Yesterday was a day of ah-ha moments for me.  I love these ah-ha moments and here is why: At that moment everything in your mind is focused on the one thing/person that has caused this ah-ha moment.  For me that is great feeling.  I have a hard time resisting the urge to multi-task – even when multi-tasking proves to be counterproductive. 

I know that this is all subjective and people often do not see multi-tasking as a bad habit, but for me it is.   The list of crazy things I do is probably endless, for example, I listen to podcasts while I grocery shop; I floss when I am stuck in traffic; I make part of dinner while I make breakfast; I call my grandmother on my lunch break; I write emails on my phone at the gym; I brush my teeth while I pack my lunch…the list goes on and on…

This is one reason why I enjoy the simple state of ah-ha – this moment is simple, but yet surrounded by reflection, realization, inspiration, and more.

Hopefully, I am able to recall moments like these and use the great advice that caused me to say ah-ha in the first place.

[insert kinds words here]

-h

Goal Bucket #1

One of my friends the other day was telling me that she recently had a friend finally reach her weight loss goal.  First of all congrats to her!  Secondly, I want to point out that one of the reasons she was successful was because she documented her journey via the Internet.  She began a blog as way to make a formal commitment to herself and documenting the up and downs of her weight loss journey.  We decided that this in a large part contributed to her success of finally losing the weight and reaching her goal. 

I realize that there are many people who use their blogs in this way and so...I am going to use a portion of this blog to do the same thing.  I am going to create a 'Goal Bucket'.  The Goal Bucket will be a place for me to store my goals.  This way they are all in a central location and easy for me to look at.

The hardest thing about naming a goal can be admitting that you have not achieved something.  To some degree that is something I battle -- admitting ineptitude-- More importantly though, I worry that I will never achieve my goal.  That is where this 'Goal Bucket' is going to be different than the other goal setting initiatives I have seen.  I might decide that I am going to take action right away on one goal and not not going take action on another and that is okay. I do not want to feel any extra pressure to complete my goal before a certain date or make progress at all.  I want to just be able to have a bucket of goals and know that it is safe to collect goals without having to accomplish them right away.  I know it isn't too conventional, but I think it will do the trick!

[Insert kind words here]
<3 h

Holy Buckets!

You know what is not fun?! Spending a large chunk of time standing in contaminated toilet water is not fun, sounds obvious right?

[Exhale]...Okay, now that I am passed that situation -- physically passed, though there is still a chance I am emotionally scarred – let’s categorize this situation as opportunity for self-reflection.  I have to say I am quite proud of myself for finding the willpower to quickly calm down after such a huge disaster. Last night at 10:00pm, I was standing in a feces filled wet bathroom trying my best think positively and I did it! Sure, I was a little sour after all of this, but considering the circumstances it is amazing I maintained any self-composure. 

Like I said I view my reaction to all of this as a win.  Below are two reasons why:

1.      Even under this type of pressure, I successfully communicated my plan of action.  This is a real success because after years of being an only child, I assume people can read my mind and they can’t. 

2.      I did not let this fiasco stand in the way of a good night’s sleep.  Can I get a round of applause?  Seriously, I am one anxious cookie and because of that this is down right fantastic! 

I am sure there are other things I could reflect on, but I think these two responses deserve a pause and a moment in the spotlight. 

Oh yea! Sometimes it is the little things J

[Insert kind words here]
<3 h

Razed Expectations

I am a glass half-full kind of gal, which too often leaves me utterly disappointed. I know at first this statement seems contradictory -- a full glass equals disappointment!? But seriously, life is full of disappointments. I don't mean to somehow diminish the important lessons learned from these disappointing experiences, but right now I am going to bask in my woe, :-D!

I often find myself face-to-face with this troubling reality because I expect more out of people. This is not to say that I am perfect, but I would like to believe that others can count on me to follow through. I am go-getter and when I decide I am going to be involved, I am in it for the long haul. For better or worse, I usually view the world through these rose colored glasses and as a result - I expect that people actually care. Shocking concept right?! Well, even if that seems crazy, I am often shocked when people don't care or aren't as invested as I am. This routinely disappoints me. Maybe this feeling is a product of being a coddled millennial or being only child? Maybe I should just get over it? Well, I can't. I can't help but ask myself why when did this kind of half-way effort become acceptable and why? I guess over-committing is my weakest link? I guess it is my own fault for expecting so much out of others, after all I have no reason to hold such high expectations. Perhaps I am destined to be perpetually deflated by these situations. As there is no way to predict the actions of others.

Even with these unfavorable odds I am going to continue to hold high expectations for others. I am not going to lower my standards of others' because of past experiences or the possibility of future let downs. I am pretty sure this way of thinking will pay off. And if it doesn't... oh well.

[insert kind thoughts]
<3 h

Practice by Doing?

If I am ever going to get better at this whole writing thing, I guess I am going to have to... start writing? And that is how I ended up here, on Blogger. To clear a few things up, I do not think I have some great insight into life that others should seek, I simply think that I want to experience more and communicate better. I have finally decided I am going to quit just thinking about writing and actually take action and write! I don't want to be presumptuous and assume others are reading this, but for the record I am always open to feedback.

At the moment I fear this whole thing is going to turn into a huge pile of unsortable and nonsensical topics, which I guess being 27 is all about? (I am not complaining about being twenty-seven, believe me, because so far twenty-seven is way better than those earlier twenties, eek!) The point is, I have no particular thoughts on the direction that this blog will take -- I just know that I plan to use this as a way to look back and reflect on my day-to-day life beginning at 27.

[Insert kind words here]
<3 h

Oh the Mondays will come...

The best way to start off a Monday is definitely oversleeping by an hour, right? Ha, so much for getting a head start on the week, like I had originally planned.

It never fails, I only sleep-in when I have already decided that today is the day that I finally get situated with the time change (I know I am tad late to that party). I should mention that until recently, I have been a very punctual person. You see, I hate waiting on people and even worse is the guilt that comes with knowing that others are waiting on you. That is why I strive to be on time or 5 minutes early if possible.

I view my former punctual self as a go getter and I like being on time and organized. It makes me smile; however, my punctuality is a headache for my significant other (S.O.), mainly because he is not punctual or even aware that he is late. I have made peace with this for the most part. I admit every once in awhile I get really anxious when we are running late and begin to point out that I use to be extremely timely when I was single. And well, it is easy to see where that conversation goes… Putting all this aside, today I am going to make a realistic plan of action to make sure that I get out the door with 5 extra minutes and arrive at my destination 5 minutes early instead of just on-time. Just on-time could be just about late and that is why I have kept the 5 minute buffer space.

I will have to make an additional check-list since I do a lot prepping already, such as packing my gym bag before bed and setting the coffee pot up ahead of time. So I guess I am going to need an updated list.

New Check List:
*Complete the old check-list and add the items below
*Pack animal crackers and chips at night
*Fill water bottle and put in my bag at night
Oh man…this is about all I can think of…oh wait!
*Set out and iron items of clothing I might want to wear

Okay, that is all I have for this moment…Maybe I should quit doing unnecessary things like cleaning the shower or wiping the refrigerator out? I suppose I can revisit this later, ugh!

[Insert kind words here]
<3