How to: Feel Better

Ever had a bad day...One of those days that you just can't shake? A day when you wished you could just go to bed and wake up again as if it never happened.  When you have one of those days, I encourage you to visit this site and click the button. It's a great reminder of what's important in life and will help you get through that bad day - kind of like waking up again and starting that day over without even having to go to sleep.

How to: Inspire Others?

Who am I kidding? I don't know how to inspire others, but I can tell you how I'm going to try. I'm going to lead by example, sharing my life and lessons on this blog.  So what does that mean for you, the reader? Hopefully it doesn't turn into you reading a diary of my life. (Don't worry, my life isn't that interesting and if that's what I end up writing, you won't be here long.)

Instead, I'm going to share lessons learned through stories about my struggles to focus on what's important in life (It's a struggle, trust me!) Think Chicken Soup for the Woman Who Needs to Chillax's Soul but not so cheesy, and instead, open, honest, and real.  I promise to hold nothing back but I can't promise where this journey will take us. Still, here's what I think you'll hear about if you stick around long enough:

• Healthy Living (my way -- meaning, no diets, no stict workout regiment, just little things I focus on each day so I feel good about myself)

• Relationships  -- both the friend kind, and the romantic kind (there are a lot of important people in my life and it's a struggle to balance but I'm trying to figure out how)

• Having fun -- Every needs a little fun right? I'll let you know where I find it and hope to hear from you too, b'c you never know when trying something new will turn in to your next favorite hobby.

• Work -- I won't talk shop, but I will share how I balance work and life, and attempts that might fail because, for me, this is one of the hardest things to do

And who knows what else...I hope you enjoy!

Why being right, doesn't make you right

Step #1 on day #1 of being the new me is because of something I was told about myself recently.  At the time it made me angry and hurt, but now it might be the most important lesson I've ever learned.  I was told "Erin, you're not always right. [I know, I was as shocked as you are!] Most of the time you are right.  Maybe even 99% of the time. But being right isn't always the most important thing and it's causing you to ruin relationships with a lot of people."  Like I said, I was mad and hurt.  If I'm right, then maybe it's those people who are wrong and are mad about the fact that I'm right and they're wrong are the one's who need to change.  Right?

Wrong.

So, thanks to the wisdom of three very important people in my life, I'm starting this blog about taking life less seriously, one day at a time, where I'll share my journey. Who knows where this will all end up.  Not entirely sure what I'll share with you, but know that I won't hold back, and hopefully I'll share something that inspires you along the way. 

Lesson #1: The sky is blue and the clouds are white.  But sometimes, the sky is not blue and the clouds are not white.

I leave you with a column I wrote in my high-school newspaper. Who knew it would serve as inspiration for myself 8 years later once I had collected all the peices and connected all the dots:

Is the sky blue?  You decide.

February, 2002

 Is the sky blue? Well, of course, it is. Is a Crayola “blue” crayon, blue? So Crayola blue construction paper, held up to the sky, would blend in? Well, no. Then which is blue? Maybe the sky is a different shade of blue. What about a “sky blue” crayon? “Carolina blue”? Not really. So if the sky is not “blue”, or even “sky blue,” what color is it?

Is earth living? Since a tree is rooted in the ground, is it part of earth? If a butterfly lives on a tree, do he think of it as a living object? If humans live on earth for 75 years, do we perceive it as living? Is a rock living? What about the dirt? Soil? Volcanoes? What determines if something is living? Because it breathes? Because its heart pumps? Because it grows? Is earth living?

How do you know? How does anyone know? Who knew first? Teachers teach you what you don’t know. If you don’t know, does that make them smarter? If you know something they don’t, does that mean you are smarter? Who knows more? Does it matter? What is more important; How much you know, or what you know?

Was Van Gough a great painter? People say so, but people of his time thought differently. Does that mean he has gotten better since then? Do you think Bin Laden is a hero? How about Hitler? Can society’s beliefs change? Which society was right?

Are you the author of your own life story? Can you decide which direction you want your life to take? How about who your friends are, or what you eat for dinner? Really? Can you choose to live? Choose to die? If you cut your wrists are you choosing to die? What if you are hit by a bus, in a cross walk, on a sunny Wednesday morning? Can you really choose to die?

Can you choose your name? Your hair color? What about your skin color? Michael Jackson did. Can you choose how you are treated as a result?

The most important question I pose after you’ve read all this—Why?

The correct answer: Why not?

Day 1: Making a Change

So Brandon and I were talking the other night and he said something really profound -- "People can't change overnight, but just being aware of what you need to change helps you work on things a little at a time."  Yup! That's my husband for you. Inspiring me to be a better person, one day at a time.

My life has changed quite a bit in the last couple months. I'll spare you from the details but the point is, I've learned something about myself that needs to change -- I take things WAY too seriously.  The good news is, I'm now aware of that fault.  Thank you Brandon for helping realize I can change. And thank you Jenni, my dear friend who doesn't even know she's the one who's showed me how.