What makes you passionate?

I woke up early this morning at 3. Not because I had to, just because it happened. I have never, not once just woke up and not been able to go back to bed. I took a melatonin about 9pm last night and went to bed at 11pm. I often toss and turn in my sleep but always go back to sleep. I read, I played on facebook, I journaled... it was productive and insightful time but I was awake after 4 hours of sleep! Today has been okay despite the lack of sleep. I went to an amazing training for work today.

The training was about anger and how to work with kids that are angry. I am pretty excited about what I learned today and what I am going to learn tomorrow. The thing about delinquents, they are angry and don't know what to do with it. I think the number one thing that I learned today is that anger isn't bad. It's what we do with anger that can be bad. Think about the positives that anger has provided....

Most social change came about because some got angry. To learn what you are passionate about, think about what makes you angry. I get so angry when people don't treat others fairly. I get angry when people don't have compassion for others and can't put themselves in other people's shoes. I get angry when people can't take care of their pets, when they are abandoned and not fed and not spayed or neutered, UGH!!! I am passionate about love (helping others) and justice (standing up for those who can't). What are you passionate about?

Another thing on my mind is life's coincidences. I have been reading a lot, different blogs, different books, news and today so many things related to what I have been reading. I think it is God's way of saying "this is important!" When a teacher is teaching you something, they don't just do it once and leave it, they bring it up multiple times, they give you homework, and you have class discussions on it. God is teaching me a lot right now, which is good because I have decided to take this year off from school and it is good to keep that brain active!

My day doing nothing.

So today has been awesome. Not because I went on some extraordinary adventure but because I just sat around doing nothing. Seriously, the most I did today was let a friend borrow my cat to catch a mouse in her apartment and yell profanities at the vacuum because it is the most retarded appliance I have ever dealt with; pet hair vacuum my ass! (Anyone out there reading my blog is more than welcome to buy me a new one... I will give you my address)

I made a lovely pot of coffee this morning when I woke up, I watched some TV, I have spent more time on facebook today than I have in the last 30 days, I will be watching more TV, I am thinking about eating dinner but that involves more effort than I think I am willing to do at the moment. Only one call from work so far and I redirected it to my boss (because it was a boss question, not because I am that lazy). Days like today are completely rare in my book.

Let me leave you with this... I have next Saturday off and I can't wait. I don't remember the last Saturday I had off (though it couldn't have been THAT long ago but not recent enough)!!!

Two in one day!

I know I posted something already today but I have been thinking a lot since then (good thinking). This afternoon I went to a training for work about having difficult conversations. I am a very non confrontational person. Not only do I avoid confrontation but even when it seeks me out I am so laid back that I don't react how most people would. I don't get offended easily and I don't often become defensive. Though these characteristics are true of me I have been sucked into the "empty pit". Relating this to a previous post, I am a protector and can get sucked into being a "caretaker". Caretaker in this situation means you are constantly trying to help someone but it is draining you personally/professionally because they (and you) have turned you into their personal therapist (which is not part of your job description). I have been the therapist and it really drug me down. Not only was I exhausted at work but I was exhausted in all areas of my life.

Luckily I got out of that situation. Unfortunately, I couldn't do it myself. My boss had to save me (which I am very grateful for). I did attempt to break out of the situation but gave up when my attempts didn't seem to make a difference. I hope that if I find myself in a similar situation in the future that I will not give up on myself and that I can confront that person and set up appropriate boundaries. Maybe I can even avoid being the caretaker.

The Bible/Church

Going to church has always been hard for me because I hate when people are fake and I also have a more "liberal" point of view (I will save that topic for another blog... maybe), which often clashes with the churches point of view. I loved the church I went to at home; the members were my family, I loved listening to sermons, I loved the worship, and I loved the fellowship and accountability. Since moving to Wyoming I have been to several, several churches. When I first moved here I went consistently to a church that I loved because once again, it felt like family. Well, they got a new pastor and the pastor had a pretty clear point of view on women's roles in the church. At the time I was leading the college Bible study and have a strong belief as women being leaders in the church. I decided it was time to move on. I hopped around for years trying to find a new church and finally found one I love, Snowy Range Evangelical Free Church. I love it. Unfortunately, for the last 6 months I have had to work Sunday mornings and think I have gone a total of 8 times since deciding it was the church for me. I hope, in the near future I can start going to church again because I love it so.

I also opened up my Bible today, which I don't do nearly often enough at about one time a week and it made me sad. I was looking up a verse in Romans posted on a friends page and there was a bookmark at Romans ch. 4. January I decided I would read my Bible every day. I started in Romans. I obviously didn't make it very far. I have lots of excuses, all of them lame sauce. I am going to challenge myself to read my Bible every evening before bed, even if it is a verse. Got to start somewhere, right?

When thinking is dangerous.

I was sitting around today, thinking. Thinking is a good thing but when I spend too much time thinking it turns into a bad thing; a very bad thing. It starts like this; I start thinking about how much I hate being called on my days off and then, at that very moment all the BAD things about work coming flooding into my brain and it is all I can think about and to relieve these terrible things I think "I need a new job". It doesn't stop there, I start looking for a new job, and then I pull up applications for jobs.

Then, suddenly, I realize I am being an idiot and I in fact, love my job. This dangerous train of thinking happens with other things too. It happens a lot with relationships, mostly dating relationships and potential dating relationships but not limited to dating. It usually starts off as a small thought, usually I am hanging out with whoever the potential date is and he says something like "no wonder I don't have a girlfriend" and I think "I would be your girlfriend" and then the thoughts just go down hill from there, leading me to think there actually is hope when in reality even if I was dating this person it probably would not actually be a good situation.

I think a big problem I have is I want to be in a relationship. People always say, "stop looking for it and it will happen", "stop trying so hard", "relationships are overrated", "it will happen when it is meant to". My response (which occurs in my head) is fuck you, I am not an idiot. I want someone to hold me, to love me, to have the security that someone is there caring for me. I have several good friends that care for me immensely (and I for them) but it isn't the same as having a dating relationship.

Anyway, all this thinking today got me interested in looking back over my Myers-Briggs personality profile (if you have never taken the Myers-Briggs it is probably the best personality test out there). Turns out I am one of the rarest personalities in the population (INFJ). I am gentle, complex, intuitive, creative, artistic, private, difficult to understand, patient, devoted, protective, stubborn, and a perfectionist. I am labeled The Protector. This is visible I think with me being the oldest child and making sure my siblings were well looked after (even though I hated them), this is also true in my working for those that are underprivileged, and my love for animals... protecting those that can't protect themselves.

I think this is why my favorite Bible verse is Psalm 91:4
He will cover you with his feathers,
and under his wings you will find refuge;
his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.

I love the idea of God protecting me. I especially love envisioning the feathers of His wings because feathers are probably my favorite thing in this world. I am thankful for God's protection over me, guiding me away from the negative thoughts and reminding me about the positive (which completely outweighs the negative).

Making My Life a Good Story

I work at Cathedral Home for Children and I love it! I have worked there for three years now as a youth worker. This job has been part of my inspiration for my future career. For the last three years I have been working towards becoming a counselor, earning my Bachelors in Psychology at University of Wyoming, working at Cathedral Home, and volunteering for the Baptist Collegiate Ministries as President. The last three years has been stressful but I have learned a lot.

Another passion of mine is animals. If I could rescue every animal I would. I personally have two dogs and a cat. My oldest dog I rescued at six months of age from an abuse situation. I have trained Olive to become a therapy dog. I get to bring her to work with me. There is a noticeable difference in the kids’ attitude when she is there. The kids seem calmer, mellow, and more cooperative.

I have decided that I want to combine my love for youth and my love for animals. My dream is to own a large amount of land to be used as an animal shelter of sorts. Kids would come to work at the shelter after school and/or on the weekends. The kids would help feed and care for the animals, help training them to make them more place able. The kids would be gaining many skills they need to be more successful in life. Through this they will learn mastery through training, ownership through taking care of the animals, they will also learn to have empathy and give to something else. There is so much an animal can provide to these kids, all the while getting the animals needs met.

Recently, I have decided to take a year off from school and several people think I am being stupid and are disappointed in my decision. I am not. As I told my dad when he told me he was disappointed is that this is my life and he wants me to be happy and I am happy working, serving those around me. I feel I am leading a better story at work and that I am truly making a difference in people’s lives, which is what I want to do. I pray God continues to allow me to grow in my job at Cathedral Home and take the skills I gain there into my future career to help children and animals in need… making the world a little better one life at a time.

Confused relief.

I was thinking my next post would be about how I plan on "making a better story" but I had to share this with my readers (few if any).

I recently had a coworker get fired. At first, I was confused why, she is a hard worker, never late, tries so hard on what she does, and has a passion for the kids matched by few. She unfortunately is dramatic and lately has been negative and pulling me into the center of things. I honestly felt relief the longer I thought about it because I can be her friend without our work relationship getting in the way.

Tonight I called her to check on her and she basically accused me of backstabbing her, stating that she didn't feel like she could trust anyone from there, including me. This hurt me, because I care for her and value our friendship. This last December when I had to stay in Laramie for Christmas she had me to her house and made me feel at home. Not many people do that. I hope that her being fired will not get in the way of our friendship. I hope that time does give her a chance to heal and remember who I am.