Mean girls finish last.

Disclaimer: This post is directed towards the men who are NOT obnoxious assholes that are just trying to see how many numbers they can get in one night. Ladies, you could go ahead and knock those guys out. This post is for the gentlemen out there.

Also, what I talk about in this post really goes both for dudes and chicks, I just see it happen way more often to guys.

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Girls piss me off sometimes.. The ones that don't appreciate the courage it takes for a man to approach her. Time and time again, whether at a bar, a club, a coffee shop, school, or wherever, I've seen guys get turned down, rejected, or straight up ignored. I mean, of course by approaching someone you are taking the risk of getting rejected... that's a given. But what I don't like is when chicks rudely and ignorantly turn someone down, when they take for granted that someone thinks they are attractive, appealing in some way, interesting... or that someone is willing to take the risk of getting rejected just to talk to them.

I give major props to the guys out there who have the courage to try to spark a random conversation with a woman, ask for a dance, or shoot, ask to buy them a drink. I mean, come on! Someone is wanting to spend money on you... someone is asking you if they could buy you a drink! Be thankful and appreciative that someone wants to do this for you. Don't act annoyed or rude. By no means am I saying fake it and accept their approach, let them buy you a drink, dance with them or give them your number. If you're not interested, that is totally fine! All I am saying is act, and more importantly, actually be, appreciative, honored and flattered. If you aren't interested in them... all you have to do is so say in a nice and humble way. You don't even have to make up an excuse for not being interested. All I am saying is... be thankful and act/be gracious to whoever is willing to take the risk of getting rejected... for you.

I have a few guy friends who refuse to approach a female. I always tell them, "who cares, just go talk to her. Be cool and a gentleman and it's all good!" They'd say that girls get approached all the time and all they do is turn guys away, and that they refused to be one of them. They'd say, "if a girl wanted to talk to me, then she could come up to me." I, honestly, don't blame guys for feeling/thinking this way. I think we've all witnessed men getting ignored or rudely rejected.. so who really could blame them?

Women don't realize how much power they have over men. Or how easily they could make a guy feel humiliated, not good enough, not attractive enough, etc. Knowing this, we could find ways to make a point to tell them that we are not interested, but in a way that doesn't ruin their night or make them feel insecure about themselves.

And ya know what? The people who are mean, rude, unappreciative... they will get theirs.

In the long run, mean girls finish last. In the long run, nice girls finish first. 


Cliff Note Equations:
Bitchy girls= Bitchy karma
Nice girls= Nice karma
(It's that simple)

My Bucket List

This list keeps on growing and growing..

All the things I want to do before I die (in no particular order):

Black Belt in Jujitsu
Become fluent in Arabic
Run a Half Marathon
Learn to horseback ride
Buy a horse
Become a millionaire (by 35, crossing fingers)
Become fluent in Spanish
Learn how to Salsa dance
Start an organization to help build confidence in others
Win a competition
Go on a cruise
Start a blog
Write a book
Write and Publish Teta’s cookbook
Travel to Palestine
Travel to Italy
Travel to at least one country in each continent of the world
Start a company
Ride on a hot air balloon
Live in a 3^rd world country for at least 3 months
Buy mom and dad each a bad-ass present
Create and publish my own font
Buy a house in full cash
Be on television
Live as a homeless person for a week
Live in the wilderness without any supplies for 3 days
Go to Las Vegas
Graduate college
Masters in something
Become a doctor of something
Be the valedictorian of masters program
Live in another state
Road trip across the US
Save someone’s life
Make HeadSTRONG world-wide
Be swept off my feet
Go to the airport, pick a random flight and travel there
Learn debka
Find Tiger Woods and Arnold Schwarzenegger and slap them
Find Angelo Mozilo and slap him
Donate $1M to charity
Visit my birthplace, Connecticut
Stand underneath a waterfall
Go skinny dipping
Ride a camel and an elephant
Meet the Spice Girls
Cliff dive
Ride a gondola in Venice
 Salsa dance in New York
Swim with dolphins
Learn how to sail
Pet a lion
Attend a gay pride festival
Stomp grapes in a vineyard
Visit Lucille Ball’s gravesite
See the Phantom of the Opera
Marry the man I’m head over heels for
Learn sign language
Have a big family
Go zip lining
Buy Michelle and her parents an awesome present
Visit all 50 of the United States
Fire a pistol
Be at Time’s Square on New Year’s Eve
Visit Dubai
Have a star named after me
Be in a music video
Become a bad ass in poker (first, learn how to play it)
Discover what makes me truly happy

Going out of your way goes A LONG way.

Too often we take the easy route. We choose to stay in instead of making it out to a friend's party, we have to do laundry which means we can't go to the networking event, it's too far so we don't go because we don't want to make the drive, there's so many people going to the graduation party so it doesn't really matter if we show up or not... In other words, we don't go out of our way because it's easier not to.

Making acquaintances is easy. But creating and building relationships and true friendships is not... it takes work. It takes energy, time and a genuine interest in getting to know someone and in letting them get to know you. So many times I've made excuses not to go to certain events or call a certain person back just because it means I'd have to go out of my way. But I have done so at a high cost.

Have you ever went to someone's birthday party and the following day they let you know how much it meant to them that you went? Or when you went to support a friend's fundraiser and a year later in conversation they told you that they'll never forget that you came. Or when you stayed an extra 30 minutes on the phone to let your friend vent to you... and then they let you know that because they were able to talk to you, their whole day turned around.

Going out of your way goes a long way.

Once I started going out of my way, so many great things have happened to me. I have gained an infinite amount of genuine relationships with wonderful people. I continue to learn more about myself and life. I have supporters in whatever I do. I also have "contrarians" that always challenge my opinions. And I always have someone to call.

I have become, and continue to become, more than just an acquaintance with so many different kinds of people, which in turn, gives me a more diverse perspective on life. Some people think that having only a handful of good friends is better than having lots and lots of friends... I 100% disagree. The more people you get to know on a personal level, the more you learn about diversity, life, and about yourself. I am the person I am today because of the tons of amazing individuals I have gotten to know on a personal level.. Before I became friends with lots of different people, I was pretty sheltered in the way I thought about things. 

The more people I get to know, the more I learn and grow, and I know that they learn and grow from knowing me.

Go out of your way to build friendships and relationships. It'll go a long way, trust me.

Choices.

Choices... We have so many of them. So many that it could drive us crazy! It's pretty incredible how our lives are literally shaped by the choices we make, isn't it? We have the power to create any life we want simply by making choices... and acting on them.

We can wake up in the morning and choose to make it a great day. And then, make it a great day.
and
We can wake up in the morning and choose not to make it a great day. And then, not make it a great day.

We can make our days great regardless of what happens. There will always, always, always and... you guessed it... ALWAYS be events that will occur that may make it a little difficult, or sometimes very difficult, to make days great. Getting fired, broken up with, in a car accident, or injured are just a few nice little examples of events that can, scratch that, will occur.  These events are "conveniently" inevitable. Let's face it, this is life.

My friend's car got broken into last week, and my purse was stolen. Two days went by, and I still found myself so livid and frustrated with the situation. But then I realized that I was choosing to react that way. I snapped myself out of it, and then chose to take it as a lesson learned and move the heck on. I made choices and then acted on them.

I had planned for over a year to leave this August for the Peace Corps. I even had turned down a few job offers. Then, just a few weeks ago I find out that my program was cut because of budget cuts. I was SO heartbroken. For about a day. And then I made a choice to move on and grab another great opportunity by its balls. I acted on this choice, and within a week I secured a great job at a killer company. Why? Because I made choices... and acted on them.


It's up to only you, as an individual, to make choices. 

Make positive choices that make days great... no matter what convenient event may occur.

The one question..

I haven't been asked another question more in my life than the one I've had to answer in the past few months by family, friends, classmates, professors, etc... "So... why are you joining the Peace Corps?" It's funny, because although I've had to answer this question tons of times, I still don't know exactly how to answer it. How do you explain intuition?? That feeling deep down in your heart, mind and soul? I know that sounds cheesy, but it's so true! There are the obvious reasons -- to help in another place on earth,  experience a life changing adventure, to grow and learn, spread awareness, to learn about a different culture, to take part in positive change, etc... But really, there are tons of different avenues to fulfill those reasons. When others ask, "Can't you just particpiate in one of those volunteer programs that last a few months instead of 2 years??" Well, yes I can. But, since I'm a big believer in following your intuition... I'm following that gut feeling about PC that puts a smile on my face every time I feel it. I am excited, happy, and anxious for my departure (which is tentatively scheduled August 2011). I am also nervous and scared shitless! This is something that I've heard so many crazy stories about, something that, when I was younger, never ever pictured myself doing, and something that seems so far away, yet is approaching so soon. Right now, I need support, guidance and  wise words... (oh, and some cash would be nice!)


I've been nominated for Latin America, Business Advising, August 2011. I'm patiently waiting to receive my medical forms so I can start the medical review process. I had to complete a "pre-medical evaluation" first before starting the "regular" medical review. So, that's what I'm doing now.. waiting to pass the pre-medical review part, which should be fine. Also, I've heard that several volunteers that were initially nominated for Latin America ended up serving else where. So, I'm crossing my fingers that my region nomination, Latin America, won't be changed.. but who knows? Leaving it in God's hands.

I got my nomination letter in September 2010 for my departure of August 2011.. At that time, Aug 2011 seemed SO far away! I thought to myself, "I have almost one whole year before I leave." Well, let me just say that since then, the months have never gone by faster. I graduate from CSULB in May, move back home in June.. then, depart in August... Life is so unpredictable though, isn't it? I may be typing all of this, setting my heart and soul on it, planning for it, and truly believing that is what I'm going to do. But who really knows what'll happen tomorrow? So, for now.. I'm going to leave it at this.. PC is something that I have an amazing feeling about and that I do have my heart and soul set on... If it's meant to be, I'll be leaving in August to a third world country for 27 months  as a PC volunteer. If it's not meant to be, then wherever I end up and whatever I end up doing.. it will be meant to be ....

..........

(But please cross your fingers for the PC :] )