02.12.09
Changing My View – from empty to full
I know and have known that I tend to be a pessimistic person. I have trouble being bubbly and happy all the time and I’m not good at faking something when I don’t feel it. But up until last night, I always assumed that I was just predisposed to this way of thinking and that I should blame the genes I was given. I want to put a disclaimer on that – I don’t know that I truly believed I was hard-wired this way, but rather that I accepted it as who I am rather than thinking about change. But after a couple weeks, months of not being excited about much at all, and those feelings just feeding the thoughts about my so-called boring life, I have decided to take a stand and make a change.
This is not going to be easy. I am changing the way my mind has been trained to think for years. So, where to start?
First of all, I’m making my commitment public, which is what I’m doing now. I’ve also let those who are closest to me know about my new goal and I’ve asked them to make me aware of when I am not being positive. I definitely won’t be able to catch all of the slip-ups on my own!
Second, I am going to return to my lost habit of journaling. I used to journal almost everyday as a way to calm my over-active mind, but this has gotten pushed to the side as other things fill my day. So I will write every day, or every other day and include 1-2 positive things that happened or that I accomplished that day.
Third, I am going to pick up some reading materials at the library. My mom actually suggested “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People,” which is a book I have often thought of reading. Anyone have any other suggestions?
Bear with me on this! I’ll keep you updated as to how it’s going.
02.03.09
Finding What You’ve Lost
It’s obvious that as we grow and mature we change and with the changes we often lose bits and pieces of ourselves. Of course we gain so much with change, but I’m going to talk about finding something I had forgotten I lost.
When I was in college and then recently graduated, I considered myself a somewhat trendy dresser. I enjoyed the adventure of putting together an outfit and
Carrie Bradshaw pushing the envelope
pushing the envelope if it was appropriate. But all that seemed to slowly disappear when I started working full time and a year ago took a job in marketing on a Fortune 500 account. In came the black slacks, dress shirts, and jackets, but not because that was the customer’s standard dress code, but because I had this preconceived notion of how a full-time working adult dressed.
Then a few weeks ago I ran across a local blogger documenting her everyday attire. When I saw the way she put pieces together and took chances, it triggered my memory and had me thinking of myself a couple years ago. I realized that I had lost something that I enjoyed, something that made me feel good about myself. And it was not a necessary loss, because despite the corporate clients, the atmosphere is still a creative one and open to some pizazz.
I know to some, fashion, trends, and accessories are trivial things, and I say, that’s true – they are. But the point is that while growth causes the shedding of the old for the new, sometimes we shed something we didn’t need to and finding it (no matter how small or trivial) can be just what we need.
