"No one ever takes a photograph of something they want to forget."

I've often heard people say that they have absolutely "no regrets." I just kinda find that hard to believe. I mean, don't they have something they feel bad about? Something they did that they wish they didn't? Or something they didn't say, and wish they had? Of course they do. They have regrets. We all have regrets. It's just at the time, when you're caught up in the moment, that you don't care about the consequences. I guess I've known a time where nothing else seems to matter. But, eventually, the world of what-might-have-been throws you out on your own, and your life comes crashing down as the real world sets in. Sometimes I wonder if the things I do were really worth it. I mean, they did make me happy once. I would never do anything if I hadn't any reason to. But, hey, I've been to that world of what-might-have-been plenty of times, and it's never failed to kick me right back out. Something just keeps me going back. And, as long as I have that, then the world of what-might-have-been may just one day become the world of what-is.

"You come home everyday to your hopes, your dreams, your everything"

And I have a question:
What is love?
What is love?
Love...
Is it giving up?
'Cause that's not how you raised me.

Everything we need is right in front of us. So, why are we still looking? The only thing you gotta do is just realize it before you lose it. The best qualities a person can have, I'd say, is to be reliable. There may be a lot of corruption in this world, but who's to say that all of the good people are gone? They're just hiding out somewhere in the midst of all this. Within our hopes, and within our dreams, is everything that can not be seen or touched. All we have to do is say it like we mean it. I know my words are vague, but I'm more of an artist than I am an author, and people interpret things differently. But maybe I can teach you a little something every once in a while. Here's a tidbit of my "wisdom": everybody needs someone to lean on once in a while. Why not be that person?

"You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step."

What is it that the Great Unknown has in store for us? For if it is unknown, who says it's so great? Everyone has to find out for themselves. We never know what life has in store for us until we take that first step into the darkness.The most important thing, I think, is to always be filled with optimism, and hope that what life has in store for us is only for the best.

I've come to the conclusion that I don't want to think about things as much as I do. Of course, it's always good to be a little cautious. But me, I want to do everything I've dreamed of without holding back. I guess it's a slow journey, but it's most definitely worth the while. Most of the chances that come my way, I take. Even if they don't pay off in the long run... Hey, I tried, didn't I? That's all that really matters. The people that reached the top of the staircase had to start from the bottom didn't they? You just have to take that first step.

"The biggest questions have the simplest answers."

What do you do if it's your last day on Earth and nobody knows but you, and you only have 24 hours to fulfill all of your life's dreams and let your loved ones know how you feel about them and you're not sure whether you should be sad that you only have one day left, or be happy that you've lived a life full of love and happiness and you still have a chance to make something out of yourself?
Smile,
all the while.

"Many say I am just one to try. I say I am one less to quit."

Things aren't always the way you see them. It may take some imagination to view something in another light, but there always is another light to view it in. I guess that's enough wisdom you need from a sixteen year old girl today. I kind of feel like I'm running out of things to say... maybe I should put some more personality in my blogs? Here, I'll try something new. From now on, I'll just type what I'm feeling without thinking about it for hours.
That's just my problem, I think too hard about what to say that I never have the chance to say it. But, of course, I'm still growing up. I'm still young. I'm still learning. And one thing I've learned is to never ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever give up.

"And when the sun shines, it'll shine out the clearer."

"It's like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo, the ones that really mattered.
Full of darkness and danger, they were... And, sometimes, you didn't want to know the end, because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened?
But, in the end, it's only a passing thing. The shadow, even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines, it'll shine out the clearer. Those are the stories that stayed with you, that meant something, even if you were too small to understand why. But I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand. I know now. Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back, only they didn't. They kept going... because they were holding onto something."
But, the question is, what are we holding on to?
Maybe it's that there's some good in this world, and that it's worth fighting for. because the end may not look like it will be happy, but how are we to know? We learn that these things are only passing things, and the sun will mark a new beginning. And when the time comes for the chance to come back, the only ones that will be remembered are the ones that didn't.

"The happiest people don't have the best of everything. They just make the best of everything that they have."

A group of graduates, well established in their careers, were talking at a reunion and decided to go visit their old university professor, now retired. During their visit, the conversation turned to complaints about stress in their work and lives. Offering his guests hot chocolate, the professor went into the kitchen and returned with a large pot of hot chocolate and an assortment of cups - porcelain, glass, crystal, some plain looking, some expensive, some exquisite - telling them to help themselves to the hot chocolate.When they all had a cup of hot chocolate in hand, the professor said: "Notice that all the nice looking, expensive cups were taken, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress. The cup that you're drinking from adds nothing to the quality of the hot chocolate. In most cases it is just more expensive and in some cases even hides what we drink. What all of you really wanted was hot chocolate, not the cup; but you consciously went for the best cups... And then you began eyeing each other's cups.Now consider this: Life is the hot chocolate; your job, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain life. The cup you have does not define, nor change the quality of life you have. Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the hot chocolate life has provided us. The happiest people don't have the best of everything. They just make the best of everything that they have.
Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply. Speak kindly. And enjoy your hot chocolate.
We don't need everything in the world to be happy. Sometimes, all we need is love and friendship. If someone were to ask me how I have become the person I am today-- I wouldn't say that it was because of my education, the amount of money I have, or my popularity status. In fact, I'm not the brightest. The money I have buys me only what I need. I'm not accepted by everyone. But, these things don't bring me down, because I think of all the people in my life and all the potential I have, and it's as if I'm on top of the world. The only reasons that I am happy, are because I live simply. I love generously. I care deeply. I speak kindly. And, I enjoy my hot chocolate, as well as all the other gifts life has to offer me.

I may not have the best of everything, but I'm happy because I make the best of everything I have.