Rainbows and Butterflies...

     I met this girl a few months ago... She is bubbly and amazingly optimistic.  She grew up a lot different from me and when she talks about her life and the way she sees the world, I am confused but intrigued.  She laughs all the time and even when she hurts she covers it with a beautiful smile.  She just graduated from college and is getting ready to embark on real adult hood.  I often joke with her that her world is made up of rainbows and butterflies and that the real world is definitely not that way.
     In the past someone like her might slightly annoy me.  The positivity would cause some negativity in my life.  Misery loves company and not the happy kind, if you know what I mean :)  I think back to the person I was 5 years ago.... That girl struggled to have a good day.  She let life hold her down and the unfortunate situations that occurred became her excuse for giving up.  I remember being her.  I remember feeling alone in a room full of people.  I remember thinking that I would just give up because that was easier than facing life head on.
    I am no longer that girl!  I have become a woman who lets nothing get in her way.  I still have my bad days but I always tell myself "There is always a little sunshine after a storm.  I just have to wait for my sunshine."
    In January I was introduced to this girl who would bring a different positivity to my life, that I had not experienced before.  She grew up in Northern California and attended a private catholic school.  I grew up in Southern California and attended a very public, definitely not catholic, school.  She went to college and enjoyed the "college experience."  I went to college and simply went to class.  She wears dresses and tights and cute flower prints.  I wear jeans and t-shirts, and combat boots... She see's the good in every situation and I definitely try my best.  We don't listen to the same music and we don't like any of the same tv shows.  But being around her is enlightening.  She comes from a place that I have only recently found.  A place where good always out ways bad, optimism is key, and thoughts of negativity never triumph over the positive ones.  What would it have been like to always see the world through her eyes?  To not have experienced hate, hate from others and hate towards others?  That is an interesting concept to me.  When she talks I can't begin to understand what life is like when nothing bad has happened to you.
      Don't get me wrong... I have led a very special life so far.  I am blessed with a huge magnificent family that cares for each other and gets along.  I have best friends that are more like soul mates.  I have a husband who completes my very being.  I have a job, I had a great childhood, and I have my health.  But I have also seen ugliness in more forms then I can count.
    I hear all the words she is saying.  I acknowledge how much more wonderful things are when approached with a beautifully optimistic mind set.  I want to see things that way and I think I'm starting to.  Im enjoying the small things, like beautiful weather, a cup of coffee, and a good blog entry ;).  I believe it's true that when surrounded by positivity, your life becomes more positive.  You begin to let go of some of your hang ups and just smile.
    I don't know if I will ever truly understand this girl and her ways of thinking but I am sure enjoying her company, her smile and the influence she has on my outlook on this beautiful life.  Plus, what harm has a rainbow or a butterfly ever caused anyone?

Written By: Chelsie Prince, Age 26