Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Taking It One Day at a Time

Well obviously from my lack of posting, people can infer that my life has been hectic to say the least. I understand, it's a part of living the college life but I am someone who can't survive on less than seven hours of sleep (no all nighters, ever!). Every hour in my day is booked to the max. It's to the point that I schedule three things for one hour when I know that only one thing can get done. My time management has been less than optimal recently because even time management can't make my life easier. I know that it would give me goals for the days but there are so many distractions that it just makes me feel more unaccomplished because I can never get everything done. Obviously I need to do something to minimize the distractions, but that is besides the point because I still have to make the decision of what I think is the most important to accomplish.

So the title of this post is my new outlook on life. I am going to take life one day at a time and hope that God's plan for me will work itself out. I have come to a point in my life where I have to believe in something. There are some aspects of my life that I cannot control, but I have to trust that someone else is taking care of those aspects. I have a constant reminder of this new outlook because my roommate is always encouraging me to live my life the way I want. That comes with me learning how to trust, how to listen, and how to stop analyzing every event that happens in my life. I need to focus on the things that are most important to me in life while making sure to keep myself happy and sane. Now, I just have to start taking my own advice.

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Problems

So I have discovered that I have not been doing as well with this blog thing as I expected myself to do. I don't want to bore everyone with my day to day life but I also don't want to blog right after an emotional event because I don't want to say something that I might regret and other people would read.

The title of this blog is directed at the last statement. I know all people feel this emotion but there are some days where life decides to throw you curveball and it usually throws a wrench in some other part of your day/week/life in general. I really don't know anyone who enjoys these moments in their lives, but I am sure some people have come to see the bright side. I am trying to learn how to see the bright side of things. I have come to belive that having a positive attitude on life makes any situation/"problem" better. At least it's something to fall back on when life gets tough. One situation came up this week in which I was really upset. It was not something I could control, but the final results were not what I wanted. It made me upset because it just felt that the problem was solved only partially. After a few days, I got over it and my life is probably better for it, but it's just one of those things that make one day in my life a little bit more stressful and a little bit less enjoyable.

I guess all these subjects I am writing about are prominent things in my adult life. They are all becoming things I think about more often. Life is constantly an adjustment that people just have to learn to take at a day to day pace. I am learning while writing about my trials and tribulations.

Sunday, October 10, 2010

Motivation

I have learned very early in this year that to get through the challenges that sophomore year presents a person has to have a deep supply of motivation. You have to motivate your self to get the "to do" list done each and every day. You have to convince yourself that everything you do is going to make the final outcome better. And your friends motivate you to do things fun like bake an apple pie at midnight on a Friday night :)

My motivation has been lacking in the last few months because I am so overwhelmed with the amount of work that I have to get done. Most of the time it just seems easier to ignore it all. When I dropped one of my classes, it didn't necessarily make the load lighter but it made the stuff I have to worry about a little less. I am actually enjoying my classes now which means that homework is not necessarily work but it still takes motivation to get started. I am learning quickly how much I have to give to each of my endeavors in order to succeed which means that the motivation should start coming more naturally, but who knows. I have a few light weeks which is never a good sign when there are ten million other things that limit my motivation to do homework.

I guess the most surprising thing about this year is how planned out my life is without me evening forcing it to be. I have always been very organized and in my senior year of high school I figured out the art of time management down to an hour-by-hour schedule system. Now as much as I try to make a schedule for myself, it is usually already done for me. Here is snick peak at tomorrow:

9:00 to 11:00- Class
11:30 to 4:00- Work
4:00 to 5:00- Probably down time or homework
5:20 to 7:00- Chapter Meeting
7:00 to 9:00- Exec Board Meeting

Please tell me what kind of person has enough stamina/motivation to come back from this day and sit for two to three hours to do homework. Monday and Tuesday are kind of unique though because I work and even though I get homework done, it still just takes up time. There are more hours in the end of my week but my extracurricular activities tend to find a way into those precious moments. Believe me, I am the kind of person who gets things done ahead of schedule and I succeed in my endeavors but it all adds up to a lack of time when I am suppose to be enjoying these four years of my life. I am going to keep telling myself to live one day at a time and hopefully that will help convinve myself that I have enough motivation to succeed each day instead of feeling like I am being swolled by a week or month long time line.

Life is good but motivation is one of those things that college students have to be aware of. Maybe it has something to do with the endless choices that we have in college, but that is another discussion for another night.

Thursday, October 7, 2010

Life's Expectations

No one can ever explain to a freshman college student how their life is going to change within the four years that they are in college. Everyone says how exciting it is going to be but no one ever says that it is going to be scary. Last year tested my strengths and weaknesses but I have learned from my past experiences. I am now a college sophomore and even though last year presented its challenges (being away from home, making my own decisions, trying to figure out what was in my future), this year is presenting its own set of issues as well as moments of joy. I am creating this blog because I know this year is just the beginning to creating a great life for myself.

Now where to begin on this journey.

The title of this post explains it all. The one thing I have learned in the first three months of my sophomore year is that the best thing you can do to make your life the best it can be is to change your expectations to meet your new circumstances. This philosophy became the most apparant when a few weeks ago I had to make the decision to buy a car for myself and to drop one of the classes I was taking this semester. I guess I should say that I am an Accounting major, so you could see how the buying a car thing might make me go a little crazy. I had to trust that if I spent the money on a new car that I would be able to resave a portion of that money before I leave college. My new car is great and I couldn't be happier but now I have to make myself save that money!  Something I wasn't expecting to have to do in college but like I said I have to get use to these changes. I have always been an academic person and I tend to worry too much about my success in each class. Dropping a class was something that I never expected of myself in college. When making this decision, I had to assure myself that my GPA would be better without the class than with it. I have more time to spend on my other four classes and in the end I will be more successful but its the worrying that I have to get over. The expectations for myself are changing which means that life in general is not what I expected. These stories are just two examples of these changes and I am sure there are more to come.

So come join me on this journey as I dangle through life!!!


Lucy (my magnificent new car)