Of High Importance

My life feels cluttered right now. This week was a rough gauntlet to pass through, between school, work, my social life, my physical well-being, it's been hard. Today was a bit of a breaking point, and I've spent the last few hours thinking about how I can mentally de-clutter myself. My conclusion was that I need to find the things that matter most. One of my favorite talks of all time came from President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, where he said, "We would do well to slow down a little, focus on the significant and truly see the things that matter most" (see full talk here). Due to that thought buzzing around my mind, I have compiled my list of things that matter most:

1. Family: Honestly, this is probably my #1 for every list I make. And I don't think that's a bad thing. I spoke to most of my immediate family this week, and I didn't realize how badly I needed those little conversations. Today I was especially grateful for a dad who makes life suck less. The simplest of advice, to "just be the best Brooklyn", is something that I forget more easily than I think I should. Thank goodness for parents who care more than you can comprehend and for siblings that drive you nuts, but you also love so much it hurts and have your back no matter what.

2. Friends: You know when you meet someone and you have that first solid interaction that makes you think, "this is the start of something great"? I am grateful every single day for those moments. I have amazing friends right now. One of my biggest fears in coming to college was whether I knew how to make friends, because I had been blessed with the best group of ladies from 5th grade until we graduated. Luckily, I still got it, because I have once again won the friend lottery. It's berry nithe, berry berry nithe. (I try to avoid putting inside jokes in blog posts, but this one is too good to skip.) Shoutout to stellar people being stellar and making me feel like the funniest, smartest and overall best friend in the world.

3. Role Models: Recently I have purchased three books for my personal collection. They are the books written by Tina Fey, Mindy Kaling and most recently, Amy Poehler. Say what you will about these women, but I think they rock. The drive and passion they have for life and for finding their happiness inspires me to become a better student, employee, woman and person in general. In the preface of Yes Please, Poehler says about writing her book,

"So here we go, you and me. Because what else are we going to do? Say no? Say no to an opportunity that may be slightly out of our comfort zone? Quiet our voice because we are worried it is not perfect? I believe great people do things before they are ready...I yearn for the clean, well-lighted place. So let's peek behind the curtian and hail the others like us. The open-faced sandwiches who take risks and live big and smile with all of their teeth."

She kills it guys. She just said everything that my heart wants to say at any given moment and exactly how I want to live and it just reads so beautifully. 

     Sorry for the super long post today, but if you made it till the end, pretend that you just got a hug from your favorite person in the world, because that seems like a pretty stellar reward.

till next time, BK