if you’re lucky enough to be inspired by Tina Fey, you’re lucky enough
Tag Archives for life
A FRIDAY THOUGHT: BE THE TYPE OF PERSON
I stumbled across this quote a few days ago and it hit me straight in the heart. Isn’t it powerful? Be the type of person you want to meet. It’s so simple.
I spent the past few days coming back to this thought and I made a mental (now written) list of qualities the person I want to meet would have:
- an ability to see the positive in the everyday
- passion
- dedication
- the integrity to follow through with promises made, no matter the size
- a smiling face
I am making a conscience effort to be more like this, to be more like the person I would like to meet, more like the friend I would like to have. But this theory, this idea can be applied to so many different relationships in our lives too. Be the type of partner you want to have. Be the type of daughter you want to have. Be the type of employee you want to manage. It could go on and on, and the goodness could just spread like wildfire. Oh how I love the joy of feeling inspired.
Do you like this quote? Does it make you think any differently about the type of person you are?
if you’re lucky enough to be inspired to be better, you’re lucky enough
IT’S KIND OF FUNNY
Yesterday a friend was asking me what I studied in college. When I told him that I earned a degree in Hospitality and Tourism Management, he said “Oh, so you’ve always known that you wanted to work in hotels?”
Long story short, no I did not always know. In high school, I applied to about 12 different colleges and every one of them I applied to study journalism. For some wacky reason, San Diego State was the only college that I applied with a hospitality major. And even though I thankfully got into a handful of different colleges, for some wacky reason I ended up choosing San Diego State University. It’s just so funny how things work out sometimes.
If I had gone to a school and studied journalism, I wonder where I would have been? What would I be doing? Where would I be living?
But my favorite part of the conversation was when my friend said, “But if you hadn’t studied hospitality you might not be working here. And I might not have met you.” Come on. It was such a sweet little dash of honey in my day and it made me think about how beautiful life is.
It’s kind of funny, isn’t it? It’s kind of funny when you think about the little moments that make up our lives. If my mom hadn’t gotten a job at that bar in college, she might not have poured my dad’s drinks. If my Grandpa hadn’t been in the Marines, my Grandma might not have fallen in love while writing letters to him overseas. If my dad hadn’t taken a job in California, I might not have grown up in my beloved Northern California town. It’s kind of funny how when you take a moment to think about life and the tiny little moments that make it up, it can make you dizzy.
Do you know what I mean? Are you feeling dizzy now?
if you’re lucky enough to have one of those moments when you say wow, you’re lucky enough
A FRIDAY THOUGHT: STOP THE GLORIFICATION OF BUSY
Recently I have become incredibly annoyed with the word busy. It is typically defined as being in use or having a great deal to do. Yet I find myself using it all the time. I will have friends ask me “How are you liking Chicago? How’s the new job?” And I respond for who knows the reason, “It’s great! It’s really busy but so much fun.”
After catching myself repeating this over and over I stopped mid sentence and thought, but who isn’t busy at work? Who has a life that isn’t demanding? Whose life isn’t “in use” as the word busy is defined. I think I can sound condescending when I talk about how “busy” I am. Busy is a relative term, isn’t it?
But it’s not only in conversation that I have worn out my use of the word. I have also worn it out as an excuse in my mind. Have you ever felt like you are postponing your own life? Have you ever said to yourself “Oh maybe next week / month / year when I have more time?”
Recently I started taking a photography class. Photography has been an interest of mine for several years, I have a great camera, and I have been wanting learn more for a long time. I kept telling myself “I will take a photography class next month, work will be slower, I will have more time.” I was using this concept of being “too busy” as an excuse to delay my own life.
Finally I came to my senses and enrolled in the class about two months ago. It’s been a large time commitment. But truly the only thing I have had to give up is how much TV I watch. I still have plenty of time for work. My class has never conflicted with my work schedule. I am still having a grand ol’ time with friends. And I still have time to take care of myself, workout and live well. Looking back at myself making excuses not to take the photography class I could slap my forehead and say, “Really Lizzie? You thought you were too busy because you needed to watch hours of TV or entire series of shows on Netflix? Please.”
I am taking a personal pledge to stop the glorification of busy. I vow to use the word sparingly and with meaning. And I vow to never use it an excuse again. Or, well I vow to try really hard not to.
How about you? How is your relationship with the drug busy?
if you’re lucky enough to have enough time to observe your annoyance with the word busy, you’re lucky enough
WHERE DO YOU LIVE? THE HAPPIEST AND SADDEST CITIES IN THE U.S.
I am a sucker for these polls in magazines and newspapers. The polls that show the “Healthiest Cities in the U.S.” / “Richest Cities in the U.S.” / “Most Romantic Cities in the U.S.” So when I stumbled across an article at NBC.com a few weeks ago titled Here are the happiest, saddest and ‘most miserable’ U.S. cities I gladly stopped whatever important thing I was doing (online shopping for a bar cart, because it’s my newest obsession) and read the article.
What to know what I found? Chicago was ranked as #4 Most Miserable Cities. Excuse me? CHICAGO? I wasn’t surprised that Napa was #1 as happiest. In fact I wasn’t even a little bit surprised that out of the 10 Happiest Cities, California hosted 5 of them. And being that until 9 months ago I have always lived in California, maybe that’s why I have always enjoyed these “cities in the U.S.” articles so much. But to put Chicago on the most miserable list just offended me.
And so, I did what any insulted person with google does – I did a little research. I read a great article from the Los Angeles Times about happiness. I also found a great new psychologist and author Sonja Lyubomirsky who suggests that 50 percent of happiness is genetically predetermined, while 10% is due to life circumstances, and 40 percent is the result of your own personal outlook. Please note that she didn’t mention a single percentage is based on where your city ranks on any list. And if due to life circumstances involves your environment, your city, where you live that’s only a small fraction of what makes one happy.
It makes me genuinely wonder how we can rank cities in such a broad way. How did these cities make it on the most miserable list? I know that I am incredibly happy here, as are my close friends (otherwise I’d kick them out of my inner circle, right?). Can it possibly be that so much of the city of Chicago has encountered such unfortunate life experiences that the 10% life circumstances factor is pulling us down? Maybe it’s the weather? I just don’t know. I realize these articles aren’t the be all, super serious pieces of literature – but I do have to stop and question it just a bit. It makes me question the validity of all these “Cities in the US” articles now that I’m not on the happy list anymore, and that’s just the sad truth. Tell me I’m lucky to live in the happiest place on Earth and I’ll agree with you without fact checking a single word – tell me I live in one of the most miserable places in the U.S. and I’ll write an entire blog post about it.
What about you? Where do you live in conjunction with the happy / the sad / and the miserable? Do you agree with your ranking?
if you’re lucky enough to love where you live so much that you have to defend it, you’re lucky enough
