work, work, work

Working 40+ hours a week and still barely being able to pay bills much less be able to have fun and enjoy life REALLY SUCKS. 
 I strongly believe that we as humans are not designed to spend so much of our lives working just to survive. Whys "the man" always gotta be keepin' us down?? 
Get this.. there are 168 hours in a week. Figure the average person spends about spends about 58 of those hours sleeping. The average person working in corporate America typically works about 40-50 hours a week. This isn't counting those crazo-s who work 12 hours a day. That being said, the average person spends about 45% of their week at work! 


I'm all for earning your keep, but I'm also for being able to have the TIME to actually enjoy life! So whoever had this idea of the 40+ hour week must have just been a big 'ol party pooper. 

Bitch, Please!

 I'm not a real big fan of weddings, showers, and the like. I don't take it personal when I don't get invited to something. Most of the time, unless you are a childhood friend or close family member I probably don't want to go anyway. (Is that rude?) At least I'm honest! This is all leading up to one of those TRUE STORY type of situations. 


Anonymous childhood friend is getting married this weekend. I had not expected to be invited initially because I was told that they were only having a small family ceremony with about 50 people due to the fact that they are going on an extended honeymoon out of the country.Then I was informed that there were 200 guests, and kind of felt like maybe I'd get an invite. She never even suggested that I may be invited, and the maid of honor informed me that most of the guests were part of the groom's VERY large family. Okay, cool.. no biggie. THEN today, (4 days before the wedding), I and two of our other friends, get a message on Facebook asking for my address because she ran out of invitations and they JUST sent them to her so she is going to overnight me an invitation. 


WHAT? Really? First of all, I don't think that any wedding stationery place would dare send a bride invites the week OF the wedding. Second of all.. who overnites wedding invitations for a wedding that is four days away? Or overnites wedding invitations PERIOD? Furthermore, her and I had never even so much had a conversation about her wanting me to come to her wedding. I could go on about this all day. Did she just assume that we would all drop whatever else we had planned and come to her wedding that we are "backup guests" for? Even if I didn't have plans this weekend I still wouldn't go! Maybe I am reading too far into this, probably not. I feel like she suddenly felt bad for not inviting us. Maybe she needed someone to fill the spots at the reception dinner that her Daddy paid however much money a plate for. Whatever the reason is, I am not interested in being anyones backup anything.


Bitch, PLEASE!

Sista's Daily Journal

Live day to day. Stop bad habits such as eating poorly, internet surfing, living in the future, being cynical, seeing what I don’t like in people, places, situations, but instead seeing the beauty of it all. Actually LOOKING for the good stuff. What I pay attention to is what shows up. I don’t need to find the fault in everything to feel superior.. I need to find the beauty in everything to feel a connection, to feel love for others and for myself. Self love starts with love of others, and then extends out into the universe and comes back to me. Manifesting my ideal life is easiest when I am putting love out there. Goodness wants to come to the good, and only the loving can recognize good when they see it. Only love can help sharpen my intuition and allow me to hear the guiding voice of the universe. Hate, aggravation, and disapproval take my focus to a lower level and I miss all the high level coincidences, hints, and experiences. Open up to love, and the universe will start to guide me gently toward the life that will truly make me happy, a life I might not even know is the best for me, a life I might not even be imagining. I am living consciously, and sticking to my planned activities for the day. I am getting more sleep. Instead of mindlessly looking at FB or Etsy, read a book, cook a meal, go for a walk, create art, listen to good music, attend a lecture, make love, plant a garden. I must take better care of myself; when I start doing unhealthy things my mindset will reflect those things. When I am exposing myself to things I know are better and that I know are reflections of the person I want to be, I will start becoming that person. Better, evolved, happy..
Save money. Stick to a budget. Pay off as much debt as possible. Debt is a trap. Without it you are more free to do the type of work that will make you happy.

You mean the world to me.

  

    We all get caught up in our day to day obligations that sometimes we forget to put forth the time and effort we should give to our relationships with the people we claim to care about the most. Life just happens.. people grow up, get married, have families, etc. Just because friends grow differently doesn't mean they have to grow apart. I am very fortunate to have a special kind of people in my life. People who I can go a long time without seeing or talking to sometimes, but when we do get together it is as if we were never apart, never missed a beat. That to me is a true friend. Someone who understands that you have your own life and things get hectic and sometimes it's just hard to find the time for the things that you really do want to do. All of that goes for those in my family that I am close to as well. I am very grateful to have a group of people in my life who I know will always support me and encourage me no matter the circumstances.
     That being said, I've decided to make a conscious effort to make the time for these people who I love dearly. No matter how hectic life is, its never too much to take just a few minutes out of your day to have a chat with someone you haven't heard from in a while. There are far too many loved ones that I don't see or speak to anywhere near enough. As with most things, all it takes is a little effort to show someone how much you really care about them.

Don't take for granted the things closest to your heart, cling to them as you would your life...For without them, life is meaningless..

And when all else fails....

Don't worry, be happy now!

 "When you're Happy for No Reason, you bring happiness to your outer experiences rather than trying to extract happiness from them. You don't need to manipulate the world around you to try to make yourself happy. You live from happiness, rather than for happiness."

Sunshine.

EACH NEW DAY BRINGS THE HOPE FOR A BETTER TOMORROW.

Daily love

Seriously.. if you don't subscribe toThe Daily Love newsletter, you don't know what you are missing. It is amazing, inspiring, insightful. On a regular basis when I read my Daily Love I think that the blog is directly pertaining to my life. I think Mastin is stalking me. Here's a tidbit of today's Daily Love:

In every relationship it's important to remember where resentment, anger and jealousy originate - within us.

We build walls, kill intimacy and keep love out by creating resentment within ourselves. And it's only natural to project this resentment onto other people in our lives, especially those we hold dearest to our hearts.

But, our challenge is, time and time again, to come back to ourselves and see that we are 100% responsible for our emotions. It may seem, on the surface, like a totally natural and logical thing to blame others for how we feel. We believe that "they did" something "to us". But see, the thing is, no matter what "they did" "to us", it was always in the past. So, how we live NOW and in the future is in our hands. How do you want to interpret the events of the past? What meaning do you want to apply to the past?

Also, can we have the awareness to step outside ourselves and see how we are showing up in the relationships in our lives? What unexpressed feeling or emotion are we allowing to well up within us, slowly, day by day? Can we own that we are not keeping our side of the table clean?

We can't take responsibility for other people's action, but we are 100% responsible for our reaction to other people. Also, we cannot blame other people for us not keeping our side of the street clean.

Knowing that we have power on both sides of a transgression is a game changer because we see that we can begin to take responsibility for our lives, instead of just being at the whim or other people, places or situations.

How people treat you defines them, how you respond defines you. What happened is what happened. What you choose to do from here will determine the future.

In every moment, the choice is yours.

UM HELLO.. GET OUT OF MY BRAIN!

Walk the walk.

This is a little random, and doesn't really have anything to do with the content of this blog.. but I really feel like touching base on it.

Do what you say you're going to do. Don't talk the talk if you can't walk it out. If people can't take your word, then what are you good for?

No, for real.

You shouldn't seek happiness in others. If you can't find it in yourself you'll never find what you're looking for.

You ain't even lyin!

"Good Friend and a Glass of Wine" Leann Rimes

Who died and crowned me everybody's everything
I'm even busting my butt through the weekend
By the time I get home there's not an ounce of sanity
Between the dogs, my momma's calls
Is it against the law
For me to get what I need

A good friend and a glass of wine
Someone to say it's gonna be alright
A good friend and a glass of wine
A little pick me up to get me through the night
We talk trash n' we laugh and cry
That kind of therapy money can't buy
Every now and then, every now and then
Every girl needs a good friend and a glass of wine


I don't need to jet off to no vacation for a week
I'd be happy to have a happy hour
When I'm tired and I'm fried it gets me right back on my feet
Any kind of red or white, a little sister time
It's every smart girls secret

A good friend and a glass of wine
Someone to say it's gonna be alright
A good friend and a glass of wine
A little pick me up to get me through the night
We talk trash n' we laugh and cry
That kind of therapy money can't buy
Every now and then, every now and then
Every girl needs a good friend and a glass of wine

Good friends are like wine, they only improve with age!

I mean..REALLY

Makes my heart smile.

I love you not because of who you are, but because of who I am when I am with you.
Roy Croft

Friendship… is not something you learn in school. But if you haven’t learned the meaning of friendship, you really haven’t learned anything.
Muhammad Ali

Love is blind; friendship closes its eyes.
Proverb

A friend is one of the nicest things you can have, and one of the best things you can be.
Douglas Pagels

Take your own advice, or this advice!

My sister doesn't give herself enough credit for her genius mind. Often she says things to me that leave me thinking.. that right there.. its BRILLIANT. Here's a quoteworthy conversation on relationships.

ME: i've been thinking in tems of future alot as much as i'm trying to be in the present. i don't want a future with someone who i have to be the bearer of the responsibilities.. the planner.. the make shit happen-er
i want a partnership.. with someone who has drive, ambition, desire to have the best life we could possibly have
if i have to hear him say something to me like "you just gotta work harder" or "it will all workout" im going to stab  him in the gd face.
i think i see so much more in him than he sees in himself.
SISTER:  ha!
Yeah you can see all you want in him, but until he sees it in himself it won't matter.
I need to heed my own words. damn.You're having a chaotic moment that is necessary to push you toward change.
It's what's supposed to be happening right now.
Be excited. not regretful.
You're on your path, he's on his.
I'm where I should be.. and believe it or not, you are too.
You're where you are so that you can be where you will be.. we get caught up in dissatisfaction and discontentment, it's like a plague.

ME:  its got me feeling mad.. resentful..sad.. then i get over it and im cool.. then i go back to all that
SISTER:  mad, resentful, sad. because you're looking to someone from the outside to help create the life you want, when you should try to create it from the inside out.
AGAIN with my own advice. shoot.
The longing we have to have another person do what we need in order to be happy.. is actually a way for us to see what it is WE need to do for OURSELVES. It's the universes way of showing us.
for realz.
The hard thing is to have the courage to do it alone, and the faith that somehow we will learn to feel safe even if we are alone.and by alone I don't mean without another person around.. I mean not needing that person in order to do what you need to do.
not needing a partner in what you are doing. being solitary on your own path.

Then somehow the conversation takes a downfall to sluttiness and rubber boots. I'll spare you.

Say YES to the flow of life. The universe brings me right where I need to be. I choose how to feel about it.

FEARLESS

SISTER:
I have to know that this is what my life is right now and that it could possibly change, and I have to go through it all without letting fear of loss get in the way or start doing major damage control or any of that. It's going to be a challenge.My natural response would normally be to push away and create a nice safe distance. But, then if I do that and she ends up staying then I won't be ready for the next stage.

 ME:

thats exactly how i feel with my relationship. I feel like all of the decisions in my life that i regret were made for the wrong reasons. but for now things are good and i just want to live in the present.

SISTER:

That's all you can do.

ME:

 i think about it alot, but i cant expect someone to arrange their life around mine if it isnt what they want. and while i'm sure it will hurt i have to keep myself from being mad about it.

SISTER:

 Well sister. We might be in the same boat at the same time.
 ME:

i've been in deep thought mode lately. there are SO many things that i've wanted to do but havent because i didnt want to jeapordize relationships.  but if someone really loves you, they are going to understand that you have to do what is best for your own life, regardless of how it may make them feel. the purpose of my life isn't to go around avoiding making the decisions that i need to make in order for my life to progress the way i want it to because i'm afraid it may hurt someone else. ive passed up so many opportunites already and i'm just not going to do that anymore.

ME:

  if i wouldve just not given up, or not been scared of taking the chances and making changes my life would be so much different right now.

SISTER:

There's a reason you're not there yet.
Trust.
Everyone has regrets and shoulda coulda's.You can't get bogged down in them.

ME:

 The fact of the matter is that change scares me.. being alone scares me. and those are the two things i'm probably going to have to do in order to make anything that i want happen.

SISTER:

You won't be alone. I'll be here.

You know those people who always seem to say what you need to hear when you hear it? Yeah, that.

Sisterly Love

Have you ever had a conversation with your sister or close girlfriend and thought.. this is GOOD STUFF!?This happens to me often. So, I decided to start a blog as a testament to the brilliant converations I have with my sister and girlfriends.  Confession: many of these conversations come from our online chats throughout the workday. Hey, we have to survive our corporate American oppression somehow! Don't judge us. I have a few very select women in my life that I am close to. We share our deepest thoughts and fears, voice our opinions openly, and sometimes we're a little bit out of control! These are all things that I found to be insightful, humorous, witty, and totally worth sharing with others. Enjoy our madness! Our names will be kept anonymous as to not offend anyone... or get fired. Names may be edited to protect the innocent/easily offended.