You are You

The topic of change has come up a fair amount recently.  Not self-change, or change by choice, but change due to the influence of those around you.  It is something that all of us deal with, people who want us to be other than we are.  Some of these people do not do it consciously, but they do still do it intentionally, if that makes any sense.  They want us to be something else.  They have different methods of going about accomplishing their goal, and unfortunately sometimes people do not even notice that they are being changed.  They are isolated from their old life so that they will not necessarily have the comparison, or the reminder, and they notice that they have been transformed into a "non-self" after it becomes difficult to return to their true nature.  How can we prevent this, or remedy it before it becomes such a part of our new-selves?  I can only say that family and/or people of our past are the best to help remind you of what you love.  Keeping a connection with them, as well as revisiting them will keep you aware of who you were then, and also, whether you liked that person more than this person you are becoming.  It can help to remind you of what you may have let go that you would like to reconnect with or rediscover, and what about you has changed that you may actually appreciate now.

My main thought tonight, though probably not exactly clear, as I am not making much of an effort to organize my ideas at this point, is that I am becoming increasingly upset when I see people who have changed and sacrificed their true selves because someone in their life decided that they wanted to change them and were able to do it.  People should not be ashamed of who they are and should be proud of themselves.  Live for you.  People who make you feel bad about a characteristic of you or guilty about things, are not worth your time or emotional energy.  It isn't worth it.  

Spring Break?

"This is the first time I've left Boston to go somewhere colder!"  Well-stated by one of my fellow delayed travelers.  We were all heading to Chicago in February....Not quite spring, let alone spring-like, but what better thing to do than to explore a new city when you have 9 days to kill?  And so I eventually arrived, after a 3.5 hour delay courtesy of JetBlue underestimating turnover time.  Friday's arrival consisted of exhaustion and sleep.  Saturday was an interesting experience.  After 20 years, my nanny Helen and I reunited.  It was quite amazing to see her again, though my memory is spotty and a bit fuzzy, I do remember her and that I would let her brush my hair and not my mom.  She met her current husband in Florida when she was with us, and has established a nice life for her family.  We spent the day reminiscing, and hearing stories about my brother and I when we were young, as well as her perspective and circumstances, which was very insightful for me.  We started by getting lunch at The Chicago Diner, a vegetarian restaurant that was quite a bit louder than I expected, and maybe not the best location for the meeting, but the food was good I thought.  Miguel was very skeptical about a vegetarian restaurant providing a meal that would be satisfying, but he thoroughly enjoyed his vegan tostadas.  That made me happy.  We proceeded to Starbucks where we chatted more and got to know each other beyond old memories.  What a nice reunion!  It is a shame Khaled and my parents were not there too.

To celebrate my arrival and the end of this past term, we met up with Mara and Dovile, two of my closest friends from my time in Boulder, CO, and we rocked the dance floor.  It was amazing! We went to a club in downtown and danced all night long, or really all morning long.  Hopefully I'll remember to take pictures on this visit and post them up here.

Stress and Iron

I thought today about how I should get straight back to Rhode Island and get working on my big project for my Sales & Meeting Management class.  I was feeling particularly high-strung and energetic on my drive back from CT, and was somewhat overcome with the need to go to the gym and take out my excess energy on the weights, or on the treadmill (sprints anyone)?  It occurred to me that my propensity to want to workout came from the feeling of stress that has been lingering over me.  This week is setting itself up to be very intense, an I'm glad I have my energy outlet.  I also realized that it is such a good thing to do when stressing because it REALLY helps to clear the mind and settle you down.  Afterwards, you can focus much better and, often, you come out of it with a bit more perspective.  Pushing your body is grounding.  A reminder of what you are :)