Distractions

Now a while ago I talked about motivation and getting past the distractions that keep us from getting around to doing something. But here, today, I'm gonna take the flip side. We all know those people, they work way too hard. Maybe you are one of these people, working two full time jobs and going to school as well. The kind of people who put every ounce of effort into their work, and none into their personal lives. In short, they have no distractions, nothing to take their mind off the world.

What a way to live, concentrating solely on work... They make no time for friends, they make no time for hobbies, they just work. Maybe they're saving for something, maybe they're trying to pay something off. They always have their reasons, but it's always such a sad thing to see, someone not enjoying something silly. They don't sit down and play a video game, they don't go out on the town with friends, they don't even read a book. They don't just... stop. And sometimes that's what you need to do.

Now like I've said in the past, you really should put forth the effort to get motivated, break away from the easy rewards and get to making something rewarding for yourself, but whats the point of it all if you don't slow down for a few moments and just enjoy whats already out there. There's so much to do in life, it can be hard to justify sitting down in a park and watching the sky pass by, taking a late night walk and marvel at the stars, or sit on a bench on a busy city street and just watch the ballet of people and cars for a little while.

People sometimes get so worried about life passing them by they don't ever seem to let it pass for a few moments and just absorb it. They're too busy with life that they can't enjoy life. Now I'm not saying throw everything down and never work... If you need to work as hard as you do for something important, keep at it. But try and grab a few hours a week for something else, something slow. Enjoy a book, go to a movie, take a nice leisurely stroll through town. Do something that's not so stress educing yo end up with an aneurysm at twenty-seven.

Just relax a bit, your world won't crumble because you didn't produce anything for five minutes. Let the weight come off your shoulders, it won't feel like the world is this crushing impenetrable thing. Just stop, take a breath, and take in whats happening around you. Do something that's not a necessity before the time comes where you want to, but can't.

"Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it." Ferris Bueller

Intermission

The excitement of something beginning
The loss of something established
Battling, endlessly caught

You wish to see the new
You wish to keep the old
You can't. You have to choose

But while you choose
While you make that awful break
While you change

Know that you are not alone
That the world wont stop spinning
And that this is just the very beginning.

Service

In our culture we put certain professions on pedestals, the professions we believe deserve respect and admiration. Usually it's Firemen, Police Officers, or EMTs, the people who's day job it is to save lives. But these are not the people I want to talk about today, and I'm not saying they don't deserve the praise they get, they deserve all of it and more. No today I want to talk about people who not only don't get the praise they deserve, they very rarely get any praise whatsoever...

The Service Industry...

Retail workers, fast food jockeys, clerks, waiters, tech support. These are the people who get paid as little as is allowed in this country, and yet deal with so much. Their job? To make you happy... They make your food, package your groceries, get you your entertainment through movies, games, and books. And when their company does something that upsets you, they're the ones that you yell and scream at... And they just have to take it.

These people are literally at the bottom rung, usually in their early to mid-twenties, college students who are already under extreme amounts of stress getting their lives started. They have to worry about a place to live, bills, and transportation on under ten bucks an hour, and then have to put on a smile while they pour your coffee. A constant juggling act of keeping the customers pleased, while making their store profit.

And that's not an easy job, I can assure you. People have this idea that a company that wants to make money is evil, that when a policy changes it's unfair and they're being ripped off. They think they are personally being attacked when actually a company is just trying to stay afloat in a difficult economic time. That policy that was being taken advantage of, that was losing the company money, had to be changed. When this happens and you feel personally attacked, it's that poor guy or girl at the register that's going to have to deal with the rage.

And let me tell you, that clerk is just as annoyed at the policy change as you are, possibly more so.

So think about this the next time you walk into a supermarket, or an electronics store... That guy who's wearing the uncomfortable polo shirt with the nametag on it? He's not the company he works for, he's just a kid who's trying to pay for school, a cell phone, his car, and possibly an apartment on 35 hours a week. Maybe screaming at him that the price of your favorite kind of bubblegum went up five cents isn't really going to help his day out any. Maybe instead we should all appreciate these unsung heroes that do for us something we have long since taken for granted.

He's a clerk, and he deserves respect.

Two References To Zambonis

There once was a man from Peru...


Yeah, I actually wrote that in a word document and then stared at it for an hour. Not my brightest, shining moment.

I'm starting to understand all that rambling Will does about lack of motivation.

I feel like I want to churn something out, need to churn something out because I don't want to be the first person punished on this project (I am saving that honor for Will). I just.. Can't get anything of substance to fall out of my hands. It's pissing me off.

I'm laying in bed, feeling like Death rented a Zamboni and decided to take it for a joy ride over my spine, and I really don't feel like writing.

Usually, I'm a little bit blocked and stumped when I first start but never this bad.

I mean just now I took a twenty minutes between that sentence and this one.

Sometimes, you get disheartened when you can't just tap tap tap tap DONE!

I'm not saying I'm the bees knees or anything but usually I'm pretty good at picking myself up from a rough spot. Today just isn't my day.

I did have a few things I wanted to talk about that I will list in a listy-like format because I'm sick and... not that creative.

1. Readers, I know you're out there. I know because you tell me you read. Either you're lying to me or you're lazy. Either way, shame on you! Leave a comment, a suggestion, a YOU SUCK. Hell, just click the "comment" thingy and type randomly for a few moments just so I can have some small, itsy bitsy scrap of validation. PLEASE.

2... That was really it, I guess. I have no other way to flesh this out.


3. I guess I could start a debate. Will, Universal Health Care is an over-ambitious, foolish thing to consider.



Until next time,

Manda and the Zamboni on her spine

Sick

Due to a rather heavy storm and lack of communication between me and my family, I spent this previous weekend drinking contaminated water. The entire time I felt generally unwell until it finally accumulated into full blown sickness this past Monday, and I am still now feeling ill. Although I am through the worst and feeling better, it was an all around unpleasant experience, as being sick always is.

Being sick is rough, in more ways than just physical. Even a head cold can be completely debilitating to your life. We become so vulnerable when sick, weak and exhausted... Everything hurts, everything is loud and too bright, your skin tingles and shudders. You vomit, you expel, you purge... You wither. Mentally you become sullen, withdrawn, everything becomes dull. You're alone because you don't want to get others sick, you're upset because your boss yelled at you for calling out. Sickness comes and takes everything, it takes your mind, body, and time.

Getting over illness is a slow and awful process, expunging germs and bacteria through phlegm, mucus, and vomit. You ooze disgust from every orifice, you become the walking dead to those around you. You feel the worst you've ever felt, laying your head over cold porcelain, gasping for breath through wet putrid lips...

Of course, later you realize how wrong that is, that you weren't alone. You had your loved ones caring for you, suggesting remedies and giving sympathy. They made sure you were taken care of, becoming stern in telling you to get rest when you were being belligerent. In your worst moments, you have those who care the most for you making sure you would rise again. They all know that it's all temporary and aide you, as you need it, to wellness again. As horrible as you feel during those times, you always know that no matter how bad you get, you'll always have someone who will help you get better.

Still, being sick sucks.

The Flower and The Girl

Brightly, the flower bloomed
Etching the feelings of love
Of needing into the girl’s soul

Softly, the flower sang
Songs of memories past
And the journey ahead

Gently, the flower touched
Its petals soft, luring the girl
Giving warmth and comfort

Quickly, the flower stung
Thorns embedded deep into flesh
Drawing precious blood

Tightly, the flower gripped
Draining the girl dry
Leaving her nothing to depend on

Sadly, the girl died
Embraced by the flower
Forever locked in deception.

Escaping Comfort

I am once again here to talk about motivating yourself. Now I know I'm beginning to sound like a broken record, but it's different this time. I'm not here to tell you how hard it is find motivation, how difficult it is to get time to be motivated, or how impossible it seems to get started once you are motivated. I'm not here to talk about small projects, I'm talking about your life.

I'm sure most of us have been in a situation where we look at our lives, we realize we're not exactly where we want to be. We think about a crumby job, or a lackluster living situation. We realize we don't have the money or free times we want or need... We feel restless and just want to get moving forward to that person we always thought we could be as a child. So we stand up, we take a big breath, we make a promise to ourselves to change. That's right, I'm going to find a better job! I'm gonna work more to make more money, I'm gonna take the time I need to relax and get my stress down! I'm gonna change!

Then what happens? You wake up the next day, and it's the same old life... You don't make those steps, why? Because what you have now, while not what you want, is stable. Change is scary, its uncertain... Whatever you have now, it may not be ideal, but it's working. You have a job, you have a home, food, and some extra cash now and again. You sometimes have the time to go out with friends... It's not what you want, but it's comfortable.

What does it take to make us move forward, to give up what we have for what we want? That job that bores you, it keeps you fed. That home that's too small for your family, it keeps you warm at night. What has to happen to make you look for something better? Do you have to lose that job, that home, do you have to be put in a place where it's move forward or die? Why can't we just take it on ourselves and seek out something new, something that will make us happy?

Ask yourself these questions. Look at your life, are you happy or merely comfortable? How many times do you tell yourself things will change, and then make no move to change them? Do me a favor, next time you feel that swell of confidence, that uplifting desire to get your life on track, don't let the passion dwindle. Hurry and get to it before the simple comfort of what you have now dulls it back into your subconscious. Make the moves towards the changes you want, make them now while you still are comfortable, so you know your grasping for what you want, not what you need.

Are you happy, or merely comfortable?