You need a valuable break from the chaos of life.

Thought of the Day:

"It's OK to take a break." Penelope Winthrop

Let's get down to it—if you're feeling overwhelmed by work, your social life, family, etc—then I'm here to tell you that it's OK to take a break. In fact, you probably need one to mellow you out and ground your nerves. Life can be so hectic and emotionally charged, especially when bad things occur in our lives. And, when something bad happens, you definitely need time for yourself because you're human and those emotions you're feeling aren't going to go away. That includes taking much-needed breaks from social media and outings. The social gatherings and social media accounts aren't going anywhere. They'll still be there when you come back from your break. 

For example, I stopped my social media posts because I really needed some time for me, my boys, and a couple of writing projects that have been sucking away at my soul. I really needed to recharge my batteries. It was obviously temporary because here I am again. Not only that, but I find that social media is draining and sometimes disappointing. Am I the only person that finds social media to exhausting at times?? I have my reasons for this, but I'll save that for my writer's blog because it's one of my pet peeves when it comes to social media marketing—using an automated interactive system to post comments, like posts, and follow people—HUGE pet peeve. 

Anyway, maybe you've been let down by friends or family—you know, not all of them, it's more like the ones you think you can count on that you really can't count on for anything at all or that one person you've loved for the longest time and they never seem to appreciate you in the way you deserve. In general, life can be disappointing and sucker-punch you when you're not looking. (Not to say that I'm truly disappointed right now because I have some extremely exciting things going on at the moment, which is part of why I stopped posting. I needed to take a little time out to reorganize—and that's essential too!) 

When someone rips your heart into a million pieces, it doesn't just hurt. Sometimes you sit there unable to feel anything before an overwhelming feeling of sadness washes over you. It fucking sucks. When you don't accomplish a goal, it's not just disappointing—it can make you feel somewhat inadequate or lazy. I could list things for days, but I won't bore you with that! I try to keep things into perspective. Bad things happen and things don't always go my way, but I still wake up thankful that I am here to keep pushing forward and face another day. 

When you realize that you can't control everything and that it's OK to be sad or disappointed, then life becomes a tad easier. Also, teaching yourself to be aware of your emotions and allowing them to pass will improve your life tremendously, especially if you're an emotional person like me. Points in your life are temporary because things are changing and moving constantly. Whatever you're upset about today, chances are you won't even give it a second thought a year or two from now. Never stop living or trying. If you suck at life today, go to bed early and set that alarm because tomorrow's a new day, sunshine! 

Sometimes people don't realize how valuable a break from the chaos of life really can be. What are some methods you use to refresh from your hectic schedule? Sound off in the comments below! 

Thanks for reading! Have an amazing day! 

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Thought of the Day: Work hard in silence

Thought of the Day:

"Work hard in silence, let your success be your noise." Frank Ocean

You know, I'm a writer who writes about a number of things on the internet—including my daily goals at times. However, you don't know every personal detail about me or how I spend my days. If you knew me years ago, you would not have seen my current life coming because I didn't spend it doing what I do now. I wasn't going far then, but I'm definitely going places now. Not only that, I quite enjoy what I'm doing.

My first mistake was sharing the details about how I wanted to better myself. The issue I've run into with this is when people find out you're trying to better yourself, some are going to throw their full support behind you. However, often many will criticize you and doubt your capability. It can be disheartening, to be honest. Do not buy into what they're selling. Once you figure out what you want from life, go get it—and don't tell anyone associated with your personal life because they tend to be your worst critics.

Another issue with telling everyone the details of your life, especially when you're trying to make something of yourself is that when you fail—and you're going to fail at something—some people throw negative vibes all over the place. I've failed many times throughout the years. The one thing that separates me from the people who give up is that I knock off the dirt and keep moving forward.

Don't tell people about your failures—ever. It gives people ammunition to sling at you for their own petty reasons. If you have already let everyone in on the details of your goals and failures, then ignore the negativity because you don't need that in your life. Finally, stop telling them anything at all.

Seek out like-minded individuals working toward similar goals. Surround yourself with these people because they're going to be the ones to motivate you when you're down, especially people who are already more successful than you. Trust me, you want those people in your life—not the broke person who keeps asking to borrow money, but never wants to get off their rear and work for it! And you certainly don't want someone in your life who keeps telling you that you're a loser or your goals are unattainable—because that simply isn't true.

A few more tips for the road:

• Trust and believe in yourself. 
• Talk yourself up in the mirror every day if needs be.
• Remember, positivity alone will not produce results or progress. You have to work for it. 
• Wake up every morning with your goals clear in your mind. 
• Write your goals down.
• Don't allow someone's fear of failing impact your confidence.
• Connect with those who support your dreams. 
• Seek out a mentor or two.
• Failing is part of the process. Learn from it and try again.
• If you're overwhelmed, take a break. A day off will leave you refreshed and ready to go again.

Believe in your dreams. If everything falls apart on a single day, it's OK. Keep in mind that we all fail at something every single day. Brush yourself off and try again tomorrow.

Have a wonderful day! Thanks for reading!

If you found this helpful, feel free to share it with your friends and family!

Thought of the Day: The only disability in life is a bad attitude.

Thought of the Day:

"The only disability in life is a bad attitude." Scott Hamilton

A photo posted by Crystal (@penelopewinthrop) on May 5, 2016 at 2:46am PDT

There are people who have gone through incredibly horrible circumstances in life, but at the end of the day—they are still smiling and their heart is full. It puts me to shame to think about some of the times I've felt irritated about certain things. For instance, one being that I decided to stay at home, and homeschool my children. We transitioned to regular school this past year, but prior to that, I felt annoyed sometimes. It felt like I was being held back from achieving my goals, which isn't entirely true. I simply had a bad attitude about it at times, not just because of that, but I felt unappreciated—even though it was really all in my head. I know my boys adore and love me.

Everyone thought I was "superwoman" to stay at home and teach them when all I felt was annoyed by it. I think, if I had just changed my attitude, then I would have felt better about myself and teaching. I probably would have gotten more accomplished as well. When I look back on it, I'm glad that I did, and since I can't change the past, I focus on my attitude now.

Parenting is especially frustrating at times. We're entering the "tween" phase with one of my boys and it's starting to become challenging, but we have always had a clear communication channel. Yesterday, we had an incident in the morning. I'm glad I had the day to take a break and readjust my attitude because that morning, I really wanted to scream. We worked through it once school was over and we were settled at home again. As parents, your attitude influences and shapes your child's behavior in many ways. If you think about it, your attitude essentially shapes the outcome of many things in your life—relationships, career, happiness, etc.

A negative attitude and rude behavior will cost you a lot of things in life. Shoot for the moon and aspire to be better, but at the same time, be content with what you already have. Don't look down on the things you currently have because if you have a condescending attitude now, it isn't going to improve once you are finally successful. Once you reach your milestone, you will probably be satisfied for a while, but then you will begin to long for more. It's a harsh and never-ending cycle.

Money can't buy you a positive attitude either. You could win the lottery today—and sure, you would be extremely elated, but that feeling only lasts for so long. Plus, most people who hit the lottery don't know how to manage money and end up in worse shape than before they won the lottery.

Another thing to consider is that a bad attitude can make or break your success. For example, I knew someone who owned a company that had great potential, however, he treated his employees horribly if something wasn't going according to plan. Instead of approaching an issue calmly, he talked down to others simply because he felt that he could. Eventually, his company went under and he still owes a lot of people money. You can't expect to do well if you treat people like garbage.

Have you ever been stuck in a rut? What did you do to get out of it? To shake off the negativity, I go off to clear my mind. I take a walk or meditate/do yoga. I love walking along the beach or on a hiking trail. Some quick tips:

• Be grateful for what you have
• You are loved
• Let go of imperfections and accept yourself for who you are
• Live in the here and now
• Actively choose to be positive
• Cut the negative people from your life
• Clear your mind 
• An idle mind can be destructive - Find a purpose/goal
• You are in control
• Figure out the problem
• Speak positively—yes, it works

Everyone has a bad day every now and then, but you are completely in control of your attitude. A bad attitude can absolutely be changed. You are in control. Do you have any tips that you would like to add? Leave it in the comments below! If you found this helpful, please share it with your friends or family! Thanks for reading!!

Thought of the Day: Decide to be Amazing

Thought of the Day:

"Decide to be amazing, and then work hard to reach your goals" Penelope Winthrop

A photo posted by Crystal (@penelopewinthrop) on Apr 12, 2016 at 7:19am PDT

They say, "mind over matter," right? While that's true, if you change your way of thinking—you also have to change your actions. You can be amazing by making the right decisions and then by acting on them. You want to be successful? Well, then you're going to have to work for it. Success isn't going to come overnight.

Nothing worth having is ever going to be easy to achieve. Be ready to work longer hours than others because behind every successful person is hours of hard work and struggles. Prepare to be in it for the long haul. If you happen to achieve your goals faster than you planned, then great, but if you don't then you won't be disappointed.

Do you struggle with making changes in your life? How do you go from working the minimum to putting in extra hours to go after your dreams? Start small. Implement a small change—and do it every single day. Don't forget the weekends! The more gradual the change, the easier it will be to implement it—especially if you're a stubborn person like me.

For instance, I wanted to start waking up at 4:30 a.m. every single morning. The problem is that I love sleeping. I didn't want to wake up that early, even though I knew I needed to make this change to my life. And, despite knowing that this change was necessary, I would set my alarm and every.single.morning, I would hit the snooze button. I mean, does anyone really want to climb out from under their comfy covers to begin work for the day?? After hitting the snooze, I would change the alarm to 6 a.m. when I had to wake up to get my boys ready for school. Hey, I may have had issues getting up for myself initially, but I always manage to leap out of bed for them. I put them ahead of everything—including sleeping in.

Needless to day, it was an incredibly frustrating cycle. The worst part is that I was the only person in control. I had all the power to get my butt out of bed then, but I chose not to get up. Therefore, I decided to change my approach. I set my alarm for 5:45 a.m. and over a period of about three weeks, I managed to move my wake-up call to 4:30 a.m. It took a while for my body to accept that I was going to wake up super early, but when I finally got through an entire week of my new routine—boy, it felt amazing.

Now, I'm up at 4:20 a.m. every morning. I even wake up early on the weekends, and I'm happy about it! I have my coffee, I work on some writing or pictures. I complete a few things that I never manage to accomplish at other times of the day simply because life is busy. Every day, I try to take as many small steps as I can toward the future I desire. I want it so badly that I can taste it. I know that it's probably going to take longer than I'd like to achieve my goals, but that's OK—I'm in it not only win it but to inspire others to do the same.

Make the decision to be amazing, and then act on it. Take one teeny, tiny step at a time toward your goals in life, and don't expect to see immediate changes. Celebrate your accomplishments as they come. Success won't come to you as fast as you probably want it, but in a year from now when you look back, you will be able to see the difference.

Thanks for reading! If you liked this, feel free to share this with your friends and family!

Thought of the Day: Don't Dwell on Mistakes

Thought of the Day:

"Don't dwell on mistakes from the past." Penelope Winthrop

A photo posted by Crystal (@penelopewinthrop) on Mar 12, 2016 at 2:34pm PST

You can regret your mistakes and regret hurting the people in your life, but you're not going to gain a single thing by dwelling on them. Instead, learn from them and actively work to avoid making them again. Everyone makes them, but one key difference between those who move past them and those who don't is that they don't sit around wondering what they could have done to change it. They let it go.

Focus on the here and now. If you're focused on the disappointments from the past, then you're going to miss a chance to turn the page and find something new. If you botched an opportunity, look for more. There is always something else out there. 

If you failed in the past, then look at it this way: You've discovered one way NOT to do something. Don't be afraid to try again, but this time—do it differently. Face your fears. If you're unsure about how to move forward, reach out to someone who has been in your shoes. Pick up a book or do some research online. There are many excellent resources, but don't remain stagnant by doing absolutely nothing.

Get motivated about what you can do today. What you put in today is going to determine your future. Always give 100 percent!! Have an amazing day, everyone! 

Thought of the Day: You Become What You Envision

Thought of the Day:

"No matter where you turn in life, you're always going to encounter a problem. It's how you react that determines whether you spring back or not." Penelope Winthrop

A photo posted by Crystal (@penelopewinthrop) on Mar 19, 2016 at 3:01am PDT

Every single person around the globe has problems. Some people face situations you couldn't even begin to fathom. Some are in these scenarios every single day of their lives. 

My life certainly is far from perfect, but I made a conscious decision not to zoom in on them because if I did, then I would probably have a very negative attitude and outlook on life. And, honestly, I don't want to live like that. I don't want to be unhappy because my life isn't perfect. 

I choose to focus on the things that matter and make me happy. I choose to appreciate the good things I have in my life. I keep a positive attitude. YES, I wake up every day feeling thankful and blessed that I'm still here to influence my children and make a difference in their lives. Keep moving forward every single day—even if it's just a little bit at a time. Learn and grow as an individual as you go through life. You become what you envision.