Wish List: Manager's Licenses

For the kind of work I do (esthetician, etc.), I need to get my licenses renewed every 3 years.  I had taken an exam so that next time I renewed my licenses, I was eligible for a special kind.  Unfortunately, my boss had let the business license lapse, making me ineligible for this special license (or able to renew an existing license) at the time.  This was about a year ago.  My licenses were due for renewal this year, and as I was getting ready to think about applying for the special license (a manager's license), I realized that my exam had expired, as they are only good for a year.  I was frustrated at first because I wouldn't have the time to retake the exam in order to be eligible for the manager's license, but then decided that at least it had been long enough that I was able to renew my existing licenses, and that I would worry about getting my manager's license three years from now when my licenses needed to be renewed again.

To make a long story short, I just received in the mail my licenses with an extension of a year.  Apparently they are starting a new program for renewals, and every licensee in good standing had their license extended until the following year, expiring the month of their birthday.  Since my birthday is in November, this gives me essentially a whole extra year!  I know at this point you're probably thinking so??  But I'm super jazzed because this means I will have enough time to study and retake the exam, and apply for my manager's licenses before my new expiration date, and without having to wait another 3 years.  

Thank you, Universe!

Music: Rob Thomas - Little Wonders

This is the music video for "Little Wonders" by Rob Thomas for the Meet The Robinsons soundtrack. Such a good movie, and I think this song is so sweet.

Lyrics:

Let it go
Let it roll right off your shoulder
Don't you know
The hardest part is over
Let it in
Let your clarity define you
In the end
You will only just remember how it feels

Our lives are made
In these small hours
These little wonders
These twists and turns of fate
Time falls away,
But these small hours
These small hours
Still remain

Let it slide
Let your troubles fall behind you
Let it shine,
Till you feel it all around you
And I don't mind
If it's me you need to turn to
We'll get by
It's the heart that really matters in the end

Our lives are made
In these small hours
These little wonders
These twists and turns of fate
Time falls away
But these small hours
These small hours
Still remain

All of my regret
Will wash away somehow
But I cannot forget
the way I feel right now

In these small hours
These little wonders
These twists and turns of fate
Yeah, these twisted turns of fate
Time falls away
Yeah, but these small hours,
These small hours
Still remain

Yeah, oh they still remain
These little wonders
All these twists and turns of fate
Time falls away
But these small hours
These little wonders
Still remain

Knowledge: Information Overload

"It's OK to notice what you don't want because that gives you contrast and you say, "this is what I do want." But the fact is that the more you talk what you don't want, or you talk about how bad it is, read about all of that all the time and then say, "oh how terrible it is", you are creating more of that."

"You know, so many times people say to me, 'well James, I have to be informed.' Maybe you have to be informed, but you don't have to be inundated." 

- from The Secret 

I must have been subconsciously thinking about this, because one day I just went through my email and organized everything. I took myself off of all the automated email lists I no longer wanted to be on. I love information, I love learning... but I had found myself privy to a kind of toxic knowledge, all those desperate and emotional emails from websites I had joined about political, animal, and environmental causes I care about. It was becoming too much, I was feeling bogged down and practically dreaded checking my inbox. That's not right... I thought.

When is it too much?

And specifically, the nature of those emails were distressing to me, and not in line with the way I see the world. I know "ignoring something won't make it go away", but there are more meaningful and powerful ways of fostering the good in the world than this, than drudging through all these cyber-propoganda generated emails.

Many of the lists I unsubscribed from would "apologize for any inconvenience" they had caused me, to which I thought Thank you! No longer will I have to dread opening my email! I am now free to seek out the kind of information that I want, instead of having it shoveled upon me.

This can and should be applied to other area of my life, as well. I am a huge fan of pruning Facebook (and real life, too) of people who I deem unfit for friendship: Negative Nancies, Rude Rubies, etc. I do not need these people to bring me down, as harsh as that might sound, and neither do you! :)

Wish List: Oliver

Oliver and Nuggets

Now, this is interesting. Let me start from the beginning. When I was little, my mom and I went to see Oliver and Company. After walking out of the theater, on our way to the parking lot, we approached a pet shop (this is back in the day when movie theaters and pet shops were located in malls). On a whim -and definitely not planning on taking anyone home with us- when went into the shop. I oohed and ahhed over the kittens, but none of them really spoke to me.

In a moment of what I like to think of as inspired action, my mom asked the clerk if there were any more kittens in back. Surprisingly, he said, "Well, there's this one, but he's too old to be sold as a kitten, so he's heading to the Humane Society tomorrow" or something like that. "Well, let's see him" my mom said.

It must have been love at first sight, because although we hadn't planned on bringing an addition to our family home that day, we did. It was only fitting that we named him Oliver.

Oliver gave me many, many happy years. He was an amazing friend, so sweet and good-natured. He was even eventually an older brother to Nuggets the Cat. If I remember correctly, he lived 19 years, having only recently passed away several years ago (I'm only 26).

Anyway, ever since the day he left, I always had this idea, as funny as it may sound to some of you, to name my first born son Oliver after him, with the intention that Oliver's sweet spirit could live on (not in a creepy way, of course, just in a "family name" sort of way).

Josh fully agrees with this, and although we are not planning on having children any time soon, we have hammered out an iron-clad boys name for our eventual son: Oliver Robert. The Oliver, of course for my beloved cat, and Robert after my late father, and a tip of the hat to Josh's heritage (Josh's middle name is Robert, as is his father's middle name, and his father's father's middle name, and so on). We love this name, and we've had it in place since the very first time we talked about baby names.

With that being said... I've started to find that the name "Oliver" appears to me everywhere I look. On vacation recently, the first day I really noticed how much I saw the name, I saw it 8 different times in Eureka Springs! It startled me. I though, isn't that odd?

I have decided that it's either the universe's way of telling me my future son is on his way (even if it takes a long while!) or perhaps, it is my old friend Oliver saying hello!

Funny, isn't it?

Wondering Why The LOA Isn't Working For You?

The Secrets' expert, John Assaraf, explaining why "Law of Attraction does not work for 99.9% of the population." I wanted to imbed the video, but couldn't. Please follow the link below to watch it.

Watch the video >here.

Knowledge: The Optimist's Creed

The Optimist's Creed

Promise Yourself:

To be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind.

To talk health, happiness and prosperity to every person you meet.

To make all your friends feel that there is something in them.

To look at the sunny side of everything and make your optimism come true.

To think only of the best, to work only for the best, and to expect only the best.

To be just as enthusiastic about the success of others as you are about your own.

To forget the mistakes of the past and press on to the greater achievements of the future.

To wear a cheerful countenance at all times and give every living creature you meet a smile.

To give so much time to the improvement of yourself that you have no time to criticize others.

To be too large for worry, too noble for anger, too strong for fear, and too happy to permit the presence of trouble.

To think well of yourself and to proclaim this fact to the world, not in loud word, but in great deeds.

To live in the faith that the whole world is on your side, so long as you are true to the best that is in you.

Originally published in 1912 in a book titled: 

"Your Forces and How to Use Them." 

By Christian D. Larson

Gratitude Journal: Weather

I am so happy and grateful to be able to experience the weather.

Having received this gift makes me feel happy, thankful, blessed, loved, comforted, lucky, alive, fluid, and calm.

Being able to experience changes in the weather is amazing.  Eyes to see a beautiful day.  Ears to hear a thunder storm.  The skin on my arms to reach out and feel the rain.  And my favorite: legs to walk through a litter of fallen leaves on a crisp Fall day.  I am additionally blessed to live in a part of the world that has four distinct seasons, and there is something to love about each and every one of them!