Wednesday, September 30, 2009

What Doens't Kill You Only Makes You Stronger!

Ever heard the phrase what doesn't kill you will only make you stronger? Well I have! I've heard it many times throughout my 20 years and trust me I haven't always believed it. Like most people I thought the slightest problem was going to be the end for me. Giving a speech used to seem like the worst thing I would ever have to do in life. I mean seriously who thought of turning public speaking into a class by itself anyways! But speech day came, I got up there in front of the class fidgeting hands and all. Turns out it wasn't the end of my life, in fact it wasn't really that bad. I'm not saying its something I'll ever look forwards to doing but now I know that it definitely wont kill me.

Point is whenever most of us come to a tough spot in life whether it be financially, academically, socially, or any other area we think it is the absolute worse. That there is no way we will ever be able to deal with whatever problem or task has been thrown at us. Most people give up on themselves before they even start. Kids are assigned speeches all the time in school. I don't know about you but when I was in school I dreaded speech day. I figured there was always somebody smarter, better at public speaking, teachers pet, those kids who were good at everything they did so if I was going to suck why spend tons of time worrying about it. I would just put it out of my mind until a couple nights....ok I'm not going to lie usually it was the night before my speech was due and then I'd cram all the work into that one night. I didn't even give myself a chance. Had I spent the time and effort perfecting my project I probably could have kicked butt.

People, myself included, shouldn't be so quick to assume things. In school I always assumed someone was better than me. So why try so hard when I'd never be top of the class? People get bills knowing they don't have the money to pay them and assume nothing can be done when in reality all you have to do is make a few phone calls and chances are there is something that can be done to help you better the situation. People are laid off from jobs they've had for 20 years. They look around at whats going on with the economy assume since they were laid off from their job they wont be able to get another one. I mean after all times are tough right!
WRONG!!!! You should never assume anything when it is not in your favor. When a problem is thrown at you look at it as a learning experience....a challenge! After all people don't grow if they don't challenge themselves. I'm a firm believer that everything happens for a reason. I'm also a hardcore believer that you will never be given an obstacle that you can't overcome.
I know people think I just talk from no experience and sometimes I do but with this I definitely know what I am talking about. This past year has been really hard on my family. My dad who is self employed usually makes really good money doing siding work. He's been self employed for about 13 years and we've never had a year this bad. Like a lot of families we've fallen behind on bills, caught up and then fallen behind again. We've received disconnection notices and had those days where we searched the cabinets knowing we weren't going to find anything to eat. But no matter how bad things have gotten at the end of the day we still have our house, our cars, and each other. My dad still has his business and we're hoping things will get better. Until then I'll keep taking care of the bills I can.
This year has been nothing but challenges for me and my family. My mom had her 3rd heart attack that taught me to appreciate the time I have with people I care about. Saying we don't argue any more would be a lie but I definitely appreciate her a lot more and I try not to let the little stuff bother me as much. Giving up all my extra money to take care of my families bills has given me a new appreciation for money. Now I think twice before blowing my money on all the little crap that I see and think I absolutely need to have.

Sunday, September 27, 2009

101 in 1001 Updates

2 days into the project and I think things are going pretty well. So far I've signed up to volunteer at the Walk for Diabetes in St. Charles on October 4. That should be kind of fun. I've always wanted to do one of those walks. Unfortunately I'm not actually walking this time just helping with the set up and what not.

I've also been working on my rice donations. On Friday I answered a lot of the questions and believe me it may seem simple at first but trust me its not all as easy at it looks! So far I'm up to about 900 grains donated! YAY ME!

I've found the life coach I want to work with. Her name is Quinn and she is awesome. She specializes in young adult coaching and really enjoyed chatting with her. We've worked out a payment plan...now all I have to do is get the money! : ) For those of you that don't know a life coach is a person that you talk to usually over the phone and they help you live the kind of life you want to live. They help you figure out the things you need to do in order to get to where you want to be. Kind of like over the phone therapy I guess.

I think today I'll look into the dance class and book club.

Friday, September 25, 2009

101 in 1001 Project

The Mission:
Complete 101 preset tasks in a period of 1001 days.

The Criteria:
Tasks must be specific (ie. no ambiguity in the wording) with a result that is either measurable or clearly defined. Tasks must also be realistic and stretching (ie. represent some amount of work on my part).

Why 1001 Days?
Many people have created lists in the past - frequently simple goals such as New Year's resolutions. The key to beating procrastination is to set a deadline that is realistic. 1001 Days (about 2.75 years) is a better period of time than a year, because it allows you several seasons to complete the tasks, which is better for organising and timing some tasks such as overseas trips or outdoor activities.



101 in 1001
  1. Go back to school
  2. Learn to play guitar
  3. Learn how to knit
  4. Get Penn Foster Certificate for Interior Design
  5. Learn spanish and use it
  6. Take a cake decorating class
  7. Take a dance class
  8. Maintain a minimum 3.5 GPA
  9. Learn basic car maintenance
  10. Read 100 books
  11. Read 10 books of the 1001 books to read before you die list
  12. Save at least $1,000.00 [0/1000]
  13. Open A CD
  14. Invest in stock market
  15. Pay off credit cards [0/1850]
  16. Pay off Penn Foster [0/210]
  17. Put $1 in savings every time someone caches me complaining
  18. Donate $5 for every item not completed on list
  19. Sell something on ebay
  20. Invest in a nice wardrobe
  21. Keep check book balanced
  22. Tip 100%
  23. Make money blogging
  24. Win a scholarship
  25. Buy a bike
  26. Buy rollerblades
  27. Visit at least 5 states [0/5]
  28. Go on a road trip
  29. Go camping
  30. Go fishing and catch a fish
  31. Go strawberry/apple picking
  32. Visit a Buddhist Temple
  33. Play lotto (the real kind not the scratch offs)
  34. Send a message in a bottle
  35. Visit Uncle Fritz
  36. Go to camp
  37. Visit a psychic
  38. See the worlds largest of something
  39. Go to Narcolepsy Convention
  40. Go paint balling
  41. Go to driving range
  42. Go to shooting Range
  43. Go to at least 3 concerts [0/3]
  44. Go to the zoo
  45. Fly a kite
  46. Join a book club
  47. Do 100 push ups every 6 weeks [0/2600]
  48. Do 200 crunches every 6 weeks [0/2600]
  49. Do 200 squats every 6 weeks [0/2600]
  50. Loose 150 lbs. [0/150]
  51. Walk the dog regularly for 1 year
  52. No soda for 1 month
  53. Take a pilate class
  54. Hand out 10 narcolepsy bracelets a year [0/30]
  55. Write Uncle Fritz every 2 months [0/18]
  56. Volunteer 3 times a year [0/9]
  57. Reach 2,000 tweets [0/2,000]
  58. Get up by 9 every day for a month
  59. Take photo booth pictures
  60. Make every recipe in book [0/1001] ( The Best 1001 Short Easy Recipes)
  61. Do 10 actions on wearewhatwedo.com [0/10]
  62. Post in forum 100 times [0/100]
  63. Blog at least once a week [0/156]
  64. Get insurance
  65. Leave 101 motivational post its [0/101] www.operationbeautiful.com
  66. Complete the 5,000 question survey [0/5000]
  67. Go to dentist
  68. Go to doctor
  69. Go to eye doctor
  70. Work with life coach
  71. Submit invention idea
  72. Finish coloring papers
  73. Make a meal plan and stick to it for a month
  74. Write a letter to myself to open when challenge is complete
  75. Say I love you every day
  76. Improve my credit score
  77. Make at least one extra payment to student loan every year [0/3]
  78. Make at least one extra payment to time share every year [0/3]
  79. Go on a cruise
  80. Participate in a pageant
  81. Gamble in Vegas
  82. Complete a sh1ft.org project
  83. Donate 1,000,000 grains of rice at freerice.com [900/1000000]
  84. Fill and send at least 3 shoes boxes for operation christmas child [0/3]
  85. Send 5 postcrossing post cards [0/5]
  86. Finish room makeover
  87. Retile Bathroom shower
  88. Clean up back yard
  89. Redo wicker furniture
  90. Go through mom's clothes
  91. Donate bag of clothes, food, etc. every 6 months [0/6]
  92. Get rid of futon mattress
  93. Go ice skating in Millennium park
  94. Go Jet skiing
  95. Go to the park
  96. Have coin jar at least half way filled
  97. Have a wicked garden
  98. Give really good Christmas presents
  99. Create a website
  100. Get a new desk
  101. Make another 101 in 1001 list and get started!