it's all about you, baby.

one Learn how to be real with yourself and don't over-commit. You are never going to be able to make all the people happy all of the time and the more you try, the more jacked up your life will become. It's not easy to prioritize, but it's absolutely necessary. When you learn how to identify what is really (seriously) important and what is not, you will probably find that everything works out much smoother and you'll like yourself better.

two Have limitations to what you'll do for others. The more you give of yourself, the more people will come to expect. And then, when the day comes that you don't even have enough of yourself left for you - everyone who has come to rely on your diligence and attention will be all the way angry and disappointed in you because you let them down by not meeting their unspoken expectations. Learn how to draw lines in the sand and stop yourself from wanting approval so badly that you'll do dang near anything for somebody else.

three When you get on a commercial airplane they always do this spiel about how if the plane's going down and you have a shorty with you, you should always put the oxygen mask on your face first. I think the logic here is that you'll be of no use to anybody if you die while trying to make sure they live. Make sure you take care of you first and everybody else right after that.

copyright 2010 moemasters thesethreethings

BONUS FOURTH THING If you think you need to climb up that tree, you'd best have a solid plan to get yourself back down. Don't be getting all skidgy and whiny once you get up there as high as you can go and be expecting somebody to help you get down. If you were able to get all the way up that tree, you can bet your bottom dollar that you'll get your own bad self back down. (This can be metaphorical and applied to any number of different things for the rest of your life.)

Determination and Self-Survival

ONE Make sure to make time for yourself. No matter what is going on and how over-booked you are - carve out a little respite. It doesn't really matter what you do with that time, just do it for yourself. You really are no good to anybody else when your well has run dry.

TWO Calvin Coolidge said this so well, I'm not even going to paraphrase: "Press on: Nothing can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; Unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent."

If something is important to you - Press on.
Make it so or die trying  
(to varying degrees, I'm not, like, trying to push you towards some kind of life-changing cataclysmic stand or anything.)

But, stick with it and see it to completion (unless there will be casualties as a direct result of your determination. Choose your battles.)

THREE Stand up straight, sit well and mind your posture. You really only do get one shot at this life and that body you're sitting in right now is going to have to last you a good long time. Take care of it, be mindful. The way you carry yourself says a lot more about you than you would think. You are not the kind of person who would slump.

Stretch for the stars and be tall.

That's your job.

andIloveyou.

copyright 2010 thesethreethings