Risk yourself to be you

          As I was sitting in a psychology class today, we were watching a video about a counselor and one of his clients. She was having a problem with confidence, and this counselor said something that really caught my attention. He told her that she must risk herself to find out who she really was.
         Now this sounds strange, risk yourself to be yourself. If you think about it, it actually is quite simple, but with things like peer pressure and wanting to fit in to today's world and standards this can seem very difficult. There are two things that I think someone has to do in order to risk yourself to find yourself.
1. You must love yourself and
2. You must learn to be tolerant of yourself
Easy enough right?
Well, loving yourself may seem easy but I know that as humans we see ourselves in a much different light than others normally do. So how do you love yourself? You embrace who you are, how you feel, and what you do NO. MATTER. WHAT! If everyone were the same this world would be very boring. In order to like yourself, you must first realize that you will never fit in with everyone around you, and believe it or not, this is okay and even NORMAL! Keep in mind that if you don't love yourself, there is no way that you can expect others to love you. So you decide that you are going to make an effort to love yourself, but what happens next?
Once you learn to love yourself you must learn to be tolerant of yourself. Today's world has pounded into our heads that we must be perfect. This is completely false. Guess what? Everyone makes mistakes, we live, we learn, and we move on. Once you realize that you are going to make mistakes along the way, your life will become so much less stressful! I'm not saying that when you mess up it isn't frustrating, because it is. However, if you have the attitude to live and learn, you are one step closer to becoming who you really are, and defining your own version of perfect. Being tolerant is not always easy, especially when it comes to tolerating yourself. I know that I can be very critical of myself and I know that others tend to be that way as well. In order to risk yourself, you must tolerate the fact that
1. You are wonderfully and beautifully made (Psalm 139:14)
2. You are not always going to fit in
3. It is okay to stand out and be different
4. You will mess up

In order to be yourself you must be who you want to be, feel the emotions that your heart and head tell you to feel, speak up when something isn't right, and take charge if you want something to change. All of these things take risks, and it can be scary, but I promise if you learn to enjoy life, love yourself mistakes and all, tolerate yourself, and be thankful for this crazy, tragic, sometimes almost magic, awful beautiful life, the reward will outweigh the risk. 

Baby it's cold outside- 20 things to do when you get the day off

In honor of Muskingum cancelling classes for the first time in over 5 years, I figured why not blog about it!! :) So here are 20 things that you could do to live up your snow day to the fullest!!!
1. Sleep in!
2. Build an Olaf- if you haven't seen Frozen, GO OUT AND SEE IT, I promise you won't be disappointed!
3. Read a good book, or catch up on reading for class...
4. Study.... I know, I know... but you'll thank me later
5. Curl up in bed with 12 blankets and watch movies all day.
6. Take applications for a cuddle buddy!
7. Call mom, dad, grandma, or grandpa. It will make their day!
8. Go sledding- for maybe about 2 minutes...
9. Skype someone that you miss, or is too far away for you to see.
10. Write personalized notes to let your friends know how much you appreciate them.
11. Work out- get big!!
12. Ladies, paint your nails or toes have a spa day and relax!
13. Gentlemen, play video games all day, and get that "bro time" in
14. Bake! Cookies, cakes, and brownies are NEVER, I repeat never a bad idea!
15. Make some hot chocolate and warm up!! Tip add marshmallows and whipped cream for extra deliciousness! :)
16. Wear your pajamas all day and embrace it!!
17. Make ice cream out of snow!!!

18. Make sure you start your car, this cold weather is hard on your poor car...
19. Go to work, make that money!!
20. Hang out with friends and take lots of crazy pictures... you have 4 years to make some of the best memories of your life :)

Whatever you choose to do on your day off, and whatever shenanigans you decide to get into is completely up to you. Snow days are normally few and far between especially if you go to Muskingum University... so just remember to love this crazy, tragic, sometimes almost magic, awful beautiful life that you have been given, and take full advantage of not having class!!! Make today one for the books! :)