"You alone have the power to have, do or be anything you want"- BuddhaBlog

This is the last day of 2013, this is the last December 31, 2013 that you will ever get in your entire life, what are you doing to make a difference? what are you doing to make this day memorable? what are you doing?

I keep reading posts on twitter and Instagram about how people are annoyed about the "new year new me bullshit" and i'm getting tired of it. Why can't people set goals and have a purpose? I wish people would just worry about themselves. Having a new years resolution and setting goals isn't bullshit; it's beautiful.

So what if each year you know a person who sets a goal and then doesn't do anything about it.. how about instead of criticizing them you help them reach that goal.

A lot of the resolutions I keep reading and hearing about are:

Be a better person
Lose weight
Love myself more
Make money

All I have to say to the people who set resolutions and goals is "good for you". Having a purpose is something to be proud of! If you want to lose weight, push yourself to do it. It takes hard work to accomplish goals. You have to step out of your comfort zone and find that inner motivation and inspiration to do anything you set your mind to.

And it starts by ridding yourself of the negative people that doubt you.
They only bring you down

This is the last day of 2013 and you'll never get it back. For a lot of the world, tomorrow starts as a new beginning, but what about today? Tomorrow isn't promised to anyone.

If I get blessed with another day I wake up and I seize it. I wake up smiling and I know that I have to make the best of it. Forget about the negative people who are only bringing you down because they don't know what their purpose is. Have a goal and do everything you can you achieve it, we're all capable of greatness.

And each day I get blessed with, I'm working on loving myself. My resolution is to love me.

"Negative minds create negative people and it rubs off like the plague, stray away from the plague and spread love"


Happy New Year

"In the dark there may be fear.. but theres always hope" - Grey's Anatomy

Greatness is within all of us, but it is the worrying, the doubt and the lack of confidence that defeats us.

But in those moments when you do feel defeated.. you can't give up. Defeat and failure are a part of every day life and only strength will help you persevere through it all.

We live in a world that cares so much about what people think and caring is a beautiful thing but when you let it overcome your thoughts; that's when caring will begin to defeat you.

I tend to care too much, my mom says it's because I have such a big heart and a meaningful soul. But my lack of confidence takes over and I defeat myself. I am my own worst critic and I believe that confidence is so important because in order to get far in life and reach your goals; you have to believe in yourself. You have to believe that anything is possible because it is, you can do anything you set your mind to as long as you believe you can.

Worrying will get you no where
Complaining will get you no where
Excuses will get you no where

You must take all the doubt, the fear and the negativity and rid it from your life.
You can't settle for mediocre and just enough, you have to strive for more than that because when you believe in yourself you will achieve more.

Obstacles happen every day, sometimes twice a day just to see how strong you can really be. And when you overcome them it's a beautiful thing but you cannot stop there because when you get blessed with another day to live, more obstacles will keep coming...

But that's okay because you keep getting stronger.

There will be days when you break down and you feel worthless and weak, trust me they will happen. But you can't let those days break you. You are strong and greatness is within you. Never lose sight of the ultimate goal; happiness. Because even in your darkest days the stars will shine and the moon will guide your way.

And when you feel like you're having a weak moment, drive to a good place to watch the sunrise or sunset, the beauty of the sky always gives me hope.

"You will get there when you are meant to get there and not a moment sooner" -BuddhaBlog

"Whatever you give to life, it gives back. Do not hate anybody, the hatred that comes out from you will someday come back to you. Love others and love will come back to you"- Unknown 

Today started out as a beautiful day, I was up at 430 am with my production team filming for an upcoming film festival, we had to get the sun rising just right for the shot and we absolutely succeeded and it brought true smiles to all of our faces because the early mornings and the late nights are nothing compared to the feeling we get when we can convey our message and story through film. 

The beauty of life is creating, I live to create.

I live to tell a story through my lens.

When my day turns for the worst and I'm fighting back tears, my camera is my escape. 

That's what you need to do, you need to find an escape from the problems in your life, an escape from the people bringing you down. You must find an escape that washes all the worries away, even for a moment. Because honestly the worries may come back but that little escape that you can get gives you strength.. 

And I need all the strength I can get 

"What made her strong was despite the million things that hurt her, she spoke of nothing.. nothing but happiness" - j.a

I'm going through a lot these day.. but it's nothing compared to what majority of the world is going through. I cry about life and sometimes I complain to much and it needs to stop. Half the world is starving while the other half is on a diet.. Is this what 21 years of my life has come to?

I use the term "what is life" more than enough times a day.. mainly when things go wrong; which seems to happen a lot. 

But instead of asking "what is life" I should be asking what I can do to make life better.

Complaining gets you nowhere.

Times are tough, more tough then they have ever been in my life, but like I've said before "If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's.. we'd grab ours back". 

I'm just trying to better myself, I've never been selfish before.. and as much as I need to think about Danielle and think about my future, sometimes I feel like I'm in the wrong for wanting to focus on me.

All I know is, no one on this earth knows what the future holds, and no one knows if tomorrow will even come. I'm conquering each day that I get blessed with and I plan to change the world; one word at a time. Hardships make you stronger, at my weakest moments I need to learn how to wipe my tears, keep my chin up and continue to move forward. I will perservere on my pursuit to the ultimate goal; happiness. 

<3

"I didn't always know what I wanted to do, but I knew the kind of woman I wanted to be" -BuddhaBlog

My word of the day is Eleutheromania; because I truly have an intense and irresistible desire for freedom. 

Freedom from my mind

Freedom from all the pain

Freedom from the negative

Freedom from this place..

I am a wanderer; I could pick up and find a new place to call it home each year if I had the money to do it.. and honestly one day I will.

I have all this passion and drive and inspiration built up inside me and I wish I could set it free all at once, but it takes time. Everything takes time and like Buddha says "The trouble is, you think you have time". 

I could sit here on my uncomfortable dorm bed all day and write.. Sometimes my voice doesn't speak up when I need it most and that can be a problem, but sometimes I feel like I write because I don't know what i'm really thinking until I read what I say. I hope that makes sense, but to put it in a broader definition.. writing is my voice.

Finding yourself isn't easy; it's actually one of the hardest things you'll go through in life. But that moment when you do find who you are.. I bet it's so beautiful.

Not knowing is scary, but once you finally know... that's when you realize that you have so much ahead of you

"Always keep your chin up and your eyes looking forward. The rearview mirror is for the past and you should always be looking ahead" -BuddhaBlog

<3

"You must conquer yourself before you can conquer anything else. You must know yourself before you can properly know anyone else. You must love yourself before you love anyone else".
-BuddhaBlog

I am a women with ambition and drive, I am always doing something that is going to make me better and successful. I've been this way for a few years now and I've realized recently that I need to take time to appreciate myself. Yes, I said myself. Some would call that selfish, but if you know me at all and if you've read previous posts you would know that i'm a selfless person. My main focus is on everyone else and the world around me because seeing happiness from others is so beautiful to me.

Mother Theresa once said "spread love everywhere you go, let no one ever come to you without leaving happier". I live by this.. I live by this quote because my heart feels for each and everyone one of you. I would give the shirt off my back for someone who needed it more.

But lately I've realized that at least some points of my life should be about me.. In order for me to conquer the production world I must conquer myself and who I truly want to be. In order for me to get to know anyone I need to know myself, I need to know who Danielle is. And in order for me to love properly I need to love myself.

Confidence is key, yet so rare within myself. I'm to busy focusing on making others happy that I've realized that I haven't been happy... So I've decided to work on myself. It's honestly different and weird and difficult and it hurts a little, but in order for me to better the world I need to better myself.

I'll always be selfless, but if it takes a lot in me just to be selfish for once.. then I guess I must be doing something right. I've made a few big changes and I'm scared, I'll admit that. But there's something in me that's keeping me strong and I hope you all can stay strong throughout any hardship in your life because you are all strong; even if you don't know it yet. 

Trust me, this is hard. But in the end it'll all be okay and worth it. Have faith in yourself

You wanna know what hurts the most? Not knowing..

Not knowing if someone is okay
Not knowing if the one you love, loves you back
Not knowing what you got on a test
Not knowing where you stand in someones life
Not knowing what to do..

I used to have life figured out, every single aspect of it. I'm a planner, I love to plan things out and invite people everywhere and detail everything so the day/night all goes well. This is also a flaw of mine because when the plan doesn't go right; which it never does, I panic. I have a tendency to put EVERYONE first and i'll always be that way, that's something I won't ever change, but I need to learn how to add myself in there sometimes so I don't always end up hurt.

And honestly right now I'm hurting.
And I don't know what to do.

I have answers to everything, and when I don't have the answers I find them because I don't ever give up. Right now I may be having a weak moment, but I'll be strong and get through it. But with what's going on in my life right now, I don't just want to get through it, I want to overcome it.

Some people say once the spark goes out there's no getting it back.. I say once the spark goes out you light another match. Life works in mysterious ways and sometimes not knowing is painful, but it can also be thrilling. I just want to live in the now, I want to wake up one day and not plan a damn thing so I can actually enjoy a day without something going wrong. But even if something goes wrong I keep the smile on my face...

Some call that being fake, they say that if you just smile and brush things off that's fake, they say smiling even in front of people you may not like is fake; I say it's life. I'm going to enjoy myself and smile and be nice to others because I want to, not because I have to. This life is so limited and I say that all the time because it's true. Smiling even when you're having a bad day isn't fake, it's you knowing that no one can alter who you truly are..

Make sure you don't start seeing yourself through the eyes of those who don't value you. Know your worth even if they don't. No one can alter your views, opinions and life but yourself. You choose to be who you want to be. The only influence you should grasp is from within you.

I may be hurting, but I'll never stop smiling and neither should you.

If I could just pick up and move anywhere right now I would do it in a second and never look back. A change of scenery would be nice. A good breath of fresh air and a drink with an umbrella straw and I'm set.

Wise words from my father

"To enjoy good health, to bring true happiness to one's family, to bring peace to all, one must first discipline and control one's own mind. If a man can control his mind he can find the way to enlightenment, and all wisdom and virtue will naturally come to him." -Buddha

I'll be honest, lately I have been unable to control my mind. The positivity that I preach to all of you has been disintegrating and at first I didn't know what to do...

But then I went to my family for help.

I feel like I always overwhelm myself when there is no need for that. I put unnecessary thoughts in my mind and I end up thinking the glass is half empty. I hate when I become this way because that isn't who i am. I am a positive person who wants to enlighten people around me; so when I become the antonym of who I truly am, it hurts me.

The other day I went home and I talked to my parents; they are my best friends and when I need help most I confide in them. They raised me to be the woman I am today, so their advice means the world to me. I let out everything that was on my mind and I cried in their arms. My mom cried also because when I hurt so does she and my dad does what he always does; he laughs at me and my mom for crying and then gives the best damn advice on the planet...

He told me this exactly "Danielle, whatever isn't making you happy; change it, whatever is making you worry; fix it, whatever is bringing you down; drop it and do what you can to "make it happen". 

I then dried my tears and my mind went from a worrying mess to figuring out just what I could do to stop being overwhelmed and just be happy. Some say that it isn't that simple, some say it takes more than that but honestly if you want to be happy you must simply "make it happen".

The mind is a scary place, trust me I know. But the only thing you can truly control in this life is your mind. Happy thoughts generate happy feelings and you become happy. Don't let things in life bring you down and get rid of the people in your life that are holding you back. Set a goal and reach it; don't stop until you are where you want to be in life.

"Don't worry, just MAKE IT HAPPEN" -BuddhaBlog 

"There are two mistakes one can make along the road to truth... not going all the way, and not starting"              -Buddha

I believe that some people don't start a goal because society makes it seem unrealistic, I also believe that some people don't go all the way to accomplish that goal because society puts doubts into our minds.

This needs to be put to a stop.

Fear is fatal, we develop fears based on our surroundings. If you are surrounded by people who base their lives on fear then their traits will becomes contagious. We must stray away from this in order to reach our goal. 

I have been writing this blog since August 27, 2013. Clearly that is barely 2 months of writing to people that may or may not be reading these posts and becoming inspired. My goal when I began was to reach out to anyone and everyone who needed motivation and along the way i believe i have found my voice and my own motivation.

                               But recently I actually reached out to someone I don't even know

It brought tears to my eyes to know that my words got to someone and I inspired them. It only starts with one. 

You can do absolutely anything and everything that you set your mind to I promise! It starts with getting up and making it happen, it starts with having the mindset that you can achieve whatever you want. Society will not tell us how to be and how to think. Society will not tell us who we are. Only you can define yourself. 

"There's no room for doubt, only room for courage. I believe in you" -BuddhaBlog 

Aspire to Inspire

"Whatever words we utter should be chosen with care for the people that hear them. They should be influenced by them for good" - Buddha


Lately I feel like I haven't been able to motivate others. I live to motivate and to inspire everyone around me whether i know them or not...

As you know from my about me post, I play softball for St. Thomas University in Miami, FL.

Ever since i was a little girl i enjoyed playing sports; I had 4 brothers and a dad who was in love with football so sports were instilled in me since i was born. I tried ballet along with every other girl when they were younger i'm sure, but that just wasn't for me.

I developed a love for softball in middle school. I made the Varsity team as a 12 year old 6th grader but i stayed on JV for my friends who didn't make the team. That's what i tended to always do, I never thought about myself, only about everyone else, even if it brought me down. I realized my freshman year of college that i didn't love softball anymore. I didn't have that desire for it that i used to have and i wasn't sure why. I live every day to better myself and to better the ones around me and for me to have worked so hard for years gaining a knowledge for the sport and for me to work so hard to develop a skill for the sport and for all the love to just disinigrate into thin air right before my eyes... it hurt.  

After a few weeks of confusion I realized that my love for the sport may have been gone, but my love for a team worth fighting for would be imprinted in my heart forever. I questioned whether or not i should continue playing, but when i realized that the love was still there and that it was for the team and the motivation; I knew that quitting wasn't an option; quitting is never an option. 

From then on I wasn't playing because I eat, sleep and breath softball; i was playing because I eat, sleep and breath inspiration. 

I will never stop working hard and lately I have realized that i am more of a coach than i am a player. "Those who cannot do, teach". I know softball inside and out, but am i the best? No. I have the mindset to be the best athlete I can be, but I've realized that i wasn't meant to be a star athlete, I was meant to help others catch their dreams and become the best that they can be. I can help my team do 90 things on the field, but i cannot do them myself. Like i said, "those who cannot do, teach". I am a motivator, I am an inspiration. A lot of people would have quit a sport that they fell out of love with, but working hard and overcoming obstacles with a team that becomes family is better than anything. 

Lately I feel like I haven't been able to motivate others. I live to motivate and to inspire everyone around me whether i know them or not... and I hate the fact that i feel like i haven't been able to reach out to the girls on my team now. We may not be a tight close team, but i would bend over backwards for any of them, even though they might not do the same for me. Some people tell me to just stop, to just stop motivating them and i feel like that was the worst advice i could have ever gotten. My voice is the most powerful tool I have, and whether or not it is heard it will never be shut. I may not be able to get through to majority of the team, but it only starts with one. I refuse to stop, I refuse to give up, I will not settle. 

I'm a senior in college and i have a list of A-Z of what i want to accomplish. I will not stop, I will not give up, I will not settle. This life is so limited and we need to realize that we are entitled to nothing, we are privileged and we need to be thankful. I woke up healthy and blessed with a roof over my head. If that doesn't motivate you to do something with your life, then nothing will. Today is the last October 8th, 2013 of your life... What are you going to do to make it count? 

"Family comes first, second, and third... your team should be considered family" -BuddhaBlog

I will not stop

I will not give up

I will not settle

And neither should you