Be Brave, Encouraging and Look for Lonely People

In the midst of my quarter life crisis (only slightly dramatic), I realized I need to zero on what I want my life to be about. 

And to do this, I need a motto. A short one. Because I have a short attention span. I need something to focus on every morning when I walk out the door. Something that can sink into my heart. 

It was like knowing the answer before I even asked the question. 

Be brave, encouraging and look for lonely people. 

Even if I screw up everything at work and overindulge in too much reality TV, I want my head to hit the pillow each night knowing that I spent that day being brave, encouraging and looking for lonely people. 

One of my dear friends went to an all girls’ college purposefully because she had trouble making girlfriends. She saw her weakness and tackled it. Today, she is a total girls’ girl. The best girlfriend you could ever hope for. A girl other girls just inherently trust. 

My motto does not necessarily align with my natural strengths, but like my dear friend, I want them to become the essence of my being so that one day I can look back and laugh about how there was a time it was not like this. 

Be brave, encouraging and look for lonely people. 

A couple years ago my motto would have been- be perfect, popular and achieve everything. Exhausting, right? Soul sucking? Absolutely. That motto does not make for a very good story. And we become the stories we dare to tell. 

Be brave, encouraging and look for lonely people. 

Exhale and repeat.