I find myself increasingly ridden with anxiety with the passing of any life milestone. Not the kind of anxiety that leads to a single panic attack, but the kind that gets you so wrapped up in your mind that you can't even focus on anything except for how badly you feel. I've been continuously trying to dissect why exactly I feel this way. I've come up with this central point of contention in my mind- Am I where I'm supposed to be? Everybody struggles with this question at some point I'm sure; however, this question literally keeps me up at night. We live in this society that idolizes social media so much that we expect what we see on Instagram to be everyone's normal, everyday, average lives. Yet, we are also expected to work ourselves to the bone until the day we die. This is where my internal battle ensues. I want this beautiful Instagram life, but we gotta have the money to do that right? So, where is the balance, and again, am I where I'm supposed to be? The only answer that ever calms me down or makes me feel comfortable or confident in my own life is that I believe there is something bigger than myself navigating my life. When I really get to questioning myself and letting the judgmental comments of others get to me, I stop and think... I may not be where other people expect me to be or even where I think I'm supposed to be, but I'm where I meant to be. We don't get to control every aspect of our lives, no matter how hard we try. There are always the unforeseen circumstances, accidents, and hardships that pose as obstacles for us all. All any of us can really do is try our best to live a meaningful life, whatever that means to you. While you're working and gaining life skills, you never even knew you needed - don't forget to take time to have fun and make memories. I know that I'm still trying to figure out what direction I'm steering my life. I struggle with what is expected of me by others and what I think I want for myself in my life right now. Can you relate? Audrey Hepburn said it best: " The most important thing is to enjoy your life - be happy - that's all that matters. " While I'm shooting for that Instagram life - I'll aim just to be happy. We should all just shake the stress, hateful and judgmental comments, and just be happy. XOXO, Hunter While I teach for some deeply seeded life purpose I knew I wanted to do something right now to help make a difference. So, I became a Sand Cloud Ambassador! "100,000 marine mammals and turtles and 1 million sea birds are killed by marine plastic pollution annually.Our mission is to protect and save our oceans and all marine life 🌏10% of every purchase is donated to nonprofits that work to save these beautiful animals"
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One of the most exciting things, when summer rolls around, is that - it feels like a new beginning. The cool mornings, toasty afternoons, and chilly nights are like a cyclic reset to the day. Just like the summer days, we too can reset ourselves in three different aspects. Much like the three phases of a summer day, we can reset ourselves in three different ways. Reset Your Mind I feel like I preach on this a lot - But it is so true! We all have to really take the time to tend to our mental state of wellbeing just as much as we do our physical. Deep Breathe everyone. Summer is usually portrayed as this care free time with fun in the sun and not a care in the world. That isn't the case for everyone - summer can be a time of uncertainty. It can be the downtime in between some significant life changes and believe me that can make a fun summer feel miserable. But wait - we are here to reset these feelings. Remember when I said - Deep Breathe? That's the key... I know it doesn't sound like much or sound too simple to solve all of your problems, but its a start. Taking the absolute deepest breath you can, holding it for a few seconds, and slowly releasing it can act as a literal - Mental Reset. Once you do it, it can feel as if you just pressed down on a big red reset button in your brain, but this is so much simpler. Deep Breath - and press on. Reset Your Body Resetting your body requires a bit more work than just deep breathing even though they go hand in hand. Remember it is summer, so we all need to be drinking TONS of water. This has the potential to literally make you feel like the most rejuvenated person there ever was. A tall glass of ice water *mouth watering* during a long and hot summers day - color me reset. All jokes aside doing other things like limiting your sodium intake (yes, I mean nix the sunflower seeds), eating more fruits and vegetables, and MOISTURIZE. I can not stress this enough. The summer heat mixed with sunscreen or tanning lotion combined with long term sun exposure will take a toll of your skin. The kind of toll you can reset - so get out in front of it - use SPF and after you shower the best moisturizer while your pores are wide open is coconut oil. Coconut Oil has no added perfumes or alcohol - it may take a bit for your skin to absorb, but it will only take a few uses for you to notice a big difference. Disclaimer: Coconut Oil is fantastic for your body, but will clog the pores in your face faster than you've ever seen so please keep it off your beautiful faces. Reset Your Soul This can look different for every person. All you need to do to reset your soul is ask yourself what makes your soul sparkle. This can mean spending more time with family, finally going on that vacation you've been saving or all year, or just having some actual alone time. Try a mid-morning dance party! I know you're probably thinking to yourself there is no way you would ever do that. However, cutting loose to your favorite song and just taking a few minutes to let loose can be like chicken soup for the soul. If it makes you uncomfortable strap on your best pair of headphones, lock yourself in your bedroom or maybe the bathroom at work or supply closet and after a song or two, your soul will be ready to take on the seemingly never-ending summer days. Believe in the fact that you have the ability to Reset. XOXO, Hunter You know what else need resetting? The way we treat our oceans and marine life. "100,000 marine mammals and turtles and 1 million sea birds are killed by marine plastic pollution annually.Our mission is to protect and save our oceans and all marine life 🌏10% of every purchase is donated to nonprofits that work to save these beautiful animals" Hello Everyone, I have someone I'd like to introduce you to-- Meet Sand Cloud! Sand Cloud is an amazing company who's mission is to save marine life! They support six different organizations by taking 10% of the profits from every item ordered and donating it. They take part in beach clean up projects, animal rehabilitation, and make their Recycled T-Shirts and Towels from plastic bottles. Summer is quickly approaching and how great would it be if the beach towel you got this year served a greater purpose than just keeping you dry? Well, now it can - Oh Yeah, and I just became a SAND CLOUD AMBASSADOR! I'm so beyond excited to be involved with this company. Now, this isn't one of those things were I'm going to spam your eyeballs with not so vailed attempts to sell you something. I'm just going to show you the amazing stuff that I purchase so you can see the benefits of you doing the same. For my first purchase as an Ambassador I ordered: I'm so in love with everything I've gotten so far! Follow Sand Cloud on Instagram to see some of the great things they do. But, if you need a better reason to buy here is a fun fact- "100,000 marine mammals and turtles and 1 million sea birds are killed by marine plastic pollution annually.Our mission is to protect and save our oceans and all marine life 🌏10% of every purchase is donated to nonprofits that work to save these beautiful animals" If your interested to see how Sand Cloud got started just keep scrolling... If you are falling in love with this company the way I am join me on my mission to #savethefishies XOXO, Hunter
"Be like a snake; Only bite if someone steps on you" -Taylor Swift This morning I was listening to a Podcast by Kalyn Nicholson - Go check out here Coffee Talk Podcast if you haven't already- Anyway, she took this considerable dive into emotions and how to stick up or yourself by imitating a snake. Weird concept- I know. But, as she went on to explain, I started to understand. Snakes are very go- with- the- flow creatures until they are stepped on (or made to feel as if they are in danger). Someone could be mowing their yard, and the snake will move, or if someone moves the rock it was sleeping under it will quickly move away, why? Because snakes only want to fight back when they need too. As people, we could really take a lesson from this. Let's be honest 9 times out of 10 we react to situations (i.e., comments, things people say, or the actions of others) in the way of the snake- we strike. When I was listening to the Podcast, this was described as reacting with your ego. Your reflex is to respond to your bruised ego based in your own insecurities. For instance- the self-doubt we feel within ourselves- if we feel shameful or aren't confident with who we are as individuals- we protect our ego and strike. Heres the thing- this really isn't the healthiest way to handle these situations. This is where that Taylor Swift quote comes into play. We as a society need to learn only to strike if we are genuinely being stepped on. We have to determine if the hurtful words coming at us are something we should be taking personally or if they a merely a reflection of someone else's insecurities. If we try to take the words someone says in as if we had thought them ourselves- only then can we know how we should react. When choosing to react, we must again, respond without our ego. Express how we fell based on an action, not reiterate what someone did to us. This is SO much easier said than done! Trust me, I am working very hard to "only bite when stepped on." I challenge all of you out there to try and do the same. XOXO, Hunter
Greetings people of the internet! As I sit down to write this blog having consumed copious amounts of coffee, I realize that this may turn into a very wordy, very philosophical jumble of words taking over your screens- and I couldn't be more excited. Talking about something like self-confidence can turn into a boring- I've heard that all before type of topic- and yet as I type this, coffee in hand I know that this will be anything but. I recently had a conversation with someone, and it brought me to the conclusion that we all are made up of different versions of ourselves. I know, it sounds crazy, but hear me out. We all walk through life and take in experiences that make us who we are. Then, we hold the different versions of ourselves, built from our experiences and only let certain ones out whenever we choose to. For instance- in my everyday life I feel as if I'm made up of two different people- the logical, analytical, and extremely self-confident Hunter in one part of myself and the anxiety-ridden, fearful, self-doubting Hunter in another. Neither of which likes the other and that leads to many internal conflicts. These are just the versions I have in me, but I believe we all have our variations of this. If you agree- try to take notice of when which version of yourself comes out. When you look at it retrospectively, it can get trippy! My favorite version of me is, as you would expect- the self-confident one. I've noticed that when I'm at school or work that's when this version of me is at her strongest. I strap on my game face and give my all to whatever I'm doing. It's like the self-confidence is radiating through my veins to project this mask onto those around me so that they don't see the other versions of me I have tucked away. Probably not the best way to live- but I bet more of you can relate than we would all like to admit. So, where am I going with all of this? Self Confidence is like this miracle drug that enables us to get to a completely different level in life than we ever thought possible. Imagine a world where self-doubt didn't exist, and all anybody did was whatever they could dream up. Would we still have wars, or famine, or incurable disease? Would we have breathtaking architecture, eco-friendly cars, or maybe even floating houses? I say that we should all strive to be that Self Confident, driven, force to be reckoned with a version of us in all situations and see what kind of change we can bring the world. XOXO, Hunter |
Hunter FergusonHolding her Associates of Arts in Political Science, Implementing Beneficial Community Project, and having Led a Student Collaboration team at her college of attendance- Hunter chooses to blog about the world around her as well as her personal experiences in hopes of creating a Powerful group of like-minded people. Archives
July 2019
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