It's a silly thing to think about, but I've always been one to over assume or analyze situations or circumstances and that honestly takes out so much wasted energy and causes unwanted stress that I don't even need to be having. I've been fighting with the idea of not having to address my issues and just sit them out, but that usually leads me to even more analysis and agony. If only it was so simple. 

There have been times that I've been living in what could be, rather than what it is at that present moment. The thing about my anxiety is that I place myself in hypothetical, "what if," situations that don't even have a place in my scenario, or circumstance, for that matter. The worst thing is when it usually ends up okay and all I have is just another racing heart, beating at someone else's drum. 

I start basing my self-worth on what could be or what I think it might be. I start second guessing who I am and what I did. I know this is pretty vague, as I would like to keep some of my private life private, but I'm sure at least one person could relate to this feeling. What I fail to do is be present. I am not paying attention to the present moment for what it is and am just creating something totally arbitrary and irrational. If everything's okay, why worry about it? 

I guess it might be my want for answers, truth, or justification that everything is entirely okay. I would say I am a pretty compassionate and sensitive, too, so that stems from my want for black and white information.

I've thought about the way I address situations and to be honest, it hasn't done me any good at all. I need to focus on what I'm doing at that moment and that I am also worthy of myself and my own capabilities. There comes a time to second guess and rethink things, but I'm tired of living by someone else's means.

For anyone who feels the same way as I do, you are worthy of success, a great job, love, happiness, and everything in between. It's noticing first that you are capable of these things and no one else can tell you otherwise. Stop living in assumptions and be here at this moment. Try to be bold. 

While I try to embrace the beginning of Chicago spring, I've lately been drawn to a lot of floral scents even though my city has lack of flora to be seen. Perfumes and finding scents I like can be very hard because I don't want anything too strong and I'm very particular with what type of flower it is or what other notes the perfume has in it. I'm still trying to decide my favorite perfume, as the Jo Malone peony and blush suede is high up on the list, I have a couple other favorites that I can't put down. 

This first perfume is the Daisy by Marc Jacobs which I know is a classic and very popular perfume choice for many women. I would say that this perfume is on the sweeter side of the spectrum as it has notes of strawberry as well as jasmine and violet leaves. I love it when a perfume can be balanced with fruit so you don't get that overly dramatic wave of grandma that I truly despise in a perfume (sorry grandmas). It is very feminine and is the perfect flirt for any occasion. 

The next scent that I have been reaching to lately is this Michael Kors Rio de Janeiro perfume. It leaves a springy and summery scent. The notes are mango, honeysuckle, and jasmine. I'm obsessed with anything mango scented. It reminds me of being on the beach and enjoying the summer rays. It also has a nice blend of fruity and floral which makes this perfume not as overpowering. 

I think these two will be on my perfume tray for a while as I hope the sun actually comes out sometime soon. Perfume and wearing specific scents always bursts my mood depending on the day. What's your spring scent this season? 

Reading has always been a hard commitment for me. Once you pick a book, you read the whole 800+ pages and are tied down to turn the page after page. Over this spring break, I was motivated to try it again. I'll be honest, reading books that I do not know of or have heard of always makes me a bit nervous and I simply avoid them at all costs—especially nonfiction. 

However, my elementary and middle school mindset on reading has really changed and I am finding myself in writing as well as what I prefer to read. It's funny how a writer could despise reading because when I was little, I was never good at it. The motivation was never there to sit down and read a good book until I've realized that it's just as important as writing. 

Just recently my best friend Alyssa gave me this book called Thanks, Obama written by Obama's former speechwriter, David Litt. No matter what your political standing is, this book is nowhere near an obnoxious preaching of President Barack Obama (while there are subtle hints here and there), anyone can read this who is mature—and also immature—to discover the "salmon in the toilet" at the White House.

While I do have to confess, some technical parts of the story were slow (when he talks about the elections and campaigning for Obama), the mix of uplift and utter nonsense that occurs keeps you engaged and wanting to know the whole story up until the end of the President's term. While I read this on the beach in Miami, I was pinned to certain chapters because I find this topic so interesting; knowing just a little more about what goes on in the Big House is so cool to know. Such as how much investigation goes into hiring staff at the White House and walking through the halls knowing that you can legally be killed by the Secret Service at any given moment. 

You do not have to be a history or political buff to explore the life of a "hopey" speechwriter. I would recommend this to people who are simply interested in what it's like to work at the White House, or maybe even figuring out the secret to great speech writing (because there really isn't one). This is definitely a beach read and a good read at that. 

We walk along the city streets knowing nobody or what they do—it's amazing that a lot of people that walk by us all have different stories to tell and I think that's what makes biographies really interesting to me. That one person who looks like an average Joe literally wrote speeches for the President. For all of those average Joes or Sally's out there, I've learned that anyone can pretty much achieve anything if the work and persistence are there. As Litt says, "The cost of living the dream, I was taught, is the responsibility to expand it for others. It’s a more than fair price". As he explained it, working in the White House was and was not at times the best job ever. It came with its own reins, if you pulled it the wrong way, you were destined in a totally opposite direction.