's hard to stay true to yourself and know that you might not fit in a group you like. Being social "animals", we want to be surrounded by people and not just any kind, but awesome ones. The kind of people who make us feel awesome as well. And there's where our mistake is. We try to be awesome with the wrong group. Why wrong? Because we have to try to make ourselves liked. 

   So my lesson for today is: first love yourself and the right people will love you too. Don't push it and don't try to be somebody you're not only to please others around you. Stay true to yourself and learn how to assertively tell the others that you're different. I know, common interests connect people, but just because you don't like the exact same music as somebody else, doesn't mean you can't still have common interests:) Be you and never be ashamed to stand for yourself: "No, dude, I don't drink vodka or tequila. I don't listen to death metal and I don't smoke. But I did love that psychological movie you were talking about and I drink beer. How about that?" 

Day 333. Believe

   Today was one of those really happy days for me:) Because I got the exam result and it was astronomical. Wow! I knew the music teacher (our exam supervisor) did an awesome job psychologically preparing us for the exam, that I loved the subjects (they were exactly what I wished for) and that I had an interesting idea for one of the subjects and all that made me very proud and confident while writing the exam, but giving the last year's experience when I thought I did good and seemingly I didn't, I didn't know what to expect this year. So in the end, looks like I overestimated the difficulty of the exam and I was wrong to stop believing in myself when I got the last year's result. 

   So what I learned today is that whenever you want to do something and you want it bad, believe in yourself. Believe you can and stretch all your resources to get where you want and remember that no matter how difficult the target might look like, it's always achievable if you believe in yourself. Trust that you can reach all your goals no matter how utopian they might look like. Know that the feeling of confidence will boost everything else in the right direction. Sure, there's competition and the resources might be scarce but know that you can. You can achieve anything you set for yourself, be it an awesome job, an amazing boyfriend, vacation destinations or anything else:) 

   Also, what I learned is that whenever you are confident you can move the mountains and nobody can take that feeling from you:) So hold on tight to it! You Will move the mountains if you believe!:)

Day 332. Bring color to your life

   I always knew that a day can be good if you choose to make it good. It's always in our power to turn a day upside down from boring to exciting and today I did just that:) 

   The summer heat is always an enemy to ideas worth putting into practice outdoors. So when I heard there's some event going on outside I denied attending it at first but then I was inspired enough to watch a video of the same event in other countries and I was AMAZED! So much color everywhere! And lots and lots of happy people! How could I say "no" to that?:) So I got dressed asap and decided to go after all. I was so nervous of how everything was going to end up. I didn't know if the colors would wash out or if it would be as amazing as it looked in the photos, but I sure for once wanted to try. And now I can say it was worth trying:) Because this event, the color fight, was what changed my day from random to awesome:) And it's part of those chances you have to take, the ones that might happen once in a lifetime, the same ones that bring color to your life. Both literally and metaphorically:) Not to mention I got the chance to meet the mayor in person and actually take a photo with him:) How often does that happen while you're soaking wet and super happy?

   So my lesson today was:

Day 331. Fearless

   It's funny how we're built up to be the strongest and the weakest version of ourselves all in the same person. It all depends on how we interpret things, our past experiences and if others seem weaker than us. Then we embrace the strong version of ourselves and we want to lift that person up. And somehow the next day we will be the weak one needing to be lifted up too. Interesting... 

   Everything starts and ends with the brain:) As much as you'd like to think that events around you influence what you feel, it's never like that. And one of the reasons that brings up the worst in us is thinking about the future and the fact that we can't control it. Then panicking happens. I'm asking you though:

   Funny how that comes from the person who usually worries about stuff. See? Today I'm the strong one. For two of my best friends needed to be lifted up. We do worry because we take into consideration the possibility that it won't be ok. And then we ask ourselves: "What am I going to do then? What if I lose everything and I will be alone? How am I going to cope with that?" But in those fearful times we forget to remember that:

   Yes, you might lose your friends but then you have your family. You might lose your family but then you have your friends. And if you lose your boyfriend/girlfriend, there's always best friends and they never go away:) That's why they're best friends. And even IF you lose everything, believe me, you WILL find the power to go on and everything will be ok. Just fight for what you want and never give up. Everything will be ok in the end. If it's not ok, it's not the end:) Simple as that.

Day 330. Brand new

   We all go through new situations at some point. Things we're not used to, things we gotta deal with even if we don't know how to. Those are the situations that are going to be cornerstones for our future development. The ones that will help us get more knowledge and achieve wisdom more easily. Because how would we evolve if life was only a continuous routine where nothing new ever happened? 

   New things used to scare me when I was a teenager because I liked my things the way I had them. So whenever something new happened, be it having a new teacher, needing to solve a new type of problem or discovering a new social network I felt odd. I would always reject it at first and it would take me a while to get used to it. The thing I learned these past years, though, is that we can accommodate to anything. No matter how bad, strange or how uncomfortable it is, we find a way to cope with it. Sure, if we can avoid it, we will do that, but when it's one of those things you have get used to... you will. Our nature helps us accommodate and keep learning from our experience. So why avoid new situations if they can help you grow? 

   Today I decided to make an account on tumblr. It's still weird for me, but I'm figuring it out. And I'm surely not feeling odd anymore:) Cos now I know new is good. New is a pathway to better. So here's so outrunning ourselves!:)

Day 329. Passengers

   We're all passengers on this planet. We don't know where we come from, where we're going or why we're here. We spend a lifetime trying to figure that out and some of us never do. Because most of the time we're so caught up in the web we create with everything we hear, everything we want and everything we can't achieve. 

   We're passengers that are brought up to obey. Obey the rules, obey the laws, obey older people who supposedly have a vast life experience. But they never think that we might want to act differently and write our own life motto instead of borrowing it from elders around us.

   We're passengers who influence one another without meaning to. Because in the end we're a bunch of cells who know how to multiply but don't know who they are or what love is. So we try to figure that out and it's taking us a while. We fall for the wrong people and we know it but we can't help it. We want to be accepted and validated so we change a bit for every group we want to belong to. We want to believe we're independent and we don't care about anything, but at the end of the day we all do. We care about our own good.

   We're passengers who like to think they're unique, but we're born to be the same. We all go through the same phases. It's our wild nature that sets us apart. Some follow it while others suppress it and go on obeying the rules. The same rules that are going to drive them nuts and make them question the purpose of life after so many failures. We, the others, decide we want to make our own rules. We have no idea why we're here but we do know that this is everything we've got for now. So we wanna live it all and enjoy it fully so that whenever the end is coming we can all claim: I've lived it all!

   We're all passengers who try to find the key to the universe. Some find it in art, others in science and others in religion. In the end, it doesn't even matter, as long as we're not staying idle:)