Life isn’t always flowers, rooftops, and designer stores.

I know I’ve been quoted saying “life is good” in a few recent posts, but in all honesty life isn’t always “good”. Believe it or not, but my life isn’t always flowers, rooftops, and designer stores. As much as I like to glorify things and share happy times, I’d be lying to myself and to you if I said life was always like that. To avoid wasting time and getting too personal, I’ll just leave it at that – life is not good right now.

Now that I’ve set such a terrible mood, allow me to share a story and perhaps a little advice. A few summers ago I volunteered at a summer camp for little kids. During training I learned an incredible life lesson. My trainer/boss told me to smile at all times. Every day I showed up to camp I had to be smiling. This sounded a little crazy and torturous (and maybe even a little creepy?) but my boss explained why, “eventually that forced smile will turn into a genuine smile.” I decided to try this out. Waking up at the crack of dawn to deal with three year-olds was not something I wanted to smile about but there I was, greeting the little maniacs with a forced grin. The day sped by and before I knew it I was wrapping up for the day and felt genuinely happy. I continued to take her advise and some days were harder than others but not once did I end a day in a bad mood. I will now take this valuable life lesson and pass it on to you – whoever you are.

I usually wear black. Although today, attempting to turn my day/life around, I forced myself into brighter colors. And despite my newly developed insomnia and countless number of stresses I feel slightly better. Dress is from Express and sweater is from Zara.

The purpose of this post was not to gain pity (I pity myself enough) but instead to share my tips/advice/lessons/whatever-you-want-to-call-them with you, incase you find yourself in a similar situation.

Samantha