October | 2013 | BulgingButtons

October 23, 2013
by BulgingButtons 8 Comments

Suck it up and JUMP! – Courage in the Face of Fear

My friend Jessie jumped out of a plane. She did it on purpose, and she loved it. I had the extreme pleasure of hearing her retell her experience, with vivid detail. She is an extraordinary story teller. I know other people who have jumped out of planes. On purpose. I’ve never understood what compels them to do this. I’m a chicken. A fraidy cat. A wuss. Whatever. I don’t jump out of airplanes. At least I never have before, and I honestly don’t anticipate partaking in that particular activity any time in the future, but you just never know.

Here’s the thing about Jessie’s story that really made me stop and think: she was scared, really scared, but she did it. Not only did she do it, but she put on a brave face (for the handsome photographer that she was paying to capture the event) and then she actually enjoyed it. Loved it, in fact. Hmmmm. Maybe there’s something to this. Let me see if I’ve got this:

Rock Star Jessie

1. Set a big, but attainable goal

2. Alert the media (ok, friends and other supporters)

3. Show up

4. Allow yourself to be scared

5. Do it anyway

6. Smile big

7. Enjoy the experience

There is definitely a life lesson here. I’ve got some big goals, many of them are posted on the 47 for 47 challenge page. I’m alerting the media (via this blog and other outlets) and I’m showing up. I’m frequently scared (sometimes of failure, but also of success), but I’m putting on my smile, and mustering through it. I just need to learn to enjoy the experience. I’m still not jumping out of any planes, though. At least not on purpose.

October 21, 2013
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In My Happy Place

It has been so rewarding to be a blogger today. I’ve gotten such incredibly positive feedback and then my ego got a nice little stroke when I read CountryBumpkin’s daily challenge post. I mean, c’mon, she’s on the other side of the planet and can read whatever she wants, but she chose BulgingButtons as her inspiration. I think that’s pretty darn amazine. Oh, and I managed to stay away from Starbucks today today, just in case anyone was wondering.

October 21, 2013
by BulgingButtons 15 Comments

Going Cold Turkey – A Week of No Starbucks

It’s too early. It’s too dark out. I didn’t get enough done over the weekend. I still need to go grocery shopping and stop by the drug store on the way home today. I have a commitment after school. I’m feeling overwhelmed. And a happy Monday to you too.

Some days just feel crazy. They feel like they are swirling around me and I’m left standing in the middle, bewildered. Sometimes they get moving so fast that I just want to curl into a little ball to protect myself, until the storm passes. Of course this is all figurative, and curling into a ball just makes matters worse, the stressors don’t go away by themselves.

One recent stressor is the realization that I’m not doing a good job taking care of myself. My eating habits have slipped and in many ways my good intentions have become deflated. I’m fixing that. I headed back over to SparkPeople, which is a fabulous free website, and created a new profile for myself (BulgingButtons, of course). I also got out and got some much needed exercise yesterday. It felt tiring, but so rewarding.

Now the next step is to extricate the Starbucks habit. I’m hooked, I admit it. I love me some frappucinos. But, man, are those things costly! Both in money and caloric intake. I’ve been sucking down tons of calories, and forking over mega-bucks to do it. Talk about crazy. Today it stops. I’m committing to NO STARBUCKS for a week. Baby steps, people, baby steps. I know it will make me feel better, both physically and emotionally, not to mention financially. Anyone with me?