Once upon a time, I started this blog. In this blog, I posted W.W.O.B.s, which stand for Wise Words of Bretleigh. For some reason, people are always coming to me for advice. These things pop out of my mouth, and then they think I'm extremely profound and mature. While I do agree that I am mature, I am not profound. Actually, I just listened to my mom, YW leaders, insitute teachers, etc, and I pass their wisdom on to others.
Me looking wise....?
This time, however, I put these thoughts together in my own words, which is why they sound a lot harsher, and probably make no sense. Here is my W.W.O.B:
Happiness has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO DO with your life going well. Nothing. You could have the crappiest life ever and still be happy. I do not believe that happiness and being content are the same thing. You can be happy no matter what.
As I have mentioned before, January-March of 2009 pretty much were not fun for me. Someone I trusted more than anyone else had lied to me, I lost a best friend, I felt super alone, I wasn't going to BYU, and then my back-up plan, the U, had also fallen through. I was doing two musicals and choir stuff, and sterling scholar portfolios. I had no time to see friends and I really never even saw my family because I was always gone. And the fear that I will live my whole life alone randomly came out and scared me a lot during this time. My self esteem has always been pretty good but it was really low. I was miserable, and I was not content. People would ask me if I was ok, but you know what? I could never say that I wasn't happy. During that time, whenever I thought about how stinky everything was going, I always knew that I had a Heavenly Father that loved me, and that He knew that I was tough and he was only trying to make me stronger. I knew that Christ knew exactly how I felt, and that eventually, things would get better. It is impossible to be unhappy if we know that Heavenly Father loves us, because we know that someone is on our side and believes in us.
You know what? Things did get better for me. Everything didn't magically disappear, but I learned how to handle struggles and appreciate my Heavenly Father more. I think I learned more in that short little time than in the rest of my life.
Here is a sidenote to my W.W.O.B:
Happiness comes from serving others. When I spend my time focusing on myself and how miserable I am, nothing ever gets better. It is impossible to be happy if you only think about yourself. But when you serve others you recieve joy because you catch a glimpse of Heavenly Fathers love for us.
So, if you are not happy, you know what to do. That doesn't mean your problems will go away, but they will become bearable.
So in 2007, Angela Brown, director of BHS musicals, said we needed to each buy a wig that was a bob for Thoroughly Modern Millie. Everyone complained that we had to spend so much money on a wig we would never use again. I complained as well. But now I see that it was a great investment because I was able to wear it in two more musicals. They were both at RMT, and if I didn't have my own wig I would have had to have worn ugly, nasty looking wigs. But now I think my wig needs to be retired. It's falling apart. Thank you, Bob. You have served me well!
Above: Millie 2009
Also, I went to a singles ward today with Breanna, and some new friends from RMT: Ben, Kati, and Jamie. It was a little weird because I didn't really know anyone else, but I felt pretty comfortable!
