Tag: friends

Ours to Claim

March 30, 2023 by Cassandra Johnson

As I found myself doing my gratitude recognition and being prayerfully mindful of the simple things I have like my basic needs and even many desires, I realized what I can easily overlook. I usually recognize what is recent and constant but had to note, there is something more. There is another more grounded foundation for gratitude. This aspect can be irreplaceable. There is the appreciation for the multitude of experiences passed, places I got the honor of seeing, circles in which I moved, and people who accepted me in the most respectable, affectionate ways and then there are people to whom I had the pleasure of providing help, encouragement and support.

The memories of circumstances, events, past friends and current friends will always have their place. You and I cannot be robbed of these fortunes. There is an appreciation for experiences and circumstances I will always hold dear or from which I was able to recover and learn. We are all fashioned with a unique story. I am sure we can think of interesting people we have met, people that find us interesting, misfortune we have escaped or surpassed, and just simply being somewhere maybe especially fun or peaceful. The fact is no one can take away the moments you were able to live through and the personal way they made you feel. They will always have space and credit for being a part of your process. We get to be here and unlike new developments, there is an irreplaceable gratitude we can affix to the lives we have lived, to date.

Getting to experience the college student’s life was one stand out. Immediately following high school, I got to be the first in my immediate family to go away for this honor. I am lucky my parents and several of my teachers normalized this path for me. You get quite the momentum when people support your progress and or/ treat your path as given.

Being able to explore my cultural interests has been another spotlight. Volunteering freely here and in South America was a reminder of being in a brave and comfortable enough place to decide to uproot my life and provide some assistance for others. I can always appreciate the extended leap I took. Otherwise, I could have never counted so many international people among my friends.

Thanks to my parents, I also feel there is this work and study ethic forged inside my brothers and I, adding to our perseverance and endurance.  I cannot say all forms of striving are healthy or necessary (it can go left) but I am happy to see many instances were efforts equal purpose and achievement. The incredible influence that my parents, their parents and our ancestors have on us is something I can be grateful to hold within me, especially when I am down. Eventually, I get back to hope.

I am grateful no one can take away our experience. No one can take away all we got to do and see and who we got to meet. For better or worse, as I get older, I am remembering how I have survived and in what I have relished. I am remembering to have appreciation for moments passed. Different circumstances, different settings, different crowds. Remaining grateful for what comes now, I am pleased we get to have so many priceless gems tucked away.

buy me a hot chocolate

Success?

November 29, 2022 by Cassandra Johnson

I mentioned how much I tend to overwork in my last blog and realized this was true for other companies as well as for myself (though notably in conjunction with a company as well).

Consequently I decided to make serious plans for socializing. Determined to find some balance,  I needed to keep those plans. A lot could become of the next message I sent myself. I could fail and get discouraged but I also knew I had to set a better standard of balance between work and being good to myself.

Primarily, I was a little surprised that “being my own boss” could be challenging in ways outside of distraction and wanting to goof off. Zeroing in on my goals, I had gone the other way. Alternately, I am not all that surprised. My whole family puts in quite a lot of hours and while I can become distracted, I still expend a lot of energy on my projects, even when delayed.

I also recently heard some YouTubers talk about the pressure many of us feel to be productive. So even if we are not earning, many people feel like they need to accomplish a lot on their daily to-do list. We may even carry those sentiments into vacation mode.

I had some success. Maybe? In a way. From watching my university alma mater play that following Saturday with fellow alumni in the area, brunch with my former boss the next day and meeting with a good friend at a local bar to watch most of the election results come in, I was seriously on a good social track.

I additionally sat in ease over my delicious wrap and mimosa at Busboys and Poets as I realized I am better diversifying my income. I had been somewhat dabbling into possible side income but only now see true leverage among not being dependent on one source of revenue. The prior results were almost negligible, and it seemed so much easier to be at my previous job, having stable benefits like PTO. The fact is, however, I just can no longer imagine pursuing my true dreams from that angle.

I know balance does not always come in equal parts. The process is just more about not being too unhealthily unbalanced, especially in work and pressurized situations. Surely I have to note that week after week was not being spent with friends and family the way I had imagined.

For the sake of sanity and health, I realize we have to also take some moments to wind down and hitting reset is the only way we can continue to operate.

Elements of a Dream

August 27, 2022 by Cassandra Johnson

Big dreams at times seem almost abstract. People may even notice they seem more accessible the younger we are. Children can have the biggest dreams about who they want to become, how they live and especially how perfectly and/or exciting adult life will be.

We can be daunted at different stages. Sometimes such a result can arrive very early on. Shyness alone could be a powerful teacher or very literally, some of our first schoolteachers can be the ones to discourage or encourage whether we step back or move forward respectfully. Parents, other adults and other children also find their spots as inhibitors or positive catalysts. Sometimes well-meaning warnings prohibit us from meeting our efforts as well.

Additionally, purposeful negativity, sinister words and actions keep us from our motivation or alternately stimulate the wills of those who always or at times are adamant against the disbelief and discouragement and set about proving people wrong.

Daunting is daunting however, and natural failures could be the precursor to drives taken forward or those drives taken back. Present at the worst end of the spectrum is mistreatment also affecting our mental and physical capacity to move forward.

The path ahead?

What have I learned from others in listening, reading, writing and watching?

I have learned the biggest guides to staying the course can come from various foundations, but they consistently appear in moments of hope and inspiration and are what we should seek out (no matter how small) to eventually provide momentum. Momentum, in turn, means encouragement. There is the sure sign of our ability to progress. In varying amounts, it can be the catalyst, when we take notice and appreciate each accomplishment. There is possibility at every level.  

I found lately that goals not specifically imagined are not the same as goals not reached. Dreams not specifically pictured are not the same as dreams unfulfilled.

I imagined volunteering abroad. I imagined myself traveling in general. I thought of working for myself as a freelance translator and I wanted to build my social time around quality moments with family and friends without the limitations of company rules. I am doing them all.

Though not exactly in the details I could have imagined, I am slowly doing more of what matters to me and less of the other.

Works in progress and works accomplished. I am preparing myself to grow, ready to take advantage of the time I have here.