Life is a Learning Curve

Life has its highs and lows, ups and downs and boy let me tell you I was a part of it ALL. Towards 2014 I had a car wreck in a different state, got engaged to an amazing man, got into a heated argument with a family member trying to defend an innocent person they didn't like which led me and that person not speaking to each other anymore, had to let go of people that wasn't good for me. Everything that had happened I couldn't control it. No matter what I did to try to diffuse things it went wrong except my engagement.

God had to show me things, he had to show me people's real true colors. Sometimes I feel stupid for helping some people that don't want help but need it or care for it, I feel like a doormat because I'm so nice and people see that and take advantage of it. When I defend myself it either goes in my favor or blows up in my face, most of the time it blows up in my face. I also sometimes just grin and bare it to avoid conflict.

I've learned that some people are just not happy and you can't please everyone no matter what you do, they are just not happy. Some people are also out to ruin your happiness because they are miserable. I learn to stay away from those people regardless if they are close to me. I learned that some of my closest friends don't care for my happiness even when I was happy for them. I have this save everyone complex, I always want to save someone that needs help but I learned that you can't save everyone, as not everyone wants to be saved.

Everything happens for a reason and for a season. Life is life and it's full of surprises, twists and turns, life is too short you have to learn to live life to the fullest regardless of any circumstances good or bad or get rocks thrown at you, if you fall down get up, dust yourself off and try again. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger.

Is Cable a Necessity?

Necessity - something that is necessary, the quality or state of being necessary, something that you must have or do

This topic comes up all the time as I witness the fascination of cable and its amenities it has to offer to the consumer. I used to have cable and I loved it. Over the years it has become a non important thing in my life, the economy took its toll over the years and it was time to budget as much as I can to survive. I had to think about what comes first; food or cable? coats, shoes, and clothing or cable? a roof over my head or cable?

Some things are more important than cable it is a WANT not a need. Cable is pure entertainment at best. Why add another high bill a month for just a couple of channels? there are other alternatives out there like, Vudu, Netflix, and the list goes on. There are a lot of streaming internet programs out there to explore for a reasonable price. You are paying for entertainment as a want NOT a need, you don't need cable to survive.

Even when you pay for basic cable I can guarantee you, you are not watching every single channel they have to offer. If you are financially stable and can afford cable as entertainment then that's a different story. But I do just fine with regular TV channels and very content with it, even though I wish one of my favorite shows "The Walking Dead was on regular TV I still manage; I'll just wait til each season comes out on Netflix. I know for a fact when our calling comes to go home, we can't take our material things with us.


Source:
Info: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/necessity

When Is Texting Too Much?

When is texting too much? I ask that question because I notice that some of my friends constantly like to text me instead of just calling and having a general conversation. Sure texting has it's purposes like; when you are at work and can't talk on the phone, at a mechanic's shop, waiting in line somewhere etc. but to text me where to meet to hang out, asking for detail directions or want to know my entire life; that's more like a phone call type of conversation not text messaging. I feel like some people can't have a interpersonal conversation on the phone or in person anymore.

Now people send break up text, proposal text, ask out on a date text. Personally I think technology is taking away that interpersonal connection that we used to have. I'm more of a in-person type of person rather than the text messaging all the time. If not in person then phone conversation is fine too, I can hear the person's emotion through their voice.

I think texting is too much if you are only communicating through text messaging and I mean the only means of communicating. If you can't pick up the phone once in a while and speak to someone then you may have a problem. Remember, we didn't have text messaging in the '90s or early 2000s so people actually spoke to each other face-to-face or on the telephone to communicate. We need to have that interpersonal connection back again.



Source:
Image: http://cultech.library.cornell.edu/blog/

Trust, Honest and Truth

I wrote a similar post about this topic a while back and it still hold truth til this day. But could being too honest be harmful then good? sometimes I ask myself that only because I've been honest my whole life, sometimes it's really good and refreshing to others then sometimes they can't handle my too honest approach. In the past, I've been too honest about a situation or situations that had happened in my life but it ended up biting me in the butt because certain people that I thought I could trust would throw it in my face.

There were other times that I was too honest and most people love it. All in all, I expect others that I know to be honest with me even if it may hurt. But lately I've come across some people that are not honest or truthful at all and I have a problem with that. When you are not being truthful or honest, to me that comes off deceitful and I can't trust what comes out of your mouth as truthful. They want to feed you these lies so it'll make me feel better and also shut me up but little do they know it'll make it worse because I can't trust you now.

It takes me a while to trust someone because I've been lied to, cheated on and gotten stab in the back by people I cared about. So with that being said, I have a hard time trusting people. They say, "Trust is earned" I believe it 110%. A good friend of mine recently told me, "You have to guard your heart" meaning you have to guard it from people that would try to stomp on it without a care. I have a lot of heart to give and maybe that's my problem, it keeps getting stepped on by the wrong people that don't deserve my heart. "Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it" - Proverbs 4:23. I believe this scripture from the bible because it holds true to everything.

Even though sometimes my honesty can hurt people, I'm still going to be completely honest no matter what because honesty is the BEST policy and I'm not going to change a good trait. Later in life more people would eventually prefer the trust, honest and truth.


 
Source:
Bible - New International Version

Stereotyped

There are numerous stereotypes based on age, gender, race etc. The reason why I'm writing about this type of topic is because something was said, well, something was said a few times to me regarding my race. I'm going to tell a little of my background, I grew up in the inner city where there was drugs, gangs and prostitution down the street from my house. I even went to a really bad high school, they had mental detectors there everyday. The gang members would go into random classes and sit and the teachers would be too scared to say anything.

So I grew up the opposite of a lot of my friends, I would say that I spoke with articulation, I was reserved and quiet. A lot of my friends were loud, rude, ignorant and always wanting to start some trouble. Some of my friends would talk slang that I wouldn't understand. Even being around people with different cultures never made me think of them as those stereotypes. I actually like being around people of different cultural backgrounds because I can learn from them, learn their language, food and heritage.

I was always accepting of people because I always wanted to be accepted by society. Long story short, I was at work and I was asking a co-worker (A) a question, "hey are you okay?" I asked that because he was extra silly today. The other co-worker (B) jumped in and said, "he is crunk" I asked, "what is crunk?" he said, "are you serious?" of course I said, "yes I'm serious". This co-worker (B) said, "I'm not telling you, you have to be on the cool people's list" I ask, can you give me a hint?" he proceed to add me to the IM chat with another co-worker (C) that tends to joke around a little too much. (sorry about the letters I can't display real people's names).

Co-worker (B) told co-worker (C) that I didn't know what the word means, and co-worker (C) ask me, "are you sure you are black?" it struck a nerve with me because he assumed I supposed to know what that word means because quote, I'm black! I didn't know I supposed to know every slang word in the universe because the color of my skin, how naive of me. This isn't the first time this happened, I was called "white" by a so called friend of mine because I had some articulation in my conversation with him.

Also another so called friend was really shocked because I didn't speak slang or Ebonics. He assumed that since I grew up in the inner city I supposed to be ghetto and talk slang all the time. It's already hard enough to make a living in this economy let alone being judged on the color of my skin and be put into this huge stereotype.

Sure stereotype will probably never go away but come on, don't expect people to be the same, there are no two people that are exactly the same.

So Far So Good

I hope everyone's weekend was good, I accomplished my mines yesterday. Today was the first day of being on the floor at work. I set up shop! meaning I set the printer to my computer, got all necessary docs for students and got my schedule. I worked a few students without too much problem, I'm still in the new phase trying to get used to being on my own for the most part.

All in all, I did pretty well on my first day out of training. I know every once in awhile I'll get some different challenges because every scenario is different, which I don't mind the challenge. I've learned with this job you'll have to have confidence, if you run across something that you are not sure of always ask questions. I also learned that everyone makes mistakes, just learn from them and make improvements.

Today's Agenda

On today's agenda I will be getting some frozen yogurt, every Sunday is typically frozen yogurt day. Usually Sunday's are my leisure days like; doing some laundry, running errands, cleaning the house, and study my materials for work. One of my guilty pleasures is frozen yogurt and cupcakes, since it's still summertime why not take advantage of eating frozen yogurt before summer ends.

I had a good night's sleep, watch the Sunday service on TV, I was able to vent on here yesterday and I wanted to treat myself for all the hard work I put into my final on Friday. So I'm taking advantage of my days off before the daily grind begins.

I hope everyone enjoy the rest of their weekend.

I Passed with Flying Colors

I've been slacking on blogging lately only because I've been working hard at my new job, making sure I'm understanding the whole processing procedure. There is a lot to learn about processing in financial aid. Training takes 4 weeks and at the end is a final, the final is determined if you are competent on the floor or not. This shows the company that you've learned and grasps the basics and will be able to do your job correctly.

Right before taking the final we had a review on all the material we've learned over the past 4 weeks. Everything we were going over seemed fine, I knew the material and my notes were organized enough, well, I rewrote them so it does look organized and not confusing. But when it was time to take the final I got really nervous. A lot of things was going through my head like, what if I don't pass? what's going to happen to my job if I don't pass? I had to take a deep breath and calm my mind for clarity.

It took me 5 1/2 hours to finish my final, that's including double checking my answers and the ones I skipped over. I finally took a lunch break, spoke with my teammates and shadowed before they called me back in for the final results. I was super nervous because I didn't want to fail, I'm such an overachiever and I hate losing or failing at anything. All in all, I passed my final with flying colors and I would have had a much higher score if I didn't make silly mistakes but I passed that's all that matters. Whoot!!!

Great Surprise

I've got the best news ever so far this week. I went to an job interview two weeks ago for a Financial Aid position, this position involves assisting students in getting student loans and the likes. There is a lot of customer service and multitasking skills required, so I knew this would be a fit for me because I have several years of experience. The day of the interview started out as a group interview, four people including me, then we were interviewed individually.

I thought the interview went pretty well except for uncommon surprised behavior questions that I wasn't prepared for. I did stumble on some of the questions that was asked of me because I had to think of incidents in the past that I wasn't prepared to answer. To sum it up, I took too long to answer some of the questions. I found out Monday I didn't get the job, so automatic I was very upset because I really wanted that position.

The staffing agency that got me the interview two weeks ago had another opportunity for me, there was an interview Wednesday which was yesterday with the same company but corporate office and similar position but more analytical and internal. This time it was with a group interview of six people, no individual interview just a group interview. So I did some research of the corporate company and the position, I practiced my introduction and possible questions they may ask and the ones they asked me before. Also questions I have to ask them like the position, company, how they became employee there etc.

Long story short, the interview went extremely well and they said they are going to make a decision either the same day or the next. This morning I got the call as I predicted because I tend to over-think anyway. The agency said they want to give me the position and the start date is Monday. I was so excited and very happy in getting hired. Not only was the position perfect for me but also the pay is what I've been asking for, for a very long time. I was given a second chance in getting the interviewing process right and getting my foot in the door.

All of my hard work payed off and it was definitely a great surprise.

Life Is Too Short

I've had a interesting week so far, ups and downs and positives and negatives thrown my way. The jobs are scarce, prices of things constantly going up, family bickering, and not having any emotional support from close friends. I was going to blog about current events but this needed to be address. I believe all things happen for a reason, I also believe these reasons can strengthen us and things can be turned around for the better.

It's been an emotional roller coaster week and I'm not plan on having it this way the rest of the week. Life is too short for all the drama people are causing. Love one another because it might be our last, the whole world could end tomorrow and we all are causing negativity amongst each other. If anyone has issues with friends and/or family talk it out because holding resentment only makes things worse. If I have an issue with someone I'll communicate it with them not talk behind their backs, I'm very blunt and have no problems expressing it. People that know me, knows that I'm very honest with my responses. I like to live a positive, drama free life and everyone should live by that.

Again love one another because life is too short to live with resentment, anger and grudges.

Taking Risks

"Taking risks is not taking the safe route, but it's taking the one less traveled one."

Not the best quote but you get the logistics. Have I been taking risks lately? to be honest, Not really! not like I should. I've been coasting or going with the flow of things. I will say this, I've took risks with relationships and those failed miserably, but those risks wasn't good enough. I consider those everyday life experiences that happens to everyone in their lifetime.

Obviously, we take some risks everyday like crossing the street or driving a car, but what about taking risks with job opportunities or making that move to another state? I have some friends and family that made those moves to move out of state and took job opportunities of a lifetime and never looked back since.

I've been wanting to move out of state for a few years now but a lot things are in my way and need to be taken care of first. It cost money to move, to find a place and not to mention SAVE, let alone finding security in employment. Others took those risks and made it without any regrets, that will be me soon.