Be Yourself

I recently got a Chinese fortune cookie that read,

"The most exhausting thing in life is being insincere."

I could not agree with this statement more!

I've never understood why people have a hard time being comfortable in their own skin. I'm not saying that I've always been perfect at it, but if you stop and think about it, it's so much easier to just be yourself. People will admire you a lot more if you are sincere, genuine and your own person. It's something that gets easier with age in my opinion, but it is something everyone can master if they realize that they will be happier being their own person. If someone doesn't like you, chances are it's because they are jealous of you. Have you ever stopped and thought about why you don't like certain people? Maybe the underlying reason is because you are jealous for what they have or what they do.

I believe people are not their own person for 3 reasons:

1. They are afraid people won't like them

2. They feel a need to impress others

3. They don't truly know who they are yet

The first one is pretty basic. If we act just like the people we hang out, those people are bound to like is. In reality, we can just end up making friends just like ourselves to start. The second one is very true. Everyone wants to be liked; everyone wants friends. To do so, many people feel that if they act, dress, do or a talk a certain way, they can impress others. Try looking at it from a different perspective: impress people by acting the way you want to act, dressing the way you want to dress, doing the things you want to do and talking the way you want to talk. Lastly, it is not until people reach high school that they truly start to learn who they are as a person. It is when things in life really start to matter. Your future is officially beginning in four short years, and you may not know just what you want to do with your life because you don't know who you are. Be yourself, and stay true to your friends, values and morals. If you do this, you will learn very quickly who you are and being your own person will become very easy.

Taking on Opportunities

Lately, I've been doing a lot of thinking about how I've been so blessed to serve as a State FFA Officer. My teammates and I had to record member and parent thank you's this past week during convention work days. As I was thinking about what to say to my family, I couldn't help but think that I may have never joined FFA. Ultimately, there were two reasons I joined FFA as a freshman. First, it was the only organization or club in school that I could do something with my horses. Growing up, all I ever wanted was horses. My dream came true when I was in eighth grade. My dad literally turned his back yard into a horse pasture--for me. Second, my older brother participated in my chapter's Food For America program. When I saw him getting involved, I wanted to follow in his footsteps.

Now do I think that if I would have not gotten horses and that my older brother would not have gotten involved that I would not have? No. But it amazes me on how certain events can play a role on your life. Maybe if those things would not have happened, I would not have gotten as involved as I did. Who knows!?

I used to always think that I didn't know who I was or where I was going with my life, but FFA has provided such a direction for me. I know who I am; I know what I want to do; I'm proud of the person FFA has made me in to. When all is said and done, what I do know is this: sometimes we don't know what role something we do or someone we meet may play on our life until later on. That's why we need to make the most of each and every opportunity we have because who knows what it could bring for us. We need to appreciate that things go on in life for a reason even though we never know what that reason is right away.

I'm so thankful I found the FFA. It's done nothing but benefit me. I have so many fond memories and so many amazing friends because of it. I'm glad I was smart enough to give FFA a chance because I love what my life has become because of it. It's so important to take on every opportunity because you never know how great something can turn out to be.

Sincere Appreciation

When I was a senior in high school, my FFA advisor presented me with an opportunity to take a Dale Carnegie Training Course. I leaped at the opportunity because students who had taken it in previous years found it to be very enjoyable. I loved this class; in fact, I looked forward to it every week because I liked the people who were in the class with me and the concepts we learned in it have proved to be invaluable time and time again.

My favorite thing of all that I will never forget from the class is how to show sincere appreciation. When the activity was introduced, we all had time to write a thank you to someone who had made a difference in our lives. Then we practiced giving sincere compliments to our classmates. This was our week 8 class, and it was by far my most memorable class. It amazes me how quickly you can pick up good qualities in a person that you've literally only seen 7 times prior--in fact that's why I think this was even so much more powerful to do at that point in time. Giving a sincere compliment involved 1) looking the person in the eye; 2) giving them a 30 second compliment; 3) coming up with something that no one else had pointed out. We did this in groups of 4. To my surprise, I found it more challenging to receive the compliment than to give it. I'm naturally a person who gives a lot of compliments so maybe that's one reason why I found it easy. Another reason I found it easy was because it felt so natural to tell people how amazing they are as an individual.

This year, while serving as a state officer, I cannot even count how many thank you notes I've written. And to be honest, I'm glad I can't count. To me, a thank you note speaks volumes and when it only takes 2 minutes of your day, it's worth it to go that extra mile. I wish more people truly saw a value in showing sincere appreciation. Think of the "feel good moment" you have when you receive a thank you note that compliments you...or think of a time that someone tells you that your clothes are cute, that you smell good, or that you're having a good hair day. Even the simplest of compliments can go far. Next time you give a compliment, go the extra mile to give a sincere compliment. And always, when someone does something to help you, always show them that you sincerely appreciate it. Your actions speak louder than words.

I want to quick talk about my latest "feel good moment." I was at a chapter banquet on Friday night. At the end of the night, I had a chance to talk with the officer team and tell them what a great job they had done. The chapter president, Joy, pulled me aside and said it meant so much that I had come and how my speech had such a good message. Then she kept talking about how much of an inspiration I had been to her over the past year. She told me that many officers in the past had seemed fake to her, but she thought of me as very real and genuine. I was already smiling big time by this point because she was making me feel so good about myself. Then she told me that she always is thinking of how she could be like me and how she strives to be like me. Wow, what an amazing thing to have a person tell you. I'm still on a high from the things she told me that night. It only took her a few short seconds to tell me those things, but the impact of those seconds will last a lifetime for me.

Fear

Tonight I had a chapter banquet to attend. Part of my speech talked about how many people live their lives in fear and how we need to look at each opportunity with the attitude that something good could happen instead of something bad that could happen. On my way back home I started to think about fear. What are you afraid of?

Some people are afraid of typical things like small spaces, darkness, spiders, heights, etc. Not me. I'm afraid of failing. I'm afraid of success. I'm afraid that I will live a life of loneliness. I admit, I can be somewhat materialistic and there are a lot of things I feel that I not only want, but need, even though I really do not. Despite that, there are 3 things that I hope to have in life and they are really quite simple:

1. Get married
2. Have 2 (maybe 3) kids
3. Be happy in the things I do

Ultimately, I feel that if I have a person that will put up with me and love me for me no matter what, I'll be happy to have them by my side forever. Kids would bring an even bigger purpose to my life and being a mom seems so fulfilling and selfless. As of now, I'm okay with not being a mom for a few years yet; but I know it will be amazing when it happens. It would be incredible to know what it feels like to care about another human being more than I care about myself; I feel that a child would fulfill that feeling. Lastly, I want to live a happy life. Who doesn't? I want to feel satisfaction from my career, the things I am involved with and be happy with my family. These things really are quite simple and I feel that if I have these 3 things in life--I will have all I need.

What makes you...YOU?

Have you ever wondered what makes you, well, you? I've always been fascinated by how everyone in the world is so different. To be honest, I think it's a good thing because how boring would our world be if we were all the same? But despite that, we are all different, we are all our own person, and the things that make up who we all are is different for each of us. Attempting to describe myself seems like an impossible task, but if I were to try I would talk about qualities I possess and try to come up with words to describe my personality. No matter what these things are, it still provides no insight to who Emily really is.

I'm hard working, sincere, motivated, dedicated, committed, shy, outgoing, creative, fun, secretive, and caring--just to name a few. But what do those things truly mean? For example, I'm only dedicated to the things that I am passionate about like FFA, friends, family, horses, living life, etc. I'm shy around people I don't know, yet outgoing around the people I love. I'm creative in an artistic way. I like to draw, scrapbook, come up with news ideas for different things in my life. I'm secretive because I can actually keep a secret, which is something I find that majority of people can't do (but that's a whole new topic for another blog post). Even though I've elaborated, it's still hard to know who I truly am.

I have a very dry sense of humor and find many things that are not funny very funny. I laugh at the most random things and myself most of the time. I enjoy the simple things in life, like the sound of running water, hoof beats, violins, sunsets, beaches, being somewhere new, traveling, fall, spring, flowers, the smell of hay just to name a handful. I'm extremely laid back yet a perfectionist in the things I do. I am very hard to make mad. I complain a lot. I'm have self-confidence, but I still have insecurities.

I enjoy spending time with my two horses: Sage and Vogue. They rock my world and I've learned so much from them...I know it sounds weird, but animals teach us things. I love to read leadership, heroic autobiographies and biographies, fantasy and psychology related books. I like to work out, yet rarely seem to get around to it. I like to just be outside whether it's around a campfire, camping, going to the beach or being around my horses. I love the outdoors and I am definitely not a girly-girl when it comes to being outside.

No matter what I say to talk about myself, I don't feel like a person can truly get to know another person by just reading something descriptive about themselves. You don't know a person until you spend time with them and get to know them on a personal level so you know their quirks, habits (good or bad), body language, how they talk and how the act. But I think there is still more to it then that. I think the biggest thing that makes a person who they are is their upbringing. Was it good? Was it bad? Did they experience negative or positive events that will forever shape them? The choices a person makes also plays a role in who we all are. Our childhood, our family, our friends, our experiences, our past...all make us who we are and play a huge role in the people we become.