The Beginning

March 8th, 2017

This morning I woke up with the most pleasant mindset for absolutely no reason at all. I'm having a stressful week full of tests and I am mentally exhausted but something in me is telling me to keep my head up and keep pushing.

March 16th, 2017

 Later on in the day I was reached out to by a graduate student that is conducting an AMAZING research project and he invited me on to work with him. This opportunity surfaced because one of his colleagues said they watched me work so hard for every single thing I set my mind to and they felt like I would be a great fit for the lab.

 I am so blessed to be given this opportunity. As much hard work that I have put in this past year I didn't ever think to realize where it could get me. I am seeing the benefits that hard work gets you recognized and I am filled with such happiness.

I created this path for myself and I created my own network, seeing the progress I have made fills me with such pride. As I have said before I gave up my previous social life and entire lifestyle to put more energy into bettering myself and for anyone that's such a hard step to take. I've literally fought my way through these past few years with my head down running straight toward the most challenging obstacles I have faced. To finally take a peak and see how far I have come fills me with a fire to keep going. A lot of people I associate with don't fully understand what I'm doing, why I don't go out , why I'm always studying. But at the end of the day this is what I love doing. De-stressing for me is writing down my thoughts right on this blog. I can't thank the people who have supported me every step of the way... there are no words to express how grateful I am for my support system.

When I chose to make this plunge a lot of people backed off from being apart of my life. And I want to take this time, if they're reading this, to thank them. All that's left to do for those people  is sit back and watch me continue to prosper and destroy my goals. I wish them nothing but the best.

More is left to come, I'm only just beginning.

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For my health tribe:

A week and a half ago was incredibly bloated and felt like a bottomless pit that would consume anything in my path. How did I combat this? Well, for the bloating I drank a lot of....say it with me now... WATER! :) But also I  found that if I drank peppermint tea in the morning that I didn't bloat as bad throughout the day. In order to combat my insane cravings for anything sweet and fatty, I gave into them ! I find that if I put off my craving when I am in a special mood, I will only relapse even harder into a fatty food abyss ten times more than I do if I just give into my craving. We can't be perfect and sometimes our body needs what it wants!

The key in this is, if I am craving something(and I have enough self control) I will try to sleep on it, if the next day I am still craving bad things I will give in. This isn't a bad thing. If this happens to you just keep your eye on the prize. You faltered a little and now it is time to get back on track.

The only thing stopping you from your goals is the face in the mirror.

Here are two healthy recipes that I love for a sweet tooth!

Banana Oat muffins

3 ripe bananas
4 tablespoons of plain greek yogurt
2  1/2 cups of old fashioned oats
1 tsp of baking powder

Throw it all in a blender, blend it all up and stick it in the oven!

Butternut Squash "chips"

1 Butternut squash
coconut oil
cinnamon

Cut up the quash very very thin (like a chip)
Put coconut oil in a pan and sauté the butternut squash, add cinnamon in while you're sautéing
Its a trial and error with trying not to burn them. (My step mom and I wiped out an entire plate of these in one night.)

The Bell

I get in these moods where I take my headphones and walk for miles and miles sorting things through in my head. Last night I went for one of these walks and filled my head with stories to keep myself motivated. Motivation is such a crucial thing in every aspect of what you try to accomplish. But its one of the hardest things to maintain.

One of the stories I listened to last night was about a school, this school had a huge brass bell in the middle of the courtyard. All of the instructors told the students that if they ring the brass bell they no longer have to wake up at 5am, no longer have to participate in workouts, no more exams, they no longer have to work hard. That sounds so delightful, but once you ring the bell the fight is over. Your capacity for becoming great is gone. You become average.

At low points in life is when I see myself wanting to ring the bell. Its right in from of my face, I can binge on whatever food I want, I can become something else in life without the stress of hard classes and frustration. I can wake up at 11am instead of 5am and watch movies all day. But then I remember, the life after you give up is no life at all. What purpose do I have? Who will remember my name? Who will laugh at my forfeit? Who will I be?

So whether in school, in work, in health... do not ring that bell. Do not surrender. At your lowest points is when giving up sounds euphoric. But at your lowest point is where the best things can be achieved. This is where you become who you are, not what people saw you as, but who you truly are.

People love to tell you, "you can't do this", "you're crazy", "thats impossible"... Impossible? Look right into their eyes and open them.
 Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing.