Welcome To The Fit Life!

This is my absolute favorite part of the quote, for obvious reasons.  To me, what this part of the quote says is to go with your heart when deciding with whom you’ll associate.  This is such a powerful force in my life.

I’ve always believed that who you associate with says a lot about you on a few different levels.  For one, it shows what you value in a person.  I have many different circles, as do most of you, I’m sure.  My fitness-minded friends keep me both motivated and challenged.  They never let me forget my goals and help keep me accountable.  I make sure I do the same for them because I know they value the same qualities in their own fitness-minded friends.  Sometimes I need a kick in the you-know-what, and sometimes they do too.  Supportive people are hard to find, but if a friend has a mind for fitness you know you’re really getting a coach out of it too.

My school friends, both college and high school (and elementary school!) alike,  are hilarious.  They keep me on my toes and are never—EVER—lacking in the drama department.  Truth is never hard to find, and I’m so thankful that I can rely on them for an honest opinion about whatever it is I’m asking about.  But the most important part is that I know that no matter how long we go without speaking, we can always pick up where we left off without skipping a beat.  This is especially true for my sorority sisters (yeaahhhh, Tri Delt!).  That kind of timeless friendship is hard to find.  When you find it, or even if you already have, don’t let go of it.

Family is obviously extremely valued, as it should be with everyone.  Family will never leave your side, no matter what you say or what you do.  Clearly, they matter…so they never mind.  I’ve always had a decent, happy relationship with most of my family members, but lately I find myself becoming very close with my cousins, who are all a minimum of 4 years older than me, as well as my younger brother.  I love them to death and I know that they always deserve my full, undivided attention whenever they are speaking to me…so I give it to them, because they truly do matter.

However, my most steadfast, ever-astounding, comfortable circle is my “home” friends.  Admittedly, that doesn’t feel like a very accurate description; they are not from my hometown, and I actually met them through someone I’m not even friends with anymore.  We did not go to high school together, rather I met them gradually over the course of my entire freshman year of college…despite all of us going to different schools.  But I still consider them my “home” friends, because they’re the ones I’m constantly hanging out with and, in turn, the ones I can rely on for anything.  And to my credit, they know they can rely on me for anything as well—as long as it’s not for me to show up somewhere on time, because they know better than that and always give me at least half an hour of leeway ;)

Most of these people I hang out with all the time are boys, which transformed me into a very…um…un-filtered person, so to speak; I’ve learned to speak my mind, not sugar-coat situations, and work out problems with the least amount of hearsay possible.  I’m truly grateful for that, because it’s actually improved my abilities to deal with people who may not be like this, and also to provide an outlet for people who don’t always have someone like that to go to.

From the way I’m describing myself, it sounds like they’ve transformed me into a tough-skinned person who doesn’t have much capacity for empathy…which is exactly the opposite of who I’ve become.  Admittedly, my patience level has gone down severely!, but they’ve actually helped me understand an entirely new sect of people.  I’ve never been exposed to this kind of group dynamic before and it’s given me an entirely new perspective on dealing with people in general, not just them.  Another major plus about these guys, they don’t always expect me to “man up” just because I’m usually the only girl.  They let me be a girl—though they may pick on me for it!—and I know they’ve always got my back.  They’ve become like my brothers and I wouldn’t give them up for anything in the world.

Clearly, relationships are an extremely important part of life.  One should never be afraid of being whomever it is they were made to be.  Speak up—you never know who you could be speaking for; stick to your guns—you could be someone’s role model.  Never let people walk all over you—you’ve got to stand for something or you’ll fall for anything.  Stay with the people who you know will stay with you—there’s nobody more important than them, anyway.

<3

Finally returning from hiatus to finish up the rest of my quote analysis!  There will be more consistent blog posts coming now, so stay tuned :)

Here’s a little something about me that not many people know.  When I was in 10th grade, I went through a verrrrry dark period.  I kept to myself most of the time and wasn’t paid much attention, making me think nobody cared about me.  I won’t go into the gory details, but it made me think a lot about the nature of people, what they want out of life, and how people—especially my peers—handle themselves day-to-day.

Today, I’m an extremely different person.  Why?  Because I let go of the people that genuinely did not care.  I found the ones that do care and I’m not letting them go.  Rid yourselves of the people that do absolutely nothing in your life.  If people don’t support you, don’t fight with them to gain their support…just let them go.  I can’t say it’ll be an easy feat, but in the long run, would you rather have an unsupportive, empty relationship, or be able to nourish your healthy relationships into unbreakable ones?

That’s my piece for the moment.  I know, not exactly brilliant or groundbreaking, but the next one is my favorite part of the quote so it will definitely be better ;)

G’nite everyone,

Jillian <3

Never ever ever ever ever be afraid to express what you are thinking.  Regardless of any persecution you feel you may face, nothing is worth trading for your voice being heard.

When I was in high school, I was petrified of voicing my opinions about things for fear that I would be ridiculed.  Nothing I ever wanted to say was ever completely ridiculous, and I generally thought the same way my peers did, but for some reason I was genuinely afraid that I could say one thing and the person next to me could say the exact same thing, but they would be fine and I would not.

A week after high school, I met an entirely new group of people.  They’re loud, crazy, and have zero desire to ever keep their mouths shut about what they’re feeling at any given point in time.  I admired that so much because they just genuinely did not care about anyone else’s thoughts regarding what they had to say.  Needless to say, today they’re still my best friends.

This gave me an entirely new confidence upon arriving at college.  I realized that, if I disguised whatever it was I wanted to say, nobody would be getting to know the true me.  Nobody would know about my wacky tendencies, or my sometimes very philosophical thoughts, or even just what I did that weekend.

Let people get to know the real you.  I mean, that’s what life’s all about in the first place, right?  What’s the point of being here if people don’t know who you are?  It’s so much more fun when people know you!  Respect comes much more easily whhen you just say what you feel.

It sounds so cliche, but there really is only one way to be in this world and come out happy—by being yourself.  I’m not saying a person has to love everybody all the time, only not compromise himself for anybody.

• If you’re someone who is bored easily, find something active to do with friends.
• If you’re someone who loves to make people laugh, take some stand-up comedy classes—people will love watching you!
• If you are ambitious and hope to be successful, surround yourself with like-minded people.  They will bring out the best in you and you certainly can’t regret it.
• If you’re like me and wear your heart on your sleeve and have pretty much zero mouth-filter capabilities, be as genuine as your mind will allow while still conveying whatever it is you’re feeling at the time.  (If you really can’t stand her shirt, there’s a nice way of telling her—you don’t have to be mean to be yourself!)

…see where I’m going here?

I can’t say I was ever actively trying to be someone else.  Maybe I had my phases in 4th or 5th grade, but I was only ever myself to the people who truly knew me, even in high school.  When I had energy, I was the most bubbly, friendly, outgoing person around.  When I was with my friends, that’s who I was, and I loved it!  When I was with people I didn’t particularly care for, I switched to another side of me—moody, quiet, shy; it’s not that either of these parts of me was fake, it was  just different.  Everybody has multiple facets—it’s what makes you YOU!!  Embrace it, and learn to love yourself for everything that you are.  I’m never happier than when I’m with people who bring out nothing but the best in me…it can’t hurt to try to do the same for yourself!

~Jillian

My previous post on here was one of my favorite quotes.  “Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind,” by the great Theodore Geisel, the one and only Dr. Seuss.  I’ve decided to break down this quote into four parts and apply it to my own life, as well as my personal and business endeavors.  This quote is truly all about personal ownership:  taking control of your own life and being responsible for yourself; everyone can use a kick in the pants sometimes and if this is what gives it to you, I’m happy to be of service!

Stay tuned for the first part within the next few days!

~Jillian