Happy Girls...

"I believe that happy girls are the prettiest girls."  -Audrey Hepburn

I've probably heard that quote hundreds of times in my life, but I happened upon it today and really thought about what it means to me.  If happy girls are indeed the prettiest girls, I feel like I must be radiant...and not because of anything I have done, but because of how incredibly blessed I am.  I can't think of a single time in my life that I have been so content and happy with where I am...and who wouldn't be? I get to wake up every morning and go do something that I love...something that I am passionate about.  People trust me with their personal lives, with their well-being.  They believe that, somehow, I can be of help to them..and some days, I actually feel like I can.  Some days I feel like I'm going to make a decent doctor.  I feel like I'm learning more every day than I have ever learned in my life...not only about medicine, but about myself.  I've found that I love working with teenagers.  They are at such a vulnerable age.  All adolescents need positive role models...they need someone they can talk to, someone they can trust.  Sure, they can be stubborn, but they also need someone to break through the barriers that they put up.  They need someone to help them figure out their place in the world.  I can foresee working with teenagers as a huge part of my future in medicine.

Not only am I blessed with a future career that I adore, but I've also got some pretty amazing people in my life.  Of course, as is evidenced by my previous blogs, I have the best family a girl could ask for...but I also have the best friends.  I'm so glad I'm at a place in my life where I can still spend time with them on weekends...and random weeknights on the phone gossiping for hours.  We make time for each other, we roadtrip to see each other, we pray for each other, and I know that they are there for me anytime of the day or night.  They tell me things I don't want to hear, but need to hear.  They are patient with me when I make the same mistakes over...and over...and over.  I pity girls who don't have that, and I am thankful to have been blessed with such amazing friends in my life.

When I look back at my life one year ago, I was in a bad place.  I wasn't a very happy girl.  I was complacent and satisfied with the status quo. I had so many stresses in my life that I didn't even know who I was anymore.  One of my all-time favorite quotes is, "You wanna fly...you gotta give up the s*** that weighs you down".  No truer words have ever been spoken.  Life naturally gives us enough stress...why should we choose to keep things around that just add insult to injury? I decided awhile back that I wasn't settling in my life.  I have a picture of what I want for my future, and I'm not willing to compromise some of those things...and I'm definitely learning to cut out unneccessary stress.  However, I also believe that the opposite is true...if you find something that makes you happy, hang onto it.  Those concepts seem so simple, yet living them out can be so hard.  I encourage you to try it...you might be a little more satisfied with what you see when you look in the mirror.