Just Add a Little Sunshine

Sunglasses. The ocean. Popsicles. Flip-flops. Waterslides. Green grass. Sunburns. Can you say, “Spring fever?!”

One of the aspects of the season of spring that I like the most is the feeling that comes with those days in which the sun really shines. I don’t know about you, but I just cannot help but be happy on that kind of day.

With all of the sunshine lately, my thoughts keep flooding back to a little less than a year ago, when my senior class boarded a plane bound for Orlando for our senior trip before graduation. This trip was the cause of the epitome of sunshine-derived happiness. I spent almost a week with my family of classmates. At Universal Studios, we rode countless roller coasters and other rides, and even toured Hogwarts at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter (Okay, so maybe there wasn’t a lot of sunshine in the castle, but it was a major cause of excitement and joy nonetheless)! At Sea World, we watched whale and dolphin shows and rode even more roller coasters. Then, we spent a day by the ocean. It was sunny every single day, and we returned home sunburnt, relaxed, and full of smiles and laughs.

Thinking back to that week made me think that the sunshine really has a way of giving us a positive attitude, doesn’t it? For example, one day last week, I had an exam in class that I was really nervous about taking. I am rather ashamed to say that normally, I probably would have been the definition of grumpy until that test was over. However, that sun was shining. For some reason, I just couldn’t help but feel as if I were having the absolute best day, just because the world around me was, well, happy.

Now, to me, that’s just silly! Why in the world should I be relying on the sun outside my window to tell me whether I would enjoy my day? If that sun had not been streaming through the windows, would my attitude have been so negative just because of an exam that I would have caused others to look at their day as gloomy as well? On senior trip, would my class have still had fun if the sun was behind the clouds all week, and even if we hadn’t had the opportunity to ride a bunch of roller coasters? Of course we would have, because we still would have spent the week with our fellow classmates who were our best friends all through high school.

For those of us who are Harry Potter fans, remember when Professor Dumbledore said, “Happiness can be found in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light?” Whether we are actually going through a rough time or whether it is just a normal day, think about how true this is. We do not have to rely on the weather to be happy; we can just add a little sunshine into our day ourselves.

Thinking about it, I know that for me, calling home to my family, taking a fifteen-minute break to run to Sonic with a couple of friends, checking off my to-do list something that I wanted to complete, Skyping with friends who do not live nearby, or going for a quick run around campus can be all the sunshine I need to make my day feel great.

Think about those things that just never seem to fail to bring a smile to your face. Maybe it’s spending time with your family or friends. Maybe it’s going for a ride on your horse or going for a run. Maybe it’s sitting down to read a good book. Whatever it is, it can be the cause of sunshine on a cloudy day.

Next time you’re feeling a little bit of gloom, don’t let it get to you! Catch a little bit of that spring fever and just add a little sunshine!

Got Cheese?

Recently, in one of my classes at K-State, we were asked to read the book “Who Moved My Cheese?” Now, I’ll admit, I had no idea what this book would be about, and honestly didn’t expect much. However, what I found as a read through the pages was a pretty cool perspective on change and dealing with change.

The storyline looks something like this.

There were four mice, named Sniff, Scurry, Hem, and Haw. These mice spent their time in a maze, looking for their own, personal cheese, or what they believed would make them happiest. One day, the four found a corridor in the maze that provided all of their types of cheeses. They made a routine of coming to that particular corridor until it was completely depleted of cheese.

Sniff, who had a tendency to discover when things were about to change before it actually happened, was prepared. So, he and Scurry, who has a talent for reacting to change in a positive way and taking action, set out to search the maze for more cheese. However, Hem was not comfortable with change, so he chose to stay in the corridor to wait and see if more cheese appeared where it was previously. Haw remained with Hem for a while, because he had a tendency to wait and not address change until absolutely necessary. Meanwhile, Sniff and Scurry were successful in finding a new corridor with even more cheese than the first. Eventually, Haw, who was unsuccessful in changing Hem’s mind, faced his initial uncertainties and set out for more cheese. He too found the new corridor of cheese. He returned to the first corridor to invite Hem to come along, but Hem insisted that he did not want to experience any cheese that was different than that of which he was already used to.

We can learn so much from this book!

Which character are we most like? Are we like Hem, who insists on having familiarity and routine and cannot seem to adapt to change when it occurs? Or, maybe we’re like Haw, who might like the routine and familiarity, but will eventually adapt to change when necessary. Or, are we like Scurry, who reacts to the change by taking action and making the most of the situation, or Sniff, who actually sees the change coming and is prepared to make it a positive outcome long before it occurs?

What is our “cheese?” What is it that is most important to us, that motivates us to succeed the most?

Finally, how do we react when something changes? Do we give up, or continue to pursue what is most important to us?

“If you don’t like something change it; if you can’t change it, change the way you think about it.” –Mary Engelbreit

Advice for All Ages

It was mid-December, and approaching at an alarming rate were the most dreaded days of the semester for almost any student. In just five days, finals week was set to begin. I was sitting in the very last class for the semester for one of my courses, and the professor asked us whether we were nervous about our exams (um, yes?). Before leaving, she said she had just a few words of advice, and that the advice would be the same words she told her children every morning before they got on the school bus. She wanted us to keep these words in mind, not just during our final exams, but throughout the remainder of our time at K-State and throughout our careers. She said,

“Be nice. Do your best. Be teachable.”

It seems easy, does it not? But, how easy is it to become caught up in our day-to-day activities and forget something so easy? Often, we can follow this advice in the simplest situations.

Be Nice. This one seems to be the easiest to act upon, yet can also be the easiest to forget. However, we know that the simplest act can make the greatest impact on someone else. We can brighten another person’s day simple by being kind. Think about that moment that I’m sure many of us have experienced where we pass someone going in the opposite direction, make eye contact, and just awkwardly turn away. Well, I’m here to save us all from future awkward situations such as this with a single-word solution: smile. Smiles are contagious. Smiles can turn a person’s gloomy day into a brighter one. What about that person who seems lonely or left out? It sounds like a golden opportunity to make a new friend. And, isn’t it a nice feeling to receive help on something when we need it? Well, isn’t it an even nicer feeling to give help when someone else needs it? Sometimes, by making an effort to simply be nice to others, we make our own day just a little bit better!

Do Your Best. Let’s admit it. Sometimes, we just have a lazy day. It’s easy to do just enough to get by on some days, instead of striving to give it our 100%. Let’s say that we know we have a quiz tomorrow. We should probably dedicate at least a few minutes of our evening to studying for that quiz, shouldn’t we? So, we glance through our notes until we think we have enough of the information stored in our brains to pass the quiz. I mean, studying for a few minutes, hoping for the best, and spending the rest of the evening watching our favorite television show seems like a much more enjoyable way to end the day. However, by doing this, are we really doing the absolute best that we can do on that quiz the next day? Are we really challenging our minds to truly understand what we are taught in that class? Are we helping ourselves by doing just enough to get by? It’s all about striving to be the best we can be whenever we have the opportunity to take that extra step.

Be Teachable. The art of learning doesn’t simply involve attending class or listening to the information someone presents us. To truly learn, we must be teachable. We must be open to accept the suggestions or information coming our way. It doesn’t sound too difficult, but I will be the first to admit that personally, I can be stubborn. A few weeks ago, I was getting into my car to run a couple of errands. Now, I am still trying to learn my way around Manhattan, and do not particularly enjoy driving when I don’t know where exactly I am going. So, I turned on my trusty GPS, fondly named Lucy Lou. However, just because the GPS told me to turn one direction doesn’t mean I listened. I thought the GPS had to be wrong, and because I refused to allow the GPS to teach me how to successfully reach my destination, I drove around pointlessly for much longer than I needed to. Sometimes, it is easy to pass up the opportunity to learn by simple not allowing ourselves to be teachable.

The advice that my professor gives to her children before they go to school everyday is advice we can all take to heart everyday! Be nice. Do your best. Be teachable.

Sink, or Swim?

Have you ever had one of those days in which you feel that you just cannot win? You know, those days in which you are late to school, slip on the ice in the parking lot, spill part of your lunch on your lap, argue with a friend over something that is completely unimportant, and receive a bad grade on a quiz? Yep, one of those days. We all have! I don’t know about you, but for me, I look back at those days and cannot help but just laugh. However, at the time, laughing just wasn’t the way I always approached those unfortunate, seemingly unlucky, often embarrassing situations. But, I wish I would have.

Last week, I had the opportunity to spend some time with a few individuals who, without meaning to, caused me to sit back and think about how I personally handle those things that just don’t go right. We are all human, and we are all guilty of what this individual called “high arrogance, low self-esteem.” In other words, we often think we need to show that we know every answer, when, in fact, we really don’t believe we do at all.

I think back to a few years ago, when a pretty intense ice storm kept many of us Kansas residents out of school for a few days. My family didn’t have electricity, so my brother and I spent a few days with our grandparents. Now, I can sum up exactly how we spent those hours in one word: Monopoly. We played that board game over, and over, and over. This seems like a great way to spend the time indoors. However, my brother never particularly enjoyed playing board games with me, because for some reason, I always thought I had to win. The reason we continually played that game wasn’t that we were having that much fun, it was that I kept insisting that we play again every time I landed on one of his hotels, which were usually conveniently located on Park Place or Boardwalk. Basically, I didn’t know how to fail.

Let’s think about that homework or quiz that perhaps we could have done a better job on than we did. Go figure, we did poorly on our work because it wasn’t explained well enough, or we didn’t receive enough sleep the night before, or we’re just having a bad day. It’s never our own fault, is it? We are all guilty of trying to place the blame on someone or something else, instead of swallowing our own pride and admitting that we could have put in a little more of our own effort.

It is instances such as these where it is up to us to decide whether we want to sink or swim. While playing Monopoly with my brother, I chose to sink. Instead of accepting the fact that my brother’s Monopoly skills were apparently at an entirely different level than mine, I insisted on ruining his day by getting more and more frustrated. I had high arrogance and low self-esteem in thinking that I just had to win.

Wouldn’t it be better if we all made an effort to reverse that attitude, so that we would have low arrogance and high self-esteem? By accepting the fact that we all have room to grow and learn and that some days, things just aren’t meant to be perfect? In fact, that’s where we can grow the most! We aren’t meant to be the best at everything the first time we try it. All that anyone can ever ask is that we view our “failures,” or those instances in which we just can’t win, as opportunities to discover our strengths and weaknesses, and to learn.

The question we must continually ask ourselves is simple.

Will we sink, or swim?

Just Be You: To Infinity, and Beyond!

It's that time of the year again. Leaves crunch under every step and warm jackets are moved back up to the front of the closet. Sometimes, even more noticeable are the jack-o'-lanterns, masks, costumes, and mountainous displays of candy filling the isles of almost every store in town. Fall as arrived, and so has Halloween!

Whenever this holiday rolls around, I cannot help but think of how much my cousins, brother, and I anticipated that final day of October each year. Let's take a moment and flashback to an October 31st of a few years ago. My brother, Mike, and I had anxiously made it through that day of school and were on our way to our grandparents' house to get ready to go trick-or-treating. That year, Mike had decided to step into the shoes of his very favorite character. He could constantly be seen in the living room reenacting some of his favorite scenes from this character's movies, often ending in his favorite line, "To infinity, and beyond!" Yes; Mike was Buzz Lightyear. He excitedly stepped into the costume our mother had spent hours sewing and preparing for him. Then, he picked up his trick-or-treat bag, got off to a good start by grabbing a handful of our grandma's candy, and headed out the door.

Now, why did Mike choose to dress up as Buzz Lightyear? He chose this character because he wanted to! He was allowing his personality to shine through by fearlessly showing each fellow trick-or-treater he passed exactly who he wanted to be for that day. Think back to your favorite Halloween costume. Sure, there is a good chance that there were others who chose to dress as the same character, but I am sure you had added your own personal touch of creativity that made your costume perfect for you.

Wouldn't Halloween be boring if everyone dressed in the same costume? Sure it would, and everyday life is just the same! Just as we choose who we want to pretend to be for that one special day of the year, we choose who we really want to be every moment of every day as well. If we all wanted to be the exact same person, the world just wouldn't be the same. We all have our different interests, talents, and personalities for a reason. All we have to do is embrace exactly who we are! Be appreciative of the talents we were given and focus on what we are passionate about, even if those talents and interests aren't the same as the person next to us.

Be yourself! Show the world just how special and wonderful you are! Why? Because the world needs you, exactly who you are. Yes, you.

The world needs you, "To infinity, and beyond!"