• Stop Compromising with the Failed 2020 society
  • God will show you that you’re right where you need to be
  • A week of gratitude
  • Enjoy writing the end of the chapter
  • The Courage to Try

Enough over-compromising with this failed post-2020 society.

It’s time to stand by what you want and desire. Let your relationships flourish again – Paul Zeitville

We hear all the time that there is a loneliness epidemic, and many of us have experienced feeling more isolated and insulated than we did pre-pandemic.

While it’s easy to blame smartphones for this epidemic, I think what smartphones represent has made people feel lonely and isolated: Convenience and Low Effort.

Convenience and Proximity

Back in the day, we had to put in effort to socialize. We had to call people; we had to agree on a meeting place; you couldn’t back out at the last minute because you couldn’t contact people otherwise, and you had to choose people you enjoyed because you had to make conversation and socialize with them.

We don’t do that anymore.

We can text, back out at the last minute, and honestly, with some of the groups I’ve been out with, staying home and watching a TV show was more interesting than sitting around on our phones because the people were just plain uninteresting.

A deeper problem is that we’ve all been conditioned for convenience and proximity, and our relationships reflect that. We settle for relationships with people just because they are the only people around, and then we don’t put in much effort because our hearts aren’t in it.

So, we would rather stay home and scroll.

Life is too expensive and draining to go out for a subpar time these days, so we would rather stay home with our devices, whether it’s the TV, smartphone, or video games.

Instead of compromising with the post-2020 failed society, what if we stood on business and built relationships we put our hearts into? This is where I am, right now. I want to build and join a great team, commit, and lock in so we can go on a run and stack wins.

I have gotten into alignment with my authentic self, my values, and my vision. I’m locking in, committing, and open to putting my heart into my relationships. I realize those relationships may not look the way I thought they would, or they may be more complicated than I thought, but if it’s real, then it will be worth it.

I’ve settled for relationships based on convenience and proximity, and while they don’t require much effort, they are also deeply unfulfilling, which is why it’s so easy to ghost people and leave without a trace.

If we want to end the loneliness epidemic, we have to stop compromising for convenience and proximity and commit to real friendships and relationships so we can grow, mature, and build lives of meaning and significance.

When we have Flourishing relationships, we will have flourishing people.

God will confirm you are right where you need to be

I heard a man say this on a podcast, and during a week when I planned to be intentional about gratitude, I saw it in the most remarkable places.

I was talking with a peer at work, and we both talked about our love for Arnold Schwarzenegger. She even went to Gold’s Venice to see him at the gym. I am planning on doing that as well! It’s on my 2027 bucket list.

Do I like where I am right now? Not especially, but I know I am in the right place. Even in my Writing That Resonates class, we talk a lot about things I haven’t thought about in twenty years, and I feel my confidence and my brain coming back online.

I love YouTube because I’ve watched videos from people I’ve encountered along my journey, and they all talk about the exact same things I have been thinking and talking about: alignment, the last few years as a hard wilderness, grief, stagnation, delays, and disappointments.

I’m not alone, and I am right where I need to be right now.

I can be grateful for that.

A week of gratitude

My goal for a while was to “just get through it.” I was on autopilot, mostly checked out, and focused on the next season. My heart isn’t in my current day-to-day life in many areas because I am ready to move on, and I was never invested in it in the first place.

That said, I’ve realized I need to be grateful for the moments I have now. Is everything perfect? No, but it never will be.  I can still be grateful for moments in the current season every day.

I am grateful that life is much better than it was a year ago

I am grateful that life is better than it was six months ago

I am grateful that life is better than it was three months ago

I am grateful that life is still moving ahead and the vision is coming into view.

Gratitude is the key to the next chapter.

Enjoy writing the end of the chapter

Ecclesiastes says the end of a thing is better than the beginning.

While I know I am at the end of one chapter of my life, I’ve decided not to rush through it and get over it as soon as possible; instead, I’m going to enjoy writing the end of the chapter because I want to go into the next chapter grateful and with a positive mindset.

I need change.

I know that.

I also need to keep living as I transition into the next stage.

I want to be present for all the lessons and milestones this chapter offers, and I want to end well.

A good ending is always preferable to a good beginning.

The Courage to Try

Bikini champion, Lauralie Chapados said something on one of her training vlogs that resonated strongly with me:

She said, “We must have the courage to try.”

I’m trying writing, and it means a lot to me, but I do it because I love it, not because I expect anything from it. By that, I mean I do it because I enjoy it, and I put my heart into it because it’s something I’ve always loved.

Writing those two short stories last semester required courage, and I put my heart out there. My love for writing and creativity goes down deep.

Yet, I had the courage to try because not trying would be so much worse. I would die with the words still in me, and that would be a tragedy.

Sometimes we don’t know we have the courage to try until we’ve already started