Monday, December 5, 2011
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Rule #4
Never Settle.
This might be the simplest, yet most difficult to comprehend of all the rules I've written for myself. Never settle. Sure, it sounds simple... Never be okay with just "OK". Of course we deserve the best. But we often forget to apply this to every single part of our life. Not just love. Not just your job. Not just your friends. Apply this to the smallest of things. Apply this "simple" rule to the things you use everyday like your car, your computer, your clothes, your hair, whatever.
Of course at a time when you are fighting off school loans and working for minimim wage, you might not be able to actually get the car or computer you might feel that you deserve. Of course, when you're in your twenties, you cannot expect to find the freaking love of your life when there is so much young to be had and so much life to be lived. It's okay to have a "mister right-now" and items in your possession to get you through day to day.
But what you need not lose is the view of yourself having the things, but most importantly, the life that you feel you should have. You must develop an image of who you want to be, what you want to have and who you want to have with you. You must have a realistic view of what you want for yourself, and never lose sight of that.
Once you lose that image of yourself, and you have no more intentions on changing that thing that you may just not be able to afford or have right now, you are settling. Never lose sight of who you can be, because there is always room for improvement. Keep moving forward, keep getting better. Accept what you deserve instead of settling for anything less than that.
And remember,
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Rule #3
Reduce Your Clutter
Ah, yes. The clutter crisis. This is one of those things that you never really understand until you live alone or with roommates.. anywhere that's not with your parents. It is here when you may start to realize how easily piles of crap build up, (especially when you live in a top floor apartment and taking things down to the trash requires you to walk back up 4 flights of stairs. Trust me, nobody wants this).
I lived three years in the same place, and this is exactly what happened, on an individual level as well as amongst the five people (4 of whom were girls), who lived in the apartment together. Let's just say, when we finally moved out we were kicking ourselves in the ass (as well as howling at ourselves), as we sheepishly threw out the wrinkled up posters in the corner, the 500 piece puzzles, 30 lighters that don't work, a million burnt out candles, 20 almost empty cleaning products under the sinks and, my favourite, the 13 martini glasses that we lined up so cutely above the cupboard in the kitchen that had 3 years of dust piled on them.
Yes, our place had far too much junk in it and the reason for this was that we never took the time to get rid of the clutter as we were living there, we just let it pile up. I did the same thing in my bedroom in the apartment. I was living there for three years, so I was convinced that I needed ALL of my things there... This was my home now, not my parents' house. What I should have done was gone through all of my stuff and decided what I wanted and didn't want, but instead, every time I went to my parents house, I just brought bags of my stuff back to the apartment with me. Eventually I had four years of books and textbooks, about 15 binders, it seemed like a hundred notebooks, pens, highlighters and endless papers all shoved into my tiny desk. And eventually I did not have enough hangers, not enough room in my drawers, in my closet, under my bed, hanging out the window for all the clothes I had. It all ended up strewn across my room as I would dig through a pile of five year old t-shirts in search of something that I would actually wear NOW. I had too. much. shit. And this was not an easy realization, believe me.
But one day I was so frustrated at the clothes actually being spit out of my drawers onto the floor that I made the decision to go through all of my clothes and get rid of anything I hadn't worn in the past 2 years. If I haven't worn it in that time, I decided I probably wasn't going to any time soon. So I filled up two big black garbage bags and dragged them out into the living room where they sat for about a month before I took them to goodwill. (But at least my room was tidier! ; ) , hey I'm just being honest).
Once I did this, and went through my desk and simply organizedthe papers, pens, highlighters, binders and books so that they fit nicely in my tiny desk, my room was suddenly much cleaner all the time. And it made me feel cleaner too. Doing a clutter cleanse is kind of a physical way of making you feel less cluttered in general. After all, the stress of school, friends, work, family, roommates, mouldy cheese.. whatever, it gets in your head. Having your own space filled with what seems like more stress is no way to unwind and de-stress yourself.
A clutter-filled space is also NOT a motivating space. I have found myself to be much more productive in a tidy space, where everything has its place and the bed is made (so that it doesn't have the sheets pulled back in the exact way of how you got out of them, screaming at you all day "COME TO MEEE"). Your own space is the one thing that's all yours, and if you set up those good vibes, the good vibes will give back to you.
SO, GO! Clean your room. Throw out some shit. Put labels on your binders. Organize your shoes and separate your sweaters from your tank tops. CHANGE YOUR SHEETS! Make your bed! Dust. Vacuum (every once in a while). Put everything away. Light some scented candles, climb into that made bed at night and breathe in that tidy space you made for yourself.
Ah, yes. The clutter crisis. This is one of those things that you never really understand until you live alone or with roommates.. anywhere that's not with your parents. It is here when you may start to realize how easily piles of crap build up, (especially when you live in a top floor apartment and taking things down to the trash requires you to walk back up 4 flights of stairs. Trust me, nobody wants this).
I lived three years in the same place, and this is exactly what happened, on an individual level as well as amongst the five people (4 of whom were girls), who lived in the apartment together. Let's just say, when we finally moved out we were kicking ourselves in the ass (as well as howling at ourselves), as we sheepishly threw out the wrinkled up posters in the corner, the 500 piece puzzles, 30 lighters that don't work, a million burnt out candles, 20 almost empty cleaning products under the sinks and, my favourite, the 13 martini glasses that we lined up so cutely above the cupboard in the kitchen that had 3 years of dust piled on them.
Yes, our place had far too much junk in it and the reason for this was that we never took the time to get rid of the clutter as we were living there, we just let it pile up. I did the same thing in my bedroom in the apartment. I was living there for three years, so I was convinced that I needed ALL of my things there... This was my home now, not my parents' house. What I should have done was gone through all of my stuff and decided what I wanted and didn't want, but instead, every time I went to my parents house, I just brought bags of my stuff back to the apartment with me. Eventually I had four years of books and textbooks, about 15 binders, it seemed like a hundred notebooks, pens, highlighters and endless papers all shoved into my tiny desk. And eventually I did not have enough hangers, not enough room in my drawers, in my closet, under my bed, hanging out the window for all the clothes I had. It all ended up strewn across my room as I would dig through a pile of five year old t-shirts in search of something that I would actually wear NOW. I had too. much. shit. And this was not an easy realization, believe me.
But one day I was so frustrated at the clothes actually being spit out of my drawers onto the floor that I made the decision to go through all of my clothes and get rid of anything I hadn't worn in the past 2 years. If I haven't worn it in that time, I decided I probably wasn't going to any time soon. So I filled up two big black garbage bags and dragged them out into the living room where they sat for about a month before I took them to goodwill. (But at least my room was tidier! ; ) , hey I'm just being honest).
Once I did this, and went through my desk and simply organizedthe papers, pens, highlighters, binders and books so that they fit nicely in my tiny desk, my room was suddenly much cleaner all the time. And it made me feel cleaner too. Doing a clutter cleanse is kind of a physical way of making you feel less cluttered in general. After all, the stress of school, friends, work, family, roommates, mouldy cheese.. whatever, it gets in your head. Having your own space filled with what seems like more stress is no way to unwind and de-stress yourself.
A clutter-filled space is also NOT a motivating space. I have found myself to be much more productive in a tidy space, where everything has its place and the bed is made (so that it doesn't have the sheets pulled back in the exact way of how you got out of them, screaming at you all day "COME TO MEEE"). Your own space is the one thing that's all yours, and if you set up those good vibes, the good vibes will give back to you.
SO, GO! Clean your room. Throw out some shit. Put labels on your binders. Organize your shoes and separate your sweaters from your tank tops. CHANGE YOUR SHEETS! Make your bed! Dust. Vacuum (every once in a while). Put everything away. Light some scented candles, climb into that made bed at night and breathe in that tidy space you made for yourself.
It's refreshing, you should try it.
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Rule #2
Always be ready, in case you change your mind
Be ready? Be ready for what? Change your mind? ... Mind about what?
Anything. Everything!
I made this rule one night Saturday night, the first weekend back from my reading week trip to Cuba. I had a 12 page essay due on the Monday. A "remix" esaay which required me to go through every single reading I had for the course and cut and paste the words of the experts into an essay of my own... A challenge that I wanted to succeed in. I had only begun the night before, which quickly got interrupted and I quit working on it far earlier than I had planned, telling myself "I'll do tons of work on it tomorrow". After all, I had all day and all night... I just wouldn't go out... with all of my roommates and neighbours and friends who were visiting from home. I really didn't believe it when I said it, but I stood my own through all the peer pressure. I got ready and left the apartment to do work on campus. Hunger set in around 9 so I went home to eat and there was a legit party going on in my kitchen, living room and bedroom even. The peer pressure continued, but "No", I told everyone, "I am doing this damn paper".
So I said goodbye to everyone as they left their noisy pre-drink at my apartment and I was left to myself to finally do this damn thing. I got about 30 minutes into working, getting on a pretty good streak. I looked at my clock. It read 12:00 and I said FUCK THIS. I called my bestie up and said straight up, "Stay there. I'm coming".
I had gotten all ready and showered earlier in the day, so all I had to do was throw on some clothes (that showed off my tan nicely I might add), and some boots and I ran out the door, meeting my friends and roommates at the school bar.
I ended up having only a couple drinks, but showing up spontaneously when everyone thought I really wasn't going to was a marvellous feeling. We danced the night away, came home and had an all-night Cuba party in the kitchen. I got an A on the paper and I showed myself that I can do it all - I can have it all.
Even when I was 100% sure in my ways that I wasn't going to go out, I surprised myself and changed my mind. If I hadn't been ready, I wouldn't have had the time nor the energy to get ready at that point, and wouldn't have made it out and made one of my favourite random nights of my last year of undergrad. So the moral of the story is,
Always be ready (for ANYTHING), and you can do it all.
Be ready? Be ready for what? Change your mind? ... Mind about what?
Anything. Everything!
I made this rule one night Saturday night, the first weekend back from my reading week trip to Cuba. I had a 12 page essay due on the Monday. A "remix" esaay which required me to go through every single reading I had for the course and cut and paste the words of the experts into an essay of my own... A challenge that I wanted to succeed in. I had only begun the night before, which quickly got interrupted and I quit working on it far earlier than I had planned, telling myself "I'll do tons of work on it tomorrow". After all, I had all day and all night... I just wouldn't go out... with all of my roommates and neighbours and friends who were visiting from home. I really didn't believe it when I said it, but I stood my own through all the peer pressure. I got ready and left the apartment to do work on campus. Hunger set in around 9 so I went home to eat and there was a legit party going on in my kitchen, living room and bedroom even. The peer pressure continued, but "No", I told everyone, "I am doing this damn paper".
So I said goodbye to everyone as they left their noisy pre-drink at my apartment and I was left to myself to finally do this damn thing. I got about 30 minutes into working, getting on a pretty good streak. I looked at my clock. It read 12:00 and I said FUCK THIS. I called my bestie up and said straight up, "Stay there. I'm coming".
I had gotten all ready and showered earlier in the day, so all I had to do was throw on some clothes (that showed off my tan nicely I might add), and some boots and I ran out the door, meeting my friends and roommates at the school bar.
I ended up having only a couple drinks, but showing up spontaneously when everyone thought I really wasn't going to was a marvellous feeling. We danced the night away, came home and had an all-night Cuba party in the kitchen. I got an A on the paper and I showed myself that I can do it all - I can have it all.
Even when I was 100% sure in my ways that I wasn't going to go out, I surprised myself and changed my mind. If I hadn't been ready, I wouldn't have had the time nor the energy to get ready at that point, and wouldn't have made it out and made one of my favourite random nights of my last year of undergrad. So the moral of the story is,
Always be ready (for ANYTHING), and you can do it all.
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