Guest Post: Ashley from "The Shine Project"

As many of you may already know, today's guest blogger needs little introduction, because she is taking the blogosphere by storm! I'm honored to have Ashley from The Shine Project visiting here today; she is an exceptional woman with ideas and enthusiasm that will change the world.

* * *

Hi friends! My name is Ashley, and I blog over at The Shine Project. My goal is to change the world, one person at a time.

"A Happy Girl is a Pretty Girl" -Audry Hepburn

I couldn't have said it better myself Audry! Seriously, how TRUE is this?! I heard this quote a while ago, and immediatly started thinking about the happiest people that I know. Even though they all look completely different, had different skin tones, hair colors, etc, there was one thing that was true in EVERY person. I thought they were all beautiful, and particularly, their smiles stuck out to me. When someone is truly happy, it's as if they glow, and can light up a room when they walk into it. They inspire you because you literally feel uplifted being around them. They attract goodness because they exude it, and people want to spend time with them. Happy people are confident. They know their purpose, have faith in themselves, and don't let others bring them down. It is no wonder they look beautiful.

Let me paint the opposite picture for you. I'm going to let you in on a little secret. Okay, maybe it's not so little, but I hope it will help those of you who who need it at this time in your lives. If you are on the alternative side to being a happy girl, there's a way back. I promise. You know how I know that? Because I've been there before. I know that sometimes our "funks" make us not feel pretty, make us overwhelmed, and we feel in despair. But guess what? THESE TIMES CAN AND WILL END. It's up to us to push through it, and to ask for help. We're not meant to overcome hard things alone.Now, I know the way back to being a happy girl takes a different amount of time for everybody. During that time in my life, I learned something. As crazy as it seems, when we focus on making other people happy, our burdens become a little lighter. Being around people that lift you up, and focusing on goals helps you get back to who you are meant to be. You know how in National Geographic where there's the heard of zebras, and the lions come out to get their grub on? You want to shout to tell the zebras to stick together and run, but theres ALWAYS that ONE little, weak zebra who leaves the heard, and is immediatly trampled on by the lions. {Okay, sorry for the graphic image...oops!?} When we try to overcome hard things, or try to find happiness by ourselves, IT DOESN'T WORK. We are here to uplift eachother, support eachother, and use our talents to improve eachother's lives. Doing this makes us HAPPY. After my short episode of "funk", I became that happy girl again. Do we all continue to have hard days? Yes! Will we always have times that we feel defeated, frustrated, and weak? OF COURSE! It is the process of life. It is how we learn all we need to while we are here. But we don't have to let our storms in life define us. Be Happy. Spread your smile. And if you're not, I'll tell you my little motto: FAKE IT TIL YOU MAKE IT.

I'd love for you to come visit me over here!

* * *

Now Go! Go visit Ashley on her blog and learn how you can get involved in her campaign to change the world! Follow her on Twitter and "Like" her on Facebook, while you're at it!

Have a great weekend, friends!