• Everything is going to work out. Your dreams and hopes will find their place in this world.
• Smile freely. Your smile lights up your face.Your smile is one easy way to make someone's day.
• It will get better. Give yourself and life time.
• Your fears are only as powerful as you allow them to be. Don't allow them to paralyze you from living your life.
• I know you get lonely but that doesn't mean you are alone. There are so many people who love and need you. Loneliness comes and goes. It won't stay forever.
• It's okay not to be okay all the time.
• Don't be afraid of the work ahead of you. That's how you learn, how you grow, and most importantly how you get to where you want to be.
• Getting lost is how you get found.
• Don't be afraid to take detours.
• Vulnerability is not weakness.
• Your life doesn't revolve around a man. Your story is one about love of self before any other kind of love. Please don't forget that.
• Your scars might not be physical but they are still there. They are a part of you. Reminders of internal battles you have won. Don't ignore them or feel ashamed of them. They are a part of your story but they don't define you.
• You are beautiful. Really, YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL. I know some days you don't feel beautiful but even then YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL. Let yourself embrace your beauty. Don't dampen it with negative thoughts or cruel words.
• If you don't believe in yourself, and I mean wholeheartedly believe in yourself no one else will. You've got to have that faith and confidence in who you are, what you want, and how you choose to live. You have to believe in yourself. Your dreams, your talents, and your hopes for this life you have.
• Don't just give good advice take it too. Teach and learn. Learn and teach.
• Do the things you love because you love them. Nothing else matters. Not compliments, recognition, acknowledgement, fame, or fortune. All that matters is how the things you love make you feel. Don't shape what you love to fit into other people's idea of what it should be. You are the painter, the canvas, the muse, the paintbrush, and the paint. You have all the ingredients to create something of your own.
• There are no bad days. Only bad moments.
• Choose your attitude wisely.
• Don't limit your happiness. There is no definition of what it means to be happy. You decide what your happiness looks, feels, and sounds like. It's up to you. It always has been.
• You are imperfect and that is a beautiful thing. Stop trying to deny that.
• Everything is not about you. Everything is not about them. Find a middle ground between those two extremes.
• Life is a give and take relationship. I hope you give more than you take.
• Everyone has to start at the beginning you are no exception.
• You are not broken. You are not shattered. You are not a lost cause.
• Your art matters. Whether it's your poetry, stories, songs, or drawings they matter. You matter. No one has to tell you that for it to be the truth. Have faith in yourself and the things you do.
• You are loved.
• Don't bottle your feelings inside.
• You are more than good enough.
• Don't hide your sorrows.
• Your life is meant to be lived.
• Don't be anyone other than you.
• Take care of yourself. Mind, body, and soul.
• Make time for yourself to do some self pampering.
• Be the best version of you. The best you you can be.
• Mistakes and failure are not things to be ashamed of. They are the catalysts of growth and wisdom.
• You are the main character in your story, stop sitting on the sidelines.
• Laugh without restraint.
• Dream without worry.
• Love yourself the way you want to be loved by others.
• Breathe. In and out. Breathe.
• This is your time. Be who you want to be.

~~Acoustic Imagery~~
The Lighthouse

This is for those in need of a boost in their soul...

Maybe it is the writer in me that it the cause of my daydreaming. I spend a lot of time floating around inside my mind going from thought to thought, dream to dream. These days most of them are about Seoul.

My hope for going to Seoul is that it a year of HAPPINESS overflowing with personal growth, laughter, fun, and positive change. I am excited about being in Seoul in 2010. I just feel like this is my year/time to shine brightly and my season to bloom. I am 22 years old, and I feel like this is the first time in my life that I am going to be doing something just for me. I've spent the better part of my short life taking care of others, worrying for others, and making my family happy, that it feels like I forgot about my own.

I'm doing something a little crazy, but more importantly something I want to do. Something different and unusual for me, and that is what makes it great. I've done everything the way everyone around me wanted/expected me to do it, and for once in my life I am taking a different path and seeing where it takes me.

Anyone that knows me, knows I am a planner and I rarely change course. When I entered college I planned to graduate and then go to law school and become a corporate lawyer, and then a judge. That had been my plan since I was 12 years old, and then things changed... I changed. I began to become interested in traveling and the place I wanted to go to the most was Seoul. I started tutoring and working with international students, and I realized how much I enjoyed helping students.

I had the urge to explore what else was out there, and that desire made me decide to wait on  law school and test the waters to see what else is out there. It was scary at first, because I was steering off the path I had chosen for myself and leaping onto a new one. It is still scary, but it feels right. I am 22 years old, and I have every right to go at my own pace, go my own way, and figure things out in my own time.

I have no idea if I will still end up going to law school, because I have so many dreams and desires inside me that I want to explore more. I am giving myself time and my hope is that all the fogginess inside my mind will clear over the next year and little by little I will discover and create the future that is right for me.

My hope is that over the next year I learn, discover, and create myself through each experience I go through, and begin to paint that portrait of myself, my life, and the future I want for me.

Next on Journey To Seoul: Personal Goals...