Someone Like You

With a house full of company Saturday night Adele’s Someone Like You came on several times. Of course all of us women sang it at the top of our lungs while playing board games with our friends. A point was brought up. Almost every woman can in some way relate to these lyrics…

I hosted a Meetup for a group that I am a part of a couple of weeks ago completely based around Gary Chapman’s The Five Love Languages. Including myself, only three women showed up, so there we were a group of women one in the mid 20’s, one in the mid 30’s, and one in the mid 50’s with one thing in common. Or so we thought. We were all separated and learning how to cope with our failed marriages.

But by the end of the night we had realized that we had so much more in common. Not only were we learning how to cope with our failed marriages, but our stories were all so very similar. I was able to relate to a woman in her mid 50’s who was at a completely different stage in life in ways that I never thought possible. Why: Because we both felt exactly the same. We are both going through exactly the same thing. Learning how to move on with our lives, how to date again, what’s normal, how we should feel, all sorts of crazy struggles. We are learning how to be us again.

With every relationship, breakup, experience, friendship, loss, celebration that comes our way, we are all learning from it. We are beautifully ever changing beings that are all going through the same exact thing disguised as different situations.

What have I gathered from it? That I’m glad I’m so open with people. It allows me the opportunity to be there for people who may not think that it’s okay to talk to someone. They may be in the same exact spot I was a few months ago, holding everything in and hiding behind a social calendar that could wear out Martha Stewart.

When people see that I’m not perfect, and that I hurt to? It allows people to open up in ways that they otherwise wouldn’t have. And with that I realize that is the true reason that I am so easy to talk to. Because I am open and honest about where I am in life, and it makes others feel that they can be open and honest about where they are in life as well.

The decisions that change your life

Let’s be honest. We make hundreds of decisions every day.

Do I want to get out of bed when the alarm goes off?

Do I need to wash my hair today?

What do I want for breakfast?

What socks do I want to wear?

How should I do my hair today?

Do I need a jacket?

Do I give Gracie some wet food with her breakfast?

I’m just rambling off meaningless decisions that I face every day before I even walk out the door. At this point I have maybe been up an hour.

So we make hundreds of these tiny decisions every day. Decisions are a part of life. These are the easy decisions. My definition of an easy decision: minimal choices resulting in minimal consequences.

So what about the hard decisions? What tactics do you use to make those gut wrenching, life changing decisions that nobody ever actually wants to make? Do you stick with those decisions once they are made? Do you falter in your decision? Do you always go with your gut reaction? Do you create a list of positives and negatives and go with whichever list is more favorable? How often do you regret those decisions?

I have shared a lot with a few lately and I’m going to be completely honest… I think it’s hilarious how people take my decision making. I am very much a gut feeling decision maker. I’m not the brain-storming list maker. Yes… I do know that this is against my OCD tendencies but you know what? I only have a short amount of time on this earth and I’m not going to spend it agonizing over decisions (no matter how crazy they seem) or regretting ones that I have made.

I find a path and I start to head down it. If I get half way down and can’t work my way through it with a machete, then it’s time to create a new path for myself.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that my way is the only way. Hell, I’m not saying that my way is the right way. I am saying however that they are my decisions to be made. I very much love the people with whom I have gained their concerned. Don’t think that I’m not. I just wanted to rant a little bit about the musings of people completely non-understanding of the “erratic” or “fast” decisions I have made with my life.

I am happy, and I love my life. Can you honestly say the same?

Who are you when you’re happy?

I have noticed in my flux of consciousness lately that I am a completely different person when I am happy. When I have the weight of the world on my shoulders I am a very serious person. When I am ignorantly, blissfully happy? I use horrible childish English, drink lots of wine, and laugh, all the time, about absolutely nothing.

Can you tell the minor differences in when you are truly happy and when you are just normal and when you are just barely surviving?

What about the big differences? I find it so much easier to be nice to someone that I may not be able to stand when I am not happy.

I love listening to the Playlist for this blog. It’s so funny to see the different phases that I go through. Y’all get it at a random mix but if you actually look at the playlist, you can almost see moods based on when the songs were added. Happy ones added together, miserable ones added at a completely different time surrounded by completely miserable songs.

Thank you for making me happy.

I know it’s short, but I just needed to write for a bit.

Hope that y’all are having a fantastic week.

What is your self worth?

What is your self worth?  What are you doing to figure it out?  I am sitting here with my headphones plugged into my iPhone so that I can drown out the noise around my while I should be working to reflect on a lot of choices and decisions made recently.  Not just by me, but those around me that affect how I see myself as a person.

 

Let’s start with the menial crap.  This diet that most of you know I am on.  Somewhere when I was little between the batons, the modeling, the cheerleading, the girl scouts, the basketball team, drama, chorus, and band: it was clearly programmed into my head that I need to maintain the skinny image to find myself attractive.  Great.  The funny part about this?  Is that y’all don’t even seem to think that I have a weight issue.  Regardless of that, for some notion that someone clearly put in my head at some point, I am chewing down the last of a green apple (my breakfast) with a 1.5 liter bottle of water open in front of me.  The one that I am destined to finish before ending my day.

 

What are you self conscious about?  What made you that way?  What are you doing to rid yourself of the issue?

 

For the first time in my life I can honestly say that my self esteem is not dependent on one other person.  The problem is that it has mutated to being in the arms of a good group of oooh… 400+.  That’s right.  The life of an organizer being under the microscope is the issue causing the tension in my shoulders and the questioning of my every move.

 

The funny part about that is when people do actually question me?  They are not worth it, and most the time I want to punch them in the face.

 

Which brings me to another point I suppose.  Who the hell do some of you people think you are?  Are you really that unhappy with yourself that you take no time to dissect the correct way to talk to people?  Why are you not taking the time to make sure that your words do not cause new issues for people who; like you; are struggling to figure out who they are every day without your negativity?

 

I have said it before, and I am sure that I will say it again.  I am the queen of run on sentences.  I apologize about that.  Lately I also find myself to be this tip toeing woman so afraid to hurt or offend others that I end up living a lie to avoid the inevitable.  I am sorry about that.  I am resolving not to do so anymore.  Which will lead me to some pretty tough conversations this week.  Fun stuff.

 

But my challenge to every single one of you is two fold.  If you aren’t already completely aware, figure out what it is that makes you self conscious about yourself, and get on a plan to change it.  I know that this is not as simple for everyone as it is for me to lose 20 pounds.  But won’t it be worth it?  My second one is to not let the opinions of others affect your opinions of yourself, or your decisions in living life.  Do what makes you happy.  We’re only here for so many earth rotations.  Make each one count.

 

Have a great week.

I did not wait for the iPhone5!

If one more person asks me why I just purchased an iPhone4 instead of waiting for the iPhone5, I may scream.  Like scream right in their face.  I am okay with everyone who calls my iPhone racist for being white.  You’re just jealous because mine is sexier than yours.  But seriously people, I’ve done my research, and am even providing it for you.  Stop asking!  :D

August 17 - http://iphone5release.org/new-report-claims-apple-set-to-start-iphone-5-pre-orders-on-sept-30-launch-oct-7/

If the pre-order date is accurate and Apple does intend to start allowing pre-orders on Friday, September 30^th then it’s almost a certainty that they will hold some form of preview event in early September.

August 25 - http://iphone5release.org/ios-5-beta-hints-at-lte-support-in-iphone-5-and-ipad-3/

Although the iPhone 5 is all but confirmed to be launching sometime in September or early October, Apple has yet to even confirm the existence of the device. Nothing is known about what the next-generation iPhone handset will deliver in terms of upgraded hardware or features; whether or not LTE had even been considered by Apple was unknown until the discovery of LTE settings in iOS 5 Beta 6.

http://www.apple.com/ios/ios5/

“Get over 200 new features for iPhone with the free iOS5 Software Update.  Coming this fall.

So anyway, if you have information about what the differences are going to be between 4 & 5, go ahead and share.  If you’re waiting to upgrade for the release?  By all means, go ahead and wait.  But I’m not a very patient woman.  End of story.

A general update for my avid readers

Some of you have been doing some serious harassment of my lack of writing.  I want to say thank you for that.  I have been really busy but this is truly one of my best therapies and really something that I should continue to do.  So let’s dive in, shall we?

Let me just put it out there.  THE QC YOUNG ACTIVE PROFESSIONALS HAS 399 MEMBERS in less than 4 and a half months!  Can you tell that I am excited?  It still blows me away every day what this group has turned into, and the future that I see for it expanding before my eyes.

Huge thank you to all of you who have made it possible.  It is the biggest passion in my life and something that I am very proud (can’t you tell?) of!

Now onto this diet.  It occurred to me about two weeks ago that I am heavier than I have ever been.  Given the fact that I have literally been the same height since I was 13, being about 15 lbs. heavier than I have been in the past 11 years knocked me into a serious funk.

I am happy to report that I have already lost 3 pounds and am on the way to some amazing life style changes that will prohibit me from ever being in this mess ever again!  Yuck!

For those of you about to tell me to be quiet because I’m not fat?  You can just bite your tongue and know that my opinion of my weight matters more to me than your opinion about my weight.  So just hush.

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I may be losing my mind.  I am in this very scatter brained passionate place right now where I’m making a lot of life style changes and doing some serious closet cleaning.  Oh, speaking of closet cleaning (literally) if you wear medium tops and are interested in seeing what I’ll be taking to Goodwill next week – you should definitely let me know…  Cause I’m just gonna take some pictures.  Some of it’s cute and just not my style and some of it’s older.  *shrugs*

I’m on the lookout for a decently priced keyboard and stand right now.  I have decided that I’m going to re teach myself how to play.  This is thanks to Adele.  So, again, if you know anyone who may be looking to unload one, please let me know!

Think, think, think…

Can I tell you that I have a small group of some seriously amazing people in my life?  The people that I have spent the past… three weekends with and who I let crash in random places in my apartment?  Those people are pretty freaking amazing…  The girl that I can literally text anything to at any time of day?  She’s pretty freaking amazing…  The rest of you all rock too, but it’s just really nice to have true friends in my life!

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Wikipedia’s version of Charisma -

The term charisma has two senses: 1) compelling attractiveness or charm that can inspire devotion in others, 2) a divinely conferred power or talent.

Yeah, because that’s not intimidating or anything…

Slowly reading The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership in a continued search to use my powers for good instead of evil.

Yes, this IS a lot of randomness but YOU ALL ASKED FOR IT!

Have a GREAT weekend.  I’ll keep you updated.

One good thing about music – when it hits you, you feel no pain

Yes, I really and truly did just quote Sublime in my blog title.  It happened.  I realized yesterday (yes, it took me that long) that music is my best companion.  Don’t get me wrong, I love each and every one of my friends that I spend time with.  But when I get into a funk and want to hide in the corner?  What I need more than anything is a good song with lyrics that express exactly how I am feeling, belted out at the top of my lungs, followed by a song about how it’s going to be okay.

I love to sing.  Singing makes everything alright in my world.  I’ve shared with a few of you my instances of being unable to pick myself up off the floor… or shower floor in the past couple of weeks and singing through half of my repertoire of a particular type of music has been what has made me pick myself up and tell myself that it is going to be ok.

That’s it for now, but I think I will spend some time this weekend updating my blog playlist so that while y’all are hear reading about the mind numbing things I have to say, you can at least get a dose of what it is that I am talking about.

Watch for Facebook photos this weekend as it’s another action packed one in my little green book!