An update...

So what's been new with my life you ask? Not much of note, but I'll try my best to provide some interesting information for my loyal readers. :o) All 3 of you......

Valentine's Day
If you know me well at all, you know that I have never been a fan of this Hallmark-inspired holiday. Regardless of the fact if I'm dating someone or no (and yes I am), I have always had issues with a day created for capitalizing on the fact that most boyfriends (and some girlfriends) are insincere & unsentimental 364 days a year and need to make up for it with flowers, chocolates, and stuffed animals on ONE day of the year. (Might I also add that I'm shocked that many people fall for this "compensation" that occurs on V-day?) Frankly, I'd rather have a sincere and considerate guy throughout the year...let's just say, I have had the wining and dining, and while that's all fine and lovely, it's not important. And it's overrated. And it doesn't make up for all that really matters in a relationship. And those are my feelings about that particular subject.

Finding your way in life...
Choosing which road to take in life can be a difficult and sometimes gut-wrenching (or heart-wrenching) experience. This is particularly true when you're one of those people who has so much to offer the world in the way of talents/interests/passions or what have you. It's even difficult for me, and I see myself as something of a one trick pony...sad, but kind of true lately. It's no joke that I'm absolutely obsessed with politics. Other things that I truly love include music (listening, playing, thinking of lyrics that no one ever gets to read except for me...lol), literature (I have a broad range of reading interests) and history (I'm a huge fanatic when it comes to civil war history and stuff on Abraham Lincoln, particularly the conspiracy to assassinate him and his fellow heads of state-just look at my bookshelf, you'll understand what I'm talking about).

But as time went by I separated my hobbies (music, reading, history) from my life passion (politics, public service, helping people, all in all MAKING A DIFFERENCE). But it's kind of scary at the same time. What if I get my first job and realize I can't do what I set out to do? What if I realize I'm really not cut out for it? What if it's not what I expected? What if I become so imbittered and disillusioned and jaded that I don't recognize the person in the mirror anymore? What if....I find I have nothing else I'm good at in life? These are all questions I like to scare myself with, but seldom admit to anyone...

And I'm not even going into all of my issues with where I'm going to find a job, what that job might be, how it might affect my future career ambitions.......sheesh. The Kenny Rogers song is true: "Life was so much easier...twenty years ago..."

I'm writing this post for a few reasons, but one of the reasons is to show any and all of my friends who are feeling insecure about which direction that they should go in life that they're not alone. We all have these thoughts that torment us, and we all spend moments in our life wondering what it is that we have to offer...what it is we were placed on this earth to do...but this is part of life and learning and if we didn't question ourselves, we wouldn't learn anything, and we certainly wouldn't grow and become better, more intelligent, insightful, effective individuals.

And while life may have been easier 20 years ago, I can also say that it wasn't nearly as interesting...and if I had the choice of staying safe and being bored, or dealing with drama but living an exciting, fulfilled, remarkable life you had better believe that I'm going to choose the latter...it's just like this quote I heard on this old TV show "Touched by an Angel", many years ago...and I never forgot it-it goes as follows:

"You can't spend your life sitting in a boat, staying safe...that's no life."

Exactly...so jump out into the water and go for a swim. You might get cold, you might get dirty, you might get bitten, but at least you gave it a shot and lived a little...which is more than a lot of people can say about their lives...

I do not want to be a cliche. I do NOT want to be boring. Ordinary=not for me...

Everything else...
So after waxing philosophical for a bit, I'm ready to update on everything else that is going on...school is great. I'm busy, I've got a lot of work going on, but it's all going extraordinarily well and I'm handling the workload much better than I would have expected. I absolutely adore my POS 563 class...my seminar in Political Campaigns...and I honestly feel like it is THE most beneficial class I've taken thus far in college, in addition to the fact that it is first-handedly training me for my career ambition. I must admit, I can't believe that I graduate in 81 days! AMAZING...then it's off to the real world, whether I'm ready or not.......social life, a little slow, I'm really REALLY busy with school, but things are ok...Thursday nights are still fun, and I'm actually going out this weekend w/ a friend who's coming to town to visit me on Friday, then I'm going home on Saturday to celebrate my sister's 15th birthday. I can't believe Jami's only a year away from driving...I remember when she was just a tiny baby, my new little sister who just came home from the hospital...*sniff*...they grow up so fast.

Not much else is new...but I'll try to update more regularly...I'LL TRY...I promise.