Springtime...I want to make changes!!

Spring is a time of year when I get energized.  I want to do stuff.  I want to make changes in my life. 

This time around I have a couple different things happening.  First, due to hormonal changes, I’m refocusing back on my stress management/spirituality.  The mood swing portion of menopause has finally hit.

Second, I have decided to work on my Plan B’s.  I was recently asked, “What are Plan B’s?”  Plan B’s are other options of what to do in life.  I was in a job where I felt trapped and fear kept me there.  Why was I afraid?  Because I didn’t feel I could leave my job.  Why?

I didn’t have confidence in myself and abilities.  I didn’t have job interview skills and with the stress in my life I felt beaten down.

1. I had no networks to tap into because my job and life events had kept me separated from society. 
2. I had no other options for work.  If I was let go from my job because of demand in that field, it would be difficult to find another job in that field. 
3. I had no savings built up.  When things at work got so bad I would have liked to walk off (which I do NOT like to do and have never done), I couldn’t because I had no money to support myself.

So Plan B’s are saving enough money to support myself, having other career options, and having a social network to tap into for networking.  Since I started at my new job (which I love and I still don’t know how I got it – and am eternally grateful I did), I have been enjoying it and not really focusing on Plan B’s.  However, even without focusing on it I have completed my Bachelor’s degree (YEA!!!  It only took me 28 years).  I now need to focus on implementing things in that field. 

 So what am I going to do now?

1)      Along with having a job I love, which is giving me opportunities to grow, earning my Bachelor’s degree has given me a confidence in myself that I didn’t have before.  Professors have been highly encouraging me to go for a Master’s and Ph.D.  I have decided to pursue my Master’s in Gerontology and I am contemplating the PhD.

2)       I am refocusing on stress management techniques to help manage the stress.

3)      I need to network.  I hate this one as it seems so contrived.  I like to meet people for the sake of meeting people, not for ulterior motives.  So I’m just going to have to get involved with activities I want to be involved with, and whoever I meet, I meet.

4)      I am working on other options.  With my Bachelor’s now earned, I have that field open to me.  As it is Journalism with an emphasis in PR, I am going to start doing freelancing work.  I would like to see if I can write magazine articles.  Writing this blog will give me hands-on writing experience.  Along with this, I am working on a Management/Marketing certificate/degree from the community college, as well as taking a class a semester at the university – hopefully for the Master’s program.

5)      I will be following a budget, making sure to put money aside each month.  I need to set mini-goals.

6)      Coworkers suggested I contract myself for various jobs involving the computer, such as PowerPoint presentations, formatting of documents, editing, etc.  I will be making up business cards to give out.

 There are plenty of others things I need to be doing, but I have to be careful as I tend to get so excited I take on too much at once.  Let’s see how this goes!

Be As You Want To Be, Live As You Want To Live

Have you ever said to yourself, "someday I'll lose weight," or maybe "someday I'll travel," or "someday I'll _______"?  Fill in the blank with whatever you've said you'll do 'someday'.

For me, 'someday' was/is I'll lose weight, go dancing, have a clean house, etc etc etc.  Years ago I was thinking these types of things...I wanted to be a nicer, more caring and considerate person...'someday'.  I wanted to get into meditation...'someday'.  I wanted to not be afraid to be who I really am around other people...'someday'.  Heck, I wanted to have a cat enclosure...'someday'. 

I had read plenty of motivational books over the years, and they all talked about how you need to start doing things...take that first step.  And while I understood that intellectualling, it still didn't sink into this brain of mine.  And then one day it really dawned on me.  'someday' will never come - it will always stay in the future.  If I want to be a certain way (i.e. more confident, self-assured, etc) or do something (have that cat enclosure, meditate, etc)...I need to start doing it NOW!!   If I don't start doing it now, someday will never come!  Same with losing weight...if I want to be a healthy weight, it has to start now. 

So I built a cat enclosure.  I'd never used the tools before and had NO idea of how to go about making one.  Part of what I had to do was make a box type thing to set into one small area.  I worked diligently on it.  As soon as I was done with the frame, I stood back to look proudly on what I made...and started laughing instead.  It wobbled horribly!  So, I undid it all and redid it.  This time it worked out (I learned from my previous one on how to do it).

I started meditating.  I have audio tapes that help me with visualization meditations, which are the type that I like best at this point in my life.  When possible, I try to get into nature - spend the day in the yard - as that is a form of meditation for me. I learned how to breath, which has helped me greatly when my anxiety kicks in.

I got a new job I LOVE!!  It was very scary to go for it but I am SO glad I did!  It has positively changed my life so much and in so many ways.  Leaving the 'known' was very difficult for me, however my last job wasn't the life I wanted to live.  I had to carry around a courage talisman with me all the time to help remind me to have the courage to go for it. 

Specially as I age, I want to be healthy.  As I am overweight and out of shape, focusing on this became a priority.  So I started working out and joined Weight Watchers ('someday' I wanted to eat more nutritionally).  This is still in the beginning stages, however I'm already feeling better physically.

I find the main difficulty with being the way I want to be and living the way I want to live is maintaining the attitude. I've been conditioned for so long to be the other way.  Being as I want to be and living as I want to live doesn't happen overnight.  But like any program, I just have to take it a day at a time.

So as if this moment, BE the way you want to be, LIVE the way you want to live.  If you don't do it now, someday will never come.