I have been very lucky in life. I have been blessed with an amazing family and incredible friends. I have had experiences many people have never had. I have seen places many people will not ever get to see. After reading How We Choose to be Happy, I was inspired to make a list of my dreams. The list below is in no particular order, and I am sure it will continue to grow. Who knows if I will be able to do all of the things listed below, but I figure if I share my aspirations with others I will be able to hold myself accountable to making sure that they happen.
1. Go backpacking through Europe
2. Graduate college
3. Become an Ag Ed Instructor and FFA Advisor
4. Serve as a WLC presenter for a summer
5. Go bungee jumping
6. Get married
7. Visit China
8. Have 2 or 3 kids
9. Live in the moment
10. Jump off a cliff into a body of water
11. Live in Montana
12. Adopt a retired greyhound
13. Become a motivational speaker
14. Fly a plane
15. Go zip lining
16. Take a tropical cruise
17. Live in NYC for a year
18. Get a tattoo
19. Spend a summer working on a dude ranch
20. Visit the Atlantis Hotel in the Bahama's
21. Take a hot air balloon ride
22. Go white water rafting
23. Hike the Grand Canyon
24. Go horseback riding in the surf of an ocean
25. Stay passionate about the things I am involved with
26. Go sky diving
27. Make a difference in the lives of others
28. Write a movie script
29. Learn how to dance
30. Visit the Amazon
31. Be happy in the things I do
32. See the Sahara Desert and tour Africa while I am there
33. Live in a different country
34. Scuba dive along the Great Barrier Reef
35. Celebrate New Year's Eve in NYC
36. Learn something new each year
37. Attend a Super Bowl
It seems like a large list, but one thing that I have noticed about myself is that when I am doing things that I do not normally do, I feel fully alive. By having this list of dreams, I have things to constantly look forward to. We will see what happens and what I actually accomplish. I am confident I will get to do a lot of these things and I am excited for them to happen. My one hope is that I have someone who wants to do them all with me.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Choosing to be Happy
A few days ago I started to read the book, How We Choose to be Happy. No, I am not creating a habit of reading self-help books. I read this book because I knew it would challenge some of the opinions I had. The book did just that. I am not saying that I have a completely new opinion on happiness, but this book talks about 9 choices of extremely happy people. It's a collection of stories from people all over the world who are very happy people. Over a three year study, these are the 9 choices these people made. The book was an easy read, and it literally only took me 3 days to read because I found it to be very intriguing.
1. Intention. This part of the book focused on how we need to have an intention to be happy. Without it, we really can't conquer the 8 other choices that happy people make.
2. Accountability. This part focused on how we need to take complete control over situations that happen in our lives. We can't blame people, where we are, or something else beyond our control. If we hold ourselves accountable, we are able to look at the bigger picture and choose how to make the best out of the situation.
3. Identification. The section focused on how happiness is not on the surface. For example, if you have nice clothes, a nice car, or a nice house, it doesn't mean you will be happy. It also focuses on how we need to identify what is best for ourselves. It's what we need, rather than what we want.
4. Centrality. This part of the book talks about how we need to centralize the things that mean the most to us. This allows us to live out our passions and follow our hearts. It's about doing what we want and not what others want. The book had us create a list of our dreams and talked about centralizing how to live them out.
5. Recasting. This section was about overcoming those situations that make us extremely unhappy like the loss of a loved one or experiencing something beyond our control like a house fire, and how to cope with these events. Recasting is all about thriving during a difficult time so we don't lose those moments of happiness we will never get back.
6. Options. This part simply is about weighing out options during situations when we feel disappointed. It helps us become more aware that we have other opportunities in life and how to overcome roadblocks.
7. Appreciation. This part of the books was perhaps my favorite. It talked about loving yourself and knowing when to put yourself first. It also talked about how we can celebrate others and appreciate those around us. In life, we are told to put others before ourselves. This part of the book challenged that thought on how we become happy by learning what things we need to be happy and not only acknowledging those things, but appreciating those things.
8. Giving. This was all about giving during the toughest times. It talked about a woman who had a dream to become a dance instructor. Through many battles, she eventually opened up her own dance studio. She was highly successful in pursuing her dream. She was so good, that ultimately her students wanted to do what she did and open up their own dance studios. She discouraged them at first, but then thought of how nobody discouraged her from going out on her own. She learned to feel satisfied with helping others who had helped her.
9. Truthfulness. Being honest is often a hard concept because it so easy to tell lies, even simple white lies. But this part focuses on how happier people are the ones who are honest with themselves and honest with those around them. It makes life easier too because then you don't have to remember who you told what to. The majority of this part focused on how we need to be true to ourselves first.
Most of the symmetrization's may not make complete sense, but reading this book as a whole was a good decision for me. It challenged my views and helped me learn about what I was or was not doing to be on the right path to happiness. I haven't considered myself to be an unhappy person, but this book helped me learn to be happy even in those tough situations and how happiness truly is a choice we make. I feel like everyone deserves to live a life of happiness because it's never fun being sad or depressed. Yet we all have those times where we want to blame others, not be honest with ourselves, or help others. This book helped me overcome some of those challenges many of us are often faced with.
1. Intention. This part of the book focused on how we need to have an intention to be happy. Without it, we really can't conquer the 8 other choices that happy people make.
2. Accountability. This part focused on how we need to take complete control over situations that happen in our lives. We can't blame people, where we are, or something else beyond our control. If we hold ourselves accountable, we are able to look at the bigger picture and choose how to make the best out of the situation.
3. Identification. The section focused on how happiness is not on the surface. For example, if you have nice clothes, a nice car, or a nice house, it doesn't mean you will be happy. It also focuses on how we need to identify what is best for ourselves. It's what we need, rather than what we want.
4. Centrality. This part of the book talks about how we need to centralize the things that mean the most to us. This allows us to live out our passions and follow our hearts. It's about doing what we want and not what others want. The book had us create a list of our dreams and talked about centralizing how to live them out.
5. Recasting. This section was about overcoming those situations that make us extremely unhappy like the loss of a loved one or experiencing something beyond our control like a house fire, and how to cope with these events. Recasting is all about thriving during a difficult time so we don't lose those moments of happiness we will never get back.
6. Options. This part simply is about weighing out options during situations when we feel disappointed. It helps us become more aware that we have other opportunities in life and how to overcome roadblocks.
7. Appreciation. This part of the books was perhaps my favorite. It talked about loving yourself and knowing when to put yourself first. It also talked about how we can celebrate others and appreciate those around us. In life, we are told to put others before ourselves. This part of the book challenged that thought on how we become happy by learning what things we need to be happy and not only acknowledging those things, but appreciating those things.
8. Giving. This was all about giving during the toughest times. It talked about a woman who had a dream to become a dance instructor. Through many battles, she eventually opened up her own dance studio. She was highly successful in pursuing her dream. She was so good, that ultimately her students wanted to do what she did and open up their own dance studios. She discouraged them at first, but then thought of how nobody discouraged her from going out on her own. She learned to feel satisfied with helping others who had helped her.
9. Truthfulness. Being honest is often a hard concept because it so easy to tell lies, even simple white lies. But this part focuses on how happier people are the ones who are honest with themselves and honest with those around them. It makes life easier too because then you don't have to remember who you told what to. The majority of this part focused on how we need to be true to ourselves first.
Most of the symmetrization's may not make complete sense, but reading this book as a whole was a good decision for me. It challenged my views and helped me learn about what I was or was not doing to be on the right path to happiness. I haven't considered myself to be an unhappy person, but this book helped me learn to be happy even in those tough situations and how happiness truly is a choice we make. I feel like everyone deserves to live a life of happiness because it's never fun being sad or depressed. Yet we all have those times where we want to blame others, not be honest with ourselves, or help others. This book helped me overcome some of those challenges many of us are often faced with.
Friday, June 19, 2009
Be Yourself
I recently got a Chinese fortune cookie that read,
I could not agree with this statement more!
I've never understood why people have a hard time being comfortable in their own skin. I'm not saying that I've always been perfect at it, but if you stop and think about it, it's so much easier to just be yourself. People will admire you a lot more if you are sincere, genuine and your own person. It's something that gets easier with age in my opinion, but it is something everyone can master if they realize that they will be happier being their own person. If someone doesn't like you, chances are it's because they are jealous of you. Have you ever stopped and thought about why you don't like certain people? Maybe the underlying reason is because you are jealous for what they have or what they do.
I believe people are not their own person for 3 reasons:
The first one is pretty basic. If we act just like the people we hang out, those people are bound to like is. In reality, we can just end up making friends just like ourselves to start. The second one is very true. Everyone wants to be liked; everyone wants friends. To do so, many people feel that if they act, dress, do or a talk a certain way, they can impress others. Try looking at it from a different perspective: impress people by acting the way you want to act, dressing the way you want to dress, doing the things you want to do and talking the way you want to talk. Lastly, it is not until people reach high school that they truly start to learn who they are as a person. It is when things in life really start to matter. Your future is officially beginning in four short years, and you may not know just what you want to do with your life because you don't know who you are. Be yourself, and stay true to your friends, values and morals. If you do this, you will learn very quickly who you are and being your own person will become very easy.
"The most exhausting thing in life is being insincere."
I could not agree with this statement more!
I've never understood why people have a hard time being comfortable in their own skin. I'm not saying that I've always been perfect at it, but if you stop and think about it, it's so much easier to just be yourself. People will admire you a lot more if you are sincere, genuine and your own person. It's something that gets easier with age in my opinion, but it is something everyone can master if they realize that they will be happier being their own person. If someone doesn't like you, chances are it's because they are jealous of you. Have you ever stopped and thought about why you don't like certain people? Maybe the underlying reason is because you are jealous for what they have or what they do.
I believe people are not their own person for 3 reasons:
1. They are afraid people won't like them
2. They feel a need to impress others
3. They don't truly know who they are yet
The first one is pretty basic. If we act just like the people we hang out, those people are bound to like is. In reality, we can just end up making friends just like ourselves to start. The second one is very true. Everyone wants to be liked; everyone wants friends. To do so, many people feel that if they act, dress, do or a talk a certain way, they can impress others. Try looking at it from a different perspective: impress people by acting the way you want to act, dressing the way you want to dress, doing the things you want to do and talking the way you want to talk. Lastly, it is not until people reach high school that they truly start to learn who they are as a person. It is when things in life really start to matter. Your future is officially beginning in four short years, and you may not know just what you want to do with your life because you don't know who you are. Be yourself, and stay true to your friends, values and morals. If you do this, you will learn very quickly who you are and being your own person will become very easy.
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Taking on Opportunities
Lately, I've been doing a lot of thinking about how I've been so blessed to serve as a State FFA Officer. My teammates and I had to record member and parent thank you's this past week during convention work days. As I was thinking about what to say to my family, I couldn't help but think that I may have never joined FFA. Ultimately, there were two reasons I joined FFA as a freshman. First, it was the only organization or club in school that I could do something with my horses. Growing up, all I ever wanted was horses. My dream came true when I was in eighth grade. My dad literally turned his back yard into a horse pasture--for me. Second, my older brother participated in my chapter's Food For America program. When I saw him getting involved, I wanted to follow in his footsteps.
Now do I think that if I would have not gotten horses and that my older brother would not have gotten involved that I would not have? No. But it amazes me on how certain events can play a role on your life. Maybe if those things would not have happened, I would not have gotten as involved as I did. Who knows!?
I used to always think that I didn't know who I was or where I was going with my life, but FFA has provided such a direction for me. I know who I am; I know what I want to do; I'm proud of the person FFA has made me in to. When all is said and done, what I do know is this: sometimes we don't know what role something we do or someone we meet may play on our life until later on. That's why we need to make the most of each and every opportunity we have because who knows what it could bring for us. We need to appreciate that things go on in life for a reason even though we never know what that reason is right away.
I'm so thankful I found the FFA. It's done nothing but benefit me. I have so many fond memories and so many amazing friends because of it. I'm glad I was smart enough to give FFA a chance because I love what my life has become because of it. It's so important to take on every opportunity because you never know how great something can turn out to be.
Now do I think that if I would have not gotten horses and that my older brother would not have gotten involved that I would not have? No. But it amazes me on how certain events can play a role on your life. Maybe if those things would not have happened, I would not have gotten as involved as I did. Who knows!?
I used to always think that I didn't know who I was or where I was going with my life, but FFA has provided such a direction for me. I know who I am; I know what I want to do; I'm proud of the person FFA has made me in to. When all is said and done, what I do know is this: sometimes we don't know what role something we do or someone we meet may play on our life until later on. That's why we need to make the most of each and every opportunity we have because who knows what it could bring for us. We need to appreciate that things go on in life for a reason even though we never know what that reason is right away.
I'm so thankful I found the FFA. It's done nothing but benefit me. I have so many fond memories and so many amazing friends because of it. I'm glad I was smart enough to give FFA a chance because I love what my life has become because of it. It's so important to take on every opportunity because you never know how great something can turn out to be.
Monday, May 4, 2009
Sincere Appreciation
When I was a senior in high school, my FFA advisor presented me with an opportunity to take a Dale Carnegie Training Course. I leaped at the opportunity because students who had taken it in previous years found it to be very enjoyable. I loved this class; in fact, I looked forward to it every week because I liked the people who were in the class with me and the concepts we learned in it have proved to be invaluable time and time again.
My favorite thing of all that I will never forget from the class is how to show sincere appreciation. When the activity was introduced, we all had time to write a thank you to someone who had made a difference in our lives. Then we practiced giving sincere compliments to our classmates. This was our week 8 class, and it was by far my most memorable class. It amazes me how quickly you can pick up good qualities in a person that you've literally only seen 7 times prior--in fact that's why I think this was even so much more powerful to do at that point in time. Giving a sincere compliment involved 1) looking the person in the eye; 2) giving them a 30 second compliment; 3) coming up with something that no one else had pointed out. We did this in groups of 4. To my surprise, I found it more challenging to receive the compliment than to give it. I'm naturally a person who gives a lot of compliments so maybe that's one reason why I found it easy. Another reason I found it easy was because it felt so natural to tell people how amazing they are as an individual.
This year, while serving as a state officer, I cannot even count how many thank you notes I've written. And to be honest, I'm glad I can't count. To me, a thank you note speaks volumes and when it only takes 2 minutes of your day, it's worth it to go that extra mile. I wish more people truly saw a value in showing sincere appreciation. Think of the "feel good moment" you have when you receive a thank you note that compliments you...or think of a time that someone tells you that your clothes are cute, that you smell good, or that you're having a good hair day. Even the simplest of compliments can go far. Next time you give a compliment, go the extra mile to give a sincere compliment. And always, when someone does something to help you, always show them that you sincerely appreciate it. Your actions speak louder than words.
I want to quick talk about my latest "feel good moment." I was at a chapter banquet on Friday night. At the end of the night, I had a chance to talk with the officer team and tell them what a great job they had done. The chapter president, Joy, pulled me aside and said it meant so much that I had come and how my speech had such a good message. Then she kept talking about how much of an inspiration I had been to her over the past year. She told me that many officers in the past had seemed fake to her, but she thought of me as very real and genuine. I was already smiling big time by this point because she was making me feel so good about myself. Then she told me that she always is thinking of how she could be like me and how she strives to be like me. Wow, what an amazing thing to have a person tell you. I'm still on a high from the things she told me that night. It only took her a few short seconds to tell me those things, but the impact of those seconds will last a lifetime for me.
My favorite thing of all that I will never forget from the class is how to show sincere appreciation. When the activity was introduced, we all had time to write a thank you to someone who had made a difference in our lives. Then we practiced giving sincere compliments to our classmates. This was our week 8 class, and it was by far my most memorable class. It amazes me how quickly you can pick up good qualities in a person that you've literally only seen 7 times prior--in fact that's why I think this was even so much more powerful to do at that point in time. Giving a sincere compliment involved 1) looking the person in the eye; 2) giving them a 30 second compliment; 3) coming up with something that no one else had pointed out. We did this in groups of 4. To my surprise, I found it more challenging to receive the compliment than to give it. I'm naturally a person who gives a lot of compliments so maybe that's one reason why I found it easy. Another reason I found it easy was because it felt so natural to tell people how amazing they are as an individual.
This year, while serving as a state officer, I cannot even count how many thank you notes I've written. And to be honest, I'm glad I can't count. To me, a thank you note speaks volumes and when it only takes 2 minutes of your day, it's worth it to go that extra mile. I wish more people truly saw a value in showing sincere appreciation. Think of the "feel good moment" you have when you receive a thank you note that compliments you...or think of a time that someone tells you that your clothes are cute, that you smell good, or that you're having a good hair day. Even the simplest of compliments can go far. Next time you give a compliment, go the extra mile to give a sincere compliment. And always, when someone does something to help you, always show them that you sincerely appreciate it. Your actions speak louder than words.
I want to quick talk about my latest "feel good moment." I was at a chapter banquet on Friday night. At the end of the night, I had a chance to talk with the officer team and tell them what a great job they had done. The chapter president, Joy, pulled me aside and said it meant so much that I had come and how my speech had such a good message. Then she kept talking about how much of an inspiration I had been to her over the past year. She told me that many officers in the past had seemed fake to her, but she thought of me as very real and genuine. I was already smiling big time by this point because she was making me feel so good about myself. Then she told me that she always is thinking of how she could be like me and how she strives to be like me. Wow, what an amazing thing to have a person tell you. I'm still on a high from the things she told me that night. It only took her a few short seconds to tell me those things, but the impact of those seconds will last a lifetime for me.
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