Think Kit Day 21: Repeat after me...

Think Kit Day 21: Write a mantra for the year ahead – how you'll approach it, what you wish it to be.

When I first read this prompt I had several thoughts at once, my ADD brain taking over and all my little voices in my head screaming something different at one time: "get a job" and "be better" and "don't sweat the small stuff." Just bam- bam- bam all these thoughts came to me at once.

Then I started typing and this post was going in a different direction and I started having "wait a minute" type of thoughts.

First, I have a job. I work part-time in a public school library. I'm in charge of the art club. I'm the prom sponsor. I run the Literary Club. I also work part-time every third weekend as a second shift receptionist. None of these things adds up to full time, and none of them offer health insurance. BUT I have a job. I should clarify: I want to find my career niche with a professional position that I would enjoy and could work at until I retire. I'd like for it to be full-time and offer health insurance and other benefits (401K, PTO time, dental/vision insurance among others). I need to stay positive and do a career search. I need someone who knows something about resume writing to help me (for free or at a very low cost) re-do or make it stronger. I need to broaden my search locations but narrow the field. I apply for anything and everything that may sound remotely interesting but not something that might become a career or have longevity.  I need to have some focus and make better choices when it comes to applying for positions. (And I'd appreciate help if anyone wants to re-work my resume or would like to comb CareerBuilders and go ahead and apply for jobs for me, I'd be happy for the help!!!)

Second, "be better." This popped in my head and when I think about it... I don't even know what I meant. Be better at what? A better friend? Daughter? Mom? Employee? Girlfriend? Person? Listener? Empathizer? Whine less? Complain less? Be more positive? Less negative? Be more active? Hopeful? Observant? Full of grace? Be better at what I keep thinking to myself. I guess I just want to be a better person. It's something I think I'll know when I feel it or see it. My friend Kyle at work said to me today one thing he wants to do is role model for his employees what he wants from his supervisors. He tries to listen more, talk less, put his phone away, and give positive feedback and not just negative. It struck a chord with me-- maybe I'll see and hear things in other people that I want to mirror back, to the "world" around me...
 
Third, I have so many big things happening in my life all the time that feel very weighty to me, I have a tendency to sweat the small stuff. The book entitled Don't Sweat the Small Stuff and it's All Small Stuff is so wrong. It is all NOT small. But I need to realize that my life does have small stuff that I need to relax about. I don't have to repeat it to someone else, double check everything, let my OCD organizational skills run rampant. I need to do a better job at picking what is a 'small stuff' and just letting it do, saying no, not worrying and walk away.

So after all that... maybe my mantra, to sum it all up in 2014... should be "Make Better Choices."

Maggie