Friday, January 21, 2011

It's Been Some Time Since I've Had a Really Good Stupid Rant....

Friday, January 21, 2011.....



Yesterday, as I was looking for a parking space at my local grocery store, I happened upon the stupidest mother yet....or one that obviously doesn't grasp the concept of cause and effect.

Let me explain....

I was driving my car at a slow parking lot speed, however, this still means the motor is running and the car is moving while I drive down one aisle of parking spaces to find a spot. I'm not going fast, but the CAR IS STILL MOVING.

Now that you have a visual of a slow moving car in a parking lot, you should know I don't always find a space in aisle 1 and need to drive down another aisle requiring me to drive around a small corner to go down the next aisle. However, when approaching a curve, there is often a hidden spot drivers can't see, and, in my case, it was the world's stupidest mom with 2 small kids (we're talking kids as tall as the top of the hood of my VW Passat - so not that tall).

Luckily, I'm driving slow parking lot speed because her kids were running in the area where cars are permitted to drive. As I'm turning the corner, she sees me, sees I'm coming her way, and you know what she does....yup, you got it, NOTHING.

What's that about? I was thinking to self why isn't this woman corralling her kids to the side out of the path of the car? Does she want her kids to come face-to-metal with a car that is much heavier than her small children? Didn't she learn from her mom you don't run towards the moving car but away?

If 1+1= 2, doesn't she recognize a moving car + kids running into said moving vehicle = dead, flat or injured kid?

I don't think I'm dating myself by thinking it stupid to let kids run into traffic (I'm defining traffic as any area where there are moving vehicles in your path), but maybe I am dating self and just don't know it.

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Letting Go....

Wednesday, January 5, 2011.....

During my recent 21 day cleanse, I came to the realization I was spending far too much time avoiding my issues by taking on the issues of others. Part of it was because it may have been easier to tackle an issue belonging to someone else, but I think a great deal of it has to do with Catholic Guilt.

Although I was raised Catholic, I don't believe you have to be Catholic to have this infliction. In fact, I think Catholic Guilt should be renamed to: Life Sucking, Soul Crushing Guilt.

For the past 45 years, I've suffered from a horrible case of Catholic Guilt. Always feeling guilty for not pleasing someone and often putting me in situations where I was doing things I didn't want to out of self-imposed obligations.

No more.

I need to focus on moving forward and going after the goals I want and/or need to be happy. I want my financial freedom back, and for me, this means being far more creative in the cover letters I send off to companies for jobs I know I can do, but aren't necessarily spotlighted of my resume. However, I'm not putting all my focus on the corporate world.

I've also decided it's time to reinvent and take charge of the direction of my life. Do something I love. Take a leap of faith. I've decided to follow one of my passions, and am pursuing training to become a certified Personal Chef.

I started yesterday and openly admit, it's a bit overwhelming and scary to think I'm on the way to starting my own business. There's so much involved to getting the business off the ground, but I've been smart enough to realize I can't do it alone and have reached out for support.

So.....what does establishing my financial freedom have to do with letting of my Catholic Guilt? A lot. Between searching for a job in the corporate world, studying and setting guidelines for getting up and running as a successful small business, I am making sure I satisfy my soul with the spare time I have by doing the things I need to be happy.

If I know in my heart I am doing something that resembles me doing something out of Catholic Guilt, I am not going to do it. I guess some would call this selfish, but you know what, if I don't learn to put me first, I won't move forward.