1,000 Amazing People!

 

I don't think words could explain how much my life has changed since this blog has begun. I made this blog and the Facebook page in hopes of reaching just a few people and never in a million years did I think I would reach over 1,000 people in just over a week. I've had my up's and my down's just like everyone in this world and it took my darkest days to make realize that I needed to do something with my life. You all have shown me that there is hope and a group of people want to see this world become something better. If I can make one less bully, one less hateful message, and one more positive person, then my dream has come true. We all have the power to do something great and you may have to swim through a see of hate to accomplish it but I promise if you have the drive, you WILL get there. I look forward to seeing the growth of "Positive Life" and how all of you change this world. Please keep writing to me, sending me pictures, and telling me how "Positive Life" has changed you. I love you all to the moon and back!

 

 

-Austin

Don't Be Affraid To Be "YOU"

 

This is a picture of myself back in 2012. This is a photo from a photo-shoot that me and my band were doing while I was in high school. High school for me was an up and down sort of ride. I really loved my class but I felt like I had all these interest's that I couldn't really relate to other people with. I was SUPER into metal bands and that was my dream to play in a band. I would always sit in my homeroom class and read magazines with all these bands I wish I could play with. I always felt a little weird though because growing up in a small town in Illinois, not a lot of people were really into that kind of stuff. I played sports, was in high school band, and I just never felt fulfilled or like I was doing what I should be. When I was in school people were always excited about football games basketball games, or dances, and I was more excited to go home grab my guitar and just do something that didn't involve coaches, or any type of stress. Guitar became my escape because that's when I felt like I was doing something for me without all the pressures of the real world. Of course, I wore skinny jeans to school, grew my hair out, and tried to fit the part of a metal band kid and thankfully no one really judged me for it. My class was always a pretty close family and although no one understood the whole metal scene, they all stood by and didn't judge me for it which was really refreshing. I even had a really awesome history teacher who was into metal music that would give me CD's to go home and jam to and that to me was pretty sweet. At that point, I became me. I wasn't stressed, I wasn't angry, I was happy because I was being who I wanted to be without worrying about what everyone else thought. Then I finally joined the band of my dreams and everyday after school I was so ready to just go jam and hangout with a group of people that wanted to chase the same dream I wanted to. We had amazing support from our friends and some would even come to our shows. My biggest supporter though was my dear old mom. She was always the one taking me to go get skinny jeans, guitars, and drive to all my shows even though she didn't care for my music too much. Although she didn't understand, she still let me be me and I think that freedom made me feel even more happy about who I was and made me want to stay on a good path in life.





 



 

Here is a picture my mom took from one of my shows. Best part is, I was opening for some of the bands I would read about in homeroom class. I have to say this was one of the best nights of my life because I felt like being myself and focusing got me here. So my advice is to support people for who they are.  Support someone else's dream and encourage them to be themselves because your encouragement might be what they need to keep on dreaming!

 

-Austin

Weekly Update #1

What are "Best Friends" for?

 

 

In your life you will come across a lot of people, but only one of them you can claim as your best friend. For me, this is my best bud, Uly. Me and Uly first met on a shyful first day of Kindergarten. I being the nervous guy I didn't know what to do and Uly challenged me to a game of tick tac toe and the rest was history. I am now in my 20's and Uly and I are still closer than ever and you want to know why? Uly and I never really caved into all the peer pressures of life. We never drank, we never did drugs, and we were always there for each other. Usually we go for pizza, see a flick, or talk about life... and those are some of the best times in my life. There was a time though when I caved myself. I started drinking a little just because I missed all of my other friends and I wanted to see what all the hype was and what all the parties were like. I went to a few and it was like my worst nightmare. I never really cared that people drank and a lot of my friends did. I never passed judgment and I never will because everyone chooses there own life and that's nothing for me to decide. For me though I felt really bummed out because I never enjoyed drinking and I was sad to watch all my friends move on. That's where Uly came in though. He always respected my safe lifestyle and we never really did things we had to worry about. My biggest fear was not being in control of my own body and worrying about all the consequences of drinking and doing drugs. I wanted to just have a good time without all the worries and have people who I felt understood me and believe me there are people out there who are like you, you just have to be willing to look. I'll never say drinking is bad, but it will never be for me. So if you are in high school and you feel like you have to pick a side between drinking and not, just know it is your choice. I'm not here to parent you or tell you what to do but if you do decide to give it a try, be responsible for me and everyone around you because you never know what could happen. Friends will come and go but your best bud will always be there to accept you for who you are.

 

Be safe and love your friends,

-Austin  

 



 

B-U-L-L...Y?



 

 

You and I all know that bullying is happening everywhere. You and I also know we have the power to stand up and say something or do something about it. Bullying is not just physical abuse, it is also a huge source of emotional abuse. Any school you walk into you will always see that kid sitting alone at the lunch table, the kids snickering at someone walking by, and sometimes even kids been physically or emotionally harassed. So my question is, what are you going to do about it? Are you going to walk by and stare, are you going to address the situation, or are you going to be the voice of a generation and make it a trend to end bullying. When you are in school you already have enough things to be stressed about. Fitting in, making the team, getting good grades, and trying to figure out who you want to be in life. To me I think it would be way easier if we all could get along, but every time I say that there will always be some that will say that is impossible. Maybe it is impossible, but life needs less impossible situations and more positive ones. The next time you see someone sitting by themselves, go sit with them and talk with them. The next time you see someone crying, walk over and see what you can do. Will bullying ever end, maybe not... but you could be that one less person that bullies. My challenge to you is to make more friends and get to know the people you are surrounded by. Make someone smile, invite them over for dinner, help them with homework, and tell them they matter to you. You'll be surprised by how awesome saying something nice and hugging someone feels. I know everyone of you has the power to do this so go out there and make your school more positive! 

 

-Austin 

 

"A Love Never Lost" by Lauren Denault

Tonight my blog was not written by me, it was written by my beautiful friend Lauren. Me and Lauren go all the way back to Kindergarten and she has been my best friend ever since I knew what those were. This picture is us at my senior prom and I have got to say we were the best looking couple of the bunch. I wanted to get Lauren's story out there because it's one that I couldn't personally relate to but it's one that maybe some of you have gone through. The soul purpose of my blog is to reach out to people and give them stories that they can relate to and give them hope or a sense of relief. I hope some of you get something out of this! So here is Lauren's story!

"The last thing that ever crosses any typical teenagers mind is having your family slowly decrease in size. The last thing that anyone ever wants to happen is letting the people that mean most to you, slip right out of your life. Death is a weird and confusing concept. It’s hard to understand when you’ve never experienced it. It’s hard to see the purpose of it when everyone you’ve come into contact with is living. When you have someone who is your better half, your partner in crime, you role model, and everything you aspire to be, you expect that person to be there your entire life, because where else can they go?

I am the youngest of three siblings, two of which have a 7-10 year age gap from me, the other, 15 months. Already you can speculate that one would obviously have a closer bond with the sibling who is closer in age. My sister, Courtney, and I did absolutely everything together. We weren’t the typical sisters, we didn’t fight or try and strangle each other, we actually enjoyed being around one another. We chose to hangout together, we chose to include each other when we were with our other friends. Wherever one went, the other was sure to follow. We never thought of each other as tag-alongs or the annoying sibling. We were best friends by choice, not just because we were related.

Courtney struggled to fit in since she began school at the young age of 4. She was put in all of the regular classes, with the normal students but it always took her a little bit longer to comprehend what was going on in. She tried as hard as she could to be like her peers, especially when the hormones started to kick in. She wanted so badly to feel like she belonged, but the other kids wanted no part of that. pre-teens can be the most vicious people, they found every little weakness Courtney had and magnified it. They never let her forget that they didn’t think she was one of them. Her ears were a little too big… “dumbo” she was tall and skinny… “anorexic.” These kids found every thing they could to make sure her life in school wasn’t a pleasant one. However, the amazing thing about Courtney is that she smiled at those kids every single day. She constantly treated them with respect and always gave them the time of day. She didn’t belittle them the way they did her. She was above them, but they didn’t want to magnify that.

After years and years of bullying, it broke through her tough exterior. She began to believe the lies they told her every single day. She began to feel as though she really wasn’t worth anything. The only outlet she found that was relieving to her was cutting. No amount of drugs or rehab, though, could help this girl. At the young age of 16, Courtney finally decided that she had had enough, she couldn’t handle the pain and depression any longer. She committed suicide on April 22, 2009 when I was only a freshman in high school. Finding any good in her death was not a quest I was willing to take. However, after about 5 months of hating myself and everyone else for doing this to her, I found that the best way for me to ever be okay with it, was to help those who were struggling with it. All of the people who teased her finally opened their eyes and saw what all of those years of pointless taunting had done to her. Finally saw what effect those mean words can have on someone. It’s so awful that it took the death of a beautiful soul for people to see all of the hurt and suffering they had caused. The world is an ugly place. People pay no mind to the meaning of their words; they’re just worried about will benefit them...usually by the expense of another. She allowed herself to be the butt of everyone’s jokes because she didn’t want them to feel the same pain as her. In honor of her effortless caring to everyone she met, I befriended the people who never gave her the time of day. I sat there with those ugly individuals while they cried their eyes out because of how much they missed her. I believe that everyone deserves a second chance, courtney believed that too. She knew exactly what she was doing when she decided to leave us. She knew that it would have to take her death in order to change the views of everyone in our small town. She changed a lot of people’s lives both when she was alive and after her death. I promise her every day that I will continue her positivity towards everyone. I will give everyone a chance, even if they don’t deserve it, because life is too short to be cruel to someone. You never know if those mean, ugly words you said to someone will be the last thing they hear from you...and then you’re going to have to live with that. When someone dies, you lose every chance you had to make things right with him/her. Do you really want to live with yourself, knowing that you did everything in your power to make sure that an individual was unhappy, or knowing that you did everything in your power to help turn someone’s life around for the better. For me, I’d rather put a smile on someone’s face than make them cry themselves to sleep that night. Even though I lost the best person I have ever met, she has given me so much strength and the desire to be a better person. Life is too short to be mean, it’s way easier to love people. One of the biggest things I have learned, through all of this is that there is always a reason for why things happen. We may not see it right away or even want to, but years later, events serve a purpose. Courtney’s death has served a lot of purposes, a lot of which I am still uncovering, but her life also had a purpose. Everyone’s life has a purpose, but it’s up to you whether you choose to see it or not."

Welcome to "Positive Life"!

What "LOVE" takes

Relationship Tips

1.) Trust: without trust your relationship will always fail. You have to be able to trust the person your with and always give them reasons to trust you.

2.) Honesty: trust and honesty go hand in hand. If you are honest to the person you love then you are doing an amazing job. Being honest solves a lot of silly problems and makes everything way easier.

3.) Communication: If you are in a good relationship then you should have no problem talking to the person you love, and notice how I said talking. The best thing you can do is talk face to face and avoid texts that can be misleading. Communication is key and you should always be able to tell the person you love how you feel (even if it's not what you want to hear) and they should be understanding to your feelings.

4.) Respect: you should always respect the person you love and have their best interests at heart. Respect their bodies, their values, and their beliefs. If you can do that you will always be on good terms.

5.) Listen: Sometimes all your loved one will need is a set of ears to listen to them. I don't care what you are doing, if you see them sad, upset, or frustrated, ask what is wrong and tell them you want to listen.

Relationships are never perfect but you can have a strong one if you do all you can for that person and never lose sight of why you fell for them.

-Austin

"Relationships" LOVE BIG

 



If there is one thing I am a fan of, it is my stunning relationship with my gorgeous girlfriend Lindsey. If you asked me 2 years ago about relationships though, I would have told you they were for the birds because they are IMPOSSIPLE! This was my high school mind though. When you are in school, you may fall head over heals for someone and become so committed to that person that you would give an arm and a leg to make that person the happiest on the world, which is a good trait to have. You love the way they laugh, the way they make you feel, the way they act around you, but for many there will come the break-up phase. When this happens it feels like your whole world comes crashing in and you feel like you will NEVER find someone even close to as good. Even worse, you can't avoid this person because you have to see them in school, at functions, in class, and even watch them move on. When this happened to me I went through the miserable phase and I really got depressed. Everything seemed less interesting, I didn't want to go to school, and I just didn't know what to do. I kept asking myself "when will I ever find someone for me." Well I can promise you all something, you WILL find that someone but it will happen when you least expect it. For me, I found Linds in the funniest way possible. I was at church and I had to use the restroom, so I got up and headed for the bathroom. As I was walking out, I swung the door opened and smoked her with the door and when I went to ask if she was okay I saw a face that I had never seen before. She laughed and said she was fine and I went back and sat in my seat. The whole service I kept looking for her and thinking about her and when church ended I couldn't find her. Luckily though I asked around and found out who she was and found out she was from Colorado and when I heard that I said "great... that will never work." After that I kept moping for a few days and I finally decided to try and find her. I went on Facebook and searched and searched, and I finally found her! Immediately I wrote her a message and soon after she replied and after a funny awkward conversation I got her phone number and the rest was history. For a couple days I kept asking myself "am I nuts for wanting to date someone that lives so far away?" I knew it would be hard and I knew it would be a lot of work but I was ready. Then came our first "Skype Date." She was super quiet and I was very talkative and she completely won me over within seconds. After that we texted all day everyday and skyped for 2 to 3 hours a day for nearly six months until I finally got an opportunity to go to Colorado and visit. I arrived in Colorado and as soon as I saw her smile I knew all the waiting was worth it. It was at that point in time I knew I had found my someone. We spent another six months of skyping and texting and traveling back and fourth but after all that waiting she is finally here with me today. I ask myself everyday how I got so lucky but I know the answer now. We both loved each other, trusted each other, and worked hard everyday for something we believed in which is what relationships are all about. Do we have a perfect relationship, not at all, but we have one that I know will last because we work hard everyday. So my advice to all of you is to never give up and always have hope. You will find someone for you if you love big and always keep an open mind. Just never waste days moping when you could be searching for happiness, but just remember not every situation will be easy. Sometimes you will be put in a situation where you will have to wait, but I promise you the wait is worth it! I love all of you and I hope this gives some of you out there hope and for others, makes you smile.

 

Love BIG and love always,

-Austin 

Thank you!

I owe you guys the world! I put my page Austin Burrows "Positive Life" on Facebook and in under an hour, I received over 100 "Likes"! You guys really motivated me in the greatest of ways and I can not even explain how thankful I am for all of you! I am looking forward to my journey with all of you and tonight has just made everything so real for me!

Thank you all so much!
-Austin

Get to know to me!

Hello friends, my name is Austin Burrows. I am 20 years old, I have the most breath taking girlfriend, I love to draw, I drive an orange car, and I love to change people's lives... or at least make them smile:D The reason I wanted to create this blog was to spread positivity to the world. The world as you know can be a beautiful place, and a very ugly one. For me I have seen and lived both sides of the world. Through my hardships though I have always learned something from it. That something was POSITIVITY. I have just recently gone through a very scary part of my life. I have started facing anxiety issues and have become consumed with the fear of death. Everyday I wake up I think there is something wrong with me. Every ache, pain, sneeze you name it and I freak out about it. Going through all of this though made me realize that I was wasting my life being stressed. Stressed about jobs, money, my health, and my relationships. It was at my lowest point that I realized "I want to change my life and help others." So now I am here for all of you. I want to help make you smile, motivate you, talk with you, and always be here for you. So I thank you for checking this out and I will be posting my first video soon! I love you all and remember to stay positive, and live every second to its fullest.

- Austin