Who do you admire? Who do you want to be like? And more importantly, why is it that you admire this person and want to be like them?
One person I have always admired and wanted to be like was Matt Anderson. If you're reading this, chances are you know who Matt was. He served as the Wisconsin State FFA President during my senior year of high school. He had a huge impact on my life not only because of his passion for FFA, but because of the person he was. He was fun, sincere, and showed a genuine interest in others. Whenever I talked to him, I felt like I was the only thing he was worried about, even though I am sure he had a ton of things on his mind during some of the events we spoke at. Matt was a great person and he always knew just what to do in every situation. For these reasons and many others, I truly admired Matt and wanted to be just like him...and still do.
Two years ago today, Matt passed away in a tragic farming accident. I'll never forget the moment I heard the news and I instantly broke down. How could someone so wonderful who had a passion for life and the things he did pass away? Especially at such a young age? These questions are ones that will never have any answers. Matt's legacy truly does carry on. Bracelets were made in his memory and I have never taken mine off since I got it. It serves as a constant daily reminder for me to live the life Matt lived. He was a great person and I do not know one person who could say a bad thing about him.
So who is it that you admire? Who is it that you want to be like? This person is different for each and every one of us; however, I think that there is one person in each of our lives who will always have that impact on us and the things we do. But more importantly, are you living a life that makes others admire you and want to be like you? If not, how can you change your approaches on a daily basis? If yes, continue to make that positive impact on others because you never know who is watching you in complete admiration.
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Monday, August 17, 2009
Life' Simple Pleasures
When I was really young, I use to read the horoscopes with my Grandma. My birthday falls right on the cutoff of being either a Libra or a Scorpio. I was young and did not understand horoscopes, and depending upon which one I read depended upon if I was a “Scorpio” or a “Libra.” My Grandma explained to me that I was a Scorpio because I enjoy the simple things in life. That moment has always stuck with me and whenever I find myself getting caught up in one of “life’s simple pleasures,” I always think of her and how right she was. The following are some of the things in life that I consider to be simple pleasures in life...and the best part: they are free!
1. Fall colors. I really just love this season for a few reasons. It is my birthday. It is beautiful. And National FFA Convention falls during this time. I also love the anticipation of school starting again.
2. Finding money in your pocket. I know that technically I had the money all along, but it makes me feel like I am $20 richer or $5 richer. Maybe even $1 richer. No matter how much it is, I love finding it.
3. Having someone tell you they love you. I just love hearing those words because who does not want to be loved? Plus, this one is self-explanatory.
4. Getting a hug from someone you have not seen for a while. It is a pretty cool feeling to get a hug from someone you have not seen in over a month.
5. Using a towel fresh from the dryer after a shower. When I was younger my mom use to do this for me all the time. It is one of those feelings that bring back childhood memories.
6. Being mischievous. I’ll let you think what you want with this. I like getting into some trouble every now and then. And believe it or not, I have done some crazy things before.
7. Walking barefoot on the beach in the surf. It just feels so free. And it is another one of those things I did a lot when I was younger so it makes me feel like a kid again.
8. Music that has a violin in it. This one is kind of odd, but I love when rock music especially has a violin used as an instrument. It just adds a lot to it for me. Plus I’m a big fan of Trans-Siberian Orchestra.
9. Being naked. Take this one as you like.
10. Waking up to the sound of rain. I have always found rain to be very relaxing, and it is a great way to start a day off…especially if I happen to be running late because it relaxes me right away.
11. Sleeping in. Sleeping has to be one of my favorite past times. I need my sleep so I love those random mornings when I do not have to set my alarm.
12. Hearing a song you love. Have you ever been driving somewhere, maybe to work or to go out with friends and a song that you love comes on? It instantly puts you in a good mood and most of the time with me, it makes the day that much better for me.
13. Pulling through to a parking spot. I know this one is weird, but I love when I am going to park and when I turn into a spot I find that the one in front of it is open and I get to pull right through. Maybe that is just because I hate backing up.
14. The feeling you get when you rocked something you put a lot of work into. This is something I have come to enjoy during this last year serving as a state FFA officer. I loved the feeling of heading back to my seat after a banquet speech with the feeling like I had really left an impression and impact on the audience.
15. Laughing. Who does not love laughing?
16. Having a good workout. I love those workouts that seem to just be better than the one the day before.
17. Smiling. It just makes you feel that much better and puts you in a better mood. I also love when someone smiles at me.
18. Not hitting a red light on your way to work. Let’s face it; no one likes to be delayed when traveling from point A to point B. I do not have to travel through a ton of traffic lights on my way to work, but that days that they are green when I arrive at them really stand out to me.
19. A gorgeous view. I live out in the country and I always love those nights where it seems like I am witnessing the most beautiful sunset I have ever seen. Nature and the outdoors are so beautiful.
20. Waking up and realizing you have two hours left to sleep. I am not normally one to wake up before my alarm, but when I do wake up, I love to discover that I still have two hours left to sleep.
21. Feeling clean. This is usually something I appreciate a lot more when I am coming in the house from doing chores or from a workout. I just love the feeling of being clean after being sweaty.
22. The smell of home. Have you ever walked into a friend’s house and noticed a very distinct smell? Well, I have come to the conclusion that our homes all smell a certain way but we do not tend to notice ours unless we have been gone for a while. It is comforting to come home and know that you are home just based off of the smell.
23. Getting an actual handwritten letter in the mail. This is something that always means so much to me because I know that whoever wrote it took the time to sit down and put thought into a letter for me. It does not seem to happen too often, but my day is always made when it does.
I am sure I will make another list of simple pleasures in life, but for now, these are the things I love and enjoy. Hopefully you can relate to some of them.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
My Dream List
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.
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.
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.
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