Tag: Life Lessons

What’s it Worth

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The other night, I had a dinner  with a friend whom I’ve know for well over ten years. We talked a great deal about how far we’ve come since we were younger. We talked about how much change has happened since the last time we saw each other. There’s something special about re-connecting with a friend who has been around for a majority of your life. They know you before you became the person you are today. They’ve seen you evolve, struggle, and overcome obstacles through a long period of time. At the end of the day, those are the people that you really need in your life – The ones who will stay with you even when you are at your worst.

We both grew up in the same town and went to the same schools. Now, we both work in a similar job field in New York City. We related on our current lifestyles and the choices that we’ve made since we graduated college. We related on the fact that the life we lead seems so much more difficult than those who are still back home. Everything about New York City is just more difficult.

After several hours of catching up, I finally arrived at the question, “Why did we ask for this?”

She replied, “Because we want more. We’re always hungry.”

I don’t regret the decisions that I’ve made since I graduated college. Frankly, I don’t regret any of the decisions that I’ve made in my life because they’ve lead me to where I am now (although I may not know exactly where that is)

Anyone who truly knows me knows that I am notorious for jumping into things prematurely. I just get too excited like a puppy asking for food. I haven’t quite been fully trained on how to wait. I have never had the patience. However, I am a very committed person. The problem with this is that once I’ve committed to something, it’s very rare that I back out. I will stick around to make it work even though the timing was never right in the first place.

I’ve always wondered why things were so hard for me in the beginning of any endeavor. I have the “Why wait?” mentality, but this mentality doesn’t apply in all cases. And I never learn. I re-encounter familiar situations time and time again, anxiously waiting for the day that things will work out from the get-go. But I’m doing everything backwards – Expecting great results without setting aside the time and preparation that’s needed beforehand. I must be a fan of self-destruction because many of my difficult situations that I’m placed in can be easily avoided if I had just been patient.

I know that I’m not the kind of person to settle for a life that is just easier, but it always makes me wonder if it’s all worth it.

It’s just good to know that at the end of the day, there are people in my life that can tell me it’s all worth it.

It’s a small world after all…

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It seems, as I’ve gotten older, that the world becomes much smaller. As I begin to meet more and more people throughout my lifetime, I’ve realized that the six degrees of separation is really more like two degrees of separation.

The last place I thought I’d be saying this about is New York City. I thought that coming to a large city with millions of people would minimize the chances of me ever running into anyone I know. On the contrary, it’s enhanced the chances.

Back in my hometown, the likelihood of running into someone I went to high school with was about 80-90% depending on the day. Of course, in any town, everyone shops at same grocery stores, goes to the same movie theaters, and eats at the same restaurants. What I’ve learned is that the same can be said for a large city.

This past weekend, I traveled to Chicago for the 2013 Chicago Marathon. I went for work to help out at the Runner’s World booth at the Marathon Expo. I was so excited to travel to a new city. It’s always nice to get away from New York for a little while.

I boarded my flight on Thursday morning at Laguardia Airport. I was scheduled to leave at 9:40AM, but of course, my flight didn’t depart until around 10:30AM. While I was on my flight, I sat next to a man who was originally sitting in the seat that I was ticketed for. I kindly asked him to move, and so he did. After that, we began conversing as we waited for our plane to take-off.

I told him that it was my first time traveling to Chicago and how excited I was about going. I told him that I was traveling to work at the Chicago Marathon Expo and that I worked at Runner’s World Magazine. “Runner’s World?” he asked. “What’s the company that publishes that?” he added.

“Rodale” I replied.

“That’s funny…my daughter is interning at Organic Gardening,” he told me.

I was in absolute shock when I heard this. He continued to tell me how she also used to intern for Men’s Health Magazine in the New York office, where I am currently working. Furthermore, she happened to intern on the same floor as me while she was in New York. My level of amazement rose as he texted her and she listed names of people that she worked with, whom I know very well. I couldn’t believe it. “I somehow happened to sit next to someone whose daughter is interning at the same exact company that I work for, and used to sit on the same floor that I sit” I thought to myself.

“What a small world” he said.

I smiled and nodded in agreement.

He was holding the New York Times newspaper in his hands and flipping through the pages as he browsed the articles. He pointed to an article with a large photo of several people sitting at a dinner table and smiling.

“Hey, this guy works at Rodale,” he commented and pointed at the photo.

I looked over at the picture and was in even bigger shock to find out that it was an article written about another person who happens to work for my company and also sits on the same floor that I sit.

My mind was officially blown. I couldn’t tell if this was pure coincidence or if somehow, the universe meant for this happen. I like to believe that everything happens for a reason. We meet people in our lives for a purpose. I like to think that there is some lesson or meaning behind it. Maybe it’s because I feel that things happened to me that way. Every person we meet, we can take something from, whether it be good or bad.

When we finally arrived in Chicago, I thanked the man for the great conversation and let him know that I hope to meet his daughter in the near future. He went on to explain how much she would love to work at Rodale after she graduated college. We said our goodbyes and I went my own way.

As I look back on it and think about this encounter, I realize that one small connection could make a world’s difference. It gives me inspiration and hope that one person really can make a difference in someone’s life. It’s these small day-to-day connections that create portals, doorways, and opportunities to great things in our future.

As they say, it’s a small world after all. And you never know who you’re going to meet where ever you go.

Running and Chasing

lindseyruns3 Comments

Whenever I get into my over-analytical, over-philosophical, over-exaggerated mindset of trying to find the meaning of life, I always somehow relate everything to running. I’ve always attributed my reasons for running to the problems that I’m usually running away from. To me, running is just one big metaphor for life. Whether it be figurative or literal, I’m always running to or from something or someone.

I’m inside my head a lot. I tend to constantly read too much into things and repeatedly go over it in my mind. Whenever I find it too overwhelming being inside my head, I run. I run because it’s the only thing that can suppress my thoughts. At first, when I start to run, a million thoughts are also running inside my head. Eventually, my thoughts dissipate and my mind goes blank. Then, I’m at peace.

I wish it was that easy for me to be at peace without having to physically go for a run.

I’ve been running for my entire life. I should really say chasing.

Ever since I was young, I’ve always been impatient. I still am. I’ve always wanted things to happen right away. I’ve always wanted fast results. I guess that’s what drew me to running. The concept of time and being in control of your time.

I’ve always chased after the things I wanted because I figured that if you wanted something bad enough, you have to go after it yourself. Having that mindset has definitely helped my success in life. Being a “go-getter” is typically a good thing. However, my Mother always told me that I need to learn patience. As I’m getting older, I’ve found that to be more and more true.

There are some things that you can’t chase after. There are some things that you can’t control. There are some things that just come in time. This is a concept that has been difficult for me to wrap my head around because I’ve always attained the things I wanted by going after it. However, some of the things worth having come to you by being patient.

I don’t know how or when it’s going to happen, but I need to learn to stop running so much. And when I say running, I mean it figuratively. I need to stop chasing after the things that can’t be chased.

Lessons Learned

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It’s 11:16PM and I want to get this entry written before midnight when it’s technically Tuesday because I don’t want to go more than a day without blogging.

I had been thinking all day about what I wanted to write about. Instead of coming up with new material, I’m going to re-publish something that I wrote in my journal a while back. This may sound lazy, but at least give me partial credit because I was originally going to publish it as a page instead of a post.

Back Story: I have this light purple journal which says “Journal” on it (Yes I know, I am not discrete at all) I bought this journal from Barnes & Noble during the Summer of 2011 when I decided that I needed to start writing again (to record personal thoughts, experiences, etc.)

This journal entry was written at 12:22AM on August 22nd, 2011. I don’t know what motivated me to write this, but I must have either been in a really great mood or I had some sort of grand realization about my life. Anyways, this was what I wrote:

“Lessons Learned:

#1 Whenever things seem really bad, know that it will always get better

#2 Never let one big fight end a friendship

#3 Put your pride down and ask people to hang out instead of waiting for them to ask you

#4 Before you open your mouth, think about whether it will make the situation better or worse

#5 Always be nice to people, no matter how awful they seem to be – you never know if they’ll be important to you some day

#6 Give everyone a chance – don’t judge on petty observations

#7 Try to see the bright side to every negative experience – there is a lesson in it

#8 God really doesn’t give you situations you can’t handle

#9 Be thankful for your family

#10 Be thankful for your friends

#11 No matter how someone exited your life, good or bad, they have made some sort of impact on your life – so appreciate them

#12 Alone time can be a good thing. Learn to be with yourself

#13 Make use of every minute of every day

#14 Do things that make you happy

#15 When you feel sadness or anger, take it in and then let it go

#16 Smile as much as you can

#17 Do not eat until you are stuffed to the point where it’s hard to get up, eat only until you are satisfied. It’s okay to not finish your food at a restaurant

#18 If you don’t feel up to it, don’t work out. Stretch instead

#19 Don’t stare at people too much, they will eventually notice

#20 Stay out of gossip about other people. Saying negative things about other people is just a negative reflection of yourself

#21 Know when to stand up for yourself or when to just let it go

#22 Always say “please”, “thank you”, and “you’re welcome”

#23 Never let anyone make you feel inferior or incompetent

#24 Know your limits – to everything. Drinking. Eating. Exercising. There’s nothing wrong with testing yourself, but you’re only human

#25 Enjoy beautiful scenery and environments. The world can be a very beautiful place

#26 Don’t get embarrassed

#27 Stay creative in as many ways as possible

#28 Work towards your goals and then meet them. After that, make new goals

#29 Get enough sleep

#30 Always pee before you leave the house and always pee when you have to pee

#31 If you have no one to tell something to, write it down

#32 MONEY ISN’T EVERYTHING

#33 Don’t over-work yourself

#34 Beware of stress- it really does quite a number on your body

#35 Balance is key

#36 Relaxation is important. If you feel overwhelmed, drop everything and BREATHE

#37 Don’t feel sorry for yourself – you are wonderful

#38 Stop saying sorry for things that are NOT your fault

#39 Don’t make yourself the victim – bad things happen to people every day. Just move on

#40 Be happy with what you have

#41 Stop going on Facebook so much

#42 Not everyone is going to like you, but that’s okay. They just didn’t take the chance to get to know you which is their own loss

#43 Be enthusiastic about everything”

Now I know that was a lot to take in, but for me, I’m glad that I wrote those things down and am now re-writing them in this blog.

Looking back on it, I now remember why I wrote this.

I wrote this right after I was diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease, the Summer before my Senior year of College. It was a really difficult time for me and I had a lot that I was dealing with at the time. I wrote this list almost two years ago and it’s amazing to see how many of these lessons I have actually remembered and applied to my life. I’ve grown a lot since I wrote these, but I’ve also neglected a lot of these things. It takes time to change, but little by little, change will happen.

Hopefully this helps some of you out in your daily struggles, as they have helped me.