have a chuckle...

I was seeking out some constructive criticism from a friend of mine, asking her what she liked/disliked about the blog. She gave it a good review overall, said that it was interesting and thought provoking but that there was one thing that could be made different. She said "don't take yourself and life so seriously, the lessons in life are crucial but there is always room to let loose."

This was so interesting to me just because in my daily life, so much of my routine is about letting loose and not grabbing hold of the serious complexities that surround each moment. But I realized that I don't at all communicate this in my blog. So the opportunity has presented itself and I want to stress the importance of incorporating the mindset of relaxation, laughter, behaving spontaneously, acting foolishly, and not always taking everything so seriously.

I feel like in my last two years, I have really been such a serious person. And of course there are times in my day where I am jovial and eager for laughter, but for the majority of the hours, I was focused on heavy topics. I was fearful of my anxiety, I was terrified that my sadness in nursing school would be long term, and so for much of the time, those emotions had a more firm grip over me. I "didn't have time to be happy" because I was too busy focusing my energy elsewhere.

Needless to say, Boulder helped facilitate me out of this cycle of maudlin. I was able to appreciate the simple pleasures in life, laugh hysterically with my girlfriends, find beauty in the simplicity of my day, and not give the complexity of life so much power. It has its place of course, but only until the last few months, I have let it take the lead role, as opposed to the supporting role. I feel like the more power you give something, the more it will dominate your mind and the more difficult it will be to stray away from a habit.

I feel as though the lessons of life are invaluable and should be appreciated for they make our trials bearable. Figuring these things out on the front end of life for me makes me get really excited about my later years because I can imagine myself having gotten at least a fraction of it figured out. But until then...chuckle.

So in my days now, I make it a point to incorporate laughter. I want to feel carefree in my dealings and relationships and not be so whole heartedly intent on making it be "all about lessons."

Learning to laugh and being carefree is a lesson in and of itself.