Just smile.

Today has been a pretty exhausting day at work, but it was so rewarding that I don’t care. My job helps me make a difference to people’s lives, and that is all I ever want to do; make a difference.

Put your hand up if you think you’ve impacted somebody else’s life, throughout your lifetime?

Truth is, probably all of you have.

Put your hand up if you’ve ever smiled at a stranger in the street for no reason?

You don’t know them, or their circumstances. You don’t know how their day has gone, how content they are in life, or if they have many family and friends around them.

Truth is, you have probably brightened many peoples’ days.

When you’re young your parents tell you not to speak to strangers, but as you grow up, communication with them somehow becomes more acceptable. You become more aware of the world and of the dangers in your life. Gradually you also become more aware of the fact you don’t need a reason to show emotion.

Smiling at somebody in the street or in a shop is a gesture that silently speaks a million words.

Make a difference. Smile at the next person you see.

Your smile could even save a life.

Courtney’s Imagination★

Are you beautiful?

In England the sun is shining bright and the forecast is set to be good for the rest of the week, so that is just something else to add to my good mood! This is the first post I'm writing to you whilst sitting in the sun, and it is awesome! The sun is bright, the tunes are blasting, and even the birds are singing along! I'm not just gonna drone on about summer though, don't worry.

The further forward I get in life, the further behind I am leaving my past. Obviously it’s stuff I will never forget because it’s all made such an impact on the girl I am today, but I know that my past doesn’t effect my present or my future anymore. The reason I say that it doesn’t effect it anymore, rather than just saying it doesn’t effect it, is because that’s a choice I made. I made that choice to not turn memories into regrets and let them hold me back from living my life and moving forwards.

I’ve probably spoken about this in a post before at some point and I know it is such a common cliché, but life really is what we make it. I used to think I would never succeed and I would never get anywhere in life, but now I am finding myself so much further above those expectations. Any expectations we set ourselves whilst in a bad state of mind, we are bound to excel past when that state of mind changes. I’ve been in a bad place so many different times in my life, that it always became my belief that I wasn’t good enough. When we start to believe negative things about ourselves, we start to ruin ourselves profoundly. The question ‘Am I good enough?’ is something that’s haunted me for a long time, in any and every situation, and it came from believing negative things about myself. All those negative beliefs, came from negative comments of others.

I don’t believe those things now, and I think the people who have said them are simply jealous and/or just trying to make their insecurities feel smaller, but it did take me a long time and a lot of mistakes to get to the point that I make my own opinions and beliefs about myself.

How many of you have ever called somebody, anybody, a name? Maybe a homeless person, or an elderly person?
How many of you have been called a name that you didn’t like?

Chances are, most of you would put your hands up to both of those questions. I’ll openly admit that I would, too. This is something I’ve seen too, I mean, I didn’t realise at the time because I was too young and hurting too much, but the person who used to bully me was being bullied herself. I believe that this is often the case. But if we gave a thought before we opened our mouths, we could more than likely prevent a lot of pain.

It may be a beautiful day, but there are a lot of people in this world that are not beautiful on the inside. Make sure you’re not one of them, and think before you speak.

Take a second to think about what you should say to somebody, before you say it. Words can speak louder than you may ever realise. Words can hurt somebody more than you may ever realise.

If you make fun of somebody, what do you gain?
If you compliment somebody, what do you lose?

The answer to both of those is nothing, but you can impact somebody’s life, by either. Impact a life in a positive way, and you won’t regret it.

Be beautiful.

Stay beautiful.

Courtney’s Imagination★