New year

Tomorrow is going to be the 18th day of 2014! That is craziness! Already this year I have celebrated two birthdays, gone through a week of finals with A's in both of my classes, and applied to be a tutor. Soon to come, I will be heading to Nebraska to spend a week with my best friend and then starting my fourth term in this journey to become a nurse. So much is happening already this year and it feels great! 

At the moment I am reading a book entitled "Don't Sweat the Small Stuff...And it's All Small Stuff." I am working through it slowly and am currently stuck on the chapter about not interrupting people. Now, this one obviously seems like a no brainer, right? It is rude to interrupt someone when they are talking, right? But, honestly, until I read that chapter and then was consciously aware of my conversations, I had no idea how many times I interrupt people when talking to someone. 

You might be thinking "oh, well, she's rude and should learn some manners," but that's not the whole picture. I'm not interrupting someone on purpose! I'm trying to contribute to the conversation! 

My book told me that interrupting while someone is speaking is ourselves either consciously or subconsciously trying to speed the conversation along. But, if we were to take the time to let someone get their thoughts out, the conversation would flow so much better. 

Still working on this one...

Big money...

I had an appointment with the financial aid office at my school today to discuss my tuition and loans for this upcoming academic year starting in April 2014.  Usually, talking about such big money (about 137,000 dollars) really freaks me out! But, today as I sat there talking about what my options were to pay my remaining bill, I was surprisingly calm.

Something I have really learned this past year is that money is only money.  Money comes and goes.  Nothing good comes about from hoarding large sums of money.  When you die, you will NOT take it with you.

Don't get me wrong, I think being financially intelligent and not spending money frivolously is the right way to go.  I am all about investing and paying your bills on time.  I have a savings plan that I add into all the time.

What I'm saying is, there is no real reason to be stressed about money.  Stress has major impact on one's health and life expectancy. Stress damages your heart, your brain, your skin....the list goes on and on.

Whatever happens is going to happen and most of the time there is nothing you can do about it, and if there is something you can do about it, then do it.  Its that simple.  My theory is do your best everyday, do what you are supposed to do, and then hope everything works out because you've put in the work to make it so.  And then, if it doesn't put in the work to make it right again.

Deep thoughts for a Thursday...but I was inspired when on my way home from my financial aid appointment I saw a major car crash.  All I could think was "things could be SO much worse..." then my financial worries for the future.  I am healthy, my husband and my family and all the people I care about are healthy.  Life is good.    

So far...

Feeling very tired today but despite the sleepiness, 2014 has started off extremely well. I've had the opportunity to spend time with my husband and his family and with friends. I've had the opportunity to do a lot of relaxing despite having finals coming up. I've had the opportunity to be there for a friend when they truly needed it...

I'd say that 2014 is shaping up to be a great year and it's only the fifth day in!  I've learned a lot about patience so far (because I locked myself out of my apartment), about the importance of rest, and the need for trying new things. 

So, for the rest of 2014, I say "bring it on!"