anjelicatumbledto:

I’m so happy :) life is good. I got to go on a buncha trips w my bf and they’ve all been great. Hawaii, Disneyland, napa. This weekend Vegas! Life is good and I’m happy and thankful. I love my job, where life is going, the trips I’ve been taking, & everything. Thank you God! Gotta remember to put him first always and I gotta keep praying.

Really though — I’m very thankful and humbled by all the great blessings. I stay thankful!

Lessons so far from this year:

NEVER go out of your way to make everyone happy. It’s impossible, and everyone ends up unsatisfied.

Choose who you channel your efforts to wisely — make sure they’re people of integrity and not out to exploit you.

FOCUS FOCUS FOCUS. Become great at one thing, master it, and take up another thing. Don’t do everything at once.

Always address an issue when it comes up. Don’t bottle that stuff in and blow it up on someone else, unless of course, you’re waiting for a pattern to emerge so you can call out the issue.

Don’t take grief from anyone when you don’t deserve it. Push back and always articulate why you don’t deserve it.

On the other hand, humbly take the grief you deserve when you’ve done something wrong.

People are innately creative in covering up their BS or justifying something they did wrong. Keep your senses and intuition sharp to see when someone is pulling the wool over your eyes.

Protect your heart. Protect your mind. Sound mind, sound body.

People of compassion are often in places you least expect it. Same goes the other way. The most inclusive, judgmental, and nastiest people are often in places you least expect it.

Never stay in a place or around people where you don’t feel welcome. If you feel like people are looking at you with judgmental eyes, they probably are judging you — and they aren’t worth your time.

Exercise forgiveness, but learn to know when someone is taking advantage of it.

People who talk about you behind your back or aren’t courageous enough to address the issue they have with you don’t deserve your time. If you ever get the opportunity, address the issue with them when you have enough proof to call it out. Again, only if they’re worth it.

Never advertise something you’re not, and then be put in a spotlight where you don’t meet the characteristics you described yourself as. That’s just embarrassing.

You can’t make everyone happy. Love yourself and never spread yourself thin.

If you wake up in the morning and your goal is to convince others that you live an interesting life, maybe you haven’t convinced yourself of this.

People often try to encourage themselves through their status updates. Show love when you can.

If someone thinks that you’re in the wrong for not following up on a favor you said you’d give and tells you to F-off behind your back, cut that person out of your life — that person is a coward and their behavior is a symptom of spoiled child syndrome, which is a cancer of personality that you don’t want to catch nor associate with.

With that said, follow through on your word. Honest mistakes and confusion happens. Other things of higher priority or emergency may arise. Let that be your only excuse when it truly is your genuine excuse. In other words, own up to it and let all parties seek truth and understanding.

If you want someone to become a responsible adult, treat them like an adult, set clear and reasonable expectations, and keep them accountable on what they are expected to do.

BALANCE BALANCE BALANCE I don’t think I need to say more about that.

Speak with authority and with conviction. People will take you more seriously. Maintain eye contact in a respectful way.

Getting the right answers means asking the right questions.

ASK. You’ll never get what you want if you don’t ask. And you’ll never find out or gain understanding without asking the critical questions.

And lastly, don’t be offended and assume that some of these reflections may be about you. And if they are about you or any specific person, don’t worry — I’m just waiting for the perfect time to address the issue with you.

To get the right answers, most of the time, you just have to ask the right questions.

It’s easy to forget some of the basic things that got you where you are… Proper preparation, proper planning, task management, love, and balancing life.

It’s hard enough to plan, and even harder to stick with the script. And the most difficult part isn’t performing your part of the plan, but to keep others and yourself accountable when you fail to meet expectations.

And after the dust from that settles, sometimes you have to step back from everything, from everyone, and just stay in a vegetative state and lick your own wounds.