Go Out and…

Act 4:

“It’s never too late… To Get A Life

Slow down. Look around. Feel your heart. Find the people and the things you love. Care for them” – Patrick Lindsay

Quote in book: “There are many things in life that will catch your eye. But only a few will catch your heart. Pursue those.” ~ Anonymous

Hmm. I thought about this for a while. What constitutes “getting a life”? Is it being active? Is it human contact? Is it having hobbies? Tell me friends, what do you think it means to “get a life”?

I didn’t really know where to start here, cause I eat, sleep, work, watch TV, go on facebook to play farmville, go to a musical at least once a month, and now blog. Is that a life? I think so, but I fear that many people wouldn’t agree (and the T-shirt design below definitely doesn’t agree). But it’s my life right now and I’m happy. So =P

Two years ago I was in school getting my MBA. I went to class and went out 3-4 times a week w/ my classmates. I was busy every weekend. I was more active and had more human contact 2 years ago, but does that mean that I have less of a life now?

Let’s try looking at Mr. Lindsay’s words of wisdom.

Slow down – Check. My life is a lot more stagnant that it was before

Look around - I see a cluttered apartment, two unpacked suit cases, and a TV playing The Good Wife.

Feel your heart – It’s beating (yay!)

Find the people and the things you love – Family means so much more to me than it ever has. Right now, I love GLEE! (going to the GLEE LIVE concert in Vegas this weekend!!)

Care for them – I’m trying the best I can to do this.

By this definition I have a life. Case closed? Eeehhh. Let’s try to get a second opinion. Okay, I decided to consult The ORACLE (aka the internet). What did I find? There was a TV show on FOX in the 90s called “Get A Life”. Never heard of it. Scroll down Google a little more and I see a list from a guru that everyone listens to. Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you Oprah’s “5 Ways to Get A Life” (from Oprah.com/O Magazine)

• Shorten your workday by 30 minutes. – Uhh can’t do this. I’m legally obligated to work at least 40 hours a week and ever since I haven’t been getting overtime, I’ve been sticking to only working 40 hours (Just a few months ago I was working 60). I don’t feel right about charging 40 hours a week when I’ve only worked 37.5. Honestly, this is horrible advice and unrealistic. Well, I supposed if you’re a work-a-holic, maybe you can afford to do this. To be fair, I probably would’ve taken this advice 6 months ago.
• Avoid multitasking. – So I’m guessing watching TV while I blog is not gonna help me get a life. Ok. The Good Wife goes on mute. But, if I do everything serially, how will I ever get anything done? Isn’t it imprinted in every woman to multi-task? I don’t like this one either.
• Break the habit of total self-reliance. – Ok I can kinda get on board w/ this one. Stop being so independent. Let the nice bag boy take the groceries to your car. Let the taxi cab driver get your luggage out of the car. Don’t take everything on yourself.
• Capture all your to-dos in one place. – I don’t really like this one either. I have so many To-Dos and I like them to be organized by category. Work To-Dos, Home To-Dos, Short Term To-Dos, Long Term To-Dos. Also, I’ve tried To-Do lists, and I find continually updating them and keeping them organized takes up so much of my time that I end up wasting hours (that’s right I said hours) fiddling w/ my To-Do lists. So, I guess I can accomplish this by saying. Yes, I capture all my To-Dos in one place… My brain!
• Schedule one purely joyful activity each week. – Finally – something I can actually do and that I agree w/. Only problem is that I’ve been doing that (well it’s regularly scheduled for me by the FOX network) I watch GLEE every week religiously!! I put a quote of the week up every Tuesday as soon as the show is over. So, maybe I’ll schedule something on Tuesday nights at 8pm now that we only have 1 week left of this Season! I love to eat. Maybe I’ll make Tuesday nights “Try a new restaurant” night! Any ideas from the peanut gallery on what else I should do instead of GLEE night?

That didn't really seem helpful. Ok, maybe the last one, but really? Those writer’s at O Magazine need to up their game. Let’s try again. ORACLE… what else do you got for me? I actually found someone else’s blog about this topic that I liked. You might have to go skim it to understand what I’m talking about.

• Love Being Alone ­– Check. Being an “I” (Myers-Briggs, anyone?) I recharge myself by being alone.
• Start With Who You Already Know – Check. I recently started this blog. I’ve talked to at least 10 people that I wouldn’t have talked to over the last 3 days, had I not started blogging again.
• Generosity Is Golden – Check. I was trying to help out Kat Brooks by getting her a GPS device for her Face2Face movie (it didn’t really work out), but I did go out and help someone I didn’t know. Not to mention I made a small donation to her Movie fund. Kat is the best…
• User Groups – Half check? Does Face2Face count? What about the Packers Group I’m planning on joining when football season starts? Ok. I’ll have to come up w/ my list of 50 and go try a Meetup.com as the blogger suggested. I wonder if I can start a GLEE Meetup group for those of us that are not screaming, tweens/teenage girls who the love show. Anyone over 25 is welcome. If you can’t legally drink or rent a car, you don’t belong in the group! haha
• Don’t Limit Yourself – Ok. This I can do, but instead of trying to meet new people. I really don’t need to meet more people, but I’d like to know more about/keep in touch w/ friends I do have. So, I’ve decided to start w/ high school. Shout out to Lincoln High School c/o ’97. I’m gonna tag 20 of my high school friends I haven’t talked to in at least 6 months, when this entry gets imported into my FB notes (provided that happens, cause last night's entry didn't make it.) =..( Shout out to Whit, Emily & Nicky, since I talk to you guys regularly, I won’t tag you. I’m doing this just to say “Hi! How ya doing? How’s life treating you?”. I know this is kinda like the second bullet, but whatevers

Based on this blogger’s definition. I have a life. So, there you have it. Case closed.

My high school English teacher Miss Shuler always said you can make/prove your point, if you have three facts to back it up. 1. My Opinion 2. By Patrick Lindsay’s Definition 3. Mr. Brad Bollenbach’s definition (from 30sleeps.com)

I have a life! (yay me!) So, I don’t need to go get one. How about you?

For those looking for answers to yesterday's Theme Song Trivia... My cousin hooked you up by putting all of the answers in a comment. Although, she only gets half a point for #20. It's California Dreams, not California Dreamin' - but she did a great job. I was impressed. =) 100 points to you cuz!