Change Will Make or Break You

Change.

It's a funny thing. Possibly one of the most feared ideas of our day and change.

I can't help but wonder why? What is it about change we are so afraid of? What's so wrong about it?

Perhaps it's the unknown, the uncertainty of it all. We are afraid of what we don't understand and we are afraid of futures we cannot see.

But I don't think it needs to be that way. I've always been a firm believer that fear is a choice we make. Change doesn't have to be a threatening and somewhat forboding choice. 

And that's the point of this whole blog post. To not be afraid of change. 

There are countless changes in stories. Plot twists that make or break the characters, depending on their choices. Cinderella couldn't keep sweeping floors. Sleeping Beauty had to wake up. Rapunzel couldn't stay in her tower forever.

So this is my message to you: don't fear change. Don't be afraid of the plot twists of your life. 

They may very well lead you to happily ever after.

Goodbye, Summer

This post is dedicated to two of the most awesome women I know--thanks Becky and Shayla!

As my father put it, beginning this afternoon, I am unemployed.
Now, that may sound like a bad thing. It may seem like a tragic thing. But it's not. Because it means I'm going to go back to school (yay!).
But it also means I will not be working with two really awesome people. Shayla, Becky, you guys rock and I'm going to miss working with you a lot.
And that's what this post is for. Goodbye to my long summer and goodbye to a job I doubt I will ever find one like again.
So, thank you. Thank you, Becky, for a job. Thank you for helping me with the financial situation. And thank you, thank you, thank you for helping me to grow this summer (whether you realize it or not). Over this summer, I feel like I've grown as a person. I guess that's the thing about confidence--other people can help you find it without either of you realizing it.
And Shayla? Thank you for being an amazing friend when I needed it the most.
Thank you for the memories this summer. I won't forget it.
And, to you my readers, take this post to heart. Find good people and never forget them.
You won't regret it.

I have always seen myself as a ghost.

The invisible girl, the one in the back of the class, that girl that you can never name but might be able to place her face.

But this year has taught me otherwise. 

I guess what I'm trying to say is that we all have trials and I suppose this is mine. It's like in all those stories I was raised on. It's always when things seem the darkest that we finally see the light. And rarely do we know our happily ever afters are coming for us. 

Cinderella didn't expect a chance to find her prince again after the ball.

Rapunzel never imagined she would leave her tower.

And I have serious doubts that Sleeping Beauty ever thought she would awake to her prince.

You don't get to choose when your happily ever after comes. But it will. After all the pain and sorrow and loneliness, it comes.

Being a ghost, I think that's been the darkness in my life. Being invisible has been the hardship I have lived with. 

I'm a strong believer that we get to choose, not our hardships, but how we handle them. Cinderella could have been horrible to her step family right back. But she didn't. She was kind. 

And this is me, choosing to deal with the cards dealt to me. 

I have lived the life of a ghost.

But now? I am alive.

And not only that, but I am ready to show the world that not all ghosts are ghosts to stay.

So this is me saying: "Hello, world. My name is Brittany Oldroyd and I am ready to show myself."

I hope the world is ready for me.

I was raised on once upon a times.

As a child, I always dreamed myself into being a princess. The damsel in distress, waiting for a prince to come and sweep me off my feet. Someone who would pick me up and make me feel like I deserved to wear the crown on my head.

Of course, I think I forget about the dragon. The fire-breathing beast standing between the knight in shining armor and his princess. 

And I think we all forget about the prince's journey. We know he's going to slay the dragon, we know he's going to kiss his princess and they're going to ride off into the sunset and it's going to be happily ever after.

But what about our brave knight's "once upon a time"? How did he even learn about the princess? And why is he going to her rescue? Because he's heard she's pretty? Because he's looking for honor and glory? Because it's the right thing to do?

The knight might start out with shiny armor but I don't think it's still gleaming by the time he finds the princess. I think his journey is as long as hers is.

Maybe that's the point. Neither one has a kind path. While she must wait, he must slay a beast far stronger than he. 

My knight hasn't come yet but I think that's okay. Because he's still on his journey. His armor may still be too shiny, too untried. Maybe he simply isn't ready to face his dragon.

Someday, he will though and when he does, I'll be waiting.

Our happily ever after isn't going anywhere.

How to Work Out Like a Writer (AKA a boss)

Today, I want to talk about the workout I've been doing for the last couple of weeks. It's been working really well for me. It's longer but you can split it up if you don't have as much time.

Okay, so here we go:

1. Go for a quick warm-up run (I run up and down my street).

2. Kickbox (I do around 200 punches, along with some kicks and ducks randomly thrown in) against a bag.

3. Arm workout (I just look up different ones on Pinterest, usually ones with weight training).

4. Leg workout (Again, Pinterest-I like the ones with squats and wall sits mostly).

5. Abs workout (What else? PINTEREST. I like ones with a lot of crunches and planks).

6. I finish up my workout by stretching (I'm trying to get my splits so I do a lot of split stretches in here).

And voila! There you go. That's my workout plan. If you like this, leave me a comment. If I get enough comments, maybe I'll go more into depth into my workouts. Share some videos.

Let me know what you think!

Christ and Lord of the Rings: The Connection

So, I know what you're thinking. What does a fantasy trilogy have to do with christianity? Some of you (those fantasy haters) may even be wondering what a fantasy trilogy has to do with anything.
Well, several things.
The Lord of the Rings, written by J.R.R. Tolkien, is a book trilogy following the journey of a wide cast of characters as they struggle to destroy the One Ring and defeat the dark lord Sauron.
There are about a million different connections between Christianity and these books but today I am focusing on one: Samewise Gamgee.
If you've read the books or seen the movies, you're probably smiling to yourself or yelling excitedly. Sam is a fantastic character. What you might not know is that he is a Christ-like character. Here's how:
1. A faithful friend
Sam is ALWAYS there for Frodo. No matter what. When Frodo tries to go off alone to destroy the ring without taking any one else from the Fellowship with him (in Fellowship of the Ring), Sam gets into the water to follow him. He tells Frodo that yes, he's leaving but that Sam is coming with him. This is a representation of Christ. Christ is always there for us, maybe not even when we want him to be.
2. He will always come back.
During Return of the King, Frodo tells Sam to leave, taking Gollum's word over Sam's. When this nearly kills Frodo, Sam comes to the rescue, with the phial of Galadriel. Even after how awful Frodo was to him, Sam saved him. Christ is the same with us.
3. He will carry us.
At the end of Return of the King, as they have almost reached the top of Mount Doom to get rid of the ring, Frodo can no longer go forward on his own. To this, Sam says, "I can't carry it for you, but I can carry you!" He the carries Frodo the rest of the way to the top. Christ will never carry our loads for us. He can't. But he can carry us through these burdens.
Need I say more?
Sam is a symbol for Christ. Here's a final quote from Sam to show that he was wise and good and Christ-like from the end of The Two Towers:
"I know. It's all wrong. By rights we shouldn't even be here. But we are. It's like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo. The ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger, they were. And sometimes you didn't want to know the end. Because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened? But in the end, it's only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines it will shine out the clearer. Those were the stories that stayed with you. That meant something, even if you were too small to understand why. But I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand. I know now. Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back, only they didn't. They kept going. Because they were holding on to something...That there's some good in this world, Mr. Frodo... and it's worth fighting for."

-Sam, The Two Towers

Why Humans are Awesome

Good morning all!

So I work five days a week, as many of us do. During these days of vacuuming and dusting, I often spend my time in some pretty deep thought.

For example, yesterday.

Yesterday, I was dusting and thinking to myself. Here's what I decided:

Humans beings are absolutely incredible. We have this drive that the rest of living things on Earth do not have. The drive to make a difference, to change something, to make something better. Animals do not share this drive. They live to survive. In a sense, humans survive to live. 

Think about it. Every person on this Earth wants to do something great. No one wants to just eat and sleep. Why? Because we know we are capable of so much more.

I think this is why I'm a writer (honestly, I've never really known what peaked my interest). I want to make a difference and, for me at least, this is how I can. I can teach truth and I can touch hearts. That's how I change things.

Everyone has a drive. Something they wish to accomplish, even if they have become bitter and cynical enough to say that they don't.

So here I am today saying, DON'T LET GO OF YOUR DRIVE. This is what makes you human, this is what makes you so amazing. 

Don't let that go.

Technology...Ugh

Ah, technology. That thing we all need but we all kind of hate. If there was ever a love-hate relationship, it is with our devices.
You may wonder what happened that would lead me to speak on this matter tonight in particular. You may wonder where this is coming from.
Well, dear reader, it all started yesterday, when my computer decided to commit suicide.
That's right. My computer DIED yesterday.
I got home for work, ready to go for a quick run, when I open my computer. Aha, that's where the trouble starts. My screen freaks first. Followed by the odd updating and undoing the changes forevermore. Indeed, we've got problems.
Well, I took my mother's advice and took it to Geek Squad. Alas, they couldn't help me. My computer is toast. It committed suicide, stealing my documents with it.
Lucky for me and for my darling readers, I keep everything backed up online and on a flash drive (YOU'RE WELCOME). I only lost a few chapters of Forbidden. Chapters that weren't really working anyway.
Now, with a new laptop in hand, I write to you dear readers about the unfortunate betrayals of technology.
The lesson here? Don't put any kind of faith in a piece of hardware.

The Tale of the Exploding Sparkling Water

So, the scene is set.
I'm at work, back in the car with my co-workers, just finishing the first house of the day. It's lunch time.
Little do I know how, ah, exciting this lunch day will be. I pull out my peach flavored sparkling water, which is delicious and unopened.
I have a feeling you know where this is going.
You're right. I start to open it. Really just crack it open to let this fizz die down. But when I give it one twist--JUST ONE TWIST, MIND YOU--lunchtime becomes a time of chaos, embarrassment, and hilarity. Mmm, delicious, right?
The drink starts fizzing overboard, seriously bubbling all over the place. I mean, EVERYWHERE. For a minute, I just sit there and squeal (Maybe I was too surprised to actually make a sound but I was squealing inside). And then finally the bubbling stops and I have this fountain of sparkling water in my lap. Sticky and gross. EW.
We all laugh. It's pretty silly and unexpected. And there's my excitement for the day: attacked by a store-bought drink.
No worries, all ends well with a pair of dry pants from my car.
Lesson learned? Use caution when opening sparkling drinks.

Ramblings of a Writer: Creatures of Habit, Creatures of Change

I'm no psychologist.
I just wanted to make that clear from the beginning. The title of this post might make it seem as if I am, but I'm not.
Of course, I am a writer and that does give me some insight into human nature. Which, of course, brings us to the post of the day.
I was sitting in my church meetings this morning when a thought crossed my mind: humans are amazing creatures.
Think about it. We are creatures of habit and routine. We love to feel safe and loved. We love to know and understand what's going on. But we also are capable of being creatures of change. We want to explore and go on adventures and really live.
That's absolutely incredible to me. Because we want to be safe but we also want to grow into something bigger. We, as humans, want to make a difference in the world. We care about things, even when we like to say we could care less.
You're probably reading this and thinking what's the point? Well here it is:
Step outside of the box. Come on. Right now. I'm doing it too. Step out of what feels safe and step into the world. Be part of the world. Change it. Change yourself.
You owe it to yourself to be the person you want to be, not the person you are. Because the truth of the matter is that if you're not challenging yourself, what are you doing really?
Well, that's it for my ramblings. Happy Sunday all!

Review: TORN (Five Short Stories from the World of the Invincibles)

Okay! So the short stories I have been posting have been compiled into a book on Amazon in celebration of the upcoming TRAPPED. Here's a review of TORN:
"TORN: Five Short Stories from the World of The Invincibles by Brittany Oldroyd are well constructed stories that leave you curious. An introduction to some interesting characters with real tales to tell. A nice prequel setting you up for what I imagine to be a very good series. The author has a very natural writing voice that is both down to earth and inviting."

-brenda