wandering about

help!

What songs, books, or activities get you motivated?

three

I am in an inspiration rut! Picture this: you just came back from the most amazing trip of your life. It was fabulous! It was adventurous! It was inspirational! Then, you get back to real life. It’s kind of like everything is a let-down. Everything is so… mundane. Severely average. Intensely normal.

This is how I feel after reading a good book (or books). Why is real life not as sublime?

Here is my attempt to remind myself of things that inspire me and make me happy, in addition to venting about the things that bug me.

Songs I listen to when I need a pick-me-up

1. Three Little Birds - Bob Marley
2. Knee Deep - Zac Brown Band
3. Only the Good Die Young - Billy Joel

Last 3 Books I’ve Read

1. The Help - Kathryn Stockett
2. Talent and the Secret Life of Teams - Terry Pettit
3. The first 150 pages of War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy

Things I’m thankful for

1. The sunshine
2. 3 decent substitute teaching experiences in a row
3. the ability to exercise

Foods & Drinks that make me happy

1. Margaritas with chips and salsa
2. Fudgesicles that are only 40 calories- the perfect snack!
3. Strawberry Banana smoothies that I have for lunch almost every day

Things I’m Looking Forward To

1. the end of this school year (sorry students…it’s just…summer)
   
2. Easter weekend with some of my sisters
3. Vegas, Costa Rica, the Krause family vacation, and visiting home

Recent Pet Peaves

1. all the songs on the radio recently about outer space and aliens (maybe it’s just me…I feel like there has been a bumper crop of songs with this theme.)
2. box elder bugs…in my 23 years of existence, I have never seen one of these creepy crawlers until this past October…and they survived this cruel Minnesota winter only to invade every nook and cranny of my home!
3. Shape-Ups and those 40-some-year-old ladies that the gym who wear them and gab with their friends instead of working out while sprawling across the machines or weights I need to complete my actual work out.

That about covers my recent thoughts, opinions, and musings. I need help getting re-inspired to get through these last 2 months of school. So, please tell me what you do to get inspired. What songs, books, or activities get you motivated?

ideas, please!

What is the best book you have ever read that helped shape your life list?

brave new world

Since Brave New World was due at the library on Wednesday, I hastily finished it on Tuesday afternoon. As I often like to do after reading a thought-provoking book, I took some time alone to ruminate on what the book meant, and how it could be applied to my life.

For those of you who have not read it, one of the main themes of the book is happiness vs truth. The all-powerful state controls every aspect of human life in order to remain stable, and in the process creates a communal, pleasure-seeking society. They avoid truth by escaping any type of pain or inconvenience in their life through the drug soma. To them, happiness is instant gratification. In this sense, happiness and truth cannot coexist.

The adults in this book are encouraged if not forced to be childlike in their emotions. The government knows that once the people discover truth, they will become discontent, which in turn will make society unstable.

Ecclesiastes 1:18 says, “For with much wisdom comes much sorrow;
   the more knowledge, the more grief.”

In a way this is true. Do you not yearn for the days of your youth, when the worst thing that could happen to you was no dessert? Oh the humanity! But, oh, carefree summer days, running barefoot on the lawn, playing SPUD, jumping in the pool, laying on the driveway to dry off, and having ice cream after dinner. Then you grow up, and it’s bills, bills, bills. It’s world hunger, and menial, low-paying jobs. It’s depression, war, and, death. Old age, body image, car repairs, and unrequited love find a way of creeping in there, too. Indeed it is true. The more you know about our sinful world, the scarier and sadder it becomes. Ignorance is bliss.

But you know what? That 50-hour work week makes vacation that much more relaxing. The knowledge of death makes life that much more precious. And winter makes summer that much warmer. On this side of heaven, we atrophy in the absence of challenges. We enjoy things more when we work hard for them, and we appreciate pleasure when we have to wait for it.

Challenges bring us closer to God, and mistakes invite us to make something in our lives better. What challenges in your life have changed your life for the better?