joelletienne

Who Do You Want To Be?

Header Background.jpg

who, not what.

I asked myself today, ‘Who do you really, truly, honestly want to be?’ Then I made a list, but it was more of a list of what I wanted to be, not who.

‘I want to be an author,’ I said. ‘A recording artist, a songwriter who can sustain herself.’ But those are all occupations; a way of surviving financially in this world (even if they are considered ‘whimsical’ positions by many people). The real question I should ask myself is, ‘Who do I want to be inside?’

      So I made a new list. ‘I want to be encouraging,’ I said. ‘Someone who keeps moving forward and finding the good in everything and everyone; someone who can be inspired, and inspire in turn.’

     I want to be someone who encourages minds and souls, lets them know they are not alone, and takes the dark and makes it beautiful. I want to love instead of hating; create, and not destroy. I want to make brokenness beautiful.

      Instead of wishing to be a certain way, try every day to be a little better than the person you were yesterday. Don’t wait for it to come to you, because it won’t. You have to become it.

      Tell me, who do you want to be?

Header Background.jpg

Determination ❤️

     One of my favorite words is

'determination'

. Why? Because it not only means

'the deciding of an outcome'

 and '

the firmness of 

purpose

— 

resoluteness!'

, but also because it is a reminder to

NEVER

give up

.

      When I was a dancer, I taught classes; it was so much fun, and I'll never forget the experience. However, when I had the onset of pain from a mysterious injury, I was feeling down. The doctors put me into a big, green cast because they couldn't for the life of them figure out what was wrong with my foot. 

    Then I was faced with a dilemma: should I quit teaching? I didn't want to even think about the looming possibility of my dancing career ending, so I tried to gather my courage and keep moving forward...

     So I taught classes with the cast on my foot. 😉 One of my students was even amazingly encouraging enough to create a depiction of my determination, along with a description (on the left).

    It's a treasure, lol. I'm never getting rid of it ❤️. The thing about determination is that it stems from something much more precious—

hope

. This is going to be a huge theme in my blog, running throughout everything I write; hope is very important, and it encourages so many incredible strengths

   Once you receive hope— and learn to nurture it— you’ll find that you have so much of it, you can share it with everyone around you. So

BE FILLED WITH DETERMINATION

when something comes your way!

     —Joelle :)

What's something you really want to do, but feel like you don't have determination to do it? Comment below, and we can get stronger together!

<!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:"MS 明朝"; panose-1:0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0; mso-font-charset:128; mso-generic-font-family:roman; mso-font-format:other; mso-font-pitch:fixed; mso-font-signature:1 134676480 16 0 131072 0;} @font-face {font-family:"MS 明朝"; panose-1:0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0; mso-font-charset:128; mso-generic-font-family:roman; mso-font-format:other; mso-font-pitch:fixed; mso-font-signature:1 134676480 16 0 131072 0;} @font-face {font-family:Cambria; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-unhide:no; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} .MsoChpDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; mso-default-props:yes; font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} @page WordSection1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.WordSection1 {page:WordSection1;} -->

<!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:"MS 明朝"; panose-1:0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0; mso-font-charset:128; mso-generic-font-family:roman; mso-font-format:other; mso-font-pitch:fixed; mso-font-signature:1 134676480 16 0 131072 0;} @font-face {font-family:"MS 明朝"; panose-1:0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0; mso-font-charset:128; mso-generic-font-family:roman; mso-font-format:other; mso-font-pitch:fixed; mso-font-signature:1 134676480 16 0 131072 0;} @font-face {font-family:Cambria; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-unhide:no; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} .MsoChpDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; mso-default-props:yes; font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} @page WordSection1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.WordSection1 {page:WordSection1;} -->