my boyfriend always describes buying things as an investment (and it literally can be anything). at first i thought he was silly saying this. how would he profit off buying a toaster? new clothes? or the new playstation? the more time i spent with this idea of investing in something though i realized just how wrong i was looking at it and how much i believe this idea can change our mindset.

as stated by the lovely, ever so trusting, dictionary.com invest can mean a couple of things. first and foremost to invest can be “to put money to use, by purchase or expenditure, in something offering potential profitable returns, as interest, income, or appreciation in value.” in this regard it would make sense why i would think that investing in certain items was rather silly. the majority of the items he mentioned wouldn’t provide a financial profit, but that doesn’t mean that it wouldn’t or couldn’t provide something else. to invest can also mean “to use, give, or devote for a purpose or to achieve something.” whether that means spending money, or investing time, talent, what have you towards something, profit could simply be less about making additional money and more about happiness, joy, and fulfillment. maybe a toaster won’t provide quite these things although i do like toast, but maybe the profit is simply that i won’t have to worry about buying another one for years to come. new clothes? profit in looking good and feeling good. new playstation? a hobby that bubs enjoys; a way to chill, hang with friends, and have some fun. i mention this all though because i have come to love this idea of investing and especially so when it comes to ourselves and our goals.

far too often we get caught up in social media:

“they have it all.”

“i wish i had that.”

“i could never.”

i get it. i have been there far too often - scrolling for endless hours wondering how they make everything look so perfect, thinking and reconsidering what i wrote for my blog because someone else wrote something seeming so perfectly and beautifully written that i thought why would people even read mine. or all of the times i saw someone else posting gorgeous shots from a recent photoshoot and i thought to myself wow why didn't i think of that or why don’t my photos look that stunning. it’s easy to compare and disregard our glory, but it leads to no where. our paths are so different from everyone else’s, even if our dreams are similar. how do you compare the sun and the moon? simple. you don’t. they are so unique. so why compare yourself to others when (and i know this is going to be cheesy), but when you both were born to shine. yes, i said it, but it is true. we all have a purpose and our goals are possible and achievable so stop comparing our step 3 to someone else’s step 23 and start investing in yourselves and in your dreams. it is time to leave comparison behind because all of the time we spend looking, wishing, wanting, we waste the time that could have been spending planning, doing, and accomplishing.

as i reread some old blog post i thought to myself man these are good like really good. even ones where in the blog post i mentioned not feeling it was good and i thought why? you are basically preaching at this point! but it’s easier to look at it later; weeks down the road after it has become less familiar and see it for what it really is. it makes me wish i wasn’t so hard on myself or that we (because i know i am not the only one who does this) wouldn’t be so hard on ourselves and our work.

invest you yourself.

invest in your dreams. invest in your goals. invest in your happiness.

because you are important and you deserve to be happy.

investing in yourself is truly a changing mindset because when you choose to invest in yourself you begin to see that everything you want in life is not as far as it may seem. further it provides you the space to pursue your passions and make moves. this year, 2020, i choose to invest in myself, at first without even really knowing it, by deciding to post weekly blogs. in doing so i increased my yearly website visits by 270% when compared to last year! that is absolutely insane! and it was all because i choose to invested in myself. i invested in my talents, my abilities, and my happiness in order to work towards achieving my dreams and goals. i still have a long way to go, but i know i am learning to believe more and more in myself and the talents that have been given to me.

thank you to my boyfriend for reminding me of this (even unintentionally) as well as always reminding me to pursue my hearts desires. i can not say thank you enough for the love and support you have given. this one is for you (seeing you felt i do not talk about you enough in my blog post lol ) but seriously though i am so blessed by you.

so how are you investing in yourself? your dreams? your goals? your happiness?

“and jesus said to him, “‘if you can! all things are possible for one who believes.” - matthew 9:23