It’s not what happens to you, it’s how you react to what happens to you.

Hello everyone! Welcome to my first REAL post!

So today I spent quite a bit of time making my blogalicious all fancy shmancy. And because I have decided that I'm "bringing back purple" (people just don't wear purple as much as they should) I have chosen this as my font color- as a sort of promotion. There are a few blogs that I have been consistently keeping myself updated with like Marisa's, The Neon Tea Party and GalaDarling's, GalaDarling (definitely check these out). I have decided that I'm going to make my blog about important things that I come across in my readings and day-to-day life and how they relate to general life- mine and yours. All types of sillyness is going on in my life right now. And I believe that this short passage that I read on Think, Simple, Now really turned my day around...

"I have developed a habit of not letting outside circumstances consume me. I have learned in the past that the events in your life do not determine the course of your life. Rather, it is your reaction to those events that will determine the quality of your life, and your life direction. In other words, it’s not what happens to you, it’s how you react to what happens to you."

From a personal standpoint this really hits home. The past few weeks I've been super stressed about many of the different events taking place in my life. Between moving back home from college for the next 3 months, organizing weddings all summer, and other crazy shananigans I've felt time after time its close to impossible keeping my head on straight. I find myself getting so deeply involved in minor problems that I lose track of the things that really matter to me- and that's VERY scary! I have finally stepped back and decided to accept that fact that shit happens. Shit happens and life goes on.

As they say- "don't sweat the small stuff". When something bad happens to you, whether you throw a temper tantrum or tell yourself to simply move on- life will go on. No problem in the world can dictate the rest of your life. One of the biggest life lesson's that you can teach yourself is how to deal with the crazy shananigans life throws your way. Develop a system. Here are some things that I find helpful with my crazy shananigans are taking over:

-Talk to someone funny. Sometimes laughter really is the best medicine. Talking out your problem out loud with someone can sometimes make you realize how silly the whole thing is and can be the best way to move on.

-Talk to your best friends, but keep your advice limited. I talk to a very selective amount of people when I'm frazzled and my crazy shananigans have taken over my life. But I value these peoples opinions greatly and know that they will send me off in the right direction. I often find that taking advice from too many people just gets confusing. Everyone has their own very specific opinion, and after you've heard 10 or so you seem more frazzled and confused then you started off. So get advice- but good advice!

-Exercise. As one of the wisest of our time has stated "Exercise gives you endorphins. Endorphins make you happy. Happy people just don't shoot their husbands, they just don't"- Elle Woods. Haha, just kidding. But really, exercises makes people happy. It all in the chemistry, I swear. Although it is a short term solution to a problem that is usually long term- at least its a solution!!

-Write it out. Start a journal. Write out everything you possibly need to write- no one has to ever read it. If you don't like writing on paper- write on your computer, that's what I did. I started a word document and called it journal. There's even a way to put passwords on it, just search 'Passwords' using the Paperclip man. If you don't feel like writing about your problem- just write in general. To be honest, blogging is a type of therapy in and of itself- write about anything at all!

-Start a long term project. Distraction, distraction, distraction. When I was going through the biggest crisis my life had seen in a while (super high levels of shananigans) I took on the project of making my sister, Shaina, who is a senior in high school, a scrapbook of her life. This scrapbook is going to be a gift for graduation. While I'm working on it, I get so involved that my mind is on nothing but the scrapbook and my crazy shananigans seem hundreds of miles away.

I hope this helps anyone who comes across crazy shananigans. And to reiterate it again - "It’s not what happens to you, it’s how you react to what happens to you." So don't get pissed- save the drama, tears, anger and just get over it!

Hope my first blog was entertaining and helpful- I'll be writing as much as I can so stay tuned to hear about more CRAZY SHANANIGANS...

~Misha