a post about attitude

first, please notice I actually updated all of my side-bar links!! whoo-hoooo! also, can anyone tell me how to get rid of that extra unlinked graphic at the bottom left of my header banner? I know enough to tweak a template here and there but I can't figure out what that is. Now onto the blog!

Hello, all, I have had a bit of a rough stretch. Actually, I shouldn't use past-tense as I am sort of still in the midst of it. In the last 6 weeks I've studied for/taken the GRE, been to Toronto, Vancouver, San Francisco (for a whopping 48 hours), Miami Beach, Atlanta, and am headed to DC in a couple of days. Gotta squeeze one more show in before jetting back to the west coast for an immediate shift at the yoga studio (because I can't say no) and straight into jury duty. And not, report-and-see-if-you-get-called jury duty, but you've-had-2-failure-to-show-notices-and-you're-flat-out-ASSIGNED jury duty.

All of this to say, I'm a bit... drained, to say the least. I'm to that point where I have to force caffeine into my blood system to wake up and alcohol into my bloodstream to go to sleep. I'm running on bleary-eyed auto-pilot. BUT, all THAT to say, I've been having a really good time. (Thanks, Rori!)

I was chatting with Candice the other day, all the way from Tbilisi, Georgia (God bless the internet), and she's so supportive and positive, and really pumped me up about what I've been going through, with my super-budget, and my insane work schedule, and my school-preparing and all. She suggested I should write an article or blog post about how to take life by the horns and RULE it, because so few people do that, and I have to say I agree with her.

Taking the pity party is obviously the easiest thing to do. Yes, I get treated like crap for most of the day and get paid almost nothing for it. Yes, I've been home 2 days in the last 6 weeks. Yes, I'm nervous about trying to get into a super-competitive masters program with solidly average test scores. It would be SO easy to slip into a rut, spend a lot of money on alcohol, not turn in my school application, stay in my current job, my current life, because it's easier than taking a chance on something that I'm not really sure will work, and if it does, might not be any better than what I have now.

But listen up. Life is hard for everyone. You can't compare your troubles to someone else's. I might not get into school. I might not be able to afford to do the things I want to do. I might be fatter than I really want to be. But guess what? I have the power to change all of those things. And the things I don't have the power to change? I certainly have the power to change my attitude.

Abraham Lincoln said "most people are about as happy as they make their minds up to be." 100% true. There is good everywhere. You can find it. You can choose to dwell on the beautiful sunrise or bitch about why you're up so early. You can choose to complain about how you can't afford to be out at a fancy dinner or you can learn the joy of making your own favourite meals. You can sit at home and be lonely or you can go out and meet new people.

Of course we all slip and we all need to vent every once in a while. But as a GENERAL rule, I have no patience for say, someone who complains about his/her weight while sitting on the couch with some Chinese take-out. Least of all myself. Either change it, or zip it. No matter what I'm complaining about, someone has it worse. Just go ahead and BE what you admire in other people. Positivity begets positivity.

Things are happening over here in my world. I am no longer in a rut of quiet desperation. I have started my own ball rolling, and by this time next year, my life is going to be dramatically different. I don't know exactly what's going to happen, and on what time frame, but it's happening.

And I can't wait to tell you all about it.