The conscious brain can only hold one thought at a time. Choose a positive thought. ~ Lululemon Manifesto

John is the kind of guy you love to hate. He is always in a good mood and always has something positive to say. When someone would ask him how he was doing, he would reply, "If I were any better, I would be twins!"

He was a natural motivator.

If an employee was having a bad day, John was there telling the employee how to look on the positive side of the situation.

Seeing this style really made me curious, so one day I went up and asked him, "I don't get it!"
"You can't be a positive person all of the time. How do you do it?"

He replied, "Each morning I wake up and say to myself, you have two choices today. You can choose to be in a good mood or...you can choose to be in a bad mood. I choose to be in a good mood."

Each time something bad happens, I can choose to be a victim or...I can choose to learn from it. I choose to learn from it.

Every time someone comes to me complaining, I can choose to accept their complaining or...I can point out the positive side of life. I choose the positive side of life.

"Yeah, right, it's not that easy," I protested.

"Yes, it is," he said. "Life is all about choices. When you cut away all the junk, every situation is a choice. You choose how you react to situations. You choose how people affect your mood.
You choose to be in a good mood or bad mood. The bottom line: It's your choice how you live your life."

I reflected on what he said. Soon hereafter, I left the Tower Industry to start my own business. We lost touch, but I often thought about him when I made a choice about life instead of reacting to it.

Several years later, I heard that he was involved in a serious accident, falling some 60 feet from a communications tower.

After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care, he was released from the hospital with rods placed in his back.

I saw him about six months after the accident.

When I asked him how he was, he replied, "If I were any better, I'd be twins...Wanna see my scars?"

I declined to see his wounds, but I did ask him what had gone through his mind as the accident took place.

"The first thing that went through my mind was the well-being of my soon-to-be born daughter," he replied. "Then, as I lay on the ground, I remembered that I had two choices: I could choose to live or...I could choose to die. I chose to live.."

"Weren't you scared? Did you lose consciousness?" I asked.

He continued, "...the paramedics were great.

They kept telling me I was going to be fine. But when they wheeled me into the ER and I saw the expressions on the faces of the doctors and nurses, I got really scared. In their eyes, I read 'he's a dead man'. I knew I needed to take action."

"What did you do?" I asked.

"Well, there was a big burly nurse shouting questions at me," said John. "She asked if I was allergic to anything 'Yes, I replied.' The doctors and nurses stopped working as they waited for my reply. I took a deep breath and yelled, 'Gravity'"

Over their laughter, I told them, "I am choosing to live. Operate on me as if I am alive, not dead."

He lived, thanks to the skill of his doctors, but also because of his amazing attitude...I learned from him that every day we have the choice to live fully.

Attitude, after all, is everything.

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Matthew 6:34.

After all today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday.

UN-TV

So, last night me and Caitlin were working on her sociology project, the "un-tv" or "zen tv" experiment. Basically what you do, is watch the television for 1/2 an hr without turning it on, and then write down your thoughts... Instead, I kept a journal during the process (it was boring), and here it is:

Tara’s Profound TV Thoughts!

- The entire room is centered around the TV.
- Lots of uses: Wii, DVDs, Nintendo
- The room is quiet!
- I’m comfortable.
- Riley’s confused about why we’re just sitting here.
- A TV by itself is pretty boring.
- I have trouble not multi-tasking in a world that has so much going on at all times.
- Weird how people get so caught up in material items.
- Even Riley wishes the TV were on.
- It’s kind of sad how we rely on the TV in many ways as our only connection with the outside world.
- The TV is like the center of the whole apartment, why is that? Why do we concentrate so much on a piece of electronics? It’s not even that pretty.
- Riley just left the room; he thinks we’re boring.
- Weird how when it’s on, I’m completely sucked in like there’s nothing else in the world, but with it off it’s brought to my attention how utterly boring it is.
- I feel lazy, like I should be doing something more productive than just sitting around staring at the TV.
- It’s like a 30 minute long commercial, to where you’re not really paying attention to it, but you are because you’re waiting for your show to come back on, or for something to happen. (Caitlin)
- My mom used to use a TV as a babysitter, so this relates back to my childhood where I can stare at the TV for hours and not get distracted. (Caitlin)
- Riley finally realized we’re not going to do anything and calmed down.
- I feel like it just keeps getting bigger and bigger as I’m sucked in.
- It’s almost like it doesn’t have to be on to be entertaining. What does that say about me? I don’t normally use TV for entertainment; I use it as background noise. This is kind of like background sight. (Caitlin)
- Sylvania. That’s a weird TV brand. I’ve never heard of that. That’s what you get for “buying the Brandsmart way” (Caitlin)
- Caitlin’s had this TV for at least a year, how has she not heard of it?
- This would be harder if it was my computer because I actually use that actively while the TV is more in the background. (Caitlin)
- I couldn’t do it with my computer.
- I’m bored. A round TV would be cool! It could be formatted to fit this screen! Everyone would be taller and skinnier on my circle TV! (Caitlin)
- Shh, Riley! I’m watching TV! (Caitlin)
- Know what I think the point of this is? (C) To point out how stupid a TV is? (T) Yes! Because no one would sit in front of a TV for 30 minutes with it not turned on, but why would you sit there with it turned on? That’s retarded. I’m throwing my TV away. (C)
- I actually hate TV a lot. It’s a hindrance to active conversation and thought.


After the experiment was done, I actually didnt want the TV turned on even more than usual. I suppose I just really enjoy the silence that there is without the TV on, especially since when the TV's on it's really hard to carry on an active meaningful conversation...

Think outside of the box once in a while, k? thanks...

I had a really good conversation with my dad today, I love talking to him about random stuff. Normally I agree with him, and sometimes I dont, which I'm beginning to learn is alright. Me and my dad dont ALWAYS have to agree, we just normally happen to.

Here are some of the insights we decided on. All of them have sound reasoning to back them up, because we dont just go throwing around ideas just for shits and giggles... (that is, unless it says maybe, then we're just throwing around ideas. Not unlike how Darwin came up with his theories...) Also, consider this fair warning that you may not like what you're about to read, but I listen to EVERYTHING you have to say, whether I agree with it or not. So hear us out, k?:

1. Maybe God created monkeys first, and then decided they weren't good enough, so he modeled man after that. This would explain the similar DESIGN, but that we're so much better.

2. Dont you think that if God were to decide to create a universe, that he would do it with a bang?

3. Atheism takes much more faith to uphold than ANY religion. For me, simply shaking my hand in the air is proof that there is a God. Because seriously, isnt it cool that you can just decide to do that and your arm does it? insane! And that's just shaking my arm :) conscience thought is a WHOLE different ball game... Not to mention that Darwin's THEORY of evolution was so far fetched that even HE admitted that the chances of that happening are slim...

4. God made this earth for us to use right? So MAYBE his plans are for us to use up this world, and then he'll come get us and take us to heaven where we dont have to worry about trees and fresh air. Dont get me wrong, I still think EVERYONE should recycle. NOW! Might as well make this earth all it can be while we're stuck here, right?

5. The thought that we have SO much control over the earth that we can cause the ice caps to melt and everything to fall apart is pretty conceited. Don't you think that if it would seriously cause problems that God would intervene? We're coming out of an ICE AGE people! The earth has been getting warmer every year because we're not frozen anymore! And besides, even if the earth WERE to melt, it would only destroy cities that shouldnt have been built in those locations, had we been REALLY thinking. Whose bright idea was it to build below sea level? and on swamp land? definitely not MINE anyways...

6. Another example of conceited humans: Right now my dad's reading "Case for a Creator" by Lee Strovel, which compares (how do you spell that?) the big bang THEORY to a mouse trap. Basically, there are 6 parts to a mouse trap (just 6, not the inconceivable amount that make up the universe). The chances that over time these 6 parts would come together to the same place and get shaken up to where they happen to fall into their correct spots, get set up, and catch a mouse are SO slim, I cant even imagine that it's possible without some sort of intervention (divine maybe? lol). Not to mention that those pieces had to some how come into existence in the first place!

7. So these people in some technical way that I dont feel like explaining here because you wouldnt read it anyways probably (if you're even still reading) looked into the past (or at least say they did). Here they said they saw that there was a time where physics wasnt like it was now for some unknown period of time, during which the universe was created which makes up for #6. But who's to say that that time period wasn't say, 6 days? lol

What I'm too scared to tell you...

Jaci Velasquez - Show You Love

Please forgive me
If I come on too strong
I get a little anxious
When I talk about God's love
Hold me back now
Stop me if I start to preach
'Cause I don't want to be the one
To push you out of reach

The way to give love
Is how you live love
That is what I'll do
You cannot fight it
You can't deny it
Love will get to you

Don't wanna get up in your face
Don't wanna put the pressure on
Don't wanna make you run away
Just wanna show you love
Don't wanna beg you to believe
Don't wanna take you for a ride
Don't wanna sell you anything
Just wanna show you love
Show you love
Just wanna show you love

I won't convince you
With anything I say
But maybe you will see His love
In how it is portrayed
An act of kindness
A loving sacrifice
Simple little things that have
The power to change your life

There's no surprises
And no disguises
Just the blessed truth
No obligation
No complication
Just a gift for you.

Blue Man Group

So, today I was officially introduced to the Blue Man Group by Ty & Becca. Yea, I had heard of them before, duh. Pretty much everyone alive has... But seriously though, their music is amazing! Not only is their show beyond hilarious (yes, i litterally laughed out loud), but the way they take every day things and turn them into art through music is something that i completely admire. There's a flair that Lauren sent me that says "Photography: The talent to capture beauty in things that go unnoticed." That's what the Blue Man Group does, only with music! I loved every second of listening to it :) The music was what you might call orgasimic. seriously. even though i dont think that's a word... I guess I really just love drums and electric guitar, and that's pretty much all that their backup band was... that, and a couple of AMAZING singers! I'm going to go listen to the CD that Ty lent me now... seriously though, go check them out!!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Persona by Blue Man Group

Every morning, I put it on
I walk outside, and I am gone
And I don't seem to mind anymore
I can't think what it was like before I wore it all the time

Oh, oh, oh

In the evening, I take it off
But there's another one underneath
And I can't seem to find the bottom of the stack
I might just lose my mind and never get it back
But at least I'll get inside

Oh, oh, oh

At least I'll get inside

Oh, oh, oh, oh

There's a feeling that I get sometimes
It's so small that it's easy to hide
It's like a howling voice from a distant past
It seems I've got no choice when it comes to this
It's building up inside

Oh, oh, oh

It's building up inside

Oh, oh, oh

I'm considering selling my eggs...

I'm so sick of not having a car...!

It's a long story, here's the short version...

October & November: I get 2 tickets about a month apart for having an expired tag, which I do not pay, because I have no money...

December: While riding in Kyla's car, we get rearended. This has nothing to do with me not having transportation, but is car #1 that is totalled while I am in it...

January: Receive notification my tickets are over due, and if I dont pay them soon my license will be suspended (I didnt pay them. Totally my fault, I know...)

February: While driving my car to work it suddenly stops working. The transmission is stuck in a higher gear, and a new one costs $2,600 or $1,600 used... money as I said before I do not have. I start driving my parent's minivan

March: While driving home in I-75 all traffic suddenly stops, and I do not... totalling vehicle #2 (this actually made my mom happy, since they had been wanting to sell it anyways this just saved them the effort...)
So, I'm standing on the side of the road sure that I'm going to get arrested, when the cop comes back and asks if I knew my license was suspended. I dont play dumb, bc I've learned cops hate that, but he takes my license until I pay off my tickets. Thank God!

April: I'm going tomorrow morning to pay off the second ticket (which I had already tried to pay off once, but "didnt show up in their system") and then I will get a new license on saturday.

This will not solve my transportation problem though, because I still have a perfectly lovely car sitting in my driveway undriveable, collecting pollen. Hence, the selling of eggs. I hear it's a long process that involves going to the doctor every day for shots or something though, which would require a car. Oh well... *sigh*

Stay Informed

I found a really awesome website that has 5 websites a day that they find interesting... really cool!
http://www.thesetoday.com/

It has links to sites like
A History of the Hangover
and
The Inner Workings of Wikipedia

Check it out! :)

Deep Thoughts over Blackjack

sooo... i'm sitting (well, standing) in the university rooms playing blackjack today when it hit me: this may be one of my last times in these rooms! yea, i mean, i will be coming back for recruitment etc, but my times are limited! Its weird to think that soon this place that has been such a pivitol part of the last 5 years of my life will soon be somewhere that i never see! strange... I'm really looking forward to going alum, and i definately think that i'm making the right choice, esp concidering that pretty much all of my close friends that arent already gone will be leaving this semester. but there's still this part of me that just wants to remain an undergrad forever! although, i bet most people feel this way... and as the Avenue Q song goes, you cant go back to college and even if you did, "you'd be so much older than everyone." oh well...

I really hope my new photography job works out so that i dont have to go back to school, and i can just use this as a stepping stone to contracting myself out to magazines like National Geographic! okay, i know that's a stretch... but a girl can dream, cant she? *sigh*

here's us with our AWESOME blackjack dealer :)

Digital Pictures

So, I've heard of people saying that digital pictures have ruined photography. I think that this could not be further from the truth. Really, all digital pictures have done is add to what a photographer can do to his/her work. Through developing photographers have always been able to alter the way a particular photograph looks from its original state, so what is the difference if it is now done on a computer? sure, its easier. but isn't that the point of technology? that's what i thought anyways... Really, in my opinion the editing of digital photography has brought new dimensions and possibilities to the art that previously we not even imaginable! insanity really... here's an example of what I'm talking about. The actual objects in the photograph were not at all altered. Rather, they were enhanced in order to emphasise particular elements of their natural beauty!