Just Be Yourself :)

 I can't believe that I'm finally just realizing this. Just be yourself. That's all that really matters. 

I'm going to try to put into words a major epiphany I had, it's gonna be hard. This might not make sense, so brace yourselves. 

Just. Be. Yourself. Three simple words that can shape your lives. 

At elevation last week (an amazing leadership camp I went to that I will post about later) we learned about walls. In our lives we put up walls, and wear masks to hide an insecurity or something. They asked us to share our the walls we put up and the masks we wear. I'm going to share that right now. When they asked it I really had no idea what mine where, but then it hit me; I change my personality and wear "masks" to hide who I really am because I'm afraid that people won't accept me for who I am or don't like me. Basically, I'm never really my true self. 

Elevation was really eye opening. You can't wear makeup, and your hair is always a mess. But, no one was judging you for that, no one cared. You could be yourself, and they accepted you for it. 

For so long I have put up walls, worn masks, and hidden who I am. Tried to be somebody else, because, I thought that I would be accepted if I was what the world called "normal."

As humans we look at other humans, particularly those who have more than us, those who are popular, socially accepted, or famous, etc and think, "they have an iPad and I don't.....they're skinny.....they've been to Hawaii......they have more Facebook friends than I......their hair always seems so perfect......" and it goes on and on and on. 

We strive to be socially accepted. We want to be "normal."

For most of my life I've wanted so badly to be "normal." I'm homeschooled, I'm a mormon and so many other things.  For so long I hated everything about that. I tried to hide it. Cover it up. Tried to be normal. I hid my true self because I just wanted to be "normal." I wanted to be accepted. I just wanted to be like everyone else. Me wasn't like everyone one else....it was....well me. 

WHAT WAS I THINKING?!?! Why try to fit in when I was born to stand out? 

Hi. My name is Wesleigh Elizabeth Smith. I have blue eyes, brown curly hair. I'm not a super model. I'm just me. I'm homschooled. But at least I wasn't stuck in a smelly school for 8 hours a day. I'm a mormon. Without it I don't know where I'd be. I don't live in a mansion. I have cows, and sometimes I have to milk them. I'm kinda weird. Or maybe I'm just me. I was born a daughter of God. I was born me. 

Me is not based on what is socially accepted or "normal." Me is based on who I am. 

There are like seven billion people in the world. Can you imagine.....how utterly boring it would be if we were all the same? Um yuck. 

I've spent my life hiding who I am. Trying to be someone else. Not anymore. 

I've spent it wanting to be like someone else. Not anymore. I want to be me. 

Guys. I don't know who is reading this. But if you get anything out of this. I just want to tell you this....

Just be yourself. Do you know how awesome you are? You were born to be YOU. You were born to stand out because everyone is unique. You are infinite. You were created by a heavenly being. You didn't evolve from apes. Wow. You have a life ahead of you. Don't waste it faking your way through life. Be an original. You is all you need to be. You don't need to be someone else. You don't need to be accepted. Who cares what people think. You're not weird. You're just you. Don't hide yourself from others, you're awesome, give them a chance to get to know how awesome you are. Just. Be. Yourself. 

^^this is my favorite book. Seriously^^

I Like Myself

by: Karen Beumount  

"I like myself. I'm glad I'm me.There's no one else I'd rather be. I like my eyes, my ears, my nose. I like my fingers and my toes.I like me wild. I like me tame. I like me different and the same. I like me fast. I like me slow. I like me everywhere I go. I like me on the inside, too, for all I think and say and do. Inside, outside, upside down, from head to toe and all around, I like it all! It all is me! And me is all I want to be. And I don't care in any ways what someone else may think or say. I may be called a silly nut or crazy cuckoo bird-so what? I'm having too much fun, you see, for anything to bother me!Even when I look a mess, I still don't like me any less, 'cause nothing in this world you know, can change what's deep inside, and so...No matter if they stop and stare...no person. ever. anywhere. can make me feel that what they see is all there really is to me. I'd still like me with fleas or warts, or with a silly snout that snorts, or knobby knees or hippo hips or purple polka-dotted lips, or beaver breath or stinky toes or horns protruding from my nose, or- yikes!-with spikes all down my spine, or hair that's like a porcupine. I still would be the same, you see. I like myself because I'm ME!"

That is my favorite book. I got it when I was like.....7-ish? I have it memorized. I would read it pretty much everyday......it's always by my bed and I read it a lot.

It has pretty much been my motto in life. *smile* My motto that I haven't stuck to.

At elevation we had solo time. You're all alone in nature for four hours. I came to realize that when away from all the worldly things, and such, you really connect with your center. The core of who you are. Aside from basing your wants and who you are off others and stuff, you come to realize what it is that you really want it life and who you really are. It's amazing.

I've made it a goal to get away from the stress of life, away from others, and all the hogwash and just connect with myself. Discover who I really am and what I really want. I encourage you to do the same. It's amazing what you'll learn about yourself.

After such a long time of denying who I am, I'm finally discovering myself. It's pretty great.(:

Always remember to be yourself! Love yourself. Love life. Make every second count. Be happy. *smile*

I love you all! Thanks for reading. :D

Life. Is. So. Dang. Good.

I haven't been so great at posting.....but um....here's my life as of late! :D

1. I'M OUT OF SCHOOOOL!!! I have very mixed feeling about this. I'm excited to have my life back. buuuuut....I'm not sure what my life exactly is......I'm going to find that out. Right now I'm just spending time cleaning, working, learning, and enjoying the outdoors. It's great :)

^^I LOVE sunshine. I just can't get enough of it. ^^

2. This is what finals looked like.............

^^studying my heart out in my nerdy glasses. Gosh I'm such a dork :P Water, that stuffs liquid gold ;)^^

^^^Gluten free chexs. Gotta love that stuff.^^^

^^Ice cream. I think I might have a problem. *cough* No I wasn't eating out of the carton.....alone ;)^^

^^late nights. (note: this isn't late) Just imagine that it actually says 12, 1:30, 3 or 4 (cuz that's reality people).....welcome to finals week! *cough* 

 Also, I would just like to let you know, that when you wake up at before 5 am to memorize study guides, you can answer study guide questions in your sleep. T-r-u-t-h. 

3. School is out....which means my Social Leadership class is over. Oh man. Dang it. I love that class so much. Monday was a hard day. This sounds so pathetic, but I just kept crying, pathetic. I just love it so much. It's been life changing. Love love love love love. Bring it baaaack. If you haven't taken it, take it. It's amazing. No words can describe how much I'm going to miss it and everyone in it.

^^click on this to go see my Social Leadership Project!^^

4. Decisions......dah. Gah. Blah. Why are they so hard? I'm one of those who would just rather avoid them altogether....yeah. Meh.

5. This Earth! asdfaskldjfsafkajsldfasfdjlaskjdflkasj I just cant' get enough of it!!!!! It's. SO. Be-A-utiful. Now that I'm out of school, I have so much time to spend outside sucking in this earth. And it's spring, which is great :D

^^hiking!!! Can't wait to hike lots and lots this summer *happiness*^^^

^^Lilacs!! They are coming out!! Um, they are like one of my favorites smells ever, and I love to suck their nectar....yeah. :P^^

^^I just can't get enough of them. Okay? Okay. XD^^

^^see that white stuff in the back? That's snow........yeah. I woke up this morning, looked out the window, and bam, my heart sunk. WHAT HAPPENED TO SPRING!!?!? But. Luckily it melted and was a beautiful, wickedly windy day.^^^^^

^^This is just beautiful. I was riding my bike past, and I just had to stop (: ^^^

Annnnnnd I'm stopping now. Gettin' just a wee bit carried away there :P 

6. This video totally makes my life. My mentors are awesome. Need I say more? :D 

7. This song. Oh man. My friend Sanneke introduced me to Balmorhea and I. Am. In. Love. This song got me through finals. It's great :D

8. PANDAS!!!!!!!!! <333333333333333333333333333333333333 

When finals got overwhelming I would google baby pandas and drool (exaggerating there) over their ADORABLE FLUFFINESS!!!!!!!! *dies* 

^^^*warm fuzzies* IT'S JUST SO FLUFFY I'M GONNA DIE!!!!!^^

9. Go check this out. Amazing huh? It just blows my mind! This earth. This universe. LIFE!! Dah. It's. SOOOOOO. AMAZING! :) 

10. SUUUUMMMMERRRR!!! (technically not yet. but. I'm out of school and so I consider it summer. anywho) And this my friends.......this is all I have to say. :)

^^My adventures await!!!! (: ^^

Hopefully I didn't bore ya......or make ya die of awesomeness! hah (: Anyways. 

Your adventures await too!! Get out there!! Smile! Embrace life! Be happy! Love life! Be you!!

And Life is SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO good!! I am just so blessed! Gah. It's amazing. <3

That is all :) I'm outta here to go sleep adventuring!!! 

From my Llama to you.

It's finals week. Blah. I can do it. So can you. You've got this! XD  

(technically it's a llamacorn, but yeah)

Because I'm crazy enough to know I can.

Today I was siting in seminary and wondering to myself if I will ever have an iPhone in my high school years......and then I was like......"I'm a sophomore, I've got time."

And then it hit me. OMGOSH I'M A SOPHOMORE! Where has the time gone?? I swear....just yesterday I was ten years old riding my bike as fast as I could all over the neighborhood......where?.....Where did that go???

(you can imagine me sitting at my desk in seminary staring at the floor while my head was freaking out....kinda like this StudioC video. Anyways)

And then it hit me again and I thought, "You know Wes, you tell yourself you're going to do all these things when you graduate from high school.....but......you say all the time now, I'll do it next week, tomorrow, later.....bleh blah blah, so....what says you're going to do them when you graduate?"

and then I just wanted to start crying at my desk.....in seminary because WHAT IF I NEVER MAKE MY DREAMS COME TRUE??!?!? That would be such a SAD SAD SAD thing.

But guess what.......If you have a dream, you've gotta go for it. NOW. Not later. Go for it NOW.

I've always been such a big dreamer. And I have....really....really big dreams. Which.....makes them kinda hard to achieve....but...life is hard right? And nothing is easy, and we learn from accomplishing hard things.....but.....it's still hard.....and I'm only 15.....and I can't drive....which make it even harder....

A quote.....
"Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to LIVE in the world that they've been given than to explore the power they have to change it. 
Impossible is NOT a fact. It's and opinion.
Impossible is NOT a declaration. It's a dare.
Impossible is potential. 
Impossible is temporary. 
Impossible is NOTHING."

^^^that is my favorite quote of all time. Truth.^^^

So, nothing is impossible. Sure it may be hard. But NOTHING is impossible.

Now is the time when I obnoxiously quote quotes......ehem.

"Don't settle: Don't finish crappy books. If you don't like the menu, leave the restaurant. If you're not on the right path, get off it." - Chris Brogan  "The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be." -Ralph Waldo Emerson "Believe you can and you're halfway there." -Theodore Roosevelt "Decide that you want it more than you are afraid of it." "Those who move forward with a happy spirit will find that things always work out." -Gordon B. Hinckley "If it's meant to be, it will be" "Do it today or regret it tomorrow." "Every pro was once an amateur. Every expert was once a beginner.  So DREAM BIG. And start NOW." "Life begins at the END of your comfort zone." "It's kind of fun to do the impossible." -Walt Disney "Dream as if you will live forever, live as if you will die today." -James Dean "You must do the thing that you think you cannot do." -Eleanor Roosevelt "The difference between who you are and who you want to be is what you do." "All your dreams can come true if you have the courage to pursue them." -Walt Disney 

I am stopping now before I blow up this blog up with so much awesomeness. (too bad cuz I have SO many more quotes.)

Anywho. Now you should watch this.

Life is SO beautiful and precious. We don't realize just how amazing and beautiful it really is. It's right before our eyes. It's ours to make and bend and shape into the life we truly want. It's right there. Get off the computer, get your head out of the book, buck up, just do it, make it happen. Your life might just be wasting away. You might simply just be living. Change that. Don't simply just live. Be somebody. Live a meaningful life. Do something. DREAM BIG. Start NOW. You'll never know what you are capable and what you could make of this life unless you start somewhere, and that somewhere is now.

You are capable of so much. You don't even know, you never will know just how much you are capable of. So you must take risks. You must let your heart lead you. Don't be afraid. You'll never know unless you try.

Just love. Love your dreams. Love yourself. Love life. Be happy. Smile. Be grateful.

Don't be normal. Don't get lost in the crowds of confusion; of people just trying to fit in, just trying to be "normal". No. Don't do that.

Do you know how awesome you are? God created you. You are ONE in 7 billion. You are YOU. Be unique. Be yourself. Stand out. Don't fit in. Unleash your true potential. You are something amazing. God created you, that in itself is a lot. You are a child of God and that is infinite.

Live life as if you were to die today. It's a scary thought...but you could die today. I've had the realization many times. I don't want to die and go to heaven and have God ask me, "So, what did you do?" and be like..."Well..um....I...um" Talk about embarrassing  Yeah. You never know what is in the future. What will happen. No one can predict that, only God.

He has planned this amazing life for you. It's yours for the taking. Become who God created you to be.

Make EVERY DAY  count. Don't forget to live.

 I'm going to make every day count by doing something meaningful every day. I'm going to be happy. I'm going to smile lots. I'm going to take more risks. I'm going to try new things. I'm going to love life even more. I'm going to end my life knowing that I did something, no matter how big or small. I've banned the "tomorrow, later, not now." from my vocabulary. I'm going to make my dreams come true, because I'm crazy enough to think know I can. Who's with me? :)

Life is a flippin' awesome scary roller coaster.

please feel free to skip all the complaining, rambling, boring stuff and just read the boded stuff at the end.
I dislike doctors. Yet I want to be one. Weird right?

I had to go to the eye doctor.....they told me I needed glasses for doing school...

um.....so I got big nerdy ones cuz they are cool. 

But imagine this....it's like walking around in a horror movie, like being drugged....why does everything swim? It's like constantly having a migraine. I don't think I like them. Ew. 

I was coming home from cleaning my families vacation house with my sister.

The weather was not nice. Dang it. I really wanted to go hiking. 

I was driving through my favorite canyon in the whole wide world. 

I want to go hiking. Why can't it stop raining...and being cold....and snowing. Gah. I want to go hiking. 

The roads are okay. It's raining. It's not raining. The weather is so weird sometimes. Welcome to my dwelling place. 

We turn a corner going down a steep, windy road and BAM. It's snowing. It's kinda hard to see. The road is slick. We fish tail from side to side. 

On one side of the road there is a hill coming down with snow banks and big pine trees. On the other side? Well it drops off. Not like a cliff. But it drops off. There is a guard rail. But it doesn't go ALL the way down the road. Uh...Yikes?

We are fish tailing. A truck is coming towards us.  

My sister is saying "Omgosh, omgosh, omgosh, omgosh...." 

I just sitting there....praying in my head...a million thoughts running through my mind in a few seconds. "Whoa. WOW. Oh man. Don't let me die. I don't want to die. I haven't lived yet. I'm so young. NO. You're fine. You're not going to die. Whoa, I could die? No no no. This is happening. STOP IT. You're fine. Yicks."

We spin. BAM. We hit the guard rail. The truck pulls over. It's a truck full of guys. Thank goodness. What would we do without guys?

I laugh. What? I laugh? Yeah. More like a "What just happened?" 

My sister was like, "omgosh" I say. "It's okay. Deep breaths. We're fine."

I roll down my window, they guys in the truck roll down their window and ask if we need help. 

I'm helpless. I know. I'm such an idiot sometimes. I don't even know what street I live on. Pathetic.

But I'm calm. I wave them over. My sister gets out. 

They go to the top of the road and caution cars. How awesome are they?

They tell my sister it's just road rash, and the front light got cracked. See? I knew we'd be okay. 

I'm sitting there saying a prayer. Thanking my Heavenly Father that I'm okay. That we're okay. He's so good to us. Seriously. 

My sister gets back in the car. They help us turn around and get going. I say another prayer. And we carefully drive home. 

Scary thought. Not to far from where we hit the guard rail there was no guard rail. We almost died. Man. He is always looking out for us. 

We start driving home. Seeing the places that we could have gone off and saying, "We are so lucky" We really are. 

One thing you must know. I am insane. I laugh in the face of danger. 

We are driving home and I'm sitting there laughing my guts out. We almost died. I'm laughing so hard. "Hahaha and we spinned! and hit it. It was so crazy! Oh man. I'm pretty sure I'm on adrenalin high. That was so awesome. hahahaha. We almost died. Hahaha!" Wow. What a dork I am. 

I remained calm the whole time. But I won't lie. The thought of getting hit by a car or rolling...or rolling off the edge...the feeling of getting crushed.....*shudders*.....Oh man. He really is always watching over us. I love him. 

Okay so we get home. We're safe. I'm fine. My sister is fine. We almost died, but we're okay. 

Later that night....I went out with some friends of my sisters who didn't get asked to prom and did random things. Like seriously. REALLY REALLY random. It was fun. (minus the headache and throbbing jaw. But remember, I just got new glasses and they have been weird) So I get home late. I'm in pain. Story of my life. 

I slept awful. Why? Because I kept waking up. My head and jaw throbbing. It was like putting on foggy, glasses that make everything huge and blurry and shaky. Then taking them off. Then putting them on again. Ow. Ow. Ow. 

I have high pain tolerance. It didn't hurt. But....it did. 

They next day.....I didn't go to church. I wanted to. But I didn't. My jaw and mouth hurt SO bad. My head was throbbing. Ow. 

There was so much pressure in my head. It was like squeezing every tear out of me. My head was going to fall off of my neck. It was throbbing. Owwww. 

Eventually my mum took me to the Emergency Room just to make sure everything was okay. They put me in this totally awesome neck brace. I mean. Everyone should get one. They are totally going to be the "in" thing in a while. Trust me. 

What do I have? Whiplash. C'mon. Whiplash? *rolls eyes* Dumb. Dumb. Dumb. Apparently when that happens to your neck it causes severe headaches and such. Okay. 

Finals. Need I say more? We have about two weeks left in school........

I just want to quit. I find myself sitting at my desk and every few minutes I just burst out crying....head in my hands.....

Maybe it's the whiplash. It causes headaches and my head hurts like heck. Gah. I can't think. I'm so confused. I read something.....I read it again.....wait.....what did I just read? Then *facepalm* here it goes again.......I don't want to do this. It's like this big weight in my chest.....

I'm so overwhelmed.

Why can't I quit? I want to. I want it to be over.

I don't feel good. I'm so overwhelmed. I am behind in school. *sigh*

Summer will come. It will all be okay.

Life is a roller coaster. 
Sometimes you are soaring high into the sky. It's great! You feel the rush and the thrill of life, you are happy. Everything is going great! Your troubles are behind you. No. Everything is not perfect. It never is. But it's okay. Life is good. You are soaring high. You are embracing it.
^^^these would be the highs of life. 
and sometimes....you are plunging to the ground. What just happened? I swear two seconds ago you were soaring high....but....but now....you're plunging to the ground. It's a rush....it's.. overwhelming? But it's great right? Maybe a little scary? But even though you are plunging to the ground it's great right? Because you know that in a second it will get better and you will be soaring to the sky. 

So if that made remotely any sense....then great. But to sum it up. Life isn't perfect. There are ups and downs. Highs and lows. But no matter what, it will bet better, I promise.

So life is hard right now. But guess what? I love it.

Sorry for rambling and making no sense. My thought don't go well together.....my head hurts *shrugs* oh well.

Be happy. Smile. Be you! Be awesome! Embrace life. Love it. 

Born to Run.

I was born to run. Not lying. Call me crazy but I feel that running is my....destiny....something I was made to do.

When I was 8-12 ish I LOVED to run. Scratch that. I've ALWAYS loved to run. Like......my brother gave me the nickname Thunder Child because I would run everywhere (and I still do). Ask my family, they will tell you, I love to run and I run everywhere. 

Gah. Sometimes I just have these huge urges to just run. To be free. To feel the wind on my face. I just love to run okay? Okay. 

But I digress. Anways. When I was 8-10-ish I was told my countless people that I would one day be an Olympic runner. I was fast. I regret that I didn't take advantage of that when I was younger. Oh well. 

Lately I've taken up running more. It makes me so happy. 

Today I was out for a run. I blared my music and ran my heart out. I was smiling from ear to ear (which I'm sure I looked like a dork), and gazing at the mountains surrounding me. 

(Excuse me while I ramble off topic) So I've had this dream to climb Mt. Everest for as long as I can remember. From the moment I discovered it I have said "I'm going to climb Everest." People have called me crazy. Said that that will never happen and other ridiculous stuff. Anywho.

I've started running more because I love it, but also because I want to climb Everest. I have this huge desire to climb it and I'm not going to let that go. 

So today as I was running and when I felt like I wanted to quit. I didn't let myself. I looked up at the mountains and imagined that they were Everest. (silly. I know) I told myself. Keep going. You're going to climb that mountain. I put a smile on my face. Thought to myself. "Man. I love this." Smiled some more and ran my heart out. 

I was born to run. It's a part of me. I love it. :) :) :) :) 

Anyways. I've rambled and made no sense. But oh well. I love life. I love it so much. And that.....That's all. XD 

Oh and....there is this book, Born to Run that I am dying to eat up. And hey. You can read it too! Go check it out yeah? Okay :D 

Great Love.

Guys. I love my church. I love my family. I love my friends. I love the Earth. I love the universe. I love people. I love smiles. I love the ocean. I love the rain and the smell that comes after the rain. I love stories. I love dreaming. I love the green grass peeking out of the ground. I love flowers. I love the whole wide world. I love life! I could go on and on and on etc. etc. about the all the many things I love.

I am so overcome with the astounding great love I have for life.

I can't even begin to describe. No words can describe it. I love it so much that it brings tears to my eyes.

This universe. Oh man. Every time I get thinking about it I am just so amazed. I can't even begin to comprehend it. This Earth! It's beauty never ceases to amaze me. Gah.

My church. I'm a Mormon. I know it's true with all my heart. I am striving to live it. and I LOVE it SO very much.

I am so blessed. I have the best family. I know I don't give them half the credit they deserve for being so awesome. That's going to change. I have the best friends in the world! Not even kidding. I'm so lucky to know them. I have such an amazing opportunity for and education. I know I don't appreciate like I should. Guess what? That's going to change too. I live in such an amazing universe. I don't spend half the time I should breathing it in. That's going to change. I am not dying. I am not starving. I am not abused. I am not under the burden of a communist country. My life is so amazing.

I wonder why I or anyone else complains about life. Sure something may be wrong. Life is hard. But for every bad thing, there are ten bagillion trillion good things to go along with it.

Gratitude. I think I need a heavy dose of it.

I want to be the best that I can be. I wan't to become who God created me to be.

I have such a great love for life. When you have such a great love, you want to strive to achieve it's full potential, to be the best you can be, to live a meaningful life. Love is so powerful.

I'm not talking about mushy moshy, bleh kinda love. I'm talking about the Universal language of love. The love that can change the world, that can turn a life around........Guys.....I can't even begin to explain it. It's so amazing. It really is.

I love life.