Conversation vs Silence

Growing up I was always told: “Mind your manners”, “Remember the golden rule”, and “If you can’t say something nice then don’t say anything at all”. These are all phrases that we remember throughout our lives and end up teaching our children. While these are important and what everyone should live by, I wish to add an Arabic proverb to the list:

Nurse Delegation Class: The Rant, the Realization and the Review

So currently I am in a Nurse Delegation class. It is six days long, covering everything from medication administration, delegation and diabetes. It’s a two-part class and yesterday we just finished the Nurse Delegation Exam (I got 100%! Yahoo!) and today we start the Diabetes section.

I want to start off this post by announcing that the information in this class is amazing! Repetitive in most areas due to the one requirement is being a NAR/NAC in this class. I mean we already learned body systems so it’s like review. The knowledge though! It is really interesting how a delegating RN can teach you a specific task for one specific client and you get a $0.50 pay raise to do it! I find it astonishing that a delegating RN can give a task such as administering insulin, medication, non-sterile dressings and straight catheter care to a NAC! Shocking! Plus slightly scary that NAC’s can do such a thing too.

2015: The Year of being Happy with Pain

Happy with pain? I know what you’re thinking…I’m obviously insane! How can I be happy with PAIN?

Let me explain:

Since the 2014 left and 2015 took its place, a great many activities have opened up for me. I started my year by doing three things that I have never done.

I started my year by deciding to sign up for a Tae Kwon Do class. I’ve always loved the martial arts but never had the money (and then later time) to take any classes. All self-defense I’ve learned growing up was from my dad teaching me or what I learned from books. So I decided this year I was going to sign up!

Last Monday was my first day and I had a ton of fun! I’m not a huge team player, I’m more of an independent person. I can play on a team if I choose too but for the most part I do better on my own. Tar Kwon Do is specifically about the individual. No one else! I learned a few new steps and did a lot of conditioning and I went home that night feeling incredibly happy!

The next day I totally felt it though.

I went from 0 to 100% and my muscles were screaming! But I still felt amazingly happy! My boyfriend then made up his mind that we were going to try swing dancing…I’ve never liked swing dancing when I was younger but because my boyfriend asked me too, I agreed to try this new swing dancing place out. Even with my muscles screaming from Tae Kwon Do the day before.

So we got dressed up and went dancing. The first part was a crash course in swing dancing and then the actual dancing part itself. It was actually pretty fun! We danced for maybe two or three hours and actually had a blast, I’m happy to say that I probably would go again- this time more willingly than grudgingly! 🙂

By Wednesday, I was so sore from Tae Kwon Do and then Swing Dancing that I refused to get out of bed. It was so painful, every muscle ached and I hadn’t a clue that some muscles could actually cause such pain! Every inch of me was dying! And strangely, I was still happy with it all! (Which completely shocked me too!) But I also had Tae Kwon Do that night, so I bucked up and went to Tae Kwon Do again, and even though my body screamed in agony I was still so happy to do my two hours of Tar Kwon Do! (By this point, I am already pretty sure that I have gone completely insane!)

Thursday came and gone and I spent most of it stretching and drinking tons of water. My muscles hurt, and I was totally convinced that I had died! By Friday morning I was feeling a bit better, I still hurt but it wasn’t too bad.  As I was sitting in my kitchen, drinking my sixth glass of water and trying desperately to stretch slowly so as to not hurt too much, I realized that I was still happy. As shy as I am, I was enjoying my Tae Kwon Do class and the swing dancing. I enjoyed making myself stronger and I enjoyed the boost of “Yes! I can do this!” that I got.

Then, I got a text from my mom, “Hey! Wanna do a First 5K running program with me? It starts tomorrow (Saturday) at 7:30am and on Tuesdays at 5:30 pm.”

Being as joyful as I was, I…I AGREED!

Needless to say, I paid for my serious lack in judgment by Sunday. My healing muscles had been torn apart again and again… and I am still cheerful.

I am usually not a huge pain person. I can run in a cross country race with a twisted ankle, and continue playing volleyball after a fall on my wrist. I can work through pain no problem! But continuously adding pain? Not usually my thing. And being HAPPY about it? 2015 is a weird year and it’s only been two weeks!

But I am! I’m happy and ready to take on this new year by kicking it’s butt! Who knows? Maybe I will try some more new things this year! 🙂

Have you tried something new this year? Have you ever enjoyed something so much that even though it is painful in the beginning you know that once you stick with it you’ll be glad you did? Have any of you ever tried Tae Kwon Do or swing dancing? Any tips? Haha

~Makayla~

Fabulous Gift but Anonymously Given…

I saw the Daily Post’s writing prompt just as I was logging off last week and I thought that I would just think about it and call it good. But the prompt has been on my mind since!  So without further ado, here is my response to The Daily Post’s writing prompt: “Secret Santa.”

The prompt: You get to choose one gift — no price restrictions — for any person you want. The caveat? You have to give it anonymously. What gift would you give, and to whom?

Once I saw this, I knew I had to write…The perfect gift? but have to stay anonymous? Isn’t that the whole point of a Secret Santa anyways? For me I would totally give my little sister everything that she has ever wanted. I’m thinking maybe a plane. A nice, cozy, single engine plane. No price restriction right? I know she’d love it and it would make her that much closer to her goals/bucket list. And I know that as long as she is happy why do I need to put my name on it? The whole reason I give gifts is to see people smile at being remembered, to see their face light up when they get something they really wanted or that is so them!

But this prompt didn’t just make me think about my sister’s dreams or my own…It made me think about why  the spirit of Christmas become giving the best gift to someone and having to put your name on it? I thought the whole point of Christmas was about Christ, about being with family and friends, about honoring Jesus’s birth. The present’s are nice and so are the decorations, the songs and the food! But why do presents have to be so competitive? Is having someone know that you gave them that gift really that important? I see nothing wrong with giving presents to people and them never knowing who gave it to them. It’s the point of a Secret Santa is it not?

What about you? How would you answer this prompt?  You get to choose one gift — no price restrictions — for any person you want. But you have to give it anonymously. What gift would you give, and to whom?

Merry Christmas!

Makayla

Robin Hood has a Hidden Life Lesson

The other day my town’s local Theatre put on their last showing of the performance, “Robin Hood”. I don’t know about you, but Robin Hood is one of my favorite stories! Daring sword fights, quick wit, stubbornness, multiple different re-telling and the famous quote: “Steal from the rich and give to the poor.”

Growing up, EVERYONE wanted to be Robin Hood! To be the best archer in town, to be a notorious outlaw who helped people, to fight the Sheriff of Nottingham and win by being quick, cheeky and a hero!

The performance was PERFECT! It was funny, and cute. There were tons of action scenes and the whole performance was perfect! There was tons of laughter from the audience including the scene where Maid Marian kisses Robin Hood and a little girl in the front row yelled, “EWWWW!” And as I watched a life lesson jumped out at me in the form of a memory…

The Hunger Games: Basically a Cookie Contest

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All right everyone! Gather around! I have important news from the home front! My boyfriend’s dad has decided that this year all the girlfriends (3 brothers=3 girlfriends) are to compete against each other in a battle of hunger… for cookies that is!

The Dance of the Stressed Out Introvert

For the last two weeks and still counting, I’ve been dancing the Dance of the Stressed out Introvert. It’s somewhat similar to the Dance of the Sugarplum Fairy, with all its turns, jumps and leaps. It even goes along to the same tune! But instead of the Sugarplum Fairy leaping into the arms of the Sugar Plum prince to create a beautiful dance move of trust and dedication, it’s the introvert landing a wonderful leap into State Exams.

Which International Holiday Figure are you?

So I get emails occasionally from a group tour called EF Tours. If you’ve never traveled anywhere with EF Tours I highly suggest you do so! I went my eighth grade year to Washington D.C. with them and they are fabulous! But that’s a story for another day.

Back to emails, EF tours sent me this link Which International Holiday Figure are you Quiz which is a short, five question quiz about which International Holiday Figure you are.

I love taking quizzes! So, of course, I had to take this one! My result was The Sun Goddess Amaterasu. It originated in Japan and she is strong, independent and revered. The quiz also says, “Austere and dignified, Amaterasu is one of the traditional Shinto goddesses of the sun and universe. She was forced to hide from her evil brother in a cave for a very long time, depriving the people of her radiant life-giving light and keeping them in the dark. Her escape from the cave is associated with the winter solstice, where long days full of sunshine represent her long-awaited return and strong demeanor.” Isn’t it interesting?

I re-took the quiz a few times to see what the other Holiday Figures are and I found four results including the one I got. So what are you? Which International Holiday Figure fits you the best? I’d love to hear your results!

Merry Christmas!

Makayla

Why I Turned into the Hulk at the Grocery Store…

I do not believe that people are born ‘bad’. I don’t believe people choose to be ‘bad’ either. But ultimately it is our choices that determine whether we are ‘bad’ or ‘good’. I believe our souls are what hold our being. We can choose to be dark or light because God gave us that. But seeing people being rude and mean to others out of jealousy and spite makes me angry. My experience today, made me tremendously angry. In fact I’m pretty sure I was “Hulk” angry.

My definition of being bad is people who make wrong choices; either to people in general such as bullying, lying, being cruel, adultery or hurting others for power, money or self-esteem. Or acts that are against the law such as stealing, killing, drugs or abuse. (For the record: I know that not everyone shares the same belief and I’m not asking you to follow my belief.) However lately I see more and more of the good in people being drowned out. Is it their choices? Or has our world changed in such a way that people can’t be nice anymore? I refuse to believe that our world has changed so much that people can’t be kind and make good choices.

So what if someone speaks differently then you, or has different clothing then you! We are all people born in God’s image. To speak harshly and negatively about someone both to their face and behind their backs is both disrespectful to the person and to God. God made them and that makes them perfect. To say otherwise is wrong. A person has the choice to speak positively to someone and lift them up or negatively to someone and tear them down. What choice is correct? What choice would God be pleased with? I didn’t think that you would need to be a rocket scientist to figure that out. But apparently, my generation does not get it.

So…Let me tell you about my lunch hour.

I walked through my local Safeway aiming to buy lunch for myself; I ended up losing my appetite to the horrible words I heard instead. A group of teenagers of all different races, genders and ages came into the store. They split up and I got to listen to a lot of their LOUD and incredibly rude conversations everywhere I turned. One girl was telling her friend that someone “can’t go shopping with us because we’ll be spending hundreds of dollars on GOOD clothing and I told her that it wasn’t fair to her that she can’t afford anything from a GOOD store”. A boy in the deli line told his buddy that he should,” stop being friends with ‘Bob’. Why? Because his stupid lisp is not cool, man, I mean really how do you expect to get a girl with a friend like THAT?” Unfortunately, I have heard all of these before, they still shock me but what can I do? I know nothing about them and none of the victims of this obvious bullying were here to be defended. Looking back now, I probably should have said something, anything! But I probably would’ve done more harm than good.

However, the comment that angered me the most was from a classic blonde cheerleader who flipped her hair every other minute or so. She stood in front of me in line and said (loudly might I add) to her three friends with her that the elderly disabled veteran in the line in front of them “looks ugly in that old uniform.” That man is disabled (and disfigured thanks to your loud comment to add about that as well!) because he fought for our freedom, OUR LIVES, so that we could live the way we do! We are given more opportunities because he fought for us so we wouldn’t have too. And you have the audacity to say what you did? I lost my temper there. And I feel no guilt for my actions.

To those four girls, if you’re reading this (and I desperately hope you are), I for one am not ashamed in the slightest to have cut in front of you. In fact, you calling me a “retard” for doing so only made me surer of what I had to do. And I am not sorry for becoming the Hulk.

I cut right in front of you tapped that man on the shoulder of his amputated arm (that you called disgusting and disfigured) and told him (loud enough that you could hear) that I was thankful for his service to our country. That I am proud to have gotten the chance to tell him Thank you and that I understand the sacrifice that he made for me and this country. And I feel no shame in turning right around and telling you four girls, how incredibly disrespectful and hurtful you were. I was disgusted and I hope it showed on my face.

I’m ashamed of the people close to my age.

My belief is that when it comes to our choices, a lot has to do with how we are raised. If our parent’s failed to teach us how to be respectful, kind, generous, cheerful, faithful, loyal, Godly, to make good choices then how could we know otherwise? At the same time, I don’t believe God sets us up for failure. I don’t believe he would have parents who make wrong choices be the only teachers in that person’s life. But still, people make the wrong choices every day! The people in the store are living proof of the hurtful, mean, spiteful choices that are done every day. People bully each other, and are unkind. They lie, steal and cheat their way through life. Is that really any way to live?

What do you believe? What would you do? If you were me, in that store, what would you have done? Would you have hulked out?

Makayla