Stress Mangement

How do you handle stress?? How does it effect you? Well, here are some testimonials that The Gummi Bear Groupies(Jacinda) put together for a class she doesn't take anymore:

The Same, Dreadful Spot

When we go to Wal*Mart or Target we usually have an idea of what we're going to get. It might be milk, batteries, toilet paper, actual paper, dog food, light bulbs, a T-shirt, a lamp, etc. We plan to get it and get out. So, we go in, walk to where-ever our needed product is, look about the shelf to make certain that we are purchasing the right thing, make sure we have the correct funds in our pockets or purses, grab it, and walk away. But, wait! (What? That was everything...wasn't it?) No, it wasn't, dear reader, for we all always seem to end up in the exact same, dreadful spot... The Check-Out line!!

(Why is that so dreadful?) I'm glad you asked.

Be it long or short, there's a point in that period of time from the end of the isle to the cashier where our eyes seem to wonder. What do you think they see? (Well, what ever is in the isle, I suppose.) Right! There is always something there that we feel we need. We didn't know we needed it until we got to this very spot! There's candy we didn't know we craved, magazines we didn't realize we were interested in, gum we didn't think we needed, drinks we didn't assume we thirsted for, and other amazing things we didn't even consider when we walked through the door. All of a sudden, we're reaching for our wallets, digging through our purses, and burrowing through our pockets, to see if we have just enough to purchase what we recently discovered we longed for.

Sometimes, we are victorious and we have enough money to obtain what we desire and we walk out of the store with a gleam of satisfaction across our faces. But, have you really won? You probably spent your last dime on your craving. What can you purchase now? (Nothing?) Nothing at all.

Other times, we don't have the cash, and we walk away disappointed and down-hearted.

These are the evils of the Check-Out line! BEWARE!!!

Comfort Zone

When you hang out with your friends, do you talk about God? I'm saying serious conversations about God and your beliefs. If you haven't, why not? I know it's not a comfortable subject because, everyone has different views on God and religion.

Why not get out of your comfort zone? Invite your friends to church. Go further and invite your coworker to church. I know you've thought about it, but you don't know how.

I'm guilty of not talking to my friends about God. (Not my church friends) I'm talking about my school friends, work friends, acquaintances, etc. I never talk to them about going to church. They ask questions about my religion and I answer, but, for some reason, I'm afraid that if I ask them to come to church with me, it will drive them away.

I'm trying to get out of my comfort zone. I realize now that people really are hungry for God. The reason it didn't register earlier was because, I'm already fulfilled. I have God in my life and it took me some time to apprehend that other people don't have him in theirs. That's why some people feel like there's something missing, that they feel like their lives have come short of a certain commodity. I haven't had a chance to actually hunger for God. He's always been in my life, so I didn't realize that other people have that emptiness.

Having God in my life brings a sense of happiness. I wish this would have dawned on me earlier in life. Sure, I heard it all the time that you should talk about God to people who don't know about him and invite people to church who don't have a church to go to. But, actually going out and doing those things is different than saying you will and knowing you should.

We need to learn to share his word and not just keep it to ourselves. That's selfish. If we don't tell people what we know to be true, we're not doing our job.

God gives you chances to talk about him and invite people to church, it's what we do with those chances that makes the difference. Usually, we'll talk about what's going on in our lives and we don't even think about God. It's easy to forget about him and it's comfortable to talk about other stuff, but, you need to get out of your comfort zone and remember that God probably gave you this chance to talk about him.

Don't screw it up, you may never get that chance again. Dive into the unknown territory, what's the worst that could happen?

Insecurity

So, I'm lying in bed, late at night waiting to go to sleep when I look over at my laptop and think,"I'm gonna write something in my blog." Then it hits me. I KNOW I'm gonna write something in my blog. (Here goes.)

When was the last time you looked at yourself in the mirror and said,"Wow, I look good today."? I've noticed that a lot of people are always finding fault with their looks. Why not find something about yourself that makes you feel good. I know sometimes, when I look in the mirror and I don't like what I see, I keep looking and find more and more negative things. But, that's what we do.

We get right up in front of the mirror to where we can see the pores that no one else does.

Don't look so closely. No one looks at every single detail on your body.

(Oh my gosh! Is that a split-end?! You're gross!)<--Nobody does that.

You're always seeing beautiful girls looking in the mirror disliking the way they look. Why?(Well, I blame the media.) They're looking at what people want them to be and not at what they have.

I'm not saying you shouldn't care about how you look, because you should. But, you need to look good for yourself...not others. If you think you look acceptional, you do. Don't change yourself though. You are exactly the way you should be. Your personality is your own and you shouldn't feel insecure about who you are and what you think. Find the one thing about yourself that your proud of! It could be your smile, your eyes, your hair, laugh, skin, voice, personality, etc. when you find that one thing, hold onto it. It's not the only thing that makes you you, but it's what makes you happy.

You can't change your physical appearance, (well, you can but you shouldn't) so, don't look in the mirror and say,"Jeez! Is my nose really that big?! And look at my EARS! Are they actually that crooked?! I need to change that to make myself happy!"

Make the most of the cards you were dealt. Say,"I'm proud to have this nose. My grandma had the same nose, and she was beautiful!" and, "My great-uncle had these ears and nobody thought twice about them."

Like I said, don't look to closely. Nobody else does.

Childhood

Do you remember when you were young and you spent all your time out in the sun exploring nature, making up games, playing in the dirt, and swimming in creeks? If you've never done any of those things, I'm terribly sorry. You missed out.

When I was young I did all of those things and I did them practically everyday. Rain or shine. I was a weird kid though...I played with bugs. I had fun, and that's what childhood is mostly about. That and learning what is bad and why you shouldn't do anything bad(or else).

I would say that I had an acceptional childhood. I even used to read outside under a tree.

Now a kid's childhood consists of mostly television and junk food(at least that's what's advertised). They don't have to make up games or use they're imagination anymore, because it's already done for them. I mean, I played video games as a child, but I loved playing outside. Maybe I'm wrong about kids these days, and I hope I am. Kids may love playing outside more than I think they do, they might never change. I hope I'm right.

By the way, I'm sorry for the delayed post, a lot has been happening with my computer and I might need to get a new one(fingers crossed)! Also, if you like my blog, you might like my best friend's blog. His punctuation and grammar aren't the best(don't tell him I told you that), but he's funny and has many strange adventures with many characters. Be sure to read his mysterious tales from the beginning.

This Mystery Man blog link: http://thismysteryman.blogspot.com/

Be sure to tell me what you think and I'll bug him to write more stories.

Stark-Raving-Mad!!

I don't know about a lot of you people out there, but I'm tired of being snowed in. Human contact is sort of a need of mine and I don't consider my mom human. Ok...that's an exageration. I love my mom, but I need more than just her to hang out with. I'm going a little stir crazy or as my mom would say, "stark-raving-mad!" Can you tell I've been hanging out with my mom too much?

Although, this has been quite an experience. I learned how to drive in ice and snow, I cleaned my room twice, started using Skype, spent two days in my pajamas, experimented with my hair, did all my laundry, stayed up late every night, and lost two cats. None of those are exagerated.(Ok...I cleaned my room once.)

ANYway, I just want to know how everyone is handling this weather. Have you been experiencing as much car trouble as me? Do you have any funny stories about the happenings of this superb blizzard that you would like to share? If so leave a comment or email me at: jacinda_dawn@hotmail.com <--click it.

It's Been a While

I am so thankful to have Internet! I haven't been on here in more than a month because of no Internet connection!

On the up side, I got to see my twin sister get married! The wedding was beautiful, all the decorations were put together so well, and she looked AMAZING! My wedding gift to her was a video I made to play at her wedding. No one was supposed to see it until the wedding took place, but when they started playing the video, there was NO SOUND! I was freaking out! My face went red and I apologized to both my sister and her hubs. Of course, I was assured that it wasn't my fault and I was promptly forgiven.

To make up for the sound, the pastor marrying them talked in the place of everyone in the video. It was pretty funny and also appreciated. But nothing could make up for the loss of the music. Without the music, it didn't bounce like I wanted it too.