When will my reflection show...(right now).

As the semester has come o a close, it only seems fitting that there be a time of reflection (aka now). I suppose there are really only three major things I feel I should reflect on. Now this is not necessary at all, nor is it necessary that you read these; however, I feel like looking back, you can learn from where you have been or just reminisce on awesome things that happened, and both of these options are equally cool.

So number 1. School. HOW EXCITING. Except not really. Okay, not at all. I mean, don't get me wrong, school is great and all and learning is swell. But school really sucks. Particularly because I didn't do as well as I had hoped this semester. Not saying my grades were bad by any means (unless you're asking me or my father - I got the "I'm disappointed talk" - I mean, I'm a typical A student with B's here and there). I was still above agerage, so I suppose thats okay. BUT, I will say that I have learned (while in the past it has been okay for me and I have slid by), procrastinating things is really dumb and actually really sucks. Also, in a not sassy but just honest and true way, I didn't learn anything this year. So you say, "you learned absolutely nothing?" Okay, of course I learned something. I learned that even though I didn't pay much attention in Humanities, I retained some of the information to win Trivia Crack questions about art. I learned that a group and a team are the same thing but in a management class the definition differs by a few insignificant words (almost like a "the vs. a" sort of thing) and therefore "has a completely different meaning". I learned that there are 5 core marketing principles (don't ask me what they are, because according to Dr. Yoon, no I "do not understand"). Oh. Okay, I did learn one thing, and I thought it was pretty cool. I learned about mapping out a project for project management, which was cool. I think I only liked it because it was the ONLY thing I actually DID all semester (as in everything else was concepts and little to no execution, or discussion, or hands on, etc.).

That being sais, at the start of the semester, and really all last year, I was pretty cool with being a business major and then, eventually, obviously working in business. But after this semester, I'm not so sure. Now, perhaps that has to do with my performance this year, but looking at it, what do I want to spend the rest of my life "doing". In business, would I actually even be doing anything?? I suppose that's the real question. I don't want to spend my life not using my brain behind a desk in a cube of an office for the next 40 years. So I've got some thinking to do on that one.

Number 2. The good ol' anterior cruciate ligament. How fun. Especially when it tears. So if you don't know already, tear in ACL = MRI. MRI says just the tear = surgery. Paige doped up. Doc: "we found two tears in your meniscus that didn't show up on the MRI" = "crutches for 6 weeks" = h8ing life for a long time. BUT. Honestly it hasn't been that bad. Yeah, don't get me wrong. Crutches definitely suck, and I miss not being able to run. Wait, what? That's right, I said it. I MISS BEING ABLE TO RUN. 2 more months and I'll be able to run. And I couldn't be more excited. Maybe that's weird. I don't care.

This event in life has really changed my outlook on everything and given me an appreciation for the littlest things. Like being able to stand on two feet. Or functioning on your own. And if I didn't realize it before, I have some truly amazing people in my life. And I knew they were great and wonderful before I tore my ACL, but it's been proven in ways I cannot explain. These people in my life are what hold me up (literally) and mentally and emotionally and any other way you could think of.

My best friend goes to physical therapy with me. I mean, who does that?? Okay mainly it's because we're never apart so it would be inconvenient not to, BUT STILL. And sometimes it's hard because I have this whole new piece in my leg that I have to make function like I've had it for 20 years in 6 months. And she's always there supporting me. And that's an unbelievable feeling.

And finally, number 3. 100 Days.

There are now two parts to this 100 days.

3. a) I started a challenge in late July to post what made me happy for 100 days. Yesterday was my 149th post. I can't stop, nor do I want to. As cheesy as it sounds, this has actually made me happier. Life is happy. Sometimes life will getcha down, I get that. It gets me too, trust me. But overall, I'd say my general perception of life is grand. It's great. http://turning394paiges.tumblr.com/
This is what happy is.

3. b) It has been *officially* 100 days since my friendship with this lil' nugget began. And it is one of the greatest things that has ever happened to me. 512% true. And there is no hope of me doing justice to her character by my feeble attempts to explain how extraordinary this woman is. So here is a list of words to describe her, but it only skims the surface of her soul.

A: adorable
B: beloved
C: captivating
D: dependable
E: enchanting, extraordinary
F: forever
G: godly
H: hardworking
I: irreplaceable
J: joyful
K: kind
L: loyal, limitless
M: meaningful
N: nuggetO: outstanding
P: passionate
Q: quirky
R: reliable
S: strong
T: tubular
U: unparalleled
V: vibrant
W: witty
X: x-factor
Y: youthful
Z: zesty

p.s. Happy Christmas Eve eve

#100HappyPaiges

Once upon a time there was a girl named Paige, and although she generally seemed to have a happy disposition, this was not always the case. Often, she, like so many before her, had bad days. And one day she thought to herself, "I'm done having bad days!"

So she stopped.

haha just kidding. Because everyone has bad days, and that's not just something you can choose to stop doing...(technically speaking).

So Paige is scrolling through her Facebook news feed (or whatever it's called nowadays) and she sees this post from a friend.

"Day 67 of my 100 days is ________. *insert picture* [post talks about why pictured thing makes her happy]." And I (Paige..) think to myself, "wow, this seems really cool."

So I looked into it. (100happydays.com) And it definitely sounded really cool. Basically the premise is this: Be happy for 100 days. What? That seems really hard. What if you have a really bad day? You can't help that. What if something disastrous happens, something you can't recover from. Well, there's the challenge. Now, starting out, it's probably close to impossible to be happy 100% of the time. Okay, definitely impossible. When someone messes up your order at Starbucks Monday morning, our mindsets automatically go to something along the lines of "Monday's suck, I hate today, blah blah blah."

NOT ANYMORE.

So this website, and I suppose yourself, challenge you to find one thing that makes you happy each day. Just one. That's like picking a letter out of alphabet soup. So you find your happy thing for the day and you post a picture of it. whaaaaaaat. that sounds so easy right!

it is.

okay, well most of the time it is. I'm not gonna lie. I've been doing this challenge for about 60 days and a couple of those days, at the end of the day when I sat down to think of my happy for the day, it was very difficult. But that's the cool thing about this challenge. That even on your darkest days, you need to recognize that something good came out of that day. Maybe it was just hearing your favorite song on the radio and that's it.

But that's not it! How awesome is it that you were able to find something good that happened in a day full of gloom? It's not about changing your life. It's about changing your mindset. Instilling positivity into every day.

Lemme tell you about my experience. Like I said, I've been doing this challenge for quite awhile now. At first, it was hard. Sometimes it took me forever to find something happy. But within about a week, I realized that this was something really cool. I began to notice a change in myself, in my days. I was [am] incredibly stressed all the time. But it didn't [doesn't] seem to matter as much. I truly feel like I haven't been having bad days, bad weeks. My days are good. almost all the time too!

You don't think that finding one happy thing a day could do this right? I didn't think so either. It seemed like such a trivial challenge. I thought it would be fun to try. I figured I'd give up within a week. But i didn't! Of course, I missed a couple days here and there (usually because I fell asleep before I even had time to post something) but I always went back and made them up. It's weird to think that such a small thing can (and I don't want to be dramatic here but I genuinely think it's real and true) turn your life around. That's right. I said it. It can turn your life around.

So it's my challenge to you, readers, world, humanity.

Find something that makes you happy every day. Post a picture about it. On facebook, instagram, tumblr, on a word document your keeping to yourself. The point of posting is not to brag to the world that you're happy. It's to share your happiness with the world.

If you need some inspiration or are curious to how it works, you can look at mine (turning394paiges.tumblr.com) or you can just search the hashtag #100HappyDays!

Find one thing every day that makes you happy.