How to: Live life to the Fullest

A week ago, I got a comment on one of my videos that said "Could you do a video on how to live to the fullest." It made me think about what we need to do to live life to the fullest. There are so many different ways to live a full life, and it is different for every single person. After contemplating, I realized there are somethings that we can all do to live life to the fullest.
The first is that we try to live everyday like it is our last. This one was probably the most cliche one that I could think of, but I still think that it is important. We never know when we are going to die, so we need to be satisfied and ask ourselves "If I died today, would I be happy with the life I have lived?" If the answer is yes, then that is fantastic, and you should keep living life like you are. If the answer is no, then I think a change should be made so that we can be happy if we died tomorrow. This is going to be different for every single person. Some people just want to be surrounded with friends and family, others may want to be skydiving, there is no way to know how every person would want  if they were going to die tomorrow.
If there are many things that you want to do before you die, then the perfect thing to make is a bucket list. This way, you are checking off one thing at a time that you want to do before you die. If you keep the bucket list somewhere you can always see it, then you will constantly be participating in life, and that will allow you to live a fuller life. The bucket list should be a whole bunch  of things that you have never done in your life that you want to do. They are things that give you an adrenaline rush, make you happy, make you laugh, and allow you to have a good time. This would be a good time to put things on your list that allow you to branch out and do things you may not normally do. Every time you experience something new and check it off your bucket list, act like a 5 year old, experiencing everything for the first time. It is fun to act like a little kid and forget you are an adult for a little bit.
I think it is very important to find something that you are passionate about, and then go out and do what ever that may be. There will be road bumps. People will tell you no. They will tell you "You can't do that because_________." But, never give up. If you want it, keep working at it until you get it. Don't give up, or give in to what they are saying. You can be and do whatever you want. Don't let anyone tell you that you can't do something.
Before we can move on I think we have to forgive those who have done us wrong. It allows the weight to be lifted off our shoulders and be happier people. We aren't hanging on to the past, but we are moving on to better and brighter things.
We also need to find the good in every situation. It is easy to find the bad in situations because more often than not, it is the easier thing to see. If we look a little closer, we can see the good and make good out of the situation. This allows up to get the most out of the situation and therefore get more out of life.
Third, we need to love one another. There are many people in this world that feel unloved when really they are surrounded by many people that love and care for them. We need to show one another love because no one deserves to feel unloved.
Finally, we must not dwell on the past or live in the dreams of the future. It is easy to get caught in the past because it is familiar, but it has already happened and there is nothing we can change about it now. We live in the future because it seems better than our present and it is where we want to be. Instead, we should be creating goals so we can reach them in the future. We can become that person that we are dreaming of by working for it in the present.

So, those are some things that I think will help allow you to live a fuller life.

Love,
Chrissy

http://youtu.be/IIjdKy9oQW0

How important are names?

I was scrolling through tumblr one day and saw a post about how there is one person that ruined a certain name for us, and because of that person, we can never name our children, or have a friend by that name, due to the fact that we think they are going to end up like that one person we met in our life. But our name shouldn't define us. We should define our name.

When we meet someone, the first thing we find out is their name, and already in our mind we are thinking about someone else who has that exact same name and automatically are comparing the two. We have this preconceived idea of what they should act like, when we should approach them as if we had never met someone with their name before. Our name shouldn't define who we are. WE should define who we are. 

Often there are even times when we look at someone after finding out their name and say "Oh, you dont look like a ____ you look like a _____." Why do we have to "look" like a certain name? Is it because we met someone else that they kinda sorta looked like so we think they should have the same name? That just seems weird to me. We shouldn't judge people by what their name is, we shouldn't judge people at all, but instead we should learn who they are by the way they treat others, and how they act when they are put in different situations. 

I feel that in this world, we all want to know what is going to happen before it happens, so right before we meet someone new, we find out their name so we can think of another person we know by that name, and in turn, create unrealistic expectations about that person. 

No one person should "ruin" a name for us. I truly believe that everyone in this world is good, just some choose to do bad things. Their name doesn't choose to do bad things they do. 

Names seem to be so important these days. They took three days to name the royal baby. People don't want their children to be doomed with a bad name from the time that they are born, their actions are going to determine what they do with their life, not their name. 

So the next time that you judge someone based off their name, pretend that you have never met anyone with that name before so that you can see the person for who they really are and not what their name is. When you are naming your children in the future or now, name them whatever you want, because later in life they will make their own name for themselves through their actions.
So create you! Do Not let your surroundings define or create you. You create you!

Love,
Chrissy

http://youtu.be/0PHzvB1vsnE

Change

Many people right now are graduating high school, moving, will be starting high school, or college, or a new job. This change that is happening to all these people is probably very scary. They don't know what the future brings as one door of their life closes and another one opens. Change can be very scary, and is, but usually, it is always a good thing. For example, graduating high school is great! Yes, you will miss your friends as you all leave to go to different colleges all over the country and maybe the world, but the great thing about graduating high school is you get to become more independent. You get to study what you actually want to study, and finally, at least for me, you get to enjoy what you are learning. You can leave behind all the mean girls, the gossip, and everything else that comes with high school and start over, make new friends, and find yourself. Some people say that high school is supposed to be the best years of you life, and who ever told you that must have been one of the popular kids, because high school was not the best years of my life. College, for me, is so much better than high school. I think that life only gets better after high school. You finally chose what you want to do with your life, there is no one telling you what to do. If you want to work straight out of high school, you can. If you want to go to college and then graduate school and get your PhD, you can do that. You can study whatever you want too! I wanted to work in the film industry, probably since I was about 8. I always loved movies, TV, theatre, acting, all of it, and so that is what I wanted to study, but nothing close to that was offered at my school, except photography, which I never actually took. There was so much more I wanted to learn outside of what my school offered, and now I can actually do that. So, the change that I made from high school to college was the best thing for me.
Change is something that we all seem to fear, but we should not be afraid of it, we should embrace it and run right at it to meet it because more often than not, it is going to lead to something good. Change is good, it is always good to have something new right around the corner waiting for you. If we continue to live in the past, we will not be able to move on to bigger and better things waiting for us in our future.
So, if some sort of change is happening in your life, embrace it, do not fear it because you do not know what is coming. It is hard to change, but if you have a positive outlook on it, it is going to be good and you will make the most of it. That is the most important thing in life. Make the most out of what you have, and do not be afraid to make a change. No happiness will come if we keep living in the past and do not accept the change that is happening all around us every day.
If the founding fathers had decided to not make a change in their lives, we would still be part of Great Britain  Change is good. If there was no change, our lives would be completely different and we would most likely not be where we are today.

Be You

     Between the actors on tv, the models in magazines, and trying to keep up with the latest fashion trends, we are constantly surrounded by the image of how we are 'supposed to look.' We are 'supposed to' be size zero and wear a size small, but we are never told how we are supposed to be on the inside. No one tells us that true beauty comes from within, or that how we treat others is more important than how we look. In the end, it isn't going to matter if we had the latest iPhone, or the latest clothing style, but how we treated people will matter. There is nothing wrong with wanting the lastest iPhone, or wearing the nicest clothes, but our focus should not solely be on that. I think that Ellen DeGeneres had the best reply to the CEO of Abercrombie and Fitch, she said, "Beauty isn't between a size zero and a size ten, its what's on the inside." There is nothing wrong with being a size zero, size 8, or size 16. What matters is how we see ourselves. If you put something on and you think you look good, then you go walk around with confidence, because if you are confident other people will see you as confident and they won't be focused on what size you are, but instead they will be focused on your attitude and how great you look in that outfit.
     We are all too critical of ourselves, myself included. We need to stop comparing ourselves to others, and start comparing ourselves to who we were yesterday. If you are a better person then you were yesterday that is fantastic! We should be focusing on being a better version of ourself everyday and not a better version of someone else. Gandhi says it best, "Be the change you wish to see in the world." No one is going to change the world for us, we have to change the world ourselves. There is the saying that goes "Good things will come to those who wait," well, I believe that good things will come to those who get up and chase after what they want. I guess my point is, that we are so focused on trying to conform to this image that we forget to focus on ourselves, and become a better version of ourself everyday.
     I frequent the gym because I am an athlete and I need to continue to stay in shape to play, but I love going to the gym and seeing people who are considered bigger. I see them and think "hmm, I wonder why they are here?" I wonder if it is because someone said something that made them self conscious, if their doctor told them that they need to eat better and exercise*, or if they decided that they wanted to get in shape for themselves. I always hope that it is the last one. I don't think that any of us need to change for anyone, but instead do it for ourselves. We are so focused on others and what they think, that we forget what we think about ourselves. If you want to drop some weight, eat healthy, gain weight, change your clothing style, or whatever it is that you want to change, do it for yourself, don't do it for anyone else! There are always people out there who are going to be critical of your life choices, but don't let them dictate your life! You are in charge of your life, so take charge of it and ignore the negative things that people will always say.
     Truly the most important things in life are our health, happiness, friends, family, and pets, not how we look, or how cool we are. If we treat others with respect, we will be treated with the same respect. It is like the saying that we were all told when we were younger "Treat others the way you want to be treated." That saying is more important than anything we will ever wear.

If no one has told you, you are beautiful and loved!
Love,
Chrissy :)
You can watch the video I made for this here: http://youtu.be/g75liSaLUJs
*You should listen to your doctor because they do know what is best for your health.