Preparation Meet Simplicity-(life is simple, people are not)

Life is crazy.  Life is stressful, right? Wrong. In fact life itself is quite simple, it's us a people who make things difficult. We live beyond our means, we inundate ourselves with useless information, we procrastinate on everything from paying bills to getting a haircut. Yes, I said a haircut and no it's on the same level as say being stranded on the side of the road but it is a stressor. Think about it, every day that you don't call and make an appointment, is one more day that you're thinking ah I need to get a haircut. A waste of energy and thought space when really all it takes is a simple phone call, appointment made and off the to-do list but better yet of your mind. The "big" things like a flat tire, stay at the forefront but it's the little things like that haircut I just mentioned, that add up, that build up and drain our energy and make those "big" things and life in general even more difficult to handle.

Vacation. That's a nice word isn't it. Everyone gets excited when they hear it. I don't know about you but I feel like a kid at Christmas when I'm planning a vacation and by planning I mean choosing a location. After that it's a one-way ticket to stress town. Travel dates have to be chosen, but wait let's check the calendar first. Then there's the question of how will you get there? What's the most beneficial time-wise? What's the most cost effective? Oh and where are you going to stay? Whats the best deal? Whats the best location? Oh and does it have a pool? Ah finally the reservations have been made, you're home free right? Wrong again. Now you have to decide right down to the last minute what you're going to do when you get there and man are you disappointed when you don't see and do everything on the list because you wanted to make the most out this vacation. Once, the questions started being asked, the fun, the relaxation, the vacation ended. Yup right then and there because like we do with everything else in life we made it complicated.  Planning ahead is one thing, a little preparation can save us a whole lot of headaches but theres a difference between planning and over-analyzing or even micro-managing a situation. WE make life crazy. WE stress ourselves out. WE are the problem but with a little healthy preparation, life can be much simpler and we can be much happier.

Stay tuned for tips and ideas on what I like to call Preparation meet Simplicity.

Glass Walls

That expression "You can't see the forest for the trees" comes to mind when I start to think about things before.  My life, and who I was before. "You can't see the forest for the trees". I'd like to say that's how it was. I'd like to say that I didn't see it happening, that I was unable to see the slow collapse of my own life, but I did. I did see it, I just didn't know how to stop it. The thing that had been my comfort, my escape, my protection from the real world had in one fell swoop thrown me off the edge with no safety net and it hurt like hell when I hit the bottom. I read somewhere that you don't appreciate what you have until its taken away. I, thankfully, didn't have everything taken away. I did however have it all slip far enough away that I almost couldn't reach it so I feel like I can say I understand that expression now and I wholeheartedly agree. To say that I was irresponsible would be an understatement. However, the real issue here is how ungrateful I was when I made the decision that brought me to the place that no one wants to go to, a place where I was grasping for everything that I loved and praying that I'd be able to hold on. It became very apparent that I needed to remove myself from what I had considered my comfort zone. Once outside of it though, I found myself feeling lost and a bit confused.  I didn't quite know where I belonged or who I was supposed to be. This, however was temporary and as it turns out the thing that gave me a sense of belonging, a sense of security, my identity, was in fact, the one thing that was threatening to take it all away. Once it was gone it took some time to fully see, but there I was. There I was, and when I looked around, there were the people that I cared about. Apparently they'd been there the whole time, telling me the harsh truths but I couldn't hear it, waiting for me to grab their hand but I couldn't reach it, and loving me unconditionally but I couldn't feel it. I couldn't feel any of it until I stepped outside of the glass walls.

100 Days of Change

I'm sure that everyone has heard of 100 days of happy.  Well, this is my version of that with a little twist.  Instead of 100 days of things that make me happy, this is going to be the start of 100 days of me making changes. 

Whether they are big or small, I have things that I want to change about myself or about my life, we all do.  Relationships, bad habits, career paths, the list is never ending, but whether it's a simple lifestyle change or a life changing choice, it's not going to happen on it's own.  I have to take the first step, make the first move, put in the effort to make these changes happen.  Daily habits don't take root overnight, so when it comes to things like diet and exercise, I don't expect immediate results.  The same goes with a major decision like going back to school, changing my career path or even moving to a new place.  I can decide to do it, but it's not going to happen overnight so I have to have patience with myself and with life in general.  Slow progress is still progress. 

I have so many things that I want to change, that when the 100 days are over I probably won't be finished, but the process will have begun.  The ball will be rolling.  Each day I will come here and write all about the "change of the day" and each day that passes I hope to see a difference in myself and my life.  Each day I hope to create good habits, make better choices and when all is said and done be healthier and happier because really, isn't that the point. 

Tomorrow will be day 1, let's see how this goes...

~KG