Learning to Say No

There are a lot of little things in our daily lives that we could easily do without. Sometimes it's just a matter of learning how to say no. If you're anything like me, I try to please everyone around me. So much so that sometimes I forget to think about myself and my own responsibilities. If someone asks me a favor, I would likely drop whatever I'm doing to help them (or at least finish what I'm doing and then help them as soon as possible). If someone chats me on Facebook, I don't have the heart to tell them I was just about to log off, and so I keep up the conversation, using the same amount of energy to keep up the conversation as if they had chatted me when I had an hour of free time. "Hey, what's up? Good to see you too! I know, lol... *insert comments about random things that come to mind to keep the conversation flowing*"

So yeah. Learning to say no to certain things can be really helpful. And I'm not talking about saying no to drugs or the thing we learned in D.A.R.E. to say no to peer pressure (though seriously, say NO to drugs!! =].) It's smaller than that, and I find it's mostly self-pressure. For me, it's the pressure that if I say no, someone will be hurt or think less of me. But in actuality, that's not true at all. "Hey, do you want to go see a movie at noon today?" If I were faced with that from a friend and I ended up saying no, that friend might be a little bit disappointed, but they would probably still end up having a great time with some other friends. Same thing with the friend chatting with me on Facebook. If only I could say something like "Oops, I'm really sorry *name*, but I was about to log off. Catch you some other time?" then it would all be fine. I could get to doing what's important to me, and the friend will soon forget that tiny bit of rudeness.

I guess it's hardest to say no to your friends. (I was about to say that it is actually hardest to say no to yourself. But then I realized that's just self-control, which is a whole other topic =P) While sometimes saying no to your siblings lead to squabbles and conflicts, chances are they've lived around you enough to understand the reasons behind you saying no. With friends, they are mostly left guessing whether you said no because you don't want to talk to them, or if you really have something more urgent to do. So be a good friend and learn to say no, but explain why- are you really short on time? Money? Or you do you just need a break to be alone for a bit? I find the really good friends will respect that and like you more for it.

Planning Your Day

What is the first thing you think of upon waking up in the morning? "Stupid alarm.... I just want to go back to sleep," "My feet are really cold," or even "I really need to go the bathroom!" sound familiar. Or how about "What the heck am I going to accomplish today??"

I have to admit that last question rarely pops into my mind in the morning. Usually it's something more trivial, like wondering what I'm going to eat for breakfast or weighing the consequences of hitting the snooze button and going back to sleep. But when it does, I feel a sense of obligation to do something worthwhile, which can be both good and bad. Time is a valuable resource, and especially during the summer, days can melt away faster than the ice cube in your drink. I just don't want to come to the end of the summer and realize I wasted an entire vacation doing nothing. So I suppose asking yourself a simple question in the morning can have its benefits. Am I going to run? Hang out with friends? Blog? Play music? Just make sure "be a total vegetable and do nothing but lie on the couch, check Facebook, eat, sleep, and flip through channels" is NOT on your to-do list.

Whether or not you actually do write out to-do lists, it's important to have an active mindset, not a reactive one throughout the day. Plan, don't watch your day go by. Today is precious. So don't hold back- it's up to you to make something of it.

WEEKLY CHALLENGE #1

AAAAAARRRRGGGGGGHHHHHHH. Did that catch your attention? Good. Cuz you know what I just realized? I'm competing for your attention among thousands of blogs, dozens of social networking sites, the TV, Youtube, your mother.... I guarantee at least one of the things I mentioned is in close proximity to you right now. So yeah. Believe it or not, we are all competing for your attention and time. And especially your subconscious. (Haha just kidding that's just creepy, I just wanted to make a reference to my previous post =P)

So like all good businesses do, let me tell you why I am better than my competitors out there. Give me 15 minutes and I'll save you 15% or more on car insur.... wait wrong thing. ^^ The truth is my measly blog probably can't compete with those giant monopolies out there such as Facebook and Youtube... I mean seriously, Facebook and Youtube are both open on tabs next to my blog right now. So I guess I'm competing for my own attention as well, who knew?

Anyways, here's my real argument: you probably have important stuff to do and a life to live. So as long as you're wasting time on Facebook and AIM and Youtube browsing and Addictinggames.com, why not let me waste your time? Because unlike all those other sites, I'm completely HUMAN. That's right, not only do I have ten fingers to type with, but I also have a human brain and heart. So when I take a photograph of the world (figuratively speaking), I take a picture but I also cry or rant or laugh or muse about it as well. Like millions of teenagers out there, I have my own opinions and my own aha! moments. I hope as you're reading through this blog you'll find a post that you can relate to and all this typing will be worthwhile. 

So entertain one of my thoughts for a while... what if I tried making this site and blog even more human by adding in an interactive feature? DRUMROLL please....... I'm proud to present....... the first ever...... WEEKLY CHALLENGE!!! Hooray! Though I might not have one of these every week, I'll toss one in whenever I feel like it. The idea is that I'll have a question or challenge, and the first reader to take the time to email me the answer will get the honor and prestige of choosing the next topic I blog about (appropriate material, of course). I guess I'll start off easy.

WEEKLY CHALLENGE #1

-What company's slogan did I reference in this post?

*Email me at tomilkyway4@yahoo.com

*Subject header should include the word BLOG somewhere so I know it's not spam

*Include ONE topic that you would want me to blog about!!

*I'll be checking the times that emails arrive in my inbox to determine which reader is first

*Good luck!!! (considering this blog is relatively new, let's hope I'm not going to be left hanging and feeling stupid about myself... xD)