Life Lessons Learned in Traffic

Over the last few weeks I have spent many many hours sitting in construction related traffic trying to get home from work.And at the time it seemed like an unbearable ordeal. But looking back at it in light of the events that occurred this past week (my car getting hit in the parking lot of the gym, among other things) I've come to realize there are much worse things in life than even a lot of traffic. Here are some other lessons I've learned:

1. Construction signs lie approximately 50% of the time.
2. Going over 10 miles per hour for longer than 30 seconds is exciting.
3. The Black Eyed Peas get annoying really really fast.
4. If you see a car with a lot of shiny chrome detailing or a giant spoiler that obviously doesn't match the car douchbaggery is probably afoot.
5. No matter how annoying it is to see motorcycles driving in between the two lanes of traffic you should not open your door really fast in hopes they collide with it. They actually are legally allowed to do that when traffic is at a stand still.
6. Being self-righteous doesn't get you anywhere in life but stuck in the slow lane.
7. It is fun to drive down the center of the road to prevent jerks in the back from cutting in the merge line.(And apparently very common out here, I've never seen people do that before.)
8. If I am ever cornered by a angry herd of cattle my dog will defend me.
9. Being stuck next to 3 cattle trucks for 2 hours is not fun for your nose.
10. Go to the bathroom before you get in your car. 2 hours is a long time to hold it. (Though it does make that next trip to the bathroom one of the best experiences ever.)
11.Learn from past mistakes. While holding it for an hour isn't as bad as two it still sucks to need to pee while stuck in traffic.
12. And finally attitude is everything. If you stop thinking about how much it sucks to be stuck in traffic, you will not be nearly as upset about the whole experience.

Along with these lovely realizations I have had some other exciting things happen this week. I found out that while I don't have cancer, I did have a Spindle Cell Nevus that needed to be removed, and now have 3 lovely blue stitches in its place. I also found an awesome website Mint.com that allows you to create budgets and track your spending, savings, debts etc and make financial goals along with plans on how to meet those goals. It is pretty much the sweetest thing ever. It is a partner of Quicken which I've tried to use many times but could just never get into the habit of, but I think this site will be different. Already I've made a budget and if I stick to it I can be completely debt free (minus my student loans) with a good rainy day fund in savings in just 2 years time. Its going to take some discipline but I can do it! I'm so excited. Admittedly 2 years is a long ways away but really in the span of my life its not that far away and if I can get my financial life straightened out by the time I'm 25 I'll count that as an amazing success.

As for my other goals. I failed at all of them this week. I went to the gym only once (which is where my car got hit in the parking lot). I did not do a good job of drinking enough water. Though I did put in more effort than usual. And I definitely wasted money on candy, but that should be changing as I start to stick to my new budget (which does not have candy anywhere in it).But even though I failed at all of my goals I actually am feeling really good about myself. Its been a rough week but a good one and I am on my way to even bigger an better things!

Falling down to Earth

I always thought that when I managed to accomplish something monumental it would be life changing. Like somehow I would suddenly be able to do anything. Now two weeks after running and finishing my first marathon I know how wrong I was. Instead of feeling powerful and in control I feel like I am spiraling back down to earth where reality has once again beaten me into submission. I am not any more able to stick to my goals now than I was 3 weeks ago. In fact I feel less motivated. I'm struggling to even think of goals that are worth accomplishing.

Of course there are always the stock goals to fall back on like "I want to workout consistently", or "I want to kick the candy habit", even the "I want to not hate myself when I look in the mirror" one has been floating around. The problem is I've never been motivated enough to tackle those goals before and today is no different. Instead of feeling like I can do whatever I set my mind to when I think about those goals I feel like I am doomed to failure. Two weeks after accomplishing the hardest thing I've ever set out to do I am already falling back into the perpetual guilt cycle.

Can I break the cycle? I have no idea. But I am going to try. This is my new goal: embrace and accept my ADD. I am never going to be one of those people who can stick to every plan they make but I can be someone who doesn't hate myself when get distracted by a pretty flower, a new book, or just the siren song of a few more minutes of sleep. Of course this goal is hard to track the progress of so I have a few other goals I plan on working on too. For this week: drink 72 oz  of water each day, whenever I feel like complaining about something add "but it doesn't matter" to the end of the complaint, exercise 3 days this week, and don't spend money on candy. Seems reasonable right?