Entry 3

 So as we are coming to end of our high school career we have a lot to think about. Things from college, friends, senior pictures, your desk design, senioritis, and endless more...

 People always talk about how high school is the time where you find yourself. We all went through those awkward stages of puberty, grew taller than others, made new friendships, broke some relationships, got into trouble, got high achievements, and so on.  

I think it’s pretty safe to say I’ve changed since I was a freshman. That means both physically and mentally. I’m kind of like a new person; who’s matured more, doesn’t care so much about her imperfections, and I have realized kindness is the best medicine to survive the high school social atmosphere (as the rather shy girl that I still kind of am...).

I’d like to think that I found myself.

 I have new values. Some that I am very proud of and some that honestly I never thought would become a part of me.

You should ask yourself that.

Have I changed from that first time I walked in through those freshman hallways? I think we can all answer a definite yes to that one. But get more in depth and ask yourself… Who have I become? What’s important to me? Who are my friends or foes? And truthfully, how do you want to represent that new person you’ve become these 4 years in high school. If you don’t know the answers to those questions, it’s fine. We’re still in the process of growing up, even though as we may all be 18 or turning 18 soon, and are considered “adults” in society. But life, well, it is a changing process. We adopt new customs or stick to the values we’ve cherished for a long time… High school has been a changing process. We’ve become new people. Who is that new person?

“Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it, without knowing what’s going to happen next.” – Gilda Radner          (That’s on my Instagram. If you don’t already follow me, you should totally follow me @ellamj211)

 

Entry 2

How can you define your happiness? Is it through the fact that you are alive, you have a family, you are a healthy human being, you have someone that loves you, or you have no stress in your life? Could you're greatest happiness come from the fact you currently don't have any issues to deal with? Or the issues that used to stress you out are no longer of importance? Throughout this year, I've asked myself this question time after time. Maybe it's because of all the things I have been dealing with from family life, school life, work life, etc.

I'm almost positive I’m not the only one who has thought/asked themselves this same question. 

How do you know if truly are happy? Is there such of thing of finding that perfect happiness, or do we have to go through certain situations in life, ranging from joyful moments or moments so sad it’s hard to even bare?

               I think it comes from a variety of these moments. Sometimes we have to go through the hard to realize what really have in our life. And it's also important to go through the moments where you experience great joy, and from that we can realize what it feels like to be happy in those times where we may feel sad or even just grateful.

                Your mind’s power to contain infinite memories can be an incredible blessing to realize what makes you happy. I know for me, when I look back to things that have happened in the past, I remember the great moments that I had with my friends, the times where I laughed so hard, or the most empowering, the times where I was able to make another person happy.

We all find our happiness in different ways. That could be from service to others, treating yourself to something, being in Mr. Wood's class, or seeing the smile of someone you love. 

We all can define it by our own personal experiences, situations, or whatever. The important part to remember is to always look at the bigger picture and reminisce back into those moments when you experienced joy and open yourself to new moments of happiness every day in your life. Regardless of what you may be dealing with, it’s almost essential for our mental being to search for the beauty in each day and smile. Because why not be happy?

                If there is a key to true happiness, I don’t believe its lies within the means that everything has to be perfect, but through the fact that you've opened that door to look past imperfections and appreciate what you do have. 

Entry 1

Do you ever just stop? Do you ever stop to take a look around and realize the people you are surrounded with? Picture it. Close your eyes and imagine the classroom you are in and graze your eyes across the faces you know by heart or faces you may not be too familiar with.  Some of these people you’ve been with for practically your entire life, others you just met this year. And by that one simple look into that other person’s eyes you can read their story; their family, their likes, their problems, and their meaning to you.

Now picture the time you have spent with these people, which for some of you can be way more than half of your lifetime. That’s pretty crazy, or I guess you could call it special. We’re almost like brothers and sisters with distinct little personalities which can lead to the reason why you chose that person to be your friend or maybe it’s the reason you avoid them.

That image you hold for that person contains all of their stories, achievements, failures, and endless details of their life. It’s at that point where you realize, this person has been a part of my life, among positive, negative, or even non-existent vibes. Do ever just stop to think about that? Or do you ever come to the grave point and major halt that you may never see them again? Isn’t just insane to think that?

 It’s the fact that the person you’ve been seeing for the past years of your life, who knows you in and out (whether you like or not), will be gone.

 We spend each day of our lives gossiping behind each other’s back or desperately trying to find that last hope to fit in, we forget the big picture. Unity is the last thing we’ve got, and breaking that apart for the most childish like things, I don’t know about you, but I certainly do not think it comes to a chance of even being  worth it. It kind of sucks that those faces we’ve grown to known so well have faded out and constructed themselves into differences.

Life keeps moving, we all know that. The faces you’ve grown accustom to eventually fade until a new set comes in to replace. What we’ll have left are just the memories of the blurry faces we used to see and how each and every one of them had some kind of impact.