New Thing Number Ten

I have discovered a Ben & Jerry's flavor I have never tried before. And honestly, I am wondering where on earth it has been all my life.



I mean, come on. Chocolate Therapy?? The cost of treatment is a tiny fraction of what I'm used to paying! It doesn't leave a bad taste in my mouth, ever. I don't ever feel uncomfortable around it, and if I need to accomplish something scary, I have a close friend by my side and a reward afterwards.

All my problems are solved.

New Thing Number Nine

New Thing Number Nine: I have taken up a new craft.

I found the idea on Pinterest (no, I still don't have an account, and it will stay that way) and purchased burlap and a bunch of buttons. Really, creatively speaking, the sky is the limit.

This was a trial run, but I think it's cute enough to please my four-year-old niece.

More artistry to come.

New Thing Number Eight

New Thing Number Eight: I took my first self-proclaimed "selfie."

How did I do?

New Thing Number Seven

You know what? Life has this strange way of just happening.

New Thing Number Seven: I made time to go for a walk.

After a week of being sick and miserable, getting some real fresh air was divine. I need to go for walks more often.

New Thing Number Six

New Thing Number Six: I created a masterpiece in Paint.

Isn't it stunning? I've been repressing all this raw talent for years. Now I'm wondering why I even bothered going to college when I could have gotten famous as an artist. But it's never too late!

New Thing Number Five

New Thing Number Five: I made friends with a member of the FBI.

Oh, the wonderful things that happen at work. :)

New Thing Number Four

God is real and He loves me.

For weeks and weeks I have had issues with school. Really, they have been giving me grief with pretty much everything a student can be given grief about. Departments have been pushing me around in circles, secretaries have been giving me bad information, employees have been sending threatening emails to me demanding that I repay something that I can't repay because they're holding onto my money. It's been a basket of rainbows.

But today, in one single hour, everything was resolved.

I went to an appointment with my department counselor, hoping this time I could get some answers, or at least that I could be pointed in the right direction. And finally things started fitting together. She set my entire schedule straight and solved my financial troubles with a few clicks on the keyboard, then she sent me to speak with two other people who should be able to fix everything else. I went to the first--who happened to be speaking to the head of the department at the time--and they both listened to my woeful tale and resolved my concern in five minutes flat. Then I wandered over to the second (and this is where I really got the feeling that God was fiddling with fate a bit), who of course happened to be in his office right when I needed him. After a pretty lengthy chat, we agreed on a course of action that simplifies my life and severely decreases my stress levels.

Abbreviated story short, today was a fabulous day.

But wait! There's more!

New Thing Number Four: I went to the mall with the intention of playing board games in the food court.

I'm starting to notice a pattern here. Every time I make actual plans, they tend to fall through. I have even tried to make spontaneous plans (spontaneous plans? Do such things exist?), and they fell through too. Not that that's a problem though, because what I end up doing instead somehow turns out to be much better. Tonight a great friend and I sat down in the middle of the food court with a pile of board games, but we got too distracted catching up that we never actually got to the board games. Which was totally, incredibly, wonderfully, just fine with the both of us.

You know, I feel like I should be starting each of these posts with "Dear Princess Celestia." There is just so much mushy and moral-y stuff in all of these; I apologize if I upset your cheese-to-reality ratio. But to be completely honest, you can find miracles and learn valuable lessons every hour if you look hard. I'm not even looking and I have been finding at least one thing--usually many more--to be grateful for every day, ever since I started making an effort in life.

And seriously, that's all it takes.

Since I got so excited at the idea of playing games in the middle of the food court, I will be trying--and succeeding--again soon. Let me know if you're interested in joining the happy chaos.

Freeze ray. Tell your friends.

New Thing Number Three

While there is a time and place for planned activities, and they are much enjoyed, there is something just wonderful about spontaneity.

Plans fell through again and so I made other plans, which I discarded, then I made other plans, which pretty much discarded themselves. So tonight my beloved Aubrey and I chatted about what new thing we wanted to do today, but the thing we settled on was an old favorite: playing with her adorable monster dogs and watching a show.

It's okay that we didn't keep to any plans. It's just fine that we didn't even make an effort to do something new. We did exactly what we wanted to do, and I can look forward to that just as much.

The more I think about what new things I want to try, the more I find myself craving familiar pleasures. I'm not saying that everyone should do the exact same thing every single day and never deviate from that lifestyle. Actually, I'm saying the opposite. Everyone should leave home and family for at least a few months so they can better appreciate what they have. The same goes for activities. Switch it up occasionally, so your daily comforts remain just that: comforts.

It's day three of my experiment and I feel so philosophical. Go me.

But don't you worry, loyal fans. Earlier in the day I tried something very new. Something I won't forget in a hurry.

New Thing Number Three: I tasted the most disgusting candy known to mankind.

THEN, I approached five strangers and offered it to them, telling them flat out that it was disgusting and they probably weren't going to like it. Four of them tried it anyway. Heh heh heh.

The candy I tried is bacon-flavored pop rocks, which I obtained from this fantastic site:
http://www.thinkgeek.com/product/17e0/?srp=7

I actually got them as a gag gift, but when they arrived in the mail today I couldn't resist. I had to know what they tasted like. Yeah, never doing that again.

But what an experience! That's me, living on the edge.

So I wandered around with this mostly full packet of pop rocks, looking for unsuspecting victims. They had no idea their lives were going to change so drastically today. But really, no one can resist bacon. Really. Except for the fifth guy: He wouldn't even consider trying the pop rocks from hell, but he said he would love to take the rest of the packet off my hands and enact some dastardly deeds on his oblivious roommates. Friends of this stranger guy, beware.

New Thing Number Two

You know what really sucks about depression? Insomnia.

I'm running on about four hours of sleep, but--surprisingly--I don't want to roll over and die. I can attribute this marvelous miracle to four things:

1. God is merciful. I can't tell you how many blessings that I take advantage of, because most of the time I don't even consider the possibility that God is giving me all these little sanity savers.

2. Ted Talks is AWESOME. I sat down and watched a 10 minute video before going to work, and my day is so much better now. If you're interested in witnessing the amazingness, here is the link.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLJsdqxnZb0

3.  I found an energy drink that is strong enough to work and weak enough that I don't start shaking. It is called Sonic, from the Neuro brand. If my impressive advertising skills have already worked on you and you're interested in learning more, this is their website.

http://www.drinkneuro.com/

4. I am really excited to do something out of the ordinary.

I think that's what I need to be happy. When I view every day as exactly the same and I have nothing to look forward to and I'm just waiting for the day to end, well that can be a big downer. But if I treat each day as some sort of strange holiday, where I have something to be excited about every single day, everything changes. Like, everything.

You know those commercials where people say "live in the moment" or "celebrate each day," well, I've never understood what on earth they were talking about until now. I guess that applies to everyone though; you don't get a concept until you can apply it specifically to yourself. Well I've finally had a breakthrough and I get it.

 New Thing Number Two: I made myself dinner and watched Sherlock.

Okay, so that's not exactly new, but there were a few blips in my original plan (which will instead take place tomorrow...if I can finally make a decision on what my plan actually is) and when it came down to it, I wanted to treat myself to something. And THAT is essentially new.

I went to the store and grabbed a few essential items--fritos, ground hamburger, a tomato, ice cream, and fruit juice--then I cooked up for myself a delectable and totally unhealthy taco salad with a homemade shake for dessert. With this feast before me, I hunkered down and watched the latest episode of Sherlock. Which, in hindsight, might not have been the best idea. I don't think I'm going to sleep after watching that. Won't help my insomnia very much.

Very rarely do I do something for myself. I mean, yeah, I am a big fan of plopping down on the couch, staring at a screen for hours on end, and counting that as "me" time, but really I am doing nothing. Tonight I made a special effort to treat myself to something out of the ordinary, and I feel particularly satisfied. This is definitely a new feeling that I could get used to.

And, to top it all off, I am going to curl up in bed with a good book. Until I can get the freaky out of my brain and fall asleep. Wish me luck.

New Thing Number One

Thirteen months ago I was diagnosed with anxiety and depression. I have been through countless doctor visits, therapy sessions, and medications--lather, rinse, repeat. Very little of this roller coaster has been fun. 

While I do feel like over the past year I have made some progress, I have light-years to go before I would consider myself a "normal" human being. Every day is hard. It's a real battle. It's exhausting. And after an entire year, seeing that I've made about an inch of progress is disheartening.

I'm so tired.

But there is a light at the end of the tunnel, even if I can't see it yet. Along the way I have noticed a couple patterns in my new brain chemistry. While copious amounts of talking, massages, essential oils, emotional movies, energy drinks, antidepressants, self-help books, and sleep aids (NOT in that order and NOT all at the same time--please, do not try at home) have helped in their own ways, I have not been able find a discernible pattern as to when they work and why. Sometimes they're just what I need and sometimes they're utterly useless. 

However, I have found a distinct relation between my mental progress and one activity: doing something new. 

It doesn't matter what it is as long as it's new, but usually the weirder the better. For some reason, doing something I have never done before produces an exhilaration that I just can't find anywhere else. And I genuinely feel better. 

So, starting today, I am going to begin an experiment. I am going to do 100 new things and see what kind of progress I can make. I don't think it will take only 100 days, as some of the things I want to try will take a little longer than one day to complete. And really, it's just the idea of doing a new thing every day that I'm going for. They're more like guidelines than actual rules.

But for now my goal is to do 100 things. Most of them will be little, everyday things that give me just the boost I need to survive yet another rotation of the earth.

New Thing Number One: Start a blog.

I figure if I make this public, I will feel more obligated to actually keep up with it. And people can hold me to it (but not too much--I'm not a fan of panic attacks). 

We'll see what happens, eh?

One hundred new things! Adventure is out there!