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Tina the juggler
she can juggle four balls but
she can’t juggle five.
Tina was a juggler. She could juggle 4 balls at one time with some level of comfort but a fifth ball always overwhelmed her. Tina was juggling the balls of death, depression, divorce, loneliness and low self-esteem.
Tina made friends with Kathy. Kathy gave Tina the ball of death. Kathy’s husband died suddenly of a heart attack. So whenever she was in pain, she turned to Tina. Tina was a loving person who was compassionate. She did not mind helping Kathy. Kathy had been through so much.
Tina also made friends with Tim. Tim gave Tina the ball of depression. Tim had been suffering from depression for years. Tina was a loving person so she was there for Tim and gave him someone to turn to when he was down. Tim could call Tina at any time of the night. Tina would listen as he cried. Tina knew Tim’s depression took him to great lows. She wanted to make sure someone was there for him. Tim totally depended on Tina’s friendship.
Tina was able to juggle both balls at the same time.
One day Tina met Karen. Karen gave Tina the ball of divorce. Karen was going through her divorce. Karen’s husband left her for another woman. Karen was devastated. Tina saw her pain and was there for Karen. Karen depended on Tina to keep her life going. She would call Tina during the day. She would sometimes call her 10 times a day. Tina was a good friend.
Tina was friends with Julie since middle school. Julie gave Tina the ball of low self-esteem. Julie was beautiful. Unfortunately, Julie always had men in her life that made her feel horrible about herself. Julie was physically and emotionally abused in relationship after relationship. Julie was critical of Tina’s appearance but Tina knew that Julie just felt bad about herself. Julie needed someone like Tina to make her feel better about her appearance. Tina would always compliment Julie.
Tina could juggle 4 balls at one time with some level of comfort but a fifth ball always overwhelmed her. So Tina dropped the ball of low self-esteem. Julie was furious. She knew that Tina was letting her down and was not there for her when she needed her. Julie knew that Tina was like all the other men in her life and so she cursed at Tina and told her she did not want to be friends anymore. Tina was devastated.
Tina met Tom in college. Tom gave Tina the ball of suicide. Tom had constant anxiety attacks. He also thought about suicide. He had thoughts of giving up the fight. Tina was the person who could always distract him from those thoughts. She always left him feeling better. One day Tom killed himself. Tina missed three of his calls that day. Tina felt responsible for his death. She let him down.
It was not long until Julie forgave Tina. She told her she wanted to be friends again. So Tina began once again to juggle the ball of low-self esteem.
Tina could juggle 4 balls at one time with some level of comfort but a fifth ball always overwhelmed her.
via http://thetheologianscafe.xanga.com/
Frugality
Productivity
The lack of it hurts a lot
Should have worked some more
I’ve decided that I’m actually very afraid of buying things. I oftentimes get buyers remorse to a large degree. Therefore, shopping takes a long time. When encountering a shirt or jacket that I like, I have to inspect it, look at it, and think extremely hard about if the purchase is worth it, if I’m willing to buy it. It goes through a series of tests.
- How much do I need this? If the item under consideration is something that I haven’t seen before or been able to research/learn more about, chances are slim that I will actually consider making a purchase
- Is this item discounted? I dislike purchasing items at the retail price, solely due to the fact that I know that the item will be on sale at a later date, when I can return and consider it for purchase again.
- Is the price right? This is where most purchases occur. If the item passes through the first two steps, it comes to this final test. Unfortunately for me (but not for my wallet) this is also the most difficult test. I am frugal, to the point of being cheap. However, this cheapness does not also translate to lower quality. Instead, I lust over expensive things but continually wait for the price I want, which invariable never happens.
Therefore, I tend to buy not many things over a large span of time. Unless it’s for others.
When it comes to gifts, I never really worry as much about the price or the value. This is likely due to the fact that I have no idea how the other person will judge a gift in terms of use, value, or how much they want it – unless I specifically ask them. Therefore, it’s much easier for me to drop money on a gift with an extremely short consideration time.
Nah, my haiku’s don’t need to be related to what I want to write about.
Me Time
Thanksgiving break ends
Instead of doing work,
I fix up my blog.
Finally, I find some time to update my blog. After spending several hours trying to fix up the blog, I am able to find a short while to post a few words. I looked at a few of the comments people had about the blog layout, etc., and pulled out another layout that seemed to work. Twitter is integrated in the sidebar, contact information and other web presences are linked on the other sidebar.
I think that today, a short reflection is in order. This past week was Thanksgiving. Most students go home for break, because Thanksgiving is a time for being with family, a time to be thankful for the things we have. Though I would have loved to partake in the festivities, I stayed in Chicago this year, as I had since my freshman year. This and last year, I remained in my dorm, where I did some studying and generally relaxed. Thanksgiving break is yet to draw to a close, but I think I am able to say that although I still am worrying about the numerous assignments yet to be done, I am satisfied with my current state of mind.
As mentioned previously, people go home during Thanksgiving. This means that I stay in a very sparsely populated dorm. Every year, I mockingly complain that it irritates me that everyone is leaving, only half joking. But after this and last year’s breaks, I was happy. Why is this? I’ve decided that it’s because I have me time.
I spent the first day of my vacation (Weds) finishing up my classes. Nothing was due, and many classes were canceled, thus bringing a sense of calm from the knowledge that there was nothing that urgently needed to be completed. Thursday was Thanksgiving, and I allowed myself to arise later than usual. I moved slowly, not hurrying anything, because for the first time in a while, I was not in any rush. The afternoon was occupied with studying and working, and the evening was capped off with a movie. Friday ended up being fairly similar. I woke at the same time as the previous day, and prepared for my stroll around Evanston. I intended to pick up lunch, get several necessities from the drugstore, and generally see if any sales had appeared in Evanston. I spent three hours downtown, and bought nothing but some food and contacts solution. On the way back to the dorm, a stop was made at Peet’s, and I continued my journey back with a cappuccino. Did more work, watched another movie, and went to bed. This morning, I read a book, did more work, and relaxed some more. Later on, I met up with a friend for dinner and we chatted for several hours. All me time. Sure, some time was spent working on homework, and some other time was spent with other people, but that doesn’t matter, because I did it for me.
Currently, I am relaxed. I can finally find some time to sit back and consider my current life, and live it. It really makes me realize how good life is. Many things have transpired over the quarter that have made me irritable, moody, and quite depressed. However, the fact that none of those feelings came up over these past few days causes me to believe that the good outweighs the bad, and that i do enjoy how things are going.
How was your break? Did you get some time to sit back and enjoy life?