Saturday, September 22, 2012

Things I Believe

First of all, I want to thank my wonderful friend, Alexis, for making my blog header for me. I've been putting off the blog thing for a long time because I didn't have a header and didn't know how to go about making one.

My first post is inspired by one recently done by one of my favorite bloggers, Kym, over at Travel Babbles.

From the time we are little, we all have things we believe in. I used to believe that my middle brother, Ryan, was put on this early solely to make my life miserable, and, that Satan was going to come up through my mattress and take me to Hell.

I no longer believe that I'm going to Hell through my mattress, or, at all (okay, maybe some days I feel like I might be), and I don't always believe my brother was put on this earth only to make me miserable.

You can learn a lot about a person based on their beliefs. I also think you can learn even more about a person based on how they treat people with differing beliefs. Our world would be a much better place if we learned to respect each other's differing beliefs and worked together on our commonalities, rather than instantly saying anyone who disagrees with us is wrong. As I get older, I try harder and harder to really see the points of view of others, understand where they are coming from, and learn what makes them tick. I love discussing differing beliefs with people who are respectful and open-minded.

In no particular order, here are my beliefs:
-I believe you should always say "please" and "thank you," no exceptions.
-I believe moods are infections, both good and bad.
-I believe that sometimes all you really need to feel better is a big, fat cry.*
-I believe in a woman's right to choose.
-I believe that Italian food always tastes better the next day.
-I believe in being kind whenever possible.
-I believe that a good, "soul-cleansing" workout can change the course of your day.
-I believe I do my best thinking in the shower.
-I believe that a fresh manicure will always make me feel better.
-I believe the key to happiness is appreciating the little things in life.
-I believe that celebrating Valentine's Day is about being thankful for all of the love in your life, and not just about being in a relationship.
-I believe that a person should be able to marry whomever they want.
-I believe it's important to do things by yourself to truly learn who you are.
-I believe you choose how adversity affects your life.
-I believe you must love yourself before you can truly love another person.
-I believe that music is crucial to my survival.
-I believe that you need to rid your life of negativity, even if it's painful to do so.
-I believe in the power of prayer.
-I believe in doing and giving more than people expect.
-I believe it's important to acknowledge that you don't like everyone and not everyone will like you.
* = borrowed from Kym

I love the concept of this post. I've listed 20 things I believe, but, I know there's lots more that will probably make it into a future post.

What do you believe?