Doing the best you can.

With that motto, you really can get through anything. Why worry about something, if you truly know you are doing the best you can in the situation you're in and with the resources you're given? Not to say we shouldn't always strive for more. However when something is coming up in our lives that may cause us anxiety, apprehension or fear, we really must take 5 minutes to relax in silence and look at the bigger picture. And this applies to all things, no matter how big or small they may be. I know that we all have craziness in our lives, for me especially during the winter, but recently i've realized how important it is to not let the small things build up until they are dangerously close to spilling over. We are faced with challenges, opportunities, hardships, roadblocks and sadness every day in this world we live in. But hope is what gets us through, that and faith. To have faith is to believe in something you can not visibly or directly see. At least for me, when I wake up in the morning and think to myself "great, today I have three tests, tutoring, a game, two clubs and I have chores when I get home" I quickly dismal down and wear myself out just in the first 5 minutes I'm awake. That, vs. "Today will be good. I won't let anything bring me down, because I am blessed and thankful. And when God is with me, who/what should I fear?" With this mindset, I remember that every day is a blessing and I am truly grateful to wake up every single morning. With that in mind, I am going to bed with a positive attitude because I know that I'm doing the best that I can. This was slightly a pep talk for myself, sorry if it sounded too "me me me" Goodnight!

Need a quote?

"For everything you have missed, you have gained something else; And for everything you gain, you lose something else."

it's all about your outlook on life; You can either regret or rejoice.

Why do we do what we do?

do do daa do dumm do do do da da da dum de dum dum???!! (sorry that was a bit too much alliteration)

Reasons WDWWD (if you can't figure out what that means..i'm sorry.)
1)FOR OURSELVES This isn't as obvious as it seems. Sometimes, we do things for ourselves that we are meaning to do for other people. For example, volunteering at a homeless shelter. It isn't uncommon that people want gratification for their actions, even though the point/purpose in said person being at the homeless shelter was to serve, well, the people in need. However, too often we put our need for appreciation, our need for attention, before the world's need for humble people to help out their fellow brothers & sisters. The color of our skin, the amount of money we make a year, the car we drive, the friends we have, the hobby's we have, the border in which we live does not take away from the fact that we are all human. We are all bonded together (at least this is my opinion) as God's glorious and purposeful creation. Siblings love each other, they bicker at times, but when one needs something the other is (or should be) available to help. And they shouldn't need a pat on the back for doing it. But sadly, the majority of us do.

2)FOR OTHER PEOPLE We do things for other people on a daily basis. (or so it would seem) On some genuine cases, we are actually doing it for others. It's your moms birthday and you buy her a nice candle. Your 9th grade neighbor needs a ride to school so you take him/her. Your co worker calls you with a hangover and asks you to cover their shift. You help an old lady across the street. You work to put dinner on the table for your family. You do your friends hair for prom. OK ANNA WE GET IT! The point is, there are also reasons in which we think we are doing things for other people, but REALLY we are simply in denial. However, one could argue that, as in the example earlier, working in a homeless shelter and supplying food and a roof for those people is good enough. Who cares why you're there? Don't the ends justify the means? Well my friend, it depends. A person who seeks out gratification wherever they go, and publicize their own good deeds, is only glorifying themselves. This contributes to the accumulation of ones own ego. And I can say that I 100% agree with C.S. Lewis when he wrote in his book Mere Christianity that pride is the worst sin a man can commit. Pride comes from many different sources, but one being the need for recognition of a good deed. Were human, we all do it, but my advise is just be weary and cautious. WOW well I was just interrupted with a coughing fit and I am unable to continue. I just coughed for a straight 15 minutes, darn this winter cold. I coughed up a bit of dinner. TMI? Goodbye friends.

LiNK.

Today at my high school, a non profit organization called LiNK (Liberty in North Korea) came and spoke to a bunch of students. Here's their website if you would like to donate or help contribute to rescue of refugees. Anything and everything can make a difference. If you don't know what's happening in North Korea right now, it's very real and it's something we can change. It takes 2500 $ to fund a rescue of just one refugee. Imagine if the masses all just donated 9 dollars a month (the 9 lives campaign, check it out on the website provided) Can you even imagine how many people would be set free because of your donation? 9 dollars, that's 3 cups of coffee less a month. Don't stay trapped in your own little bubble, know what's going on in the world, and help when you can.

WEBSITE:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBzHCVv5GeQ

I'm not who I was

Brandon Heath

Love on top.

BEYONCE.
This freaking woman right here, is amazing. I'm not one to lift people up on a high pedestal or "obsess" over celebrities, but let me tell you, this woman right here is an inspiration

And I always love to support people who inspire me, so buy her album on iTunes! "4". Some of her best songs are Love on top, Start Over, and 1+1 (at least in my opinion)

Assumptions.

I'm in a rush, now is an awful time to write, but I am. AKA, this is really important to me.

Assumptions ruin relationships you guys. With your friends, family, God, co workers, strangers, everyone. Once you make the decision to not talk to the person you're assuming things about but rather just make the assumption that they did this or they said that, hope is lost. (Unless you end up talking to them.) Communication and honesty are two of the most important factors when it comes to relationships of any form. So why do we decide to be lazy and just assume things? It hurts me to watch and it hurts me to be on the end of the "assumed". Something as a world we need to work on is instead of thinking that melodrama is attractive, let's just solve our problems so there's less pain in the world. A lot of the times, assumptions lead to judgement as well, and that isn't fun for anyone.

So please take this into account, if you are assuming things or are the type of person to believe rumors really easily, take some time to think about what you're doing. How would you feel if it was you who was being judged and talked about in a negative and untruthful light?

Our God is HUGE

How Great is Our God- Louie Giglio
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1KqziOKZ4AE&feature=related&hd=1

Watching this change my life. Thank you Daniel yi! Great video.

Just, happy.

You guys, I'm actually in such a good place right now. You know that feeling when everything just "clicks"? I really do feel as if the more I put myself out there, the more I get rewarded. And what I mean is that by taking risks, so many doors are opened to new and exciting opportunities. Through out these past four years in high school, I have grown to be an advocate for taking risks. By "risks" I ONLY MEAN in a safe sense. Please do not do anything that would damage you/your friends or family physically. I only mean by doing things I never thought I could do, I'm taking risks. By running and jumping into a nuance of experiences. No longer will I crawl through life like a turtle (I actually really like turtles though) but instead I will sprint (when appropriate) and live each day like tomorrow isn't guaranteed. BECAUSE IT'S NOT! This is an exciting/scary fact.

On a side note, I wonder who actually still reads this blog. I have been posting SO much recently and it's a little much to keep up on. If you still read this, will you let me know somehow? Shoot me a text, message or comment on here. I'd really appreciate it :)

HAVE A FANTASTIC NIGHT PEOPLE,
SINCERELY,
LOVING LIFE,
ANNA BARLOW

University of Portland

Seems like it was made for me.
Not gonna tie myself down yet, but the chances of me staying in P-town are pretty high after I went to UP's open house.

Future pilot????? I hope they could handle someone like me. Haha I crack myself up.

NOT TO MENTION it's exactly 1.6 miles away from my gorgeous sister and my niece. I could run there on the daily and announce my presence.

Lookin' forward to the future.

OWS Attacks.

I just needed to say this before I go to bed. Yes, there has been some verbal attacks towards the news crew from people in downtown Portland who are protesting wall street. But let me just say that those attacks have been from oh, I don't know, 1 out of 100 people? Not everyone is like that, we need to stop generalizing groups of people based off of one person's mistakes. I just hope that people don't buy into this whole "occupy wall streeters are hypocrites; they exert violence when they speak of peace!" talk. It may be true for a minuscule amount of cases, but for the majority of Americans, OWS protesters have a RIGHT and a REASON to be out on the streets protesting. You may not understand it, but that just means you should do some actual research instead of watching just one source of news from fox or any other news stations. Get a variety of background on WHAT THIS PROTEST IS ACTUALLY ABOUT; and then see if some sort of understanding crosses your mind. I'm sorry if this sounds a little angry, but I let this kind of stuff get to me pretty easily.

That's my opinion for the night,
Goodnight! Thanks for reading.

Most insightful thing ever.

Happy little post of the night :)

This song just lifted my spirits up high. Thank you taylor swift. You may not have the best voice but you sure know how to inspire emotion.

OURS-TAYLOR SWIFT

Seems like there's always someone who disapproves
They'll judge it like they know about me and you
And the verdict comes from those with nothing else to do
The jury's out, my choice is you

So don't you worry your pretty little mind
People throw rocks at things that shine
And life makes love look hard
The stakes are high, the water's rough
But this love is ours

You never know what people have up their sleeves
Ghosts from your past gonna jump out at me
Lurking in the shadows with their lip gloss smiles
But I don't care 'cause right now you're mine

And it's not theirs to speculate
If it's wrong and
Your hands are tough
But they are where mine belong and
I'll fight their doubt and give you faith
With this song for you

Are we all sinners if we sin?

I know I've been blogging a lot recently but I just really feel unsettled about something. After breakaway this weekend, I realized I still have a lot to learn about life and Jesus. That is extremely vague, but it's the truth. I also learned that asking questions about things you strongly believe in or want to believe in is necessary if you want to grow in that belief. How can you be a follower of Jesus but not know him as well as you can? How can you follow his word, if you don't know it? Something that unsettles me is when people ignore huge chunks of the bible. It's a common issue, and I don't blame people for doing it. It's a hard piece of literature to interpret and understand. However, I feel that this could be changed if more groups of people interested in dissecting the word of God were established! We can't do it alone, I know I can't, but that's one of the many reasons why community is so important.

COMMUNITY: SO IMPORTANT! If there's one thing you take away from my blog, I HOPE that it's relationships are important and NECESSARY in order to succeed in life. Whether that be relationships with your friends, family, co workers, community, or Jesus.

ALSO!! Before I leave and finish my upsettingly large pile of homework. Please listen to this song, the speaker from Breakaway shared it with us all. His friend is the artist.

"Jesus, Jesus"
-Noah Gundersen

The Monday slumps

I have a horrible case of the Monday slumps. I absolutely feel pessimistic, tired, lazy, and overwhelmed. I'm even procrastinating by blogging and listening to Cold Play when I straight up know I need to be focusing on homework, projects and college stuff. However, I felt compelled to share the lyrics of Coldplay's "Paradise" with you because they touch my heart in many different ways. I highly recommend you purchase this song if not their entire new album.

Paradise
Coldplay

When she was just a girl
She expected the world
But it flew away from her reach so
She ran away in her sleep
and dreamed of
Para-para-paradise, Para-para-paradise, Para-para-paradise
Every time she closed her eyes

When she was just a girl
She expected the world
But it flew away from her reach
and the bullets catch in her teeth
Life goes on, it gets so heavy
The wheel breaks the butterfly
Every tear a waterfall
In the night the stormy night she'll close her eyes
In the night the stormy night away she'd fly


Although this song is slightly depressing, it fits my mood at this moment of time. I'm sorry to all the readers who only see me as optimistic, but I can't be optimistic all the time. Well maybe I can, I just cut myself short.

Have a better afternoon than I'm having!

BREAKAWAY.

For the past three years during the beginning of November, I have been given the amazing opportunity of being a camper at a Younglife retreat called Breakaway lodge. It is located in Gearhart beach, which is really close to cannon. The camp is only friday night-sunday afternoon, but every second is utilized and purposeful. I love this camp so much because it is in the middle of school, which of course implies stress and anxiety. However, this year as a senior who has already gone three times to this wonderful camp, I decided it would be really cool and fun to do work crew instead. The crew consisted of myself, Malia (who's also a senior) Gayle, Taylor and Margo, all of whom are freshman in college. It was a huge reality check; three years ago, if someone had asked me to clean up and serve 85 high schoolers, some of which I'd never met, I'd have said "Are you crazy?" Or something along those lines. But after seeing how much the people in Younglife actually care about me, and support me, I decided I wanted to be apart of that. Serving in work crew was one of the coolest things I've been able to do recently, and I can't wait to apply for Summer staff for a longer term. Also this weekend I got to share my testimony which I NEVER thought I'd ever do in a million years. Of course, 4 minutes doesn't contain everything, and I'd love to share the rest with anyone who's curious.

Anyway, have you ever been in a crowded room and felt as if time was actually slowing down, almost stopping right in front of you? I think that point comes after a really long and tiring day, or maybe that's just me. What I'm getting at is that at breakaway, in the dining hall, I was kind of zoning out at all the chatter and singing going on and felt so calm. Which was weird, considering the place smelled of spicy chicken teriyaki dishes and teenagers. Not to mention everyone was chanting or laughing and screaming. In the midst of the chaos, what did I feel??? peace. Coolest feeling ever, my friends :)

To anyone looking at volunterring/serving in Younglife or any other organization, I highly advise it and would love to look at opportunities with you.

This weekend was fantastic and I'm so glad I got to share it with amazing people from SHS and the leaders as well.

Much Love, Goodnight!

New websites and BREAKAWAY!

I finally got a pinterest- and it's my new outlet when I think I'm going to break and reactivate twitter. It's a great way to promote business's yes, but my hopes for it is that it promotes LOCAL stores as well and maybe even organic clothing, yes? :)

HERE'S MY LINK: http://pinterest.com/annacbarlow/

I just started it so it's slightly bare.

ANYWAY, today at my high school around 3PM the school was evacuated due to a fire. I was in the middle of Jesus Pizza, a club at sunset that I am president of with three other lovely ladies, when all of a sudden the alarm went of. It was the worst possible timing seeing as we had a guest speaker who was about to share something awesome. But I guess God works in mysterious ways, right my friends? Who knows. As we were evacuating some people even took boxes of pizza with them. That made me smile. (If you don't come to this club already, "like" us on Facebook and come to our meetings every other Thursday in room k-2 after school for some free pizza and a brief discussion relating to Jesus or a testimony) So the next club will be probably a continuation of this one and an introduction to a new talk.

TIME FOR THE EXCITING NEWS: I LEAVE FOR BREAKAWAY YOUNGLIFE CAMP TOMORROW!!!!!!! I couldn't be more excited. I get the wonderful opportunity to serve my fellow classmates as well as share this laid back weekend with them. This will be my fourth year going. Here are some pictures of my previous years.

For all that are going, I can't wait to see you there! :)

Have a good afternoon everyone.

let go & LET GOD

One last thing.

I drive myself crazy, and since I don't have a twitter, sometimes I have no where else to talk about it but on here. Why can't people just move on? Life is just waiting for you to take the reigns and go. Run even. Just stop holding on to things that you know are only hurting you and the people around you. Why do people contemplate the same situation over and over again? That's how people start to lose it. Please, if you have something you're holding on to that is only detrimental to your well being and others around you, let go. Granted, the hardest part of moving on is letting go, but speaking from someone who is being impacted by an exact case of "I refuse to let go of my iron grip" syndrome, it's best for everyone. Especially the one directly holding on, but also for everyone. I feel anxious and upset when I know I shouldn't. It's just extra energy being wasted because I get so frustrated about this. Alright, I sound a little insensitive, so I'm just going to quite while i'm ahead.

"Life is like the monkey bars. You have to let go in order to move on."


On a side note; the "situation" I was referring to in regards to my own life, probably has nothing to do with you. So please don't make any assumptions, if you're curious just ask me. Thank you and goodnight everyone.

So, body image...

The way we perceive our physical appearance in high school, both genders, can be such a struggle. I know that every day your confidence is tested whether that be at school with all your peers or just in your own room where the one giving the judgmental up down is you. Here's my opinion on this issue of insecurities. (especially in my own universe, high school) At least to me, the most ravishing beauty (for girls) and the most handsome features are found in the differences we all were blessed with. That bump on your nose? It adds intensity to your otherwise simple face. That butt chin? It goes with your character. The billions of freckles? It conveys something sweet about you. My point is, all these features that you may be insecure about, please don't feel that way! You are so beautiful and I'm NOT just saying that. Beauty transcends far deeper than the flesh, God made you in his image, you're his perfect son or daughter. I think the reason I'm touching base on this issue is that I forgot I'm subscribed to seventeen magazine, and today I got an issue in the mail. I couldn't find a page with out an ad being the center of attention. What were the ads of? Tall, skinny, big chested girls with long flowy hair that reaches all the way down their bronzed backs. Maybe it's just me, but I'm so tired of this being what the media tells me to look like. I will never look like that, but it is what it is right?

Sometimes, the most cliche lines can be really beneficial if you really dive into them. Take a moment to ponder the phrase, "How can you expect someone else to love you if you don't love yourself?" Let it resinate.

What I'm trying to get at is that the beauty comes from the differences. Please don't try and look like "that one girl" at school, because guaranteed you're more beautiful anyway. Just own what you got and work what your mama gave you. I guess your dad should get some credit too.