Lauren Conrad has been part of our lives since we grew up watching MTV shows Laguna Beach and The Hills. To this day, I still watch these shows on reruns as I know many of you probably do. Lauren was my favorite character. It may be because I could relate to her the most with her ambitions, relationships, struggles and friendships.
Even though these shows have ended, I still look to Lauren as someone with ambition, who empowers women and is following her dreams. Lauren definitely is a role model to many women out here. Since Lauren was a teen, she has given many insights that have helped me over the years. She has reminded me to set the high standards for myself and to never settle for less.
“Being called the nice girl is way better than being called a bitch.”
Lauren was and still is always nice to everyone. She was labeled the nice girl for how she treated others, for how she maturely stood up for herself and how she handled situations. We all have labels for each other, we may say we don’t but everyone is known for something. You are either labeled the nice girl, the bitch, the nerd or the pretty one… the list goes on. But, if you were given the chance to be labeled only the bitch or the nice girl, what would you pick? For me, I would rather be labeled the nice girl than the rude bitch.
“You have the rest of your life to be married. Enjoy falling in love. When girls get caught up in the timeline, it becomes more about the wedding than the marriage. You should be with someone with whom you could elope this weekend and be happy.”
To start, congrats to the girls that are engaged and found the love of their lives. I am very happy for you. But what about the rest of us that haven’t found the one? Lauren reminds us that we have our whole life to be married so why not enjoy falling in love with your life and with someone even if it takes years. When you rush things just because of a timeline, you settle. Instead, you should wait for love that is more passionate. Be with someone who is your best friend.
“Love is not a maybe thing; you know when you love someone. Why did we ever come to think love was a maybe thing?”
I am pretty sure many of us have said we “maybe” loved someone before or we have heard someone else say it. I agree with Lauren and it taught me that if I think I might love someone, I don’t. Love isn’t a maybe thing. You either love someone or you like them. You can be on the verge of love, but love should never be a maybe thing. Love is rare and beautiful. Only surround yourself with people that you love and that you don’t have to question the maybe with.
“I’d rather have a few true friends than a lot of fake crappy ones.”
Have you ever heard the saying quality is better than quantity? That goes for friendship as well. As a teenager you think having all the friends in the world is the most important but as you grow up you learn that is not true. You learn to surround yourself with people that will only make you a better person. I am a testimonial for that as over time, I have become a much better and happier person by not having fake or crappy friends in my life anymore.
“The only thing left to do is forgive and forget. I want to forgive you and I want to forget you.”
There are a lot of people that you can forgive for what they did. Some you forgive and move forward together, and some (like in this quote) forgive but also want to forget. As hard as that is for some people, sometimes you have to forgive these people and move forward with your life without them. It is okay to do because some people are just not meant to be in your life anymore.
“I used to care a lot about what people thought about me then I learned I definitely can’t please everyone, some people will like you and some people will hate you, but I really don’t care either way. I am not losing sleep over it.”
I use to want everyone to like me and I use to care what everyone thought. I know I still have my moments but one lesson I wish I would have learned to accept earlier than I did was that you can’t please everyone. Trust me, I have tried more than once. What I am learning is that not everyone knows the real you, some only know a piece of you or have only heard about you. Throughout life you will always have those people that don’t want you to succeed. That is when you take that and you move forward to show them the real you, your true beauty.
“You don’t get that many people in your life that you can just tell anything to.”
I bet someone crossed your mind right when you read that. Trust me, you don’t get many people that you can tell everything to in your life so embrace it and be happy you have these people in your life. Trust is hard to come by and it is so important to never take for granted the people in your life you can tell everything to.
“I just don’t really want to settle and I don’t think I should have to.”
Repeat after me: I will not settle. We sometimes don’t realize we’re settling. We are dead set on something or someone and don’t realize how much better things could be. The best things worth having are the ones you need to put in the extra work for.
“He makes me feel like I am never good enough and I hate that feeling.”
Never date a guy that makes you feel like you are not good enough. It is the worst feeling in the world and no girl should ever feel that way. If you start to feel that way that’s when you need to just walk away, no matter how hard it is. If a guy makes you feel that way, how can you ever have a real relationship?
“Boys are like purses. You are always going to have that one boy that you’re always comfortable with and you know you will always kind of like. That’s your purse you wear everywhere. Then you have that gorgeous bag that you want everyone to see you with but the gorgeous bag is usually an asshole or costs a lot of money. Then you have those other purses that you really like but you really don’t want to be seen with.”
What a great quote right? We can all relate to this. We have these types of guys in our lives—the adventure type, the good looking ones and the assholes that will only hurt us. The purses you really like but don’t show off honestly will treat you the best and the ones you are most comfortable around, those are the ones you need to decide what you want with.
“Sometimes you just have to take a step back and realize what is important in your life, what you can live with but most importantly what you can’t live without.”
Rushing through life is the easiest thing to do. Stepping back and taking it all in will help you see what is really important and what is not. Sometimes we get wrapped up in things that we can truly live without. So take a step back and realize what is really important.
“Working towards one’s goals sometimes means that you have to go step by step even though no one is watching.”
To complete a goal you need to take steps behind the scenes. No one will see the steps behind it but that is the beauty. It is your success not theirs. Never give up just because the process is difficult.
“A true friend is someone who never gets tired of listening to your pointless drama over and over again.”
Find these friends and when you do be thankful for them because honestly true friends like this are hard to come by. We all have a lot of drama in our lives and sometimes make the same mistakes over and over again. These friends are important to have.
“You can never make the same mistake twice. The second time you make it, it is no longer a mistake it is a choice.”
We all make mistakes but we also all have choices. After a while mistakes become choices and sometimes those choices can affect your life. Make sure to remember:after a while the mistake is no longer a mistake but a choice. We get mad at ourselves because of the mistakes but sometimes it was our choice all along.
“You gotta believe that there’s people that just really want the best for you.”
People are always going to try to bring you down, but when things get rough remember there are people that really want to watch you succeed. Remember to use that thought process when fighting through the hard times.
“While bangs don’t look good on everyone, confidence does.”
Some things don’t look good on everyone but confidence sure does. I believe that it is truly the sexiest thing on a person. Confidence is a strong quality to make you successful and confidence can make dreams come true. So wear those colors bright.
“It just is what it is. It’s not always fair.”
Life is not fair, and accepting that we all have different paths will help you move forward and become a stronger person.
Lauren Conrad still inspires me every day.
