Rivers!

Tomorrow I have a midterm paper due. Have I started it? No. Am I worried about it? Not yet. Will I get it done? Absolutely!
Okay now that we have that established, we all know why I'm writing this blog...avoidance! But anyways, in 30 minutes I will be 19 years old. Now I know I've only lived just under two decades, but it's been long enough to have learned some very important things. Right now I want to talk about happiness.
Every morning we all wake up to a clean slate. There are a million things that could happen in our day...some we can control, and others we can't (such as this ridiculous snow Bozeman got today!). Now some days things just seem to be working with us...like your life is a river and your destination is just down the bend. Other days it seems as if we have to paddle upstream all day just so we don't move backwards!
Those lazy river floating down in a tube days are easy to enjoy. But the doggy paddling, stuck in the same spot days...those are the days that tell us most about who we are.
We've all had our fair share of paddle days. Heck, the past three months have been loaded with paddle days for me! But I think there is a secret to getting through those days, whether it is a random occurance, or you're stuck in paddle-mode for a good while.
The secret is to let those paddle days build the muscles of your soul. Yeah, the lazy floating days are great!But we don't have to improve anything about ourselves to get through those days because they are already just how we'd like them to be. The paddle days are the days where we "work out" and grow as people. Complaining and griping about paddling is just like eating 3 happy meals after running a mile...TOTALLY negates the hard work you've just done for yourself!
I think we know we are on the right track when at the end of a rough day we can: 1. Still clearly see the blessings in our lives and easily thank God for them. 2. Laugh about the little mishaps that may have felt like a huge deal at the time. and 3. Reflect on what was rough about the day, think about what "muscle" of our soul it exercised, and not necessarily know for sure, but look for the positive reasoning behind the paddle day.
So whether today is a floating day or a paddle day, we all have great things in our lives to acknowledge!
Wishing you infinity plus one happy days,
Your Sparkle Blogger :) <3