Breathing and Smiling.

For the past few months each Monday has come at me like something fierce. Things have been perpetually busy but every Monday seems to kick everything into a higher gear, more hectic. I often feel like I am holding my breath through the week and I let out a sigh of relief come Friday. From Monday through Thursday I sometimes have to literally remind myself to breathe. This photo on Pinterest made me smile. My guess it was taken by a 16-year-old. It makes me wonder what is so crazy and tense in her life?

What do you do to relax? Do you feel like Americans are too busy?

What Would Make Me Cooler

There comes a point in life when you start to accept what your strengths and weaknesses are. I want to believe that no matter how old I get I can still improve my weaknesses and strengthen my strengths. At the end of the day, though, I think there are some things that I may plateau on. Over the years I have learned that there are things that I don't really enjoy, but I wish I did. And there are certain things that I just can't seem to be good at, no matter how hard a try.

Here is a list of some things that I feel would make me a much cooler and more interesting person if I liked and/or could do better:

Running. It seems like everyone I know has run at least a half marathon. Probably once a year I toss around the idea of training for a half marathon... Then I remember, running is not one of my strengths. I will go as far to say that I am not designed for it.

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Cooking. So many of my friends are foodies. If I had to put a percent on it, I would say 87 percent of my friends are foodies. I love the idea of cooking great meals. I love the thought of eating delectable recipes made by my hand. This is not my strength though. As John says, "The cooking bug never really stuck with you." I try. Every few months I pick up steam again and try to venture out to using new recipes. Sometimes I feel like Ash on Fantastic Mr. Fox, when he is trying to improve his athletic ability.
"Am I getting better, Coach?"
"Well, you're sure as cuss not getting any worse."

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Yoga & Pilates. Maybe I just haven't taken the right class yet. The other day I went to a Pilates class with an overweight instructor who did not actually do the positions; she just described them. At one point the instructor said to a woman in the class, "Wow, I wish I could do that position as good as you!" Talk about a time when I completely questioned the ability of authority! My physical therapist swears by yoga and Pilates as a sure-fire method to getting my core back. I think now is the time to strengthen this weakness.

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Gardening. It's simple; I kill everything.

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Technology. I often think about how great it would be if I knew how to do graphic design, use my camera to its full potential, be hip with technology. Sometimes I amp myself up to learn new technology tricks but I quickly burn out. I think I use the technology I have at about 10 percent of its capacity, at best.

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What are some things on your list?

Quirky Prayer List

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I have never had a "Bucket List". I don't have anything against Bucket Lists, but the concept never really caught on with me. I am not sure why. I like to do things, and I have done a number of things that are stereotypical Bucket List items, but actually listing dream experiences never made much sense to me. Until the other day. I was researching potluck wedding receptions for one of my friends. (Side note: I think it would have been so fun to have a potluck reception. Thoughts? Would you go the potluck route?). Surprisingly, there is not a ton out there on potluck receptions, but during my digging I came across a blog (I wish I could remember what blog it was!) of a girl who had "cater a wedding" on her Bucket List. She was not a chef or in the hospitality business at all, so this desire was very random. As luck would have it, this girl's friend was in a pinch for a wedding caterer, so voila! She had a great experience of giving her friend a fun gift for the wedding, and was able to scratch that dream off her list. I like the idea of having things on the Bucket List that are more than just adventures that you can do anytime you choose. I like a list of dreams that would require many factors to align in order for them to come true. This subtle difference makes the Bucket List more of a Quirky Prayer List. (We all know how hip it is to be quirky these days... thank you, Zooey Deschanel).

This past weekend I started my QPL. Not all things on the list are quirky, and not all are extremely complex, but most are more than the typical Bucket List items. Most of my QPL requires that I learn new skills, stretch myself, and have various circumstances align. I only have 25 items of my list now but my goal it to get to 100. I am taking my time, though. I don't want to fill the 100 with a random mishmash of ideas that I don't really care about. Over the weekend John and I kept tossing back and forth ideas for our QPLs. Right now we have separate lists, which makes life interesting because it means that we will be very busy as both of us venture to check things off our lists.

As I started making my QPL I noticed a trend in my list. A lot of my items involve creating something or starting some sort of business venture. Interesting. I think if college students made QPLs it could be very revealing about what career they should pursue. Just a thought.

Here are some glimpses into my list. . .