be happy and stay alive.

I am a firm believer in staying young. In doing things that make you feel young and doing whatever makes you happy. Yes, there are times when those things are out of our control. There are always things that we have to do that we may not like, but doing things that keep you young literally keep you alive. This is part of the reason why I do want to be a teacher. Being around children keeps you young and keeps you moving. You have to do so much with them and doing activities and things that they love will keep you young. I know when people quit doing what they love damages not only their heart, but truly their soul. Everyone needs things to stay happy and to be healthy you need to be happy. I don't care if you work out and eat healthy and do whatever you can to be physically healthy, because if you aren't happy then none of it is worth it. Yes, eating healthy and working out should make you happy, but being happy is the most important thing.
I've seen several accounts of people having so much in their life, being so blessed, yet not being happy because of one thing or another and it makes them ungrateful for what they have and depressed to even be alive. It is so important to have things that you love. And not just anything, it needs to be things that you can be proud of. If you are happy with something in your life, but you can't share it with anyone then it's worthless.
It literally kills people when they lose what they love. People can have illnesses and problems physically and survive while they are doing things they love and working and moving. As soon as they lose those jobs, people, activities, they get sick. They don't survive. They aren't happy.
Joe Paterno died today at 85. He had lung cancer. He had been dealing with it and treating it before the Sandusky drama, but I truly believe that losing his job as head coach and losing those players (who, let's be honest, were probably more like his sons) had a negative effect on his health. He lost so much and the stress and unhappiness that was brought to him was too much for his physical body to handle. Yes, I know that this is a little ridiculous sounding, but seriously losing the things that you love will make you lose yourself and will change you emotionally and physically.
My advice, keep doing everything you're doing if you're happy and if you're not happy, then change something. Right now for me school is hard, work is annoying, and living at home is the biggest challenge I'm facing, but I have things that I love that save me. Music, shows, friends, books, Henry, Addy, and Ellie. These things save my life. I am so grateful that I can be having THE worst day ever and all I have to do it turn on a song and my life is almost instantly better. Find what makes you happy, hold onto it and never let it go.