The present is here, LIVE IT

Dear World,
Hello. I am Chantel Ruby. I am a young, enterprising college student and a self-titled lover of all things beautiful. And for the longest time I was certain that if I created a blog I would have nothing interesting to say. However, as part of a class I am now entitled to publish my own opinion and receive credit for it. Truthfully, I couldn't have asked for a better excuse!

Today was the first day of my 4th semester of college in a row. I've attended classes for 14 months straight, and my brain is threatening to shut down from abuse. And the first day of class didn't help either, because I was attending classes in my major for the first time. I couldn't be more excited to get a head start into my future, but at the same time I couldn't feel any more intimidated. You see, I'm in the business program. Not only is the program predominantly male, but I can safely say that I am probably one of the youngest students in the program. My information systems and finance class might as well have been in a different language! For the first time in my long academic career I felt totally inadequate. I'm sure that as the classes go on I'll be able to learn the language and get my excitement for learning back, but in the meantime my brain is in shock.

But you aren't reading my blog to hear about my woes! My goal in this blog is to focus on the positive, beautiful things in life. Hopefully when you read my thoughts you will be uplifted and find yourself smiling. I do pride myself in my ability to laugh and make others laugh.

I love music, art, architecture and quotes that catch me off guard. I'm so grateful when any of these forms of art make me stop to reevaluate how I'm living my life. One quote I found recently is by President Thomas S. Monson, and it changed my whole paradigm for the future. I loved it so much that I spent a half hour formatting it onto a page to print out and place in the front part of my binder. It reads:

‎The past is behind us, learn from it. 

The future is ahead, prepare for it. 

The present is here, live it. 

Choose your friends with caution, 

plan your future with purpose, 

and frame your life with faith.

Life is beautiful. And the darker, stormier days of life make us appreciate the sunrise and warmth of brighter days even more. I will never ever say that I've had a hard life, because I know that I've been pretty lucky and richly blessed. I won't deny that somedays are harder to make it through than others, but thats what makes life worth living! The future is bright, and right at our fingertips. Every obstacle is a chance to grow into the person we can only dream of, a chance to become our best possible self.