Sunday Reflections

To my renewed love of reading: Thank you. I've missed you. Sitting and reading a book, even one as dense as John Adams, for hours has been refreshing. It's also sparked some interesting dreams again.

To my dreams: If you are going to make a complicated love triangle, can you make sure to finish it the next night? I'm interested to see how this one plays out. Also, the science experiment the hot guy and I were working on last night was awesome. Keep it up.

To my dear friend: The 2 1/2 hour conversation made my day. Definitely need to do that more often. Glad to hear you are doing well.

To you who didn't call: You missed out.

To my former student: Thanks for the kind words. It's good to hear I'm still making a difference.

To my roommate: I love that you texted me from London. Live it up.

To the the crabby guy who emailed me at work: I don't know you. You don't know me. Was I really worth your time to make such a disparaging comment? I didn't think so.

To ABC Family: Thanks for making cheesy movies to watch on a Sunday night. Great contrast to the heavy reading (see above) I'm trying to finish before Wednesday.

To the chocolate chip cookies: Sorry I didn't have any eggs. But it was Sunday. Not going to the store. I'll have to make you tomorrow.

To my morning run: Only two more of you I have to do. Then I get to run because I want to.

To the half marathon on Saturday: Be kind.

To my lazy weekend: I don't remember the last time I had one. Felt nice not to be rushing from one thing to the next. Also, thank you clouds for making it overcast so I could finish my long run in spite of the 80 degree weather.

To my family and friends: You truly are amazing!

No Lasting Regrets

I read this article today and loved it so much. Great lessons to live by and explanation as to why I make the decisions I do. I'd rather fail miserably than wonder what if? about something. I have no idea what is around the corner for me right now, but whatever it is, it's going to be good.

“I wish I had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life that others expected of me.”

Many people will go to great lengths to avoid failure. I certainly get this; I don’t like to fail either. However, I hate to be stuck even more than failing.  If given the choice of failing or being stuck, I take failing.  You know why?  Because I believe that I’ll just dust myself off and try again. And if that doesn’t work, I’ll just dust myself off…and try again. Rinse, lather, repeat. This is the way YOU need to think about life.  The bottom line is this: failing is not a great feeling, but it’s so much better than NOT going after your dream. At least you’re moving in SOME direction.  In the end, you won’t regret not being courageous enough to go after your dream. There will never be the perfect time to go after what you want— you just have to make right now the right time.

Gratitude - Day 9

On Day 2 of this gratitude chain, I mentioned that my dreams help me with my homework. This really does happen but negative consequences also exist as was the case last night. I was supposed to finalize my team's HR case but kept hitting a roadblock with my thoughts. I decided going to bed early and waking up early would be more beneficial than sitting in front of my computer with elementary thoughts. In my dream, I finished 2/3 of the case! Subconsciously I even thought that it will be easy to finish the case when I wake up. You can't even imagine my disappointment when I woke up and realized I still had the entire case to write. Oh well.

1. I am grateful for the ability to work well under deadlines. I love when I budget three hours to write a case but finish in 2 1/2. Of course years in writing papers have helped and trained me in this habit. One semester in my undergrad year I wrote over 20+ papers, with five of those being from one class and 8-10 pages long.

2. I am grateful for heaters and air conditioners. I can't even imagine living through summers without AC and winters without heat. I have fond memories sitting next to my parents gas fireplace, wrapped in a blanket, drinking hot chocolate. In the summers you could find me with a pillow next to an AC vent sleeping. Good memories!

3. I am grateful for good roommates. I have had some really difficult roommates with multiple problems. However, I have also had some stellar roommates (many of you reading this blog). Two roommates who I have recently thought about are Mel and Cheryl. Half-way through the year, our apartment was re-carpeted and we decided to have all three of us sleep in the same room. Every night we turned on the same cd and fell asleep underneath our glow-in-the dark stars. We were also frequent visitors at the hot tub, especially during winter time. At least a few times a week you would hear one of us yell, "Cute girls at the hot tub!" We always got someone to join us. Thanks to all of you who have been my roommates. You are amazing!

Attitude of Gratitude - Day 2

1. I am grateful for the right to vote. Many people around the world do not have that opportunity. Even though our system isn't perfect, at least we have the option.

2. I am grateful for my dreams because they help me in my homework. I have a take-home case midterm that is due tomorrow. I read the case right before going to sleep, and in my dream, I worked out some of the major issues I should focus on solving. This is not the first time this has happened. Of course it isn't fun to write your 10 page paper in your dreams, and then wake up to realize you still have to write it.

3. I am grateful for a good night's sleep. I have been pushing myself for weeks and trying to survive on five hours. My body was crashing! The past few nights I have been able to get seven to eight hours and am starting to feel better.