I got hollered at while walking to work this morning.  LOL  Who has the energy to holler at 8 a.m.?!?  The guy must be high on life while my stomach's growling for food and my mind is still in snooze mode.  My my, this outfit is doing me well. 

“About all you can do in life is be who you are. Somepeople will love you for you. Most will love you for what you can do for them,and some won't like you at all.”  -  Rita Mae Brown

I am not perfect.  I am progressive yet traditional.  I am change in the making, forever evolving.  I am good and bad at the same time.  I’ve made friends but enemies, too.  I’ve loved plenty but hated enough.  My heart is worn on my sleeve, yet it hardlyreveals what I am capable of feeling.  I’ve laughed uncontrollably but cried rivers.  I’ve jumped far but fell hard, too.  I am forever changing my mind yet resistant to change.  I am critical butnaïve and honest.  I am outgoing yet shyand reserved.  I am sensitive yetstrong.  I am young but mature.  I am mature yet inexperienced.  I can be arrogant but not superficial.  I am flexible yet stern.  I love to joke around but usuallyserious. 

You’ll just have to love meor find a way to deal with it…because that’s the real me.

A man told me yesterday I wasa “surprise box” because to him -- a box full of surprises.  I don’t think it was a good surprise to him…orat least I felt the negative connotation of his comment.  I wonder if this unpredictability he sees isreally misunderstood.  I don’t seemyself as unpredictable.  What I am isfull of thoughts that I share slowly, in bits and pieces with people Itrust.  Some say I think too much.  It’s true, I spend a lot of timethinking. I meticulously dissect actions, words, and images to see how theypertain to my life.  I do expressexcitement immediately – you can tell when my eyes light up!   Sometimesmy excitement is not long-term.  Infact, I can be excited about something for a long time but never do anythingabout it.  On rare occasions, with the right level of excitement, I can domany great things from whatever my passion drives…

What I am is a person of action.  After I think something through, and Iactually take the time to explain it to someone, I generally take action on my ideas.

Ever since I got my exercise routine down a month ago, I've disallowed all kinds of junk food from my diet.  Not that I eat much junk food to begin with, but occasionally a pint of ice cream calls out to me from behind the glass shelves at the supermarket.  I've been sooooo good at staying away from all that bad corn syrup/fructose stuff  (damn Art's voice is yelling at my conscience every time I want to grab a candy bar!). 

Today was a total killer.  I was so busy at work that I hardly had time to eat, then I went straight from my meetings to my kickboxing class on an empty stomach.  After kickboxing class, I had to make a stop at Costco to pick up my contact lenses.  And you know what they have at Costco, right?!?!?!?!?!?

CHURROS AND POLISH SAUSAGES!  AND PIZZA!!!!!!!!!!!

It took ALL my might to walk past the food court, straight to my car.  I swear it was the harder than an extra high kick or uppercut punch...or an extra set of curls on the weights machine.  Resisting junk food is damn close to impossible.  Now there's a quart of strawberry ice cream in the freezer calling out to me. 

I am giving in.

Peasant skirts.  Feminine, flowy, comfortable.  Perfect with flip flops or toga sandals during the summer. 

I just answered this Featured Question, you can answer it too!

Richard Dawkins, reminds us, "...when two opposite points of view are
expressed with equal intensity, the truth does not necessarily lie
exactly halfway between them. It is possible for one side to be simply
wrong."

Or as I'd like to say, "Everyone is entitled to their own wrong opinion."

Water has been an important part of my life.  My immigration to America revolved around a lot of water transport.  My mother and my uncle were excellent swimmers.  I first learned to swim at the age of 10. 
I trained as a lifeguard in high school.  Whenever I travel, I always seek out a place near the water.   Water calms me; it rejuvenates me; it inspires me...for water adapts to its obstacles.  It bends to slip in between the crack yet is powerful enough to shape the places it runs through. 

I'd forgotten how much I loved swimming until tonight.  Since college, the only times I swam were during vacations.  But today...today I wanted to swim!  I wanted to swim until my lungs almost gave out.  I wanted my stomach to tighten, my legs to kick, my arms to cut water, and my lungs to methodically gasp for air in between strokes.  I swam laps nonstop for an hour tonight at the gym and it feels oooh sooo good.  I will keep swimming on a regular basis. 

I'm fighting with myself on both sides of the spectrum on a variety of topics.  There's this constant battle between doing what is "right" and what is "wrong".  A good part of it has to do with trying to balance inner drive/ambition and frivolous instant gratification.  I can't find a good balance...then again, balance is bullshit.  Something's gotta give.

Our society idolizes ambitious workaholics.  Yes, these people are the movers and shakers, for not much would get done if they weren't around to initiate change.  Like many of my friends and family, I am a natural workaholic.  You are who you hang out with but that is slowly changing.  In recent weeks, I have opted to deviate from the treacherous 12+ hour workdays to the manageable eight-hour workdays.  While I've seen friends get laid off and many people are scared they'll be next to get the pink slip, I don't fear losing my job.  Perhaps I am subconsciously wishing for a break.  Maybe this is one of my life's privileges -- to have choices and skills to find new work.  Maybe I'm living in an illusion.  My cockiness could be my demise.  I am merely burnt out from long days of running the rat race and getting too comfortable in a job that's no longer satisfying.  I don't really care for more stress in my life right now.  It used to be that I thrived on the adreneline rush of project deadlines; the sense of urgency.   Housing stress just about does it for now.

Along with work, I log in four to six hours a week on my continuing education.  The academia world is different because it's more stressful and I don't get paid.  Unlike work where someone pays me to stress about project deadlines, I am paying the institution to give me stress about project deadlines.  In return, I hope the knowledge I acquire from school will turn into income-generating stress in the future.  Not to mention, it's a federal requirement for renewing my professional licenses and keeping my business. 

I've been working out 10-12 hours a week at the gym.  Kickboxing, dancing, step aerobics, swimming, spin/cycle, yoga, etc.  It's amazing how addicting exercise can be.  I love the endorphine-induced euphoria of complete exhaustion from a good workout.  The kind that leaves you sweat-dripping, wobbly-feeling, heart-pounding, appetite-bursting.  During those hours, I care about nothing but burning the fat away.  In fact, I'm too busy grooving to the music that I forget about all my stress.

The rest of my time is divided up among chores/errands, social events, sleeping, eating, reading, TV, etc. 

So as you can see, time flies for me.  I'm no longer running around like a chicken with its head cut off but my time is occupied.  Sure, I feel guilty sometimes for losing that lack of ambition to build a successful international business or doing anything that would qualify as "productive" under family's standards.  Trust me, I walk around with my uncle's words swimming in my conscience.  I know I can't slack off for too long.  My conscience won't let me.  But for now, I'm calling for a time out!

What's wrong with spending some quality time to enjoy the great things life has to offer?  Am I too young to enjoy such comforts?  Is being a workaholic the only way to be useful in this world?  I'm cooking more often, reading more frequently, exercising feverishly, laughing louder, learning enjoyable things, seeing new people and places.  I might come to regret having wasted my youth in these non-profiting activities instead of focusing 24/7 on my career and thus be behind my peers in terms of financial status and all their glorious works and contributions to the modern world...but good God, LIFE has not been this good in a long time.  Just goin' with the flow. 

Talk about a tearjerker...this movie brought it out of me.  Wow, what a great movie.  One whole box of tissues and now a very wet pillow cover.  Great, I'll have chinky eyes tomorrow, too.  My eyelids tend to disappear when I cry...actually, they gets chinky after the swelling goes down. 

Damn you romantic movies!  Damn you!

BREAKS
CREATE OPENINGS THAT WERE NOT THERE BEFORE.  IN THAT SPACE, GROW THE SEEDS
FOR NEW CREATION.

I am dedicating some serious time to create something
better for myself.  Make no mistake – just
because I’m slowing down doesn’t mean I'm wasting my time nor my life away.

When you care for someone, you will be find yourself doing some very considerate things. 

Some of my friends are having relationship problems and it's always good to talk to them about how to resolve certain issues, whether it be big or small.  Some things are easy to fix where a simple sincere apology will do, while others require much effort like a weekend getaway and grand gestures of romanticism from both parties (to keep the magic alive, you know).  Either way, you figure out a way to make it work.

Somebody's gotta make the first move.