Monday, March 19, 2012

Where I Stood

This is me wayyyy back when... 2008! Little C.
I was reading a journal from then and came across this paragraph I wrote and was in awe over the profoundness of it, the truth and how my little teenager self was wise beyond comprehension (for the most part). I look back on some of my writing from then and shake my head and want to destroy it cause some of it is just silly and downright terrible... but I guess that's part of growing up. You keep pushing forward, continually learning and practice and dedication and experience are what mold us into the person we're meant to be. 
I love this quote that I wrote then so here it is...
"No, we can't change the world by ourselves, or everyone in it, or anyone for that matter, but I KNOW we can and must change ourselves individually. Imagine how extraordinary this world has the potential to be if we all look deep inside of ourselves and peer into our hearts and souls and discover all the good inside and how we could spread it to others and become amazing. Only you can control your life and the path you travel no matter your circumstances or how things are around you. You can take destiny and fate and make it what you want of it. I'm not perfect at all but each and everyday I try to be a better person, the best me, and live a great life and do amazing things, not just for me but for the ones in the hopes that maybe in the process of accomplish my own goals and achieving dreams that seemed unrealistic, I can inspire others to do the same."
We can't do everything but we can do something and sometimes it turns out to be more than anything we could've imagined. We have to do what we can. If everyone, or even a large majority, in the world did this, dreamed, cared, and gave their all, how much more beautiful life would be... Make your life spectacularly beautiful and share that beauty with others. 

Sunday, March 18, 2012

Worth The Wait













"Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known."
-Carl Sagan

"For love would be love of the wrong thing; there is yet faith. But the faith and the love and the hope are all in the waiting."
-T.S. Elliot

"Life was always a matter of waiting for the right moment to act."
-Paulo Coelho

"Patience is waiting. Not passively waiting. That is laziness. But to keep going when the going is hard and slow--that is patience."

"The secret to patience is doing something else meaningful in the worthwhile."

"Patience is the art of hoping."

"One minute of patience, ten years of peace."
-Proverb

"You have to keep moving forward, holding on, and never give up because the best is yet to come."

"What a wonderful thought it is that some of the best days of our lives haven't happened yet."

The average person waits between 45 to 62 minutes a day on something.
It's been estimated that the average person spends 5 years of their life in waiting.
We are all waiting on something... big or small... waiting for love, for change, in lines, for movies, on trains, in planes, for forgiveness, for opportunities, for goals and dreams and wishes, for the world to change.
I've come to the conclusion that sometimes there are phases of our lives that feel like a waiting room. There is nothing anyone can do about it. Most of the time change happens slowly, one day at a time, moment by moment. You have to be patient and take small steps in the right direction. That's what life is: small, long, hard, challenging, tiring, steps that you take every single day so when you look back you see how far you've truly come. It adds up, the distance you've covered. You have to smile and press forward enjoying the journey with the realization that the wait will be worth it.
Waiting doesn't mean you're just standing still watching your life pass by... waiting means to keep going and never let go or falter even when it seems impossible. Even if it feels like you are waiting for something (or someone) that will never happen (or never come). What you are waiting for could be just a little further down the path and you can't see it from when you currently stand. You want to give up, but the thing is you can't stop because it's there and waiting for you. Once you reach it, you'll discover it was worth the wait, that you'd repeat the tedious, seemingly unending, wait and trip it took to get there countless times because it's so worth it, it's everything.
Waiting means something's coming.
You're waiting for something or someone.
The longer you wait, the more you anticipate, the better and sweeter it will be when you find it.
Anything worth having is worth waiting for.
What are you waiting for?



Saturday, March 17, 2012

Hope for the Hopeless

Lovelies, 
I started this blog with a heavy emphasis on the power of words, of quotes, to explain our feelings and say the words that express the feelings we often are too overwhelmed by emotion to find. The inspiration that comes from reading a particular quote that matches exactly what you are going through and says what you cannot, is an experience unlike any other. It's comforting to know you are not alone. We all have stories, problems, and dreams and everyone of you is important. There is hope out there, miracles occur in the face of impossibility and improbability, and when your time is right, once upon a time, we find magic in the form of love that defies everything.
That being said, I think it's quote time :)
<3 C

"Peace of mind is something I'll never find. It's something I'll never know until I find you. I'm out of time, blame it on the doubts of mine. Blame it on the thoughts I refuse to face. A love lost wasn't love. Quit blaming yourself. I get lost in the words we choose to say. We get lost inside of ourselves but found in someone else."
-Jacob Gann

"A deep understanding runs through us even in the midst of misunderstanding."
-Cassia Reyes, Matched

"Is falling in love with someone's story the same as falling in love with the person himself?"
-Cassia, Matched

"Let me believe in this, all of this, and you believe in it, too."
-Ky Markham, Matched

"Now I live in his story. Now I am a part of his, and he of mine, and the part we write together sometimes feels like the only part that matters."
-Cassia, Matched

"I believe in you. That's more faith that I ever thought I'd have."
-Ky, Matched

"The chance to glimpse what was lost distracted me from what must be found."
-Cassia, Matched

"You don't play with other people's lives."
-Ky, Matched

"Sometimes it feels like everything I've done has been to help you be ready for someone else."
-Xander Carrow, Matched

"Because in the end you can't always choose what to keep. You can only choose how you let it go."
-Ky Markham, Crossed

"Do you know what it's like for someone to choose to leave you?"
-Xander Carrow, Crossed

"Much as I love looking at the stars, I never learned to guide by them. I mark my course by people."
-Cassia Reyes, Crossed

"I climb into the dark for you
Are you waiting in the stars for me?"
-Cassia, Crossed

"Her beauty always makes me ache."
-Ky, Crossed

"I think of how many invisible injuries are possible. Ones scored on your heart, your brain, your bones. How do we all stand? I wonder. What is it that keeps us moving?"
-Cassia, Crossed

"I know what it's like to miss someone. I know what it's like to miss the past, to wish you could go back in time. But you need to realize that you can't. You can't miss it anymore, because you can't go back. You need to stop building the memories up in your head, and see them for what the really were. A few great days surrounded by a lot of terrible ones. And you need to realize that you deserve someone who makes everyday great."

"I could build a dream that we won't ever wanna wake up from."
-Kris Allen

"The light of love flows out of our soul, but often it's blocked by our fear to show it."
-Paulo Coehlo

"I find myself thinking more about the people I've never met, rather than the people I see on a daily basis."
"Life is impossible. And miraculous."
-Caterina Scorsone

"We create our own destiny."
-Alex Karev

"Your life is a gift, accept it, no matter how screwed up or painful it seems to be. Somethings are going to work out as if they were destined to happen. As if they were just meant to be."
-Meredith Grey Webber

"Understand that the past cannot and will not take you down. If it didn't then, it certainly can't now."
-Maggie Lyon

"I vow to always hold you with tenderness and to have the patience that love demands."
-The Vow

"You can't give up on the things you love. Not ever."
-Charlotte King

"Astronomers have attempted to count the number of stars in the universe. One group of scientists estimates that the number of stars within range of our telescopes is 10 times greater than all the grains of sand on the world's beaches and deserts. That is a paradox of man:compared to God, man is nothing:yet we are everything to God.
God knows that some of the greatest souls who have ever lived are those who will never appear in the chronicles of history. They are the blessed, humble souls who emulate the Savior's example and spend the days of their lives doing good."
-Dieter F. Uchtdorf

"In the family relationship love is really spelled t-i-m-e."
-Dieter F. Uchtdorf

"My strength as the strength of ten, because my heart is pure."
-Alfred Lord Tennyson

"It's the possibility that keeps me going, not the guarantee, and though you may call me a dreamer or fool or any other thing, I believe that anything is possible."
Noah Calhoun, The Notebook

"Miracles, no matter how inexplicable or unbelievable, are real and can occur without regard to the natural order of things."
-Noah, The Notebook

"It had changed him forever. Perfect love did that to a person."
-Nicholas Sparks, The Notebook

"A 'living poem' had always been the words that came to mind when he tried to describe her to others."

"Poetry wasn't written to be analyzed; it was meant to inspire without reason, to touch without understanding."
-Allie, The Notebook

"Everyday we are together is the greatest day of my life. I will always be yours."
-Noah, The Notebook

"Everything good happens after 2am."
-Brie

"Forever is composed of nows."

"I had to know he existed, that was all. Everything else I could endure. So long as he existed."

"What a wonderful thought it is that some of the best days of our lives haven't happened yet."

"I had never done anything that took my own breath away, and I suppose now that was part of the problem--my chronic inability to astonish myself. I promise you, no one judges me more harshly than I do myself."

"Promises are like the full moon. If they are not kept at once, they diminish day by day."
-German proverb

"Time passes quickly. We cannot call back time that is past, we cannot stop time that now is, and we cannot experience the future in our present state. Time is a gift, a treasure not to be put aside for the future but to be used wisely in the present."
-Thomas S. Monson

"We are unaware of hosts of blessings that we receive from day to day."
-Quentin L. Cook

"There is no chance, no fate, no destiny that can circumvent or hinder of control the firm resolve of a determined soul."
-Marion D. Hanks

"Thee lift me and I'll lift thee, and we will ascend together."
-Proverb

"We can't predict all the struggles and storms in life, not even the ones just around the next corner, but as persons of faith and hope, we know beyond the shadow of any doubt that the gospel of Jesus Christ is true and the best is yet to come."
-L. Tom Perry

"I am only a blurry, in-between face, easy to forget. Not pretty. Not ugly, either. Just plain, like a thousand other faces you would see on the street."
-Lena, Delirium

"You have to go forward no matter what happens."
-Lena, Delirium

"Love: It will kill you and save you, both."
-Lena, Delirium

"I vowed after that day that I would be your hero too, no matter how long it took."
-Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver

"So many things become beautiful when you really look."
-Sam, Before I Fall

"Everyone can be fixed."
-Sam, Before I Fall

"I marvel at how even the wrong choices can keep us on the right path. How the worst mistake can wind up being the best thing that ever happened to us. Even if you chose a fairly rocky journey, everything seemed to come full circle to bring you back to this one, perfect moment: exactly where you're meant to be."
-Jaden, Cross My Heart

"When you love someone you love them. And every day you sit back pretending that you don't is one less day you have with them."
-Phillip, Cross My Heart

"Shouldn't you be with your friends, staring at yourselves in the mirror?"
-Veronica "Ronnie" Miller, The Last Song

"Happy families are all alike, every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way."
-Anna Karenina

"This is who I am, and this is what I enjoy, and of all the people I know right now, I want to enjoy this experience with you."
-Will Blakelee, The Last Song

"There are guys who grow up thinking they'll settle down some distant time in the future, and there are guys who are ready for marriage as soon as they meet the right person: The former bore me, mainly because they're pathetic; and the latter, quite frankly, are hard to find. But it's the serious ones I'm interested in, and it takes time to find a guy like that whom I'm equally interested in. I mean, if the relationship can't survive the long term, why on earth would it be worth my time and energy for the short term?"
-Megan Blakelee, The Last Song

"IMTF=In My Thoughts Forever."
-Will, The Last Song

"In the end, you should always do the right thing even if it's hard."
-Ronnie, The Last Song

"It was incredible to think that after weeks of absolutely nothing happening, everything she'd been waiting for would be over in a matter of minutes."
-Ronnie

"It's not like it changes anything, but everything has changed."
-Ronnie

"In hindsight, the pieces all fit together. Yet everything was falling apart."
-Ronnie

"Nothing is more fulfilling than love itself."
-Steve Miller, The Last Song

"I have faith that God will show you the answer. But you have to understand that sometimes it takes a while to be able to recognize what God wants you to do. That's how it often is. God's voice is usually nothing more than a whisper, and you have to listen very carefully to hear it. But other times, in those rarest of moments, the answer is obvious and rings as loud as a church bell. God always answers."
-Pastor Harris, The Last Song

"Never take anyone for granted."

"In the state of grace you trust in yourself and destiny. You can celebrate other people's blessings, knowing that their gifts are right and appropriate for them and that fate has your gift right around the corner."

"Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time."
-Thomas Edison

"Grief is like sinking, like being buried. I am in water the tawny color of kicked-up dirt. Every breath is full of choking. There is nothing to hold onto, no sides, no way to claw myself up. There is nothing to do but let go. Let go. Feel the weight all around you, feel the squeezing of your lungs, the slow, low pressure. Let yourself go deeper. There is nothing but bottom. There is nothing but the taste of metal, and the echoes of old things, and days that look like darkness."
-Lena, Pandemonium

"You can build a future out of anything. A scrap, a flicker. The desire to go forward, slowly, one foot at a time."
-Lena, Pandemonium

"There is so much fragility in kissing, in other people. It is all glass."
-Lena

"There are some things, I guess, that come naturally, even if you've never done them before."
-Lena

"Distance does not ruin people's relationships. You don't have to see someone everyday to be in love."
-Paige-Madison

"Our prime purpose in this life is to help others. And if you can't help them, at least don't hurt them."
-The Dalai Lama

"A child has no trouble believing the unbelievable, nor does the genius or the madman. It's only you and I, with our big brains and our tiny hearts, who doubt and over think and hesitate."

"Your biggest challenge isn't someone else. It's the voice inside you that yells, 'I can't!' But you do not listen. You must push forward. Then you hear that voice fade away and start to whisper, 'I can.' That is the moment you discover that the person you thought you were is no match for the one you really are."

"What happened to old fashion love? When the guys chased the girls. When guys would run to open the car door for you. When you could talk to each other in the middle of the grass. When you could spontaneously start dancing in the middle of the street. When saying I love you meant I love you. What happened?"
-Brett Williams

"In some cultures, when they mend broken objects they aggrandize the damage by filling the cracks with gold. They believe that when something's suffered damage and has a history, it becomes more beautiful."
"I know life isn't life if you just float through it. I know that the whole point is to find the things that matter, and hold onto them, and fight for them, and refuse to let them go."
-Lena, Delirium

"Hate is the ugliest form of human behavior. Learn to love."

"You think you know someone and then something happens that changes things and forces you to come to the realization that you don't know them at all. Trust is such a rare thing but it means everything."
-Charley Brooke

"Look at the stars. Look how they shine for you."
-Coldplay

"Not knowing is a thousand times more horrible than facing your fear."
Lone Wolf, Jodi Picoult

"Mistakes are like the memories you hide in an attic: old love letters from relationships that tanked, photos of dead relatives, toys from a childhood you miss. Out of sight is out of mind, but somewhere deep inside you know they still exist. And you also know you're avoiding them."
-Lone Wolf, Jodi Picoult

"Turn around, and the people you thought you knew might chance. That is the reason that dancers learn, early on, how to spot while doing pirouettes:we all want to be able to find the place where we started."
-Lone Wolf

"Doubt is like dye. Once it spreads into the fabric of excuses you've woven, you'll never get rid of the stain."
-Lone Wolf

"Because when you get down to it, the only person you can trust is the one you'd lay down your own life for."
-Lone Wolf

"The scariest thing in the world is thinking that someone you love is going to die."
-Lone Wolf

"Like a missing tooth, sometimes an absence is more noticeable than a presence."
-Jodi Picoult

"Can you really be mad at someone for doing something stupid if they truly, one hundred percent, thought they were doing what was right?"
-Jodi Picoult



Friday, March 16, 2012

Un-Valentines Day (makes me feel like Alice in Wonderland)

     Lovelies,
     Since I made that Valentinespiration post with all the cutesy/fun ideas, I want to hear about how your day of love (or lack thereof) went! 
     This is what happened on mine...
     Tuesday February 14, 2012-Valentines Day
     Okay it felt more like Un-Valentines Day. 
Valentines Day always makes me feel like Alice in Wonderland.
I so desperately want to fit in and be found and feel like it's where I'm meant to be, but somehow it's where I'll never belong.
Everything is wrong and upside down and backwards. I am too big or too small. I don't fit. 
I just have to stick to the motto of my Dove chocolate wrapper--BYOV-Be Your Own Valentine. 
I wish Jack Dawson could be my Valentine... A girl can dream and wish and hope, especially today. 
Anna (one of my roommates) left me a box of candy hearts at my door which was nice! My lovely mom was a sweetheart and got me a Valentines present, chocolate, a card, and a necklace and matching earrings that look like the Titanic heart but are red. I love her. She never fails to make this day special for me. She bought us heart shaped pizza for dinner too!
She had to work and my stepdad was in Montana. He sent her this HUGE amazing bouquet of flowers and a bigger basket full of gifts that were supposed to be delivered to her house before she went to work. Well they ended up coming late. So Chrish (the little brother) and I played Cupids and drove to the hospital where she works along with her flowers and presents.
We got to the lobby of the floor she worked which was deserted. There were these "future doctor" or "future nurse" hats for little kids to wear when they came by for tours and some masks nearby, so...
 
Christian and I put some on and were being sillies haha...
We made my mom laugh when she finally came out and got her flowers and gifts delivered by future Dr. Charley and future Dr. Christian=night made for her :)
I went to the Singles/Anti-Valentines Day (because it sounds better than SAD-Singles Awareness Day) party at my apartment that the girls put on. Anna, Colette, and Erin invited a bunch of their friends over and we all sat in our living room and watched The Godfather. That's right... love mafia style. It was awesome. Now that's what I call Un-Valentines Day!
 
XOXO,
C

Saturday, March 10, 2012

Stayin Alive

Lovelies... I'm hooooomeeee!
I have missed you all more than you can comprehend!
Me + Computers= ?
Aka My internet connection had a problem and no matter how hard I tried I couldn't fix it.
So my amazing friend Tyson (Brie's husband) came tonight and saved the day (fixed the problem)!
I am back (obviously).
The sad truth is that it took him like two minutes to make it right.
The point is that it's fixed and all is well.
This year lets be inspired and inspire others.
We have so much catching up to do and I, for one, can't wait!
For now, I have to celebrate the return of my blogging/internet with Brie & Ty... watching Mean Girls, journaling, and just having an overall blast!
With love,
Charley Brooke