I am a very strong advocate for healthy lifestyles and trying to make the best you. I eat a healthy diet, try and run almost every day, take dance classes, etc. To get more motivation I do a lot of browsing through fitness pages on websites like pinterest. It's funny to me, because as I look through this one categorized section I see multiple things: people wanting to be skinny sticks, people who want to be super fit (some like body-builder status), and then those who want everyone to except their body how it is. There of course are the people who want a nice medium of all these things--which I tend to follow more. However, I find myself being bothered by all the posts about excepting yourself how you are. Yes, you should love yourself no matter what. I don't believe anyone should hate on themselves. But just because you love yourself, should you not strive to become a healthier and stronger version of you? These people are promoting against making healthy changes in your life. What are they doing on a fitness & health page? Constantly people are telling you, find someone who will except you for you. Shouldn't you want to find some body who makes you want to improve you? And when I say that I don't mean change yourself, I mean BETTER yourself. I want someone who inspires me to be a better person, and reach for my highest goals--not settle in and let myself go. I think this is a major problem in the way people are being raised to think today. People are being told to accept their downfalls, love their bad habits, embrace their the current conditions. If you're always staying stagnant, and accepting the now, how will you ever improve? I believe there is a healthy way to inspire people to aspire for greatness. You can keep up self-esteem, while pushing up your goals. People should be taught to aim for their best selves--the absolute best version of themselves. Aim to be healthy, intelligent, successful, happy, worldly, etc. etc. Don't settle for where you are at. My choir teacher in high school used to tell us the same thing everyday, "If it stops getting better, it stops being good." This same motto should be everyone's motto. Take a step every single day to better yourself. Don't accept things for the way they are, because they can always get better. My media professions professor gave us a list, "Tips to Succeed." Of course, this list was specialized for people attempting to enter the field of journalism, so I will only give you parts of it.
Tips to Succeed
- Be passionate--whatever you believe in, believe in it with your whole heart. Study it, share it, read about it, and write about it.
- Make a plan for yourself--without any idea of a path to take, you could easily get lost.
- Study abroad--learn about the world around you, not just the small community you live in.
- Work on bettering yourself--find a job; blog; read books, newspapers, websites, etc.; watch the news; get involved with charities; etc.
- Be productive--don't waste ALL of your time on TV and computer. Spend time making new friends, building a new hobby, working on things that need to get done.
- Take in speakers, museums, events--all of these things open you up to a new perspective, and show you things you may have never thought of or seen before.
- Volunteer--the best way to help yourself, is to help others.
Those are the parts I think apply to every single person, not just journalists. Everyone should be involved in the world they live in. Everyone should be striving to be healthy. Everyone should be continuously learning. Never settle. Every day is another chance to do something better.
