Category: FAMILY

2017?

So what will 2017 be like?

Reflecting on what happened in 2016 helps me focus on how to make 2017 better, below is an outline of my end of year thoughts and action plans (the first chart is  blank, if anyone wants to use it for themselves, and the second one is filled out- hopefully the filled-out version will motivate me to follow through, after publicly stating this):

2016 Reflection My Thoughts 2017 Plans 2017 Specific Actions
For what am I grateful? Make plans to do something that enhances, improves, what I am grateful for:  Make It Count, Make a Difference.

 
What did I enjoy most? Spend more time and energy on what I am passionate about and identify ways my actions will benefit others:  create purpose!

 
What did I do to benefit, give back to others who are important to me? This is success.  Continue with more and if something is lacking make specific plans to elevate this action.

 
What improvements did I make from the prior year? This is success.  Continue with more, what else can be done? Change is constant, keep it up, find ways to improve more, or lose it; complacency will lose it.

 
What didn’t work out? This is failure, but temporary, because I will learn from it and make changes.

 
What were the challenges? List them along with what I learned from it.

 
What did I want to do, but didn’t get around to doing it? Schedule it in 2017.

complacency

2016 Reflection My Thoughts 2017 Plans 2017 Specific Actions
For what am I grateful?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 ·        Faith

·        Family

·        Friends

·        Health/Fitness

·        Music

·        Nature/Outdoors

·        Travel Opportunities

·        Business Opportunities

·        People who have supported/mentored me throughout my life

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Make plans to do something that enhances, improves, what I am grateful for:  Make It Count, Make a Difference.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 ·        Get involved in a helpful way with church to contribute/give back with my time

·        Plan and Spend quality time with Family and Friends

·        Research and Improve Nutrition through better meal planning

·        Schedule 3-4 days of workouts per week and stick to it

·        Support Musical Artists by attending concerts, buying music, blogging

·        Nature/Outdoors/Travel:  plan trips and share experiences and resources with others

·        Make weekly goals and follow through to grow business

·        Find an organization that helps people act and improve themselves; I’m not much a believer that “just dumping gifts in someone’s lap is the best way to make a long-term difference (if they are not trying to improve themselves on their own), but I want to help people who are trying

 
What did I enjoy most? ·        Time spent with those I care about

·        Music

·        Traveling

·        Improving via Design or Personal Fitness

 Spend more time and energy on what I am passionate about and identify ways my actions will benefit others:  create purpose! My Lifetime Goal/Dream:   I have a grandiose dream of creating or being involved with a luxury get away place that provides a place for people to get healthy, relax, work on fitness and enjoy music – all without leaving the getaway place.  A place for others to recharge, reflect, improve.

 
What did I do to benefit, give back to others who are important to me? ·        Time spent with those I care about, I tried to be present whenever someone needed it.

·        2016 I probably spent more time than ever before reflecting, so next year I want to increase the time spent in action.

 

 This is success.  Continue with more and if something is lacking make specific plans to elevate this action. ·        Increase time spent on actively giving back to others – this area needs improvement for me.
What improvements did I make from the prior year? ·        Stayed physically active throughout the year

·        Attended more often at Church

·        Acted to improve my situation, rather than complaining about it

·        Acted on Real Estate renovations

 

 This is success.  Continue with more, what else can be done? Change is constant, keep it up, find ways to improve more, or lose it; complacency will lose it. ·        Continue plans and focus on health and fitness

·        Get more involved with church

·        Find other opportunities to renovate real estate

·        Continue focus on self-improvement/purpose

 
What didn’t work out?

 

 ·        Failed relationship

·        Relationship damage with others

 This is failure, but temporary, because I will learn from it and make changes.  

·        Try to keep interactions peaceful

·        Make efforts to repair relationship damage with others

 

 
What were the challenges?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 ·        Stress

·        Turmoil

·        Negativity

·        Disrespect

·        De-valued self-worth

·        Flight

·        Escape

·        Sadness

·        Emptiness

·        Simply existing, not living

·        Fallout

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 List them along with what I learned from it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 ·        I learned to Let Go.

·        I learned not to let significant time pass without positive action and improvement in any given situation.

·        Improved Independence

·        Let go of stress related to unimportant/insignificant events

·        Remove myself from turmoil and surround myself with positive people

·        Exercise relieves stress

·        All people deserve respectful interactions, even if there is something bad happening

·        Self-worth: continually work on self-improvement and don’t be affected by others who de-value that self-worth- ignore it

·        Fleeing from a problem doesn’t solve it; it must be tackled head on

·        Get away from environments that can’t be improved and cause sadness

·        Improving my relationship with God and following what I am passionate about removes emptiness

·        Pursing a passion with a purpose leads to happiness and is living, not simply existing

·        Change will create fallout; that is a tradeoff unfortunately and will require more effort to improve but if not; let it go; nothing forced works in the long term.

·        Finding forgiveness for “wrongs” because they fueled improvement, so the “wrongs” turned into a positive outcome.

 
What did I want to do, but didn’t get around to doing it? ·        I wasn’t as affective as I wanted to be in 2016, because I didn’t spend enough time on it. Schedule it in 2017.

It is important to me to live life the way it matters most: TODAY.  When I look back on 2016, I can’t really say that it was a good year, or a bad year, because there were both experiences, almost to the extreme at each end, and somewhat surreal in retrospect.  So many disruptive changes occurred all at once (my dad’s death, a new business venture, loss of employee benefits at my current job but at the same time, my best year ever there, a divorce, giving up a condo on a lake, moving into a new home, renovations, challenges with my kids brought on by the divorce; it’s just been busy); so, I’m hoping that 2017 will be a little bit calmer.  I welcome change, just not as much disruption all at one time, it was an emotional roller coaster year for me and a bit of a blur with so much happening.

I plan to make 2017 a better, calmer year.

I also will pray for guidance, every day, in 2017, it can’t hurt, that’s for sure!

I hope to have the opportunity in 2017 to work with other motivated individuals, to pursue further success in life, because that aligns best with my passion: continued improvement.  This is what I do in my current real estate career (help successful people become more financially successful) and my new business venture (which provides motivated people an avenue to become financially successful).

If you read the original reason, “ABOUT”, from the menu in my blog, which I just started three months ago, this is it:  I am looking to connect with like-minded people and collaborate. 

I realize the internet is filled with a lot of fake people and get rich quick schemes…and this is NOT me, nor what I’m pursing.  I believe I put enough information out there about me, my thoughts, in my blogs, so you can get to know me and hopefully realize I’m a “normal” person, if there is such a thing.  If you search social media (Twitter, FaceBook, Instagram):  annm2705, you will find all my information.  I’m simply at a point in life, ready for the next step in a new venture and excited about the possibilities and opportunities in life.

by Categories: Careers, Entertainment, FAITH, FAMILY, FITNESS, Following Passions, FRIENDSHIP, HAPPINESS, Improvement, Letting Go, Make It Count, MUSIC, Nutrition, RELATIONSHIPS, TRAVEL, WellnessTags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 1 Comment

FRAUDULENT HAPPINESS

I haven’t written anything in a couple weeks because nothing has motivated me to write.  But tonight a few things triggered a desire to write.  As I start writing, I have no idea where this is going, but I’m writing as I usually do, based on what is on my mind as I am writing.

“BULLSHIT” TRIGGER ONE

The first writing motivation, or trigger, tonight was reading a very long post on Instagram while I was waiting for someone.  In summary, the post said “we’re tired of the same old shit” and went on to describe how there are “very few real words, or uncensored truths”… “the things that aren’t aesthetically pleasing or refined or perfectly framed” and how this has “become the standard of practice”…”bullshitters” … with “well placed products and inspiring Muir quotes” and how “we are all guilty of bypassing the real, and favouring false importance”… the author desires the “real” though and “not trying to sell you anything.”  The post went on to say: “We have a new website coming out and are looking for contributors that would like to share their words, media, and stories. You can say reprehensible words, like, ‘F@#%’, and tell everyone about that time you got drunk and barfed in your tent, or recount the personalities we meet along the road that seem to stick with us for life. It’s up to you.  Pitch us. Hello @pacificnorthwestco.com” (I had to add the contact information in case someone is interested in contributing to their cause, which I think is a great idea, by the way)

THE PERFECT WORLD PORTRAYED IN SOCIAL MEDIA

It’s true, there is a lot of “the perfect world” in social media, maybe because people crave an “escape from reality” ?  Anyway, this hit home with me and what happened tonight, so I decided to write this.  I thought about my own IG account where my posts are generally about the happy moments in my life, although I do have a few sentimental posts, but mostly, I focus on what I want to remember: the positive. I do this intentionally because when I have a bad day, I can just look back and see something that made me happy and it does improve my mood.   This doesn’t mean that I don’t have unhappy moments in my life, my life is far from perfect and I’ve had my share of struggles along the way, and still do.

GOING THROUGH STRUGGLES

I also started to think about people who have harder struggles than I have and how they might feel seeing all these “happy people” everywhere on social media and reflecting on their personal situations. I think most people know this though: “happy” is not ALL the time, so when we are facing a struggle, we are not alone, many others are facing struggles too.  But “happy” is a focus and anyone who chooses can make themselves happy people, we must want it enough to focus on it as much as possible to make it happen.  I will bet that there isn’t one “happy” person who hasn’t struggled with something or many things.  Often I find the people who have struggled the most appear to be the happiest, or have the happiest spirit about them.  This might be explained because when we experience times that are so tough or unhappy, when we finally are happy, there is so much gratitude we have that we are “overly” happy!  For me personally, I admit, I choose to focus on the positive, serene, beautiful, happy, and fun whenever possible because focusing on the opposite would drain me to where I couldn’t function as the real me, if I dwelled on the negative.  But as that IG post stated, I also appreciate the truth, the honesty, the real, especially when being this way isn’t likely going to be mainstream, or make us “look good”; it takes courage to expose ourselves in that way.

HEATED ARGUMENT TRIGGER TWO

The second trigger for me wanting to write tonight was an argument with someone I care about very much.  I try to avoid hostile confrontation of any kind because I don’t believe it’s necessary.  I believe that whatever is causing the problem can be resolved by talking, but as soon as one person starts with “the verbal stab” it becomes a full-on war and it escalates, particularly if I feel disrespected.  Even though I avoid confrontation, I will not let someone treat me poorly; I don’t care who it is.  Being respectful is always required in my opinion.  It’s okay to disagree, or state your opinion or feelings, but disrespect doesn’t deserve a response.  When I feel disrespected, I say something, I do not tolerate it, then I try to get away from the situation.  I try to just stop whatever was going on and leave.  That started to happen tonight but led to more drama and heightened emotions from the person pulling a third person into the situation, which wasn’t my choice either.  I would prefer to handle it individual to individual, and talk through it, but that didn’t happen.  This third party just made things even worse and I got involved again.  So I had to step away and honestly, I just prayed hard that God would help me handle this horrible situation, because my emotions were getting the best of me.  After a few minutes, I could hold back my words and just take care of what needed to be done and focus on getting it over.

PUBLIC EMBARRASSMENT

While I was in the process of trying to keep calm, I happened to be in a public place, which make this even worse: my deep-down emotions overruled my logic and I lost it…tears streaming uncontrollably.  I tried to keep a distance far enough from others to keep them from noticing, which was very uncomfortable and awkward. Then one person noticed because she had to ask me a question and when I responded, she said kind words and offered me a tissue, but that just made me cry more.  As this was happening, the third person, not present with us, began texting disrespectful insulting things to me. I couldn’t wait to leave and end this situation.  I avoided facial contact with anyone because my face was red, swollen and tears streaming down my face as I made it back to the car and then the tears hit even harder, but I didn’t talk anymore.

WHY DO WE TEAR EACH OTHER DOWN?

I realized as questions were asked of me during the departing ride that this person I care about wanted me to feel this way and basically said “this is what you get.”  Hearing those words filled me with mixed emotions:  anger because this argument now seemed intentional, but also hurt because it wasn’t expected, I was doing a favor for this person when all of this started.  I realized a couple other things tonight, that I respond two different ways based on how much I care about the person:  I still cry when it’s with someone I truly care about but with the third person, I was “numb” to that disrespect; it bothered me, but emotionally I wasn’t affected as badly anymore; it no longer makes me cry.

THIS IS LIFE

This is life; it sucks sometimes.  And even sucks more when heading into what should be an enjoyable, happy holiday.   Don’t hate me now, but despite this event tonight, I intend to wake up tomorrow in a happy mood.  Writing this helped me release some of the emotions. It was a tough night and I’m ready for a new better day ahead!

I hope your tomorrow is brighter too!

by Categories: FAMILY, FRIENDSHIP, HAPPINESS, Improvement, RELATIONSHIPSTags: , , , , Leave a comment

THE LANTERN FEST

“Letting Go,” my prior blog, was written before attending the Lantern Fest,  I waited to publish it because the releasing of lanterns symbolically fit the topic of letting go and I was hoping I would get some great shots to add to that post.  But there was so much more to the Lantern Fest we attended, beyond the symbolism, so I wanted to write about it.

LEADING UP TO THE EVENT

I found out about the Lantern Fest on Facebook, which, in my opinion, is Facebook’s strength right now:  finding events of interest.  I’ve seen so many photos of Lantern releases in other countries and the events always appeared so magical, so I knew when I saw the event on Facebook, I wanted to experience it.  I also found out that it is an event that runs nationally and was founded in November 2013.  There are several other USA locations forthcoming.

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EVENTS WITH TEENS

I’m going to bet that many people with teens know that, at this point in life, spending time with mom or dad isn’t high on their priority list.  In fact, I think, as parents, we rank near the bottom of the list of whom they want to hang with on the weekend!  I am faced with this reality; despite all the travel and events we did when they were young and they couldn’t wait to go somewhere with me. But that is a part of them becoming independent, which is important.  So, most of the time, they spend their time based on their plans. This time, I wanted to experience this with them because we don’t often have that opportunity very often: with just us, so I signed us up.  Heading to the event I didn’t have two very excited people with me.  One kept asking how soon we could leave once we got there and the other was just silent and both were exhausted from the soccer games they played all day.

ARRIVAL

I love Google Maps especially because it reroutes us based on traffic jams, so we ended up taking some back-roads and missed most of the traffic arriving quickly.  We arrived just after sunset due to the soccer game schedules and getting ready after them, but if I ever go again, I would be there before sunset.   Immediately upon arriving we could see lights all over a field ; it was a huge festival.  We headed through the Brookdale Farms gates, opposite the activity for parking and took a long windy gravel road back to the corn fields where we parked.  It was dark out now so we found our way back to the event from headlights shining on the gravel, highlighting a few mud puddles, but of course one of us found a puddle on the way.

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THE EVENT

I wasn’t sure when the release was going to happen, so I wanted to find the lantern packages as soon as possible.  I knew the event started at 2pm and there were little ones running around, so people with them would be getting anxious to release the lanterns soon.

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We initially saw all sorts of food trucks and tents lit up, then asked someone in one of the tents where we would find the lanterns.  They directed us to the back of the event and told us to look for a white tent.  We walked for quite a while, and kept going, following the crowd.  As we passed in smoke filled air, we saw fire pits with groups surrounding them, tiki torches, and groups enjoying s’mores- awesome!  We made it to the tent where we were given our lanterns and boxes with the instructions and s’mores sticks.  We stepped to the side and noticed we were at the edge of a lake which was so beautiful reflecting the lights.  We could hear music in the distance, then heard the announcement that the launching would soon occur.  We didn’t have much time to figure it out, so we waited to launch ours, preferring to watch and video this massive launch.  It was beautiful, incredible sight!

 

I attempted to get some good photos, but it was so dark I couldn’t see my camera settings and fumbled around with the camera, taking whatever I could get and hoping to capture some of it.  Most ended up blurred.

LAUNCH TIME

Learning how to light the lantern, waiting until the gas filled the balloon then releasing into the dark sky…

BON FIRE

Our arrival timing worked out because many people left after the launch, so some of the fire pits were now freed up.  We found one near the lake and decided to try out our newly purchased GABOSS inflatable loungers.  These were perfect for the night.  We had an energetic one with us who loved filling these bags with air.

As soon as we had them set up people kept stopping by asking us about them and where we got them.  Click the GABOSS link if you want to order one!  They are sold with a shoulder bag and are much easier than carrying a folding camp chair.  They can be used individually or as a lounger with two or three people and will support over 400 pounds.

S’mores
Patience? S’mores
GABOSS inflated!

We made s’mores, then relaxed in the loungers, waiting for the second launch.  By this time, my phone died, but I still had my camera and could get a few more shots of the night.  The music added to the atmosphere, the night was a little chilly but when the fire was going it was an exceptional outdoor night.  Being near the lake was perfect too, as the first wave of people were leaving, the white and red car lights looked like Christmas lighting.  We decided to lounge outside until the traffic died down.

 

LEAVING THE EVENT

By this time, everyone was starving.  Because of the soccer schedules, there was very little time between games, so none of us ate much since breakfast, besides a few snacks. The craving was Italian pasta, needing those carbs!  My daughter searched on Google maps and found Joe Baccardi’s which was still open, thankfully!  It was about 9:30 pm, so we headed there and everyone ordered.  We barely made it through the meal, with my son was falling asleep at the table, so we headed out just before closing time. I think all but me fell asleep in the car on the way home.  I know for me; this was just what I wanted:  spending time with them and both of my teens seemed to enjoy it too!  We talked about attending one again.

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OPPORTUNITY FOR SCIENTIFIC CREATIVE PEOPLE

As with anything, there are multiple viewpoints.  After I posted pictures and videos on Facebook the next day, I had a friend send me some pictures of the after math.  This was bad, it looked like trash everywhere, on trees, homes etc.  The event was so much fun, but this was not good. Hopefully with technology and creative people, there can be a solution for some biodegradable, quick dissipating material that could possibly be used in the future for lanterns to avoid the landfall?  I’m hoping that someone reading this knows someone or is creative and comes up with a solution, maybe a future Patent?  If you read this and know of someone who might be able to do this, please share this post!

Lanterns in the trees
Lanterns in a backyard
Lanterns on roofs
by Categories: Entertainment, FAMILY, FRIENDSHIP, HAPPINESS, Lantern Fest, Make It Count, MUSIC, RELATIONSHIPSTags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment