One Month to Live by Kerry and Chris Shook Day One

I received this book in the mail and each day the authors pose a question for you to answer and to give some thought.

Question #1:

Make a list of 5 things about your life you would change if you only knew you had one month to live. Select one of these 5 to start working on.

1. Exercise more
2. Change my eating habits so I can teach my children about good nutrition.
3. Read or play a game with my children everyday.
4. Go for a walk daily to take in the sights and sounds of nature.
5. Stop being angry and depressed all the time.

I have decided I would start on #4, and try to walk and/or run daily. I can either got the local walking paths, take a lap around the trailer park, or any other walking/running area I can come up with.

Question #2

Think about how you would like your life to be different after you have completed reading this book Why did you chose to read this book? What's happening your life now that has prepared you to think about who you are and why your here?

After reading this book I would hope that I make a decision to become a healthier person (mentally, emotionally, and physically), a better influence on my children lives, and to grow in my faith and belief in God.

I am a member of a Blog for Books page where I am given a selection of books to choose from and then I will get the book in the mail to read and then write a review for the website. I chose this book because I have often thought about the movie "A Bucket List" even though I have never seen it. The general sense that I got from the previews is what are things you want to do in life before you die and so I thought this book fit with the general premise of the movie. I have started to make my won bucket list of things I would like to accomplish before I die. This book will help me on the journey to learn about myself and changes that I can make in my life to hopefully accomplish goals of my bucket list.

Currently in my life that has made me decide to take a hard look at myself and make changes is that I am an unemployed, single mom and teacher. My husband a little over a year ago asked for a divorce and I lost my job. I believe 2010 was one of the worst years of my life. This has prepared me to be open to new ideas and to make positive changes in my life that I feel are very important to my health and safety as well as my children's.

Thoughts about what I read:

I never thought of my life as the little dash on a tombstone and what impact/legacy I will leave behind. I think learning about how to live by four main principles will be interesting. These four principles are: to live passionately, to love completely, to learn humbly, and to leave boldly. I can't wait to learn about the principles and starting applying them to my life.... and just maybe good things will come of 2011.

Another Valentine's Day

Another Valentine's Day is coming up and I am alone. It is a very depressing thought knowing that you are alone on what should be the most romantic holiday of the year. I sometimes wonder if I will always be alone for the rest of my life. I don't want to be. I would prefer to be with someone who loves me for me and who will accept everything there is to understand and accept about me. I know ultimately I am not alone because I have God on my side and He is always with me. I wish I had someone to snuggle and just curl up to sometimes. Sometimes it is just the knowledge that you have someone waiting and loving you. This  too will pass but my meanderings about this have come to the forefront as I am getting the boys ready for V-Day!!

Life Without Limits byu Nick Vujicic

Life Without Limits by Nick Vujicic is a motivating and uplifting book about a young man's adventures  after being born without arms and legs, and only a small foot. The book follows his ups and downs in life, and how his faith in God has impacted his life and how he has used his disability as an ability to reach other people. It is a very motivational and inspiring book which leads you to ask the question, “How can I lead a ridiculously good life?” I highly recommend this book for any person no matter where they are in their life.

** “I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review”. **

Job Search

Over the last several weeks I have conducted many job searches and have submitted multiple resume submissions and application to no avail. It is actually a very frustrating occurrence on a weekly basis. A year ago when I unfortunately was no longer employed I began the search and am still looking. I have gone to interviews but haven't landed a job yet. There have been weeks when I have looked for employment everyday but lately I have went down to once or twice a week. Typically it is the same jobs or same companies I keep coming across in my job search and I figure if they didn't contact me before why would they now. It is not only frustrating but depressing.

I will continue my job search and hopefully it will end soon.

Rejection Effect

Lately I have been struggling with what I call my "rejection effect." I feel the only response I get in life lately is rejection.

The definition of rejection, according to dictionary.com, is

1. the act or process of rejecting.

2. the state of being rejected.

3. something that is rejected.

It all began last November when the Sunday after Thanksgiving my husband informed me that he wanted a divorce. Needless to say this came as quite the shock to me because we had just bought a trailer in both our names not 2 weeks before. In hindsight he "bought" the trailed because he felt the need to help my children and I out so that we would always have a place to live. Talk about feeling rejected.

Then again in January, I felt rejected. The purpose for my move to Carlisle was because I had been hired by a private company. The leadership in this company was very misleading because she led me to believe I was doing a great job but after my probationary period was up I was terminated from employment with this company. Rejected again. Looking back I shouldn't have been surprised based on comments that other people had made about the classroom I was assigned to.. 4 teachers in less than 2 years. It was a shock as well since the boss had been in my classroom the week before and told me I was doing a good job and stated this in front of other people. Yet a week later I was terminated. Confusing, daunting, and disappointing are only a few words to describe how I felt.

Since losing this job I have sent out resumes and applications that I have finally lost count of the amount of paper, ink, and time I have put into job searching. Mostly this inquiries about employment have ended in rejection as well. You are overqualified or we have a candidate that better meets our needs so no interview for you. I began to doubt myself and started to sink lower and lower into depression. To see my self as a failure as well as a reject.

I don't want to see myself as a reject or as a failure..

Is there such a thing as this "rejection effect"? I guess only time will tell.