Heart Racing and Train Rides.

Happy Tuesday Everyone,

So I have a question for you today,

What makes your heart race?

I don't mean, you're out of shape and running up a flight of stairs type of heart pounding. I mean, what excites you? What makes you feel alive? What are you passionate about? 

Last week I had an experience I've never had before. I arrived at the mall, at 9:08 and the mall opened at 10:00. See I thought the mall opened at 9:00 and when I got there and all the stores were closed I figured nope it must open at 9:30. Wrong again. So I was almost a whole hour early for the mall. So I picked up a coffee and sat down in one of the sitting areas in the mall and just relaxed. 

It was a really cool thing to see life start to happen. First thing I saw was a group of seniors sitting drinking coffee together and talking about a golf experience they had. A little while later a young woman and a man sat down and the man was going through an interview with her. (I hope she received the job). After awhile I got bored so I got up and moved to the food court and continued to drink my coffee. I saw employees come in late, other employees come in telling stories about their weekend camping trip. And before long the mall was bustling with crowds of people and the stores were open for business. 

It got me thinking. It reminded me of slowly waking. Your morning starts out slow, maybe with a good stretch and before long your body is energized and ready to attack the day with enthusiasm. (For some this process goes much slower than for others). But this got me thinking about life on a much larger scheme than day to day waking.

Sometimes I just feel like I'm kind of sleeping through life and I need to awake and realize what goes on around me. Sometimes I find myself just going through the motions of life never fully engaging. But it's the things that make your heart race and get you excited about life that wake you up. 

So again I ask you, what is it that makes your heart race?

For me, traveling. That moment when you're sitting on the airplane about to take off and it accelerates at a very rapid rate. You're pushed against the back of your seat and although I love to fly there is still this small part of me praying that we safely take off and get in the air. That moment, for me, awakens my very being, as I prepare for my next adventure in another place, I'm full of anticipation, nerves, and excitement. In that moment I am fully alive.

Another thing that gets my heart racing is, the possibility of changing the world. The potential that is inside me, and many others to do something drastic and completely change the world. I'm serious. The dream I carry with me has the potential to not only impact the community I am in, but the country and world that surrounds it. When I get thinking about the lives that could be impacted my heart jumps, I get butterflies and everything in me wants to change the world NOW. Not in five years, not when I graduate from college, but now. 

I had this thought while I was at the mall. See I love to travel so my brain used a travel analogy. Imagine life is a train. We all have the ability to get on the train and travel to new places, experience new things and really enjoy the travel experience. OR we have the option to stay at the train station. Standing on the platform with the train doors open ready for us to get in a go, yet never taking that step. Instead fear, insecurity and uncertainty stops us. It stops from ever truly living. It stops us from experiencing the real reason we were at the train station. We aren't at the train station to watch trains come and go, we're at the train station to get on a train and go for a ride.

Like train rides,  life has it's ups and downs, the tracks can be rough. But there are also those moments where it's smooth riding, and when you look out the window at the view and you know beyond a shadow of a doubt you're right where you're supposed to be. 

See the things that excite us and get our heart racing is what directs to which train we're supposed to be on. But we can get excited about something, and still never get on the train. 

So my question now is: 

Are you sitting at the train stop or are you on your way to somewhere incredible?

The opportunity to go and do something awesome with your life is there, you just have to decide if what you hope for is greater than what you fear.

Infinite x's and o's
-A

Word Art Wednesday

Good Day all you gorgeous folk!

I'm currently on my second cup of coffee this morning. Now please stick with me. See coffee makes me SUUUUUPER hyper and makes my brain think too fast for my mouth to speak or my fingers to type. So I will try to remain calm as I write this entry but no guarantees.

Now that I have that out of the way, you're probably wondering, what is Word Art Wednesday? Well I THINK I invented. It's kind of like throw back thursday when you post something from your past. Well this is a day where I post some word art that I've created. So your next question, what is word art? Well it's what I'm calling a piece of art that I've made by combining different fonts and sizes of words to make a piece of art. It's a new hobby I'm trying out. I always see this really creative looking pieces of art that is just a fancy way to display a quote. Finally I decided I have GOT to try this. So I'm trying to develop my artsy side and work on my printing, we'll see how it turns out.

For my first Word Art I decided to go with a quote I heard that says, Are your excuses more important than your dreams? I love this quote because it is so easy to come up with an excuse of why you can't do something. But if you really want to reach your dreams you'll push past all of your excuses and work for it. This is something I'm trying to develop in my life, to put the excuses behind me and just work to achieve my dreams. Think about your own life and where you want to be, or what you want to do. What excuse are you using that is stopping you from achieving it? Push past your excuses and pursue your dreams with everything in you!

So without any further delay here is my Word Art for this Wednesday:
Infinite x's and o's
-A

#Opportunities

To all the beautiful people everywhere (yes that includes you too),

Life is full of moments, opportunities, and choices. Some believe every act is preordained by some form of high power. Some believe moments are a result of karma, others believe opportunities are coincidence. 

As I've mentioned in other posts I believe in God, I believe he is as involved in my life as I am, if not more. I truly do think he presents us with opportunities and the freedom to choose how to act out that opportunity. 

Today I was presented with a couple moments that gave me a couple choices. The first went something a little like this:

I was headed to the store to pick up a few things I pulled into the parking lot and parked my car. As I was walking into the store I saw a man in the hood of his truck. And I literally do mean IN the hood of the truck. It was clear his truck was broken down and he had climbed onto the hood of his truck and was leaned into some part of the motor attempted to fix the issue. I felt compelled to help him. Now you have to understand, I know NOTHING and I really do mean NOTHING about motors or cars or anything about fixing cars. So it seemed to me a ridiculous thought to offer my assistance so I continued on into the store and pushed the thought out of my head, as a small moment of compassion. I went about picking up what I needed in the store and finished my task. After paying for my items I headed back to my car. Well, as I left the building I saw a tow truck attaching the broken truck to itself. Something in me felt so sad. I myself have had to call and pay for my own car to be towed and I know it is no fun task. As I walked by I saw the man and whom I assume is his wife on either side of the tow truck. The wife did some sort of hand gesture to her husband and the man held up his fingers to give what I can only assume was the cost to tow the truck, seventy dollars. Somewhere deep inside me said pay for their truck to be towed. But I countered the thought by saying, I am a college student I don't have extra money to pay for their car to be towed. But I felt even stronger that I should pay for their truck to be towed. By this time I was at my car and getting into it, and I reasoned with myself I had no cash I literally can't pay for their truck to be towed. So I got in my car and started to drive away. My heart was racing and I felt, for lack of any other word, convicted. I knew I should pay for their truck, I knew that God was telling me to pay for it. But I never turned around, I never went back and payed for it. I denied myself the opportunity to demonstrate the love of God to another. 

The second opportunity happened only minutes later, I had to go to another store, I had grabbed the items I needed from that store and was waiting in line to pay for them. A young girl two people ahead of me was paying for her items and her card was declined. Something in me said pay for it. Again I was like, no this is ridiculous. The girl attempted to use her card again. It was declined again. Again I felt I should pay for her items. But for whatever reason I was afraid to say something. The girl's bank was actually attached to the store so she was going to check why her card wasn't working. The lady in front of me bought her items and then it was my turn. I had a decision to make. The young girl had left her items there so she could come back and pay for it after. So I could easily pay for her items, the cashier rang my items through and I swiped my debit card and completed paying for my items. My heart was pounding, for some reason I couldn't shake it I HAD to pay for this girls purchase. So I spoke out to the cashier, "actually" I said. "I'd like to pay for the girls items." The cashier looked a little surprised and suggested I go make sure the girl was coming back so I don't pay for something that will never get picked up. So I quickly went and checked the bank, and there sitting with the bank employee was the young girl. I let her know I was going to pay for her purchase and that I'd be right back with it if she just waited there. I went back to the cashier and said I was going to pay for the stuff. The cashier was pleasantly surprised and told me I was going to have good luck come to me. I smiled gave a little laugh and said I didn't really care if anything good came from it or not I just wanted to help. I paid for the items and brought the purchase to the young girl. The girl attempted to thank me more than I deserved and I simply wished her a good afternoon and walked out to my car and continued on with my day. 

So why share this story? Is it to make myself look good? So I can feel good about myself? 

Not at all.

To be honest, I'm more ashamed of the first story than I am pleased with the second. I was given one opportunity to demonstrate how there is a God who cares about his people so much that he would send someone to help in their time of need, and I didn't take it. Sure maybe God gave me the second opportunity to see if I was really that selfish to turn down two opportunities but I missed the first one. 

We only get one life, and sometimes we only get one opportunity to change and impact someone's life, it is so important that we do no waste those moments or walk away from them. But instead we must walk courageously into every situation trusting that God has a plan and he will take care of us so long as we are following his lead. That doesn't mean life is going to be easy, in fact Jesus told us the opposite. In John 16:33 it says "In this world you will have troubles" you WILL, not you might, not only the bad people have troubles, but everyone WILL have troubles. But we can relax about it and trust God because he has already overcome the world and in the end he wins so we just need to trust him and follow his lead every time he creates an opportunity. 

Sometimes the gesture may seem really small and insignificant like paying for that girls purchase. Sometimes it might be more significant, but the truth is you never know what the people you encounter are going through and how your one small gesture could impact them. 

Trust God in every moment, 

Love people no matter what and help me change the world. Everywhere you go help

people to see hope, feel joy and know love. 

Infinite x's and o's

-A

Summer 2013 Update

Well hey there!
So it has been ridiculously long since I've update so I'll give you a short version of what I've been up to and what my plans for the summer are.
So I finished my school year and have come home for the summer. My older sister graduated college, with honours. No big deal or anything. I'm super proud of her. She also received two awards at her graduation. On top of that she spoke at her graduation to the class following hers a way of "passing the torch" from one year to the next. It was a privilege to be able to attend her grad and support her in this monumental moment in her life.
I have now returned home for the summer. I will be working at my church again this summer with the children's ministry department, I am so looking forward to this. I had an awesome time doing this last year and I am looking forward to another amazing summer there. As well I will be working as a lifeguard again. It has almost been 6 years since I started working at the pool and they keep taking me back. I love working there especially in the summer when we get to be outdoors and I get to work on my tan!
As well coming home this summer I discovered a scholarship I could apply for with S-Trip. And basically I had to make a short video talking about who I am, then I had to answer a couple questions about why travel is important to my education. You guys can follow the link and check out my video and answers.
 Allysin's Profile
If you like what you read/watch click the support button. Now you have to make an account and I know what you're thinking. The last thing you want to do is have to sing up for another thing where they send you annoying e-mails. I get it. Because I have been the same position you are. My understanding is that you only need to sign up so they know that the same person isn't voting over and over again. And then they ask you what e-mails you would like to receive and you get to say NONE. YOu don't have to receive any e-mails from s-trip if you don't want any.
The truth is at first I wanted to receive this scholarship because well I need money and knowing that I have this years tuition covered would be SUCH a stress relief plus I would  have a guaranteed job for next summer already lined up! How sweet would that be!?! But the more I think about it the more I want it because I would have job helping people plan trips!
Now you have to understand I LOVE travel. If you don't know me very well then you might not know this about me. But I legit love travelling I love it from the moment I start packing (two weeks before my trip) to when you're sitting in the plane and it speeds up to take off, to experiencing the culture and character of a new place, trying new foods and meeting new people. I love it all. I think the world has so much to offer and I want to see and experience all of it!
I have 11 more days to get as much support as I possibly can. So if you want to support me click on the link, click support and then share this with at least one friend.
Infinite x's and o's.
-A

To The Greatest Man I Know

Today I went grocery shopping
It was much like every other time I go grocery shopping. I brought my list, my wallet, I grabbed a basket and I started to browse. The only thing that was different really were the people I brought with me. My dad had come to town so that he could drop my younger sister off for a few days, so both my dad and my sister were with me.
Really not much out of the ordinary happened, I browsed the aisles loading my basket with all the goodies on my list, argued a bit with my sister and continued on with my business. My dad, being my dad loves to crack jokes and as per usual made jokes that rather embarrassed me for bringing him into public with me.
Finally we reached the last aisle I only had two more items left on my list, I could see the end of this shopping experience was drawing near and I was attempting to speed up the process by quickly finding my last two items. But there right in the middle of the aisle was a woman, and not just any woman, an tiny, little, short, older woman with her cart, slowly (if at all) moving down the aisle looking high onto the shelf. It really didn't phase me, I had gotten stuck behind many people in a shopping store before and I am now an expert at dodging around them so I can continue on my journey.
So I scoot around her, my little sister at my side and continue down the aisle when I hear my dad's voice. "Do you need help getting something off one of the high shelves?" I almost stopped in my tracks.
Here my dad had seen something I had not. I saw a woman who really was being an inconvenience to my day, slowing me down and causing delay. My dad saw someone who might need help and he took the time to ask if he could do something. The woman replied that she indeed did not need anything from one of the shelves and we continued on shopping.
My dad never made a big deal out of it, I never said anything, life just continued. But inside me I realized how incredible my dad is. All my life I have seen my dad set aside his hopes and his dreams to support others. I have seem him sacrifice his finances for his family and for others and never complaining. My dad has worked long, hard days and weeks only to come home and have to work more at the house. When everything in life was telling him to quit or to give up and live life the way he wanted he stuck it out. My dad has taught me the true meaning of commitment.
My dad is the greatest man I know.
To my future husband:
I know that I will love you with all my heart, and I know that if my parents approve of me marrying you then you must be really great and I'm excited to spend the rest of my life with you. But I thought you should know you have incredibly large shoes to fill.
They say that a husband is supposed to take the place of a girls father in her life. Well knowing how incredible my dad is, its going to be tough to live up to him. But I have faith you're pretty great!
Infinite x's and o's
-A


By the way mom, I think you picked a winner!



P.s. who is your role model? You should let them know!

#timetobehonest

Buenas Dias Guapos!

I'm just throwing in a bit of my time in Spain, using the little spanish I remember! So how has everyone been? I hope everyone has had an incredible week. My week has been good. At times hard, but mostly good.

In my last post I talked about having to make tough decisions and I'm going to be honest with you guys, I avoided decision making, which was probably the wrong decision. But, you can only avoid life for so long before you're forced to deal with it. Luckily for me, when I finally had to make a decision it worked out well, and I get a happy ending out of it. I'm really grateful, but I also know that not everyone has that same experience. But I hope that you find the strength in yourself to face the tough situations in life, and don't be a coward like me! I BELIEVE IN YOU GUYS!

So thats just an update after my last entry. But what I actually want to write about this time is completely unrelated. It is really personal, and I don't really tell many people about this. But it is time for me to start opening up and being honest, so here we go. 

This past week I was talking with someone and they told me they thought I was hostile. Now, you have to understand I pride myself on being a happy, energetic, fun person to be around. So I didn't really believe them, so I asked if they were serious and they said yes. They thought I was hostile to keep out any genuine relationships from developing. This was a complete shot to my heart. It was like some took a knife and stabbed me. And the more I thought about the comment, the more I realized it was true. Now when I say hostile, I don't mean an angry person who hates everyone and is miserable to be around. I'm just very sarcastic. But why do I do this? Maybe it is a way to keep people distant. Don't get me wrong I long for meaningful relationships, but in my experience, eventually people leave your life. The people who promised to always be there, disappear. Close friends eventually become distant, and thats just life. So instead of becoming close with people and then having to say goodbyes or ... never getting the chance to say goodbye, I just don't let them in. I allow people into my life so far, and then I cut them off. Its a protection method so I don't get hurt. But I've hurt a lot people by being this way. And it leaves me being really lonely, and always waiting for relationships and friendships to end. Trusting people isn't really something I do. I'm not really sure how to overcome this. I want to be able to get close to people, but I'm too scared to let people really get to know me. 

Anyone have an suggestions on how to get over this?

I don't really expect an answer or anything. But I just want to start being honest and start taking steps to being an open and transparent individual.

Leave a comment and let me know how you are with your friendships.

Infinite x's and o's

-A

#sometimeslifeisjusthard

Good day all you beautiful people!

I know you probably all thought I died or something because its been so long since I wrote. Well the truth is I am alive so you can all stop panicking.
So contrary to what the title of this blog says my life is actually going really well. My last entry I wrote about how my mom had been diagnosed with skin cancer. Well she had surgery and the doctors believe they removed it all but she will continue to go for check ups just to be sure. I am so grateful to God that he was with my mom through this time.
I finished last semester well and received all B+ or A's so I am very pleased with that. I am a bit of a perfectionist so I'm disappointed I didn't receive all A's but I also know that I am happy with the marks I received.
Christmas time was fantastic, I went to Florida with my family and just enjoyed some time away, and then the rest of Christmas break was spent relaxing. Then I returned to school this semester and moved into my first apartment. It has been quite the adjustment for me. You have to understand I love people so much, so living on campus for me was the best because I was with people ALL THE TIME. So there have been times this semester I have felt really lonely, just adjusting to not being around people all the time anymore. But I live with three incredible women and I love them and they're so great! And I'm really happy I get to live with them. So far school is going well this semester and I think I am going to really enjoy all my classes.
So... if everything is going to great why is my entry talking about how life is hard?

Well.. because its true. Sure if you were to look at my life it looks great. It looks like everything is going so well. I have it all together. But I think everyone can act. Everyone can pretend life is going well. But what is actually going on inside?
If everything is going well, why is it I keep having nightmares every night about someone I care about dying? Or myself dying?
If everything is going well, why is it I still feel like I'm going through life alone?
Why am I faced with tough decisions where there doesn't seem to be a right answer, or at least an answer where no one gets hurt?
Why does it feel like as I gain one friend I lose three?
Well I've come to the conclusion that although overall I'm doing alright, and life really isn't so bad and a lot of people have it a lot harder than me, that life is still just hard.
I watched Remember the Titans the other day and Coach Boone was talking with his wife and she says to him, "sometimes life is just hard, for no reason at all".
And I think thats where I'm at. Sometimes life is just hard, sometimes you're faced with hard decisions and hard situations and you're thinking to yourself WHY! Why am I facing this? Why do I have to go through this? And the answer sucks, but its the truth, sometimes life is hard for absolutely no reason at all.

So I want to encourage you guys, whatever hard situation/decision you are facing today, you are not alone. There is a world of people feeling the same way you do. And just so you know it is okay to not be okay. It's okay to not have your whole life together. My quote for today which is helping me get through this is "do not give up what you want most, for what you want now". I know that in the moment life can seem tempting, but remember your dreams for your life and keep moving towards those.

Infinite x's and o's
-A