optimism – Jenn Delle Fave

There are so many times in life where it’s almost as if the devil himself is trying to stop me. There are many times throughout the day where I feel like maybe I should just give up something.

Life is hard.

You just do it.

You don’t whine.

You don’t complain.

You focus on the little things. Be grateful. Stop trying to be perfect. Smile. Surround yourself with people like you and people you want to be like. Get a mentor. Stop trying to please everyone. Just live your own life!

There are moments when I tear up or flat out cry, but I always pick myself up and keep going. I have so many goals, dreams and aspirations for myself and my beautiful family.

Letting go of expectations, judgements and ‘should be’ ideas, is the only way to live peacefully. I could literally write an entire book on how I thought my life would be right now, but guess what? I was dealt a totally different hand of playing cards. I don’t know all of the reasonings why, maybe I will never know, but I do realize that this is what I have to work with and it’s my choice to be happy or not.

I jokingly had my friend Rachel make this shirt, but oh how true it is!!

Life with littles, dogs, businesses etc is nothing short of chaos!

The best advice for you, if you too are in the trenches, is to not put yourself last every day. Maybe you can’t do you every day, but if you put yourself first a few times a week? I promise your mind will stop playing tricks on you and you’ll feel better, look better, and life won’t seem so hard.

This is my post Zumba glow—err sweat.

Stop and take the silly photos to remember your season; photos do NOT have to be perfect. Life is not staged. There is no re-do. There is no dress rehearsal. You are given today, and hopefully tomorrow.

Make games out of simple mundane tasks, like homework.

And for goodness sakes, if you’re in a funk? Lay off the Netflix and Chill and feed your mind, soul and heart with some inspiration. Maybe everyone out there won’t seem so awful, scary, money hungry, etc. if you worked harder on yourself rather than watching everyone live out her dreams.

This could not be more true–

And if you’re ready to quit, whether it’s the gym routine, the eating well, the hard work you’re putting into your marriage, the effort in raising your babies right, the side hustle, the career…just keep going. Just when you’re ready to throw in the towel, you literally could be SO stinking close to striking gold!

Don’t lose sight of the big picture sweet sister; you may not be able to control anyone else, but you can always control your own mind. Remember that what you think about, you bring about. As soon as your head starts going down that negative path, tell yourself (aloud too!) “I won’t go there.” It really is that simple. You will need do it over and over again, but you too can be happy.

When all is crumbling or you feel like you’re failing? Just laugh. What is there, if you can’t laugh?

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English has always been my favorite subject. There is just something so powerful about words; the way we can craft sentences together, phrases that have huge meaning and different ways to express how we feel inside. The mind is a tricky place; it can be a happy and positive space to be or it can quickly send us down a negative spiral.

If it’s one thing I have truly learned, reflected upon and leaned in towards in this last year, it is our thoughts. They really do make all the difference in our world. Think about it: you are alone with yourself 24 hours a day, 7 days a week 365 days a year. No one else in our minds, just us. Kind of trippy, am I right?

I know all too well how quickly we can go down the rabbit hole of self-doubt, comparison, feeling less than, and most often making up stories that we tell ourselves on a daily basis.

So what do I personally do to combat that? You know, when suddenly you feel the ‘shift’ inside you, or rather I refer to it as “out of alignment,” thanks to Gabby Bernstein. I surround myself with positivity. I love love love quotes; I would hang them all over my house if they were more aesthetically pleasing. So more often than not, I screen shot, save them on my camera roll and whenever I scroll through my photos, I’ll see some of my favorites staring back at me.

I figured I would share some of them here, so I have them tucked away in a safe spot, so if per chance I need a pick-me-up, I’ll know where to look.

I’ve collected them from random instagram accounts, google, my Stella & Dot team, some of our Stella & Dot Merchandise and people whom I admire, and some are real life photos I have taken that stopped me in my tracks.

I believe the Universe does have our back and that signs and inspiration are all around us. Maybe somehow you’ve landed here today and this may just be what you need.

Do you have a favorite quote or place you go to when you’re feeling out of alignment or down? I’d love to hear from you!