First and foremost, I apologize for making that the title of this post… but in reality, only chicks read this, so I’m sure all of you were like “ah! how clever!” when you read it.
So it’s been a while since I blogged. My bad. Sorry, I’ve been drunk the past 363 of the past 365 days. But I really decided to blog because my life has changed rather significantly in the past three weeks (or so) and had a lot of time to reflect on where my life was, and wanted to take the time to write it down.
March 19th was the last day at my full-time job. I quit, with no job lined up. I was incredibly unhappy, and was at the point where I was having trouble waking up in the morning to go. I wasn’t unhappy with the company, or the management (for the most-part), but the daily required tasks within the field were making me unhappy. It was a sales job, and I loved what I was selling, and I believed in it, I just hated the cold calling, the prospecting, and I had just had enough. It was time to move on. It was time to get out. So I did.
On one hand, I’ve regretted that decision, because I have no health insurance, and I’m working a side gig that’s keeping me afloat, but it’s not a “job” or “career path” or “life direction” by any means. On that same hand, I haven’t told my parents… YIKES!!
On the other hand, I’ve never been happier since making that decision. I’m stress free, I have no reason to be up in the morning, yet I’m up and awake by 8am. I’ve also redfined my own meaning of “success” and was able to reflect on a lot of the lessons I was taught as a child and gain a deeper appreciation for all the things my parents have taught me (but I can’t tell them, because they don’t know I’m not working… ha!). I’m proud of the fact that I’ve learned that Money doesn’t make me happy. Money doesn’t mean “success” to me. A commission-based sales job means infinite potentital to make a sick amount of money. I always thought that would be great. But now, I’d much rather do a job that I’m passionate about, that I’m eager to go to, and if that means I’m renting an apartment longer than I planned, or not being a fancy new car every four years, I’m 100% content with that. Success to me is when I can wake up in the morning, and feel proud about what I acheived in the day, regardless of how much money I put into my pocket that day.
I’ve also really appreciated things that my parents have taught me. The biggest being a lesson that they’ve always instilled in me, but I’ll use 2009 as an example: “The government bailed out the banks. My parent’s aren’t the government, and I’m not a bank.” I knew as soon as I left my job that I’d have to hit the ground running to keep making ends meet. I knew that I’d have to stop grabbing a hot dog and cheese fries from Portillo’s whenever I wanted because I’d have to be smarter about my spending, and I’d have to save and plan things out a lot more strategically than I had before. No one is going to bail me out. No one is going to save me. I made the decisions that I did, and I need to take care of myself. I’m eternally grateful for my parents instilling that understanding in me from day one. I’m entitled to shit. If I want it, or need it, I better as fuck earn it.
On that note, back to the Job Boards…. I’ve got resumes to send out!
Let me get one thing clear… I’m not a fan of the New Year’s Resolution. I mean, if you want to change something about yourself… your life, your mission, your purpose, what have you, then just F****N CHANGE IT! Why wait until a certain day of the year to start the change? I respect the whole “a new year, a new you” approach, but its just not for me.
Last October, I woke up on Chicago Marathon Sunday (or was it a Saturday? I don’t remember… but that’s irrelevant) and hopped in the car to run errands. OOPS! I had forgotten it was Marathon Day, thus making any vehicular movement through the city of Chicago impossible. Downtown Chicago and it’s surrounding neighborhoods literally shut down the streets for the annual 26.2 mile run through our great city. It’s actually really cool to see… and quite inspiring. For three years, I thought it would be so cool to run that Marathon… and not being born in Kenya, I knew I had no chance of winning the race, but the accomplishment of completing the race would be something no one could ever take away from me.
The week after the Marathon, I signed up for a membership to XSport and got a personal trainer who could whip my ass into shape so I could be Marathon ready in October 2010.
So I guess that was my New Year’s Resolution, for the year Oct 09-Oct 10. And here comes the fail…. I feel like I won’t achieve my goal…. I think I need to move that goal to 2011. Having said that, if I can run the Rock-n-Roll Half in Chicago in August and move to the Rock-n-Roll Half in Vegas in December, I will have run two half-marathons, thus equalling one-marathon. But oh well, I just got back from the gym with a session with the trainer… and I’m wrapping it up with some Hawaiian Bread and Spinach Dip…. yep… another step closer to that finish line!
No, this will not be a post about a new porno that uses the word Lube in the title. Rather, thanks to ArtInSlowMotion, I’m a big fan of G.Y.S.T. Sunday! This Sunday I got my shit together by crossing off a big-ol’ task on the To Do List… the Oil Change on the car! I always dread going to get the oil changed, and I really don’t know why… I don’t even need to do anything… drive it to Jiffy Lube, say “Oil Change” and that’s it. A rather mind-numbing task that takes maybe 30-45 minutes, and I can even do this while I’m at work on my way back to the office. I have no excuse to NOT get the oil changed on my car every 3,000 miles. I think part of it is a fear that they’re going tell me that my car is terminally ill and will require $67,845 dollars worth of repairs and I that I shouldnt’ drive it until it’s fixed which would require maxing out the Capital One card (and the miles I’d get for charging it wouldn’t do me any good because after paying off $67,845 I’d have to money for a hotel anywhere). But I digress. In the end, the $40 oil change only ended up costing me $120 because I had to change the air filters. My car is healthy and in tip-top shape. But I’m not gonna lie… my dashboard looked hella-weird without the “Maintenance Required” light on. My car got it’s sheot together. Good work, Toyota Rav. I know Toyota’s need all the good press they can get right now, so I will publicly thank you in front of my <10 followers. I look forward to driving you into the sunset. Thanks for not complaining about the many Portillo’s cheese fries left inbetween your seats. That says a lot about your character.
I always feel like starting a blog is like an awkward first date. You really don’t know much about them, and maybe you were pushed into the date by a friend… are you really interested? Maybe you’ve been out of the game for awhile? Either way, once you get started, you don’t know how to start up the conversation…. are you going out with a crazy women’s lib activist who doesn’t need you opening doors for her? Or is she looking for someone who’s more of a southern gentleman? A bit more chivalrous? Either way, I hope I can keep the conversation going on this date and we don’t have any awkward silences. At least we won’t have to fight over the bill here on tumblr. But more importantly, I better not become the sexless inkeeper of blogs. Stay tuned.
** NOTE: I just realized why I’m single. A) I just compared starting a blog to a first date. B) In said blog, I never mentioned the second date.