...for being a lady. I've only recently discovered this one. Shocker, eh? But it's none the less true. About three weeks ago, my roommate started lecturing me--"If you'd act a little more proper, I swear you could have any guy you want." Ok, try me. The result: I'm not allowed to get really comfortable or have my elbows on the table, but I've been out on an amazing date! Go fig!
...for prioritizing in reverse. Let me review this principle if you haven't read all my entries and encountered this before--you've got this BIG thing coming up in your life, like the biggest ever. It haunts your dreams. You feel intense guilt doing anything else because it means you're neglecting preparation for that one BIG thing. So make yourself a list. What else do you have to do? I mean the little things that you've probably been back-burnering for months now. Ok, rank these things. The BIG thing is #1 and let's say you've got 20 things total. Ok. Now reverse the list and start doing everything, in order, with a very realistic idea of how much time each thing will take. You probably won't sleep for the next few days, but when the BIG thing is over, you've not only eliminated the pressure of that one responsibility but also all the other little things that just quietly haunt you. Granted, it won't take you more than a couple days to have a new list of 20 things to back burner. Take a week off and then lather, rinse, repeat.
...for cultivating an ability to smile no matter what. It's simply a scientific fact that those who can keep a light optimistic attitude will go through life with greater ease and satisfaction, no matter the trial. Why's this one on my mind? I just defended my MA thesis proposal. Two hours of being grilled by one particular professor on every detail of the research design, which he, in essence, found boring and inapplicable. I went into those two hours knowing he would do it, too. So I just smiled (to myself, granted) and decided to bend and flex instead of letting him belittle me. To his credit, he handled well having a student get a little cheeky with him. =) And in the end, I showed myself just flexible enough to change that we worked out a whole new plan that looks rather remarkably like what I proposed a year ago and had completely shot down. Hmmm...so if I come up with it, it's crap, but if you come up with the exact same thing, it's academic and appropriately challenging and insightful. Amazing.
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