Keep Calm

This is what I keep repeating to myself as this point. BREATHE and just graduate. I am really fed up with school and I'm ready to start the next exciting chapter of my life. But in the meantime I've been really enjoying my senior year! I am so thankful for all of my wonderful friends and family that have helped me get through school and life.

And... as for exams, I keep thinking about this scripture. This has to be one of my favorites.It applies to our lives in so many different ways at different times.

I Can Do All Things Through Christ Who Strengthens Me – Philippians 4:13

This is so important to remember at difficult times because no matter what happens in life, there is nothing impossible for us with God. 

Next Week

I haven't blogged in a little over a week because I haven't had much to reflect on. But I am definitely feeling the need to blog this rainy afternoon because I just received some sad news. As you may or may not know, I am a server at a local country club and I absolutely love my job. The biggest and maybe only downfall to my job is that I have to be away from my family on the holidays. I have to work on Thanksgiving day, and last year I was able to make it home (home is 2 1/2 hours away from school) in time for Thanksgiving dinner with my family by the skin of my teeth.

So my bad news is that my sister also has a job in Raleigh this year and unfortunately our schedules clash. Long story short, it is beginning to look like I will be enjoying a lonely Thanksgiving dinner in Raleigh with me, myself and I.

This is only made worse by the fact that my holidays are already going to be drastically different this year because my mother just moved to New Jersey. For the first time in my lifetime this will be the first set of holidays without my mom and now it is looking like this will be my first Thanksgiving without my family at all.

I am trying very hard not to be upset over this but it is very difficult. We will see what happens but for now it is not looking good. I even looked up an article on how to deal with being alone on Thanksgiving and it actually had some helpful tips:

• Examine your feelings (yay for blogging!)
• Be good to yourself
• Rethink your expectations
• Cultivate gratitude
• Give to others

Interesting suggestions that I will definitely be utilizing.

Confidence

Ever have those times when you think to yourself "why are you doing this?" I definitely have had a couple of those moments recently. I catch myself in the middle of my own thoughts, stop and think "you are crazy." I find myself exaggerating situations in my own head and a lot... if not all... of the times that I do this are connected to confidence. (This is another item on my self work list. :) ) So tonight I am reflecting on confidence!

What a man thinks of himself, that it is which determines, or rather indicates his fate.- Henry David Thoreau

Patience

Today, I am reflecting on a single word rather than a quote because I feel like I need it today.

That word is patience.

Patience is the ability to endure waiting, delay, or provocation without becoming annoyed or upset, or to persevere calmly when faced with difficulties.

Patience is the art of hoping. -Marquis De Vauvenargues

Lately, I have been trying to be patient with my friends, my job, school, my sorority, my family, my apartment complex and most importantly myself. I've been trying to move forward with a bunch of personal goals I have set for myself but there are a few that are hard to change and I am trying to be patient and tell myself that these things take time.

Focus

I have been spending my Senior year trying to do just this. Focus on what's important. 

This lovely lesson was going around facebook recently and I wasn't going to bother with taking the time to read it, because it was a little long and I was very stressed. When all seemed to be going wrong at the beginning of the month, my wonderful boyfriend took a second and thought about me. He thought I needed to read it and he was right. He sent it to me and it definitely put things into perspective for me. I think everyone should take a minute to read this lesson:

When things in your life seem almost too much to handle, when 24 hours in a day are not enough, remember the mayonnaise jar and the 2 Beers.

A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him.

When the class began, he wordlessly picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls.

He then asked the students if the jar was full.

They agreed that it was.

The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly.

The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls.

He then asked the students again if the jar was
Full.

They agreed it was.

The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar.

Of course, the sand filled up everything else.

He asked once more if the jar was full..

The students responded with a unanimous 'yes.'

The professor then produced two Beers from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar effectively filling the empty space between the sand.

The students laughed..

'Now,' said the professor as the laughter subsided, 'I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life.

The golf balls are the important things---your family, your children, your health, your friends and your favorite passions---and if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full.

The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house and your car..

The sand is everything else---the small stuff.

'If you put
The sand into the jar first,' he continued, 'there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls.

The same goes for life.

If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff you will never have room for the things that are important to you.

Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness.

Spend time with your children.

Spend time with your parents.

Visit with grandparents.

Take your spouse out to dinner.

Play another 18.

There will always be time to clean the house and mow the lawn.

Take care of the golf balls first---the things that really matter.

Set your priorities.

The rest is just sand.

One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the Beer represented.

The professor smiled and said, 'I'm glad you asked.'

The Beer just shows you that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a couple of Beers with a friend.

Focus on what's important.

Unbelievable

Disbelief. Joy. Shock. Fear. Happiness.

Three calls for preliminary interviews this morning, two of which are in Atlanta. THREE this morning... and here I was this weekend upset about how I wasn't going to be able to get a job after graduation. The one thing that is replaying over and over in my head is...

 

Wow. Really, wow. Cannot even believe this. Wow...

Embrace It Daily

Lately, I have been feeling like my life finally is taking direction instead of going a million different ways at once. I am regaining control of myself, my activities, my job and my grades. I attribute most of this to my new friends. Even though I have only known them for a short while I am so thankful for all of my new friends, they are wonderful influences on me and I could not imagine a more perfect senior year in college.

Lucky for me, they all have really good relationships with God. This is what my life is currently lacking. Let me give a little background on my relationship with God: When I was a little girl my family attended church regularly and then as I started to get older we gradually started to go less and less until we didn't go at all. For a couple of years in highschool, I attended church by myself. I belonged to a church and was active in the youth group there and even went on a Pilgrimage with them. Unfortunately, I faded out of this eventually as well when my job started to pick up. 

Now I find myself wanting to reconnect with God as a senior in college. One day I confided in one of my friends about how serious I was about reconnecting and then she surprised with me with something that made my week! She surprised me with a little book called "The Message," this is a bible put into modern English. Now one of my goals for this year is to try and read a little bit of it every time I get the chance - every day being the most ideal situation. This is why I decided to go with this quote:

This quote is to help keep me motivated to continue to make progress in my new bible. :)