Neon dreams

The other night I dreamed I was driving my 2001 Dodge Neon, which my dad bought for me in 2003 after I got my first newspaper job. I paid him for part of it. That silver sedan carried me through 11 years of my life until a broken water pump and related oil issues last July caused it to stop running, at midnight just two blocks from home. Fortunately it restarted and I got it home and I got it to the mechanic a few days later. He said the $1,200 repairs would cost me would be better spent toward a new car. No one advised me otherwise and for someone who hangs on to things till the bitter end, I knew this was the right choice. At the time, the Neon had about 155,000 miles on it, and Kurt's car had slightly more. I had been wondering what we would do with our old cars and how a new car would enter the picture.

Now Kurt and I are making payments on a 2009 Ford Escape which is a great step up, but having to let go of my car was emotional. We gave it to his co-worker who got it fixed and gave it to his daughter. She drives it to Monmouth where she goes to college. We saw her driving it a few weeks ago and I'm glad it has a new life.

Here are some of the things that happened in my 20s and 30s in that car (in no particular order):

naps
cries
laughs
road trips
drinks
smokes
carpools
job interviews
break-ups
hook-ups
fights
reconciliations
dates
homework
surprises
meetings
meals
hopes
dreams
broken homes
broken dreams
plans
prayers
conversations
realizations
decisions
journaling

The list goes on. It was profound for me to realize how much a car marks a person's life. For me, I went through eight moves, five jobs, two careers, two serious relationships, one marriage, one dog, and a lot of personal growth. My Dodge Neon will always have a special place in my heart.

Worry into wonder

I've been pondering a passage from a book a friend bought when she and her boyfriend were living in Southeast Portland, and gave me before they moved to China to teach English. The book by Neale Donald Walsch is When Everything Changes, Change Everything and it's a spiritual approach to change. What change is and how to live through it are examples of the aspects of change he explores. This passage I think is one of the best recipes for a positive attitude, and a positive attitude is a prerequisite for growth and success.   

"I promised you at the outset...that when you're through here you'll be be able to change Fear into Excitement, Worry into Wonder, Expectation into Anticipation, Resistance into Acceptance, Disappointment into Detachment, Enragement into Engagement, Addiction into Preference, Requirement into Contentment, Judgment into Observation, Sadness into Happiness, Thought into Presence, Reaction into Response, and a Time of Turmoil into a Time of Peace."

Since the book reads in the form of a journey, the "outset" is the start of the book. By the end, he promises the reader to be able to recognize and feel the negative emotions he lists, and to opt for their positive counterparts. 

Worry into wonder. For example, how do I wonder about what life will be like when my unemployment benefits run out soon, instead of worry about it like I have been? I guess wondering makes room for creativity and a new way of going about things. I'll give it my best.

Walsch, N. D. (2009). When everything changes, change everything: In a time of turmoil, a pathway to peace. Ashland, OR: EmNin Books.

The value of putting time into your side projects

I've started listening to Rainmaker.FM interviews with entrepreneurs in the fields of content production - writing, producing, blogging, etc. In this half-hour episode with Michael Hyatt, the former Chairman and CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishers, Hyatt talks about a blog he wrote in his spare time for 10 years, and how it launched his current dream career as a speaker, online course instructor, and writer.
In 2004 he started blogging because he wanted to write more and discipline himself to do that. After four years, he built up 1,000 monthly readers. Then the next year he averaged 20,000 readers and got picked up by sites like Huffington Post. Eventually he stepped out of corporate life to pursue his dream of being a speaker, writer, and online course instructor and his site gets almost half a million visitors every month.
On discipline: "It's harder for me to discipline myself to write now when I'm less busy than it was back then when I was so busy."
It was putting in the work for 10 years on a side project that allowed Hyatt to do what he does now for a living, and I find that inspiring. Success grows when you chip away at it and it eventually blooms. And I get what it's like to perform better under pressure than when you're surrounded by the luxury of time.

Lone - The Birds Don`t Fly This High

I heard this while driving to Cooper Mountain to meet Kurt for a run. Great sound! Life is good.

You will want to try my favorite bagel

What have I eaten for breakfast yesterday and today? A peanut butter and strawberry preserves sandwich on a Thomas' 100 percent whole wheat bagel. That they were on a two-for-$5 sale at Fred Meyer made the decision for me to try them. Otherwise I would have picked something else I could make a PB&J breakfast sandwich out of, which I ate every morning last week on toasted English muffins and the craving was still going strong.
High in fiber, calcium, and iron and low in fat and sugar, these bagels taste good and pack nutritional value. They're soft and moist and lighter than say, chewy and bland plain cafeteria-fare bagels. You don't need cream cheese to make these palatable. Although I didn't like them as much toasted because I found them drier, you might like them better that way. Kurt had already eaten two by the time I tried one - the morning after I bought them - so this healthy staple is also hungry-husband-approved.

Source: http://www.thomasbreads.com

Kurt and I are both runners so we're confident these bagels are doing our bodies good after intense five-mile hill runs we've done the last three evenings. Here is why: One bagel = one serving = 240 calories. Twenty are from the two grams of fat in each bagel, with 0.5 grams coming from saturated fat. The total fat makes up three percent of the Food and Drug Administration's daily recommend fat intake for you, so you have the rest of the day to eat your remaining 97 percent!
If you want your food to both fill you and go to work for you, it's a good sign when whole grain flour, water, and flaked wheat are the first three ingredients. What comes fourth is sugar. Added sugars supply seven grams of sugars in each bagel. That means 28 calories per serving are from added sugar. According to the American Heart Association, women should consume no more than 100 calories from added sugar per day and for men it's no more than 150 calories. So much of what we each contains sugar but in my opinion, if you don't drink pop or eat dessert most days, you don't need to worry about the sugar content in these bagels.
According to WebMD, men and women need at least 56 and 46 grams, respectively, of protein daily and each bagel has 10 grams. So this is a good choice if you don't eat meat. If you care about sodium, there is 17 percent of your daily recommended intake in each serving. Two of the 19 ingredients are low-grade preservatives - calcium propionate and sorbic acid.
In the future if these bagels are on sale when I do my grocery shopping I'll buy them. Because they're a great source of energy and tissue repair for athletes, I'll strongly recommend them to our 2015 Hood to Coast team, the Jogging Juggernauts.

Five lessons from LEGO's rebound that can help in life

Beyond the Brick: A LEGO Brickumentary is only 20 minutes long and looks at how LEGO CEO Jørgen Vig Knudstorp helped make what had become a struggling company profitable again. Embedded in the story are five life general lessons I picked up while watching the film on Netflix:

Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

1. Your life can be a case study in how to turn things around. Less than a decade ago, LEGO was losing a million dollars a day but it is now the world's largest and most profitable toy brand.

2. Know yourself. What are you uniquely about? What is your core business? LEGO lost its way when it no longer understood its own self-identity as a Danish toymaker whose name means "play well." Founded in 1932 by a carpenter, LEGO drifted from its base as a brick and building system and ventured into business areas which LEGO knew little about (one example being theme parks). Spreading itself too thin, LEGO lost money. By not understanding your core business and what your unique advances are, you will underestimate your own strengths.

3. Listen. Like Nike, Starbucks, and Apple, brand recognition means money for LEGO. Kids for decades have been inspired by playing with LEGO's and customers and fans value the company's openness into how their products work. But there were gaps and to identify and fill them, LEGO had to ask customers what they want. Then deliver. A great example: Before delving into extensive market research, LEGO didn't know that girls - surprise! - want to build and construct stuff. It launched a product line for girls and the brand's popularity among that customer segment has grown.

4. No immediate growth is okay. In the first year Jørgen vig Knudstorp was CEO, the company didn't grow but it also didn't seek growth. Sales fell 20 percent in 2004 and grew five percent the next year. Instead, LEGO spent that time putting its energy back into production, product development, and marketing. "When you're not growing, you have to drive productivity," vig Knudstorp said. Re-base and re-focus on what makes you unique, why you exist, and what you can give to others. Prosperity will follow.

5. Think big from your foundation. While LEGO got back to the core of its existence and its value to others, it identified three global hubs - Europe, Middle East, Asia - from where to expand into new and emerging markets. Look at your journey up until now, and keep moving forward with a fresh sense of adventure.

Thanks for being there, Quizno's

What would have been my first time going to Krispy Kreme to buy my nagging sugar craving a doughnut never happened. Instead, I took a trip down a more responsible path: Two freeways and about a dozen stoplights to Beaverton Pet Clinic to pick up Arthur's pain pill prescription I had filled Sunday. Still, I wanted to eat something sweet and it was lunchtime and I was hungry, so I waffled between going to McDonald's or somewhere else junky, even though veggies from my expensive Community Supported Agriculture share were in my fridge rotting. Before I decided to stop procrastinating on getting Arthur's pills, the plan was to get Krispy Kreme, then go through the Burger King drive-through, which is halfway between KK and my house. At least I would have brought home my fish sandwich and put CSA lettuce on it. Instead, I spotted a Quizno's as I drove past the strip mall next door to the vet's. I cheerfully bought the $26 prescription, left my car parked at the vet's, and walked to Quizno's. For some reason the veggie sandwich was not on the menu, but the employee offered to make me one. It looked more like a medium, not the small size I asked for, and it cost $3.99, but I swear I have paid more before for them. There were cookies and brownies for sale but they looked gross. I left the store happy about the way the whole experience turned out, even though the guacamole made my stomach feel queasy afterward. It was all meant to be. I'm glad I was rewarded for making the responsible choice.