Nailed It!

Ok, the only reason that I say, "nailed it" is because I actually figured out how to create this blog, by myself, no help. Go me!
And thissss.right.here. will be my first blog post. Ever! Crazy, right?

Well, I feel like this will be a place for me to share my thoughts and feelings, whenever I want. Plus, I feel like a lot of my thoughts are constantly unheard. Maybe it's because most of them are pointless and don't really have meaning to most people, but I thought them, soooo.. that should count for something, am I right or am I righttt?
Also, please don't judge the way that I write. I never made good grades in English class.. I write like I talk and/or text. Hopefully it won't be too big of a struggle to read what I'm saying..

The point of my blog will be advice, venting and anything else that comes to mind. It may not always be the best, but sometimes writing makes me feel like I'm not alone with the obstacles that have been placed in my, so far, 19 years of life..
Including but not limited to the following:
I've gotten my heart broken, I've moved away from home and missed it, I've been defeated by the devil, been told lies and believed them, I've wanted to give up, I've cried until I couldn't anymore, I've lost all friends, all at once, I've thought I was good for nothing and worthless, I've forgotten how truly blessed I am, I've made huge mistakes, I've been rude to my parents when they have given me everything I need, I've taken life for granted, I've broken peoples hearts,  I've sinned beyond belief,  I've had absolutely no confidence in myself, ect.

The ones I italicized, put in bold and underlined are my main struggles.. Which is the key to the title of my blog. I've had days where I was nothing but negative. The only thing I was hearing were the lies coming straight from the devil, sitting on my shoulder. He just loves to whisper in my ear, 24/7. And the problem is, I choose to listen to him and believe it.
He never fails to shoot things into my mind to make me feel, good for nothing and worthless. He kills my confidence daily. Not only with appearance, but makes me think I'm simply..not a good person.
WHY would I believe any of this??
Because, he is extremely persuasive.. He makes me look down, when I should be looking up. My eyes should be focused on the One who made me. The One who has my heart, who knows me better than anyone else. And you know who that is?
YES! Ding ding ding! You got that right! Jesus, God, My Father, My Rock, My Everything!
Soooo.. You'd think, with all that confidence in knowing who He is, and what He's done for me that it wouldn't be hard to just look up and focus my attention all on Him.. But, it is. I don't know if anyone else has felt this way before but I feel this way, daily.

I want to be the one who is so on fire for God that everyone can see it. I want to show His light to everyone in the world. I want to change peoples lives! I want to give hope to the hopeless and encouragement to the discouraged. I have a good heart. And I want more than anything for it to be seen. But before I can do any of that, I need to get myself together. I need to start loving myself and realizing that I am beautiful (inside and out)..  that I am worth fighting for.. that I am someone who can change lives and light up the world!
All of this sounds so amazing! The challenge is, making it all happen and pulling myself together to make it flow smoothly.
I suppose that's not always how things work out. Life is full of struggles.
God didn't make things to always be easy for us.. He made us fighters. He made us strong. He gave us our love for Him to spread to everyone else so that we may all work together!

Maybe I'm just rambling on and not making sense now.. But I hope ya'll got something out of this. I hope to post something every chance I get or whenever something comes to mind. Good or bad.

I will end with this quote aka: the inspiration for the title of my blog..

"Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence."
-Helen Keller