Living in the Now

We all know that I have a habit of planning out my life to the minute.

While one might initially think that this only applies to keeping a calendar or agenda, technology has allowed it to be so much more. Thanks to developers, we now have the ability to create events and have a countdown calculated and kept for us... to the second.

Me being the avid planner that I am, of course I had to have this!! It allowed me to get a visual of how much longer I have to wait for something- good or bad. I used mine to countdown to graduation, vacations, parties, anything. After graduation, I found myself immediately entering in the date in which I plan to move into my dorm, the first day of classes at Purdue, and my birthday! A friend of mine saw me doing this and said something along the lines of "Why are you already wishing your summer away?!"

To that, I had no answer.

Why was I so eager to begin counting down for the next big thing as soon as what I'd been waiting for arrived? I have no idea, but it's a problem. I promptly exited the app and deleted it. I'm proud to say that I have planned less this summer and have not been counting down at all! In fact, for the first time ever, I felt a bit unprepared today... not something I particularly enjoy. Throughout college I'll have to work on striking that balance between micro-planning out my life and being prepared. But wishing away my life is not the way to do it.

I'm a planer. That trait will be engrained in me for as long as live and there's no way to avoid that. 

But there is a way to enjoy life while also having rhythm- 

that's what I want.

Inconsistency

This past weekend I had a chick-flick night with my momma. 

You guessed it- Nicolas Sparks made an appearance in the form of his newest movie Safe Haven. While it was a cute movie with a cute story, I left the viewing a bit confused and frustrated; not only did the movie end with a curve ball completely out of left field, but, looking back on the movie, it was inconsistent and illogical.

That's when it hit me: Inconsistency is my biggest pet peeve!

I'm not saying inconsistency in the way of leaving for work at 7:15 instead of 7:10 or something silly like that (although I am guilty of planning my life down to the minute) but inconsistency in literature or show is so frustrating! I can't be the only one- you know, when something just doesn't seem logically to fit together or wouldn't fit together in real life. 

I find that modern literature really does this a lot. Creative license is used too liberally as an excuse to change something up halfway through a novel and blame it on some ridiculous reason. It's really hard to explain what I mean, but I guess this frustration is the reason I really like just good ole' classic literature and authors. More than anything, the lack of effort put into art is shown in the inconsistency. 

Then I get to thinking about my life and the excuses I make. The inconsistencies in my life. If I were consistent with the people who I said I wanted to spend time with, I'd be much busier than I am. If I were consistent in making the amount of money that I say I want to make, I'd never leave work and never have a day off! Thinking about my frustrations with modern art just reflects the frustrations I have with myself: I'm an inconsistent mess. And, as crazy as it sounds, I think it's my obsessive planning and freaking out about all things that don't fit into my "plan" that leads to me living this mix on consistent and inconsistent life. Where my daily life is the same, but I'm constantly contradicting what I really want to do for fear of getting out of my routine.

A problem, I know. But hopefully summer won't be as regimented and I can be with the people I want to be with and do the things I want to do... 

maybe I'll even get a bit spontaneous!

p.s. I did love this song from the movie. 

5k is for Wimps: Week 3

I am on it this week!

Who's with me?!

5k is for wimps: week 2

I apologize for not posting week two last week... I'm a bit behind. Hopefully you aren't, though! Enjoy this week's workouts. I promise to keep up with it now! 

Get running!

The Early Bird Gets the Worm...

...or so the saying goes.

I've been an early riser my whole life. All through high school, while my friends sleep in until 12 or 1, I'm up early and getting stuff done. The thought of wasting my day away unconscious just makes me sick and stressed out. There is so much that can and has to be done... relaxation comes later! I take my relaxation time seriously, but it really does come at the end of my day. After about 10:00 pm, I shut down, log off, and relax. Before 10 am is a whole different story. 

For instance, today before 8 am, and the start of school, here's what I got done:

woke up/ got ready

packed my lunch

made eggs for breakfast

caught up on twitter, instagram, facebook from last night

went to the library and got a 30 min study session in

answered e-mails and spoke with teachers

went to class

While this pales in comparison to may favorite blogger, Carly, this is quite a list of accomplishments for pre-8 am! 

You've all heard the studies of the benefits of getting up early. Here's a completely unscientific reason for getting up: it makes me feel so much more prepared! Without my morning schedule and getting that start on my day, I would be an even more stressed out mess than I already am! While getting up early may seem horrific to some, it adds hours to my days and years to my life. I'd be a mess without my morning routine.

Are your mornings hectic and sporadic or calm and planned out?