We Are Our Biggest Critic

Throughout life, not everyone will like you. Some people will make fun of you and bully you for the smallest thing ever. Even though we might think that others are our biggest critics, the truth is that we are our biggest critic. We all compare ourselves to others, wishing we were that attractive, that skinny,have the amount of money that they make and etc.

I will admit that I'm my biggest critic. I know it's bad but I always compare myself to others. I always wonder why they have a better life than me but then always have to remember that everyone has their bad days.My biggest thing is that when I have to make a decision,I'm always afraid that I'm going to disappoint people.

It's not good to reflect on what you dislike about yourself so I'm going to make a list of what I like about myself:

• I'm friendly
• I'm reliable
• I'm a good sister,daughter and friend
• I'm caring and kind
• I'm creative
• I'm helpful
• I like that I like to write
• I'm a hard worker
• I'm respectful
• I'm responsible
• I'm likable
• I'm lovable
• I'm compassionate 
• I'm generous
• I'm honest 

See, when you really take the time to think of the good things about yourself,you'll come up with a list. Nobody is the same,well twins and etc are closely the same but how boring would it be if everyone was the same? Can you come up with a list of good things you think about yourself?

<3 Amanda 

The Throwback Tag

1. What year were you born in? 1990
2. Do you have any pictures of yourself from when you were younger? If you do, show them. Below
3. What TV shows did you grow up watching? Full House, Lizzie McGuire,Even Stevens, other Disney shows
4. What did you want to be when you grow up and do you still want to be that? A mom,an Interior Designer, and a teacher. I still want to be a mom and a teacher.
5. Show a video of yourself when you were younger.I don't have a video
6. What were your favorite toys to play with? Barbies 
7. What's the most embarrassing thing that you can remember doing? One time at a friend's pool party, I thought their glass slider to go out in the backyard was open... it wasn't. 
8. Read something you wrote when you were in Kindergarten I don't have anything 
9. Three songs you loved to listen to as a child. Can't remember certain songs but they were probably by Britney Spears,Nsync,Backstreet Boys, 98 Degrees,Dreamstreet and PLAY. 
10. What was one funny thing you dressed up as for Halloween when you were younger? I was a clown, a baby, a ballerina and many more things.
11. Tell a funny story of something you remember happening when you were young. It's not really a funny story but I broke my younger brother's collar bone because he was laying in the dark in the basement and I didn't know he was there because it was dark.
12. Are there any special things you've kept from when you were a child? No, I never really had a favorite blanket or stuffed animal.
13. What was something weird you used to do as a child? Put cheese in between two pieces of bread,microwave it and then dip it into ketchup...Wait I still do that.
14. What's the scariest thing you remember that happened to you when you were younger? There was a straight line wind storm once and then afterwards we walked around the neighborhood and saw trees down, garbage cans tipped over, etc. We also had a tornado warning.
15. How is the world now different from how it was like when you were a child? The world is a lot different now. Being a kid is much easier than being an adult.  I miss just playing and coloring and not having to worry about anything. 

<3 Amanda 

Letter To Ex #1

Dear (I'll just call you by the first letter of your name) E,

Thank you for breaking up with me through text about 4 years ago even though you lied to your family about why you broke up with me and I had to tell your mom the real reason of you breaking up with me, You claimed that I wasn't communicating with you like you wanted me to but the real reason was when you kept moving my hand somewhere and I kept pulling my hand away, you got mad because I wouldn't do something, When I told your mom the real reason why you broke up with me, she said that you don't have any sisters, so you didn't know what you were doing was wrong. Bull crap, you were, I think, 26 at the time.You were old enough to know what you were doing was wrong. We then hung out again a few weeks later to see if anything was still there between us, I could tell that you still liked me but I wasn't sure about my feelings. You had to get groceries so I went along. We went back to your house and in that same hour your parents came over ,which was really awkward, We hung out a little bit after they left and the you asked me if I wanted you to take me home which I replied yes. Within the hour,I texted you and said that my feelings for you weren't there anymore.

I begun a new relationship within a month and a half after that night.At that time,I would considered us still friends but you still had feelings for me I could tell.I will never forget the night that I thought you were going to harm me. My boyfriend at the time and I were sitting in his car in the driveway and there was a loud knock at my window.I opened the door and you said "Amanda, what's going on"?  I quickly ran in the house and my dad said "Why didn't you leave?" We didn't see your car,so we didn't know you were at my house,  I tried hiding from you and ran upstairs to my room but thought that you could push me down the stairs so I ran and hid in my brother's old room. You came into the house asking my dad where I was. You found me and started yelling at me.You had me so close against the wall that if you would have pushed me,I would have smashed my head open. I was so afraid and you asked me what I wanted and I screamed at you saying "You know what I want? I want you to leave me alone".You then screamed back at me saying "Fine! I don't want to see you ever again". Then you walked away and your attitude totally changed as you apologized to my dad for acting the way you were acting. I ran to my boyfriend and just cried and cried. He went home and my dad took me to my mom's for the night because we weren't sure if you were going to come back and do anything. Your sister in law and mom were very mean and abusive towards me. They sent me texts and Facebook messages acting like I had just broken up with you when really we wasn't together anymore after you broke up with me and I couldn't see us being together.That was honestly one of the scariest nights in my life. If my dad wasn't home, I don't know if I would be typing this today as I don't how far your temper would have taken you.I had trouble falling asleep for at least a week because whenever I would close my eyes,what happened could replay over and over again

Lastly, since that night I have never seen you again,I know that you're marred now so I guess the nice thing to do would be to say congrats..I'm still looking for my right guy but I know God will show me who he is eventually

Sincerely,

Amanda . 

My Passion Of Helping Others

Ever since my brothers I were little, my dad taught us about helping those in need and paying it forward.  We learned that there will always be someone in a worse situation than ours.  He even started a charity where we would collect winter clothing and necessaries throughout the year and the Saturday morning before Christmas we,along with family and friends, go downtown and pass out the items to the homeless.

My passion has always been helping children so that's why I decided on Early Childhood Development as my major in college. I want to give back what my teachers gave me; support,encouragement and the feeling of them wanting me to be successful.I want to teach children from the start, right from wrong.

One main reason that I started this blog was to help people. I want to give advice to young teens and young adults,if they need or want advice, or just need someone to talk to. I've been through stuff, especially bullying for many years. I created a Facebook page, a Twitter and an e-mail. Feel free to contact me on any of those if you need someone to talk to or advice.

Facebook page: A Life Flipped Upside Down But For The Better

Twitter: A Life Flipped

E-mail: ALifeFlippedUpsideDown@yahoo.com

<3 Amanda

Bullying Needs To End!

Bullying was one of the main things that I had to deal with in middle and high school. I would get called names, other students would just be mean to me on purpose and one time in middle school another student tripped me in the hallway but a teacher saw her do it and the sad thing is I don’t think she got in any trouble. That same girl used to follow me in the hallways as we switched classes. I started to walk faster to each of my classes so she couldn’t catch up to me.

Bullying needs to stop!!  I have been out of high school for almost 7 years now and I still see acts of bullying when I go volunteer at an elementary school. There needs to be more acts of kindness and bullying needs to disappear!!  The facts are difficult to read. Did you know that 160,000 kids in the US stay home every day because of bullying, or that Eighty-three percent of bullying incidents receive no intervention and continue to happen(van der Zande, I, 2014).  If you see a classmate getting bullied, stand up for them. You don’t have to go over there and get into the bully’s face and tell them to quit being a bully. Go find a teacher you trust and bring them to the incident that is going on.

Bullying doesn’t always happen at school.  Bullying can happen through the internet, called cyber bullying. If you are being cyber bullied tell you parents. They will most likely tell you to print off what the bully is saying to you to use as “proof” if it gets way out of hand and if your parents and yourself need help from a higher level like your school principal or sometime authorities.

If you are being bullied and need someone that you can trust and want to talk to for advice, Don’t be afraid to contact me, I have been in your shoes, write a comment with your email and I'll email you. If you’re a bully, please stop and take a look in the mirror and ask yourself these questions:

1.      Why am I being mean?

2.      What makes me better than the people I bully?

3.      How would it make me feel if I was being bullied?

Now, I know that sometimes being bullied can make you a bully because you want to take your anger out on other people but if you want to stop being a bully, talk to your parents or a school counselor and let them know that you are done being a bully and ask them for help if you are having trouble.

After reading this, think of one way that you can spread the act of kindness? What’s one way that you can pay it forward?

Reference:

Van der Zande, Irene. (2014). "Bullying Facts and Solutions: Upsetting Statistics and 4 Actions You Can Take." Kidpower Teenpower Fullpower International. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 July 2014. http://www.kidpower.org/library/article/bullying-facts/

<3 Amanda 

The Impact Of Social Media

This month is Social Media month and these days, there are so many social media sites out there.There's Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr, Google+, and more. When I was younger,I remember having Myspace and then Facebook became more popular. Kids these days are growing up with social media earlier and earlier. I believe I got my Facebook back in freshmen year of high school and now kids in elementary school have one, which I have my opinion on that,

I have heard of people going off social media for 24 hours and to be honest,I don't think I could make it the whole 24 hours. That sounds really bad but when you have grown up on it and is on it everyday,then it would be a hard habit to break. Could you go off social media for 24 hours? 

Facts about social media:

• Ninety-two percent of teens report going online at least once a day, and 56 percent admit they go online “several times” a day. This means only 8 percent of teens are able to resist going online every day (Steyer, C., 2015)
• Seventy-one percent of teens say they use more than one of the following social networks: Facebook, Google+, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, Vine and Tumblr (Steyer, C., 2015)

Reference: 

Steyer, C. (2015). 8 Fascinating Facts About How Teens Use The Internet And Social Media. Retrieved May 9, 2016, from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/tk-facts-about-teens-on-social-media-that-are-really-scary_us_55a7c6f0e4b0896514d06eab 

<3 Amanda 

National Anxiety And Depression Awareness Week (May 2nd–8th, 2016)

There is something that people might not know about me and that is I have anxiety when it comes to certain things.When I was in my senior year, some tests in Ecology, I took in a different room because of the anxiety of not doing my best because I would see others finishing their tests at a faster pace than me and being one of the last ones to finish the test.

I wasn't taught how to drive that much,only a few times (by an older brother and my ex-fiance) but that isn't the reason why I don't know how to drive/have my license. Anxiety is a big thing that gets in the way of me learning how to drive.  Whenever I think about learning how to drive, I get nervous. I'm nervous that I'm going to get into a crash or when turning I'm nervous that I'm going to turn into the wrong lane and then again, get into a crash.

One of my goals this summer is to learn how to drive and prove it to myself that I can overcome my anxiety and achieve my goal. Wish me luck!!

Facts about anxiety and Depression:

• Anxiety disorders are the most common mental illness in the U.S., affecting 40 million adults in the United States age 18 and older, or 18% of the population (Anxiety And Depression Association Of America, 2014).
• Anxiety disorders develop from a complex set of risk factors, including genetics, brain chemistry, personality, and life events(Anxiety And Depression Association Of America, 2014).
• Major depression is a treatable illness that affects the way a person thinks, feels, behaves, and functions. At any point in time, 3 to 5 percent of people suffer from major depression; the lifetime risk is about 17 percent (Anxiety And Depression Association Of America, 2015).
• It is not uncommon for someone with an anxiety disorder to also suffer from depression or vice versa. Nearly one-half of those diagnosed with depression are also diagnosed with an anxiety disorder (Anxiety And Depression Association Of America, 2015).

References:

Anxiety And Depression Association Of America. (2014). Facts & Statistics. Retrieved May 08, 2016, from http://www.adaa.org/about-adaa/press-room/facts-statistics

Anxiety And Depression Association Of America. (2015). Depression. Retrieved May 08, 2016, from http://www.adaa.org/understanding-anxiety/depression

<3 Amanda