Tuesday, May 15, 2012

5 Things I've Learned


I just love those moments when an idea hits you out of nowhere - and it's an idea you love! That's what happened to me Saturday morning about 2 a.m. as I lay in bed staring at the ceiling with insomnia, listening to David snore. Usually my blog ideas come to me like this, just out of nowhere. It's just whatever is on my mind or heart that day. As I've said before, I won't blog to simply have something out there. If I skip a few days, I'm okay with that, because it's important to me what I write about and put on this blog.

I'm a tad bit OCD and might be a chronic worrier. This makes my brain be on overdrive at all times. I can't keep up with the thoughts and things that ticker through my head. And usually there's always bits and pieces that I think to myself, "I should totally write about that and talk about that on the blog." And in a fleeting moment it's gone - or, it's simply a thought/principle/idea that I've picked up on, but may not be enough to constitute a full post.

So, out of this '5 Things I've Learned' has been born. It's going to be a feature here at Elf House, but I'm not going to tell you it will be weekly/monthly/etc. It will be when I feel like I'm back in a spot where I have things I want to share and tell you, but maybe in an edited version. I'm not going to limit myself to sharing only things I've learned about me - but anything I might have learned. Maybe a mastered a new baking technique I want to share or figured out some cool trick with my eyeliner.

The point is, doing it this way feels good to me. And this idea feels right. So, we're going to give it a go.

1. High school is hard - I'm sure high school was hard when I was there (almost 15 years ago, eeeek), but to see it through the eyes of your kids is a totally different experience. These kids have more access to everything and know more at 15 than I might have at 20. But truly, when I say it's hard, I'm talking about the jealousy, the need to fit in, having friends, being bullied, being scared to be who you truly are for fear of judgment. I'm not kidding myself here, I know the real world is the same way. But in high school you're not emotionally equipped to deal with it all. And as a mother, you just want to fix things. You tell them everything will be okay, but in your head you know it probably won't. That there will be tough and hard lessons learned along the way and you pray this adds to their solid foundation of preparing them to be an adult.

2. I am my mother - I honestly could dedicate an entire post to this, but I won't. I always said growing up I would never be anything like my mother (oh naive child). But now that I am a mother, I see that I am, in fact, exactly like her. And I embrace that and I'm honored by that. But my Mom did one hell of a job. I would say I came out outstanding in the end. What always bothered me the most about being like my mother were inheriting some of her personality traits that drove me up the wall (and still do), but that is just part of the fabric of her being. And mine. And I accept that and love that I have become my mother.

3. There will never be enough - Enough money. Enough time. Enough love to go around. Enough hours in the day. So instead of worrying about it, we have to appreciate and be thankful for what we do have. And stop wishing our life away.

4. Don't fall victim to 'blogging rules' - This could be a whole rant post, but I'm not going to do that. I'm simply going to say, in my opinion, do what you do. Roll how you roll. Forget the rules and forget what everyone has to say about what you need to do to be successful at this. Success can be measured so many different ways. Be authentic and true to you and people will come and stay and want to be in your community. I'm so tired of hearing all these 'big time bloggers' tell me to not share too much and find my niche. But hey, I've always been a rule breaker.

5. Don't be afraid to put yourself out there - Rather in the blogging world, business world or real world. Be confident. Type that email to the blogger you admire and hit send. Go introduce yourself to the neighbor across the street and invite them to hang out. Tell your boss why you deserve a raise. Apply for that dream job that you are so scared to death you aren't qualified for. If you don't put yourself out there, you will never know. And it's better to have tried and failed, than  to never have tried at all.

So, this one was kind of lengthy. In the future I don't foresee that being the case (you know, I had to have the lengthy introduction and build up and idea reveal)!

So, you tell me, what have you learned lately?

3 comments:

  1. you and i both could have written this exact list. i love your take on blogging rules to. TOO TRUE. great post manda!

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  2. That it's more than okay to be a geek. Not sure if it's just a change in times or a sign of being in the adult group, but it feels good to admit to my geeky ways & not get ridiculed for it.

    Some days I still get shy about it & forget.

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  3. i feel like i come up with all my great ideas at 2am when i should be sleeping, or when I am driving long distances. i imagine i will come up with some good stuff on our cross country drive

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