The details of this story are not important, it’s the moral that counts.

I don’t know how else [...]]]> I spent the last week moving out of my one bedroom apartment and moving back into my room parents’ place. This is totally is not where 10 year old Marissa thought she would be at age 29.

The details of this story are not important, it’s the moral that counts.

I don’t know how else to explain it other than my life’s reset button has been pressed. It’s like restarting a computer. Or at least that is how I have chosen to look at it.

Don’t get me wrong, I have spent time reflecting on the choices I made that got me here. This didn’t happen to me, I had a hand in it. Everything that has happened in the past has gotten me to this point. At the same time, everything that has happened in the past serves as a textbook to learn from for the future. I am very thankful for my past. I won’t lie and say that feelings of woe haven’t crept in from time to time- I’m human. However, I have decided not to sit there and dwell on it. What purpose does that serve? How is that going to move me forward?

Life has given me an opportunity to start over. As I sit here, thinking about what to do next (along with unpacking the tremendous amounts of stuff I have brought back to this house – thanks mom and dad for letting me take over the basement and garage) one phrase keeps repeating in my mind:

Carpe Diem.

Life is a gift. I choose to live it as such.

Growing up, gym class was never my thing. I wanted to be good at it. Believe me. I wanted to run like a gazelle and jump [...]]]> It’s that time again. Time for another random blog post. I really have let this thing go, but it’s nice to write a post every once in a while.

Growing up, gym class was never my thing. I wanted to be good at it. Believe me. I wanted to run like a gazelle and jump like a kangaroo, but I found other things much more exciting.

Well, let me be 100% honest here, there was a moment in my childhood when I was a gymnast. It was short-lived career. After less than a year, the coach didn’t want to have to move the equipment for me each time because I got too tall, so that was that. (I was going to be the next, Nadia. I was. Darn height.) Anyway, after that I put energy into other things like music, learning about technology and crafts. As a result, my mental and physical physique suffered and I never turned in to that Olympic athlete I planned to be.

Flash forward to 2009. I decided that time had come. This had gone on long enough. I needed to start taking care of myself. I joined a gym. I started slow. I remember making it a goal of going every other day. It was torture. Fifteen minutes on the treadmill felt like I was walking through hell. I hated it. Until I got in the car. That’s when the endorphins kicked in. I felt like I accomplished something. I made a difference in my own life. No one else had a hand in it. I did it, all by myself. Soon my goal of going every other day turned into going everyday and I was hooked.

A funny thing happened after I took working out seriously. The rest of my life got better. I gained more confidence. I smiled more. The relationships in my life were more meaningful. I was happier. Happy was a feeling I hadn’t really ever felt before then.

The great thing about working out is that no matter what else is happening in my life, I can still go to the gym and do something that positively impacts my life. I might not have my dream job, but I am the CEO of Marissa, Inc. and I am doing a damn good job at keeping her running.

Now let’s not go overboard, I’m not running marathons or anything (yet). I can barely run a 5K, but I am probably in the best shape I have been in since I flipped over the uneven bars. I recently returned from a trip to South East Asia and was amazed that I kayaked, ziplined, and hiked without any major injuries or pain. I want to work towards being able to do more of those types of things. I would love to go rock climbing or go on longer and higher hikes in other places around the world.

In the end, I workout because it makes things possible.

It’s been a while, so I thought I would post an update on [...]]]> – 9/20/10: I thought about blogging today and I found this old post in my editor. I don’t know why I never published it because I can’t find anything inherently wrong with it. So I guess late is better than never. –

It’s been a while, so I thought I would post an update on what I’ve been up to. For most of May I’ve been sick. This is the longest I’ve been sick in a long time – probably not since those Chicken Pox days when I was kid. During this time, I learned a few things.

• Netflix is the best investment I could have ever made (besides my macs and french horn). Seriously though, because of it I was able to be entertained when I couldn’t talk or had a fever and couldn’t really leave my apartment. I spent most of my time watching The IT Crowd, Better Off Ted, and random chick flicks that were made for sick days.
• YouTube is awesome. (I plan on writing a larger post on this because I really do have a lot to say on the subject.) I spent some time wondering around the site and found a lot of creative people out there. Some of my favorites are gunarolla, community channel, kevjumba, worldismarble ,and truth or fail. You should check them out. For realz.
• Sleep is awesome. I used to be one of those people that did not nap. Now, I am all for it. Seriously. Even today, I came home from work and took a 2.5 hour nap (I don’t see this becoming a habit, but for now I’m just going with it). It was great. I am going to now listen to my body and sleep when it tells me.
• Being sick can still lead to weight loss. It’s not my favorite type of weight loss, but I’ll take it.
• Don’t be afraid to use sick days. Health is really important and sometimes life moves to fast to remember that.

Recovering from this virus that turned into a sinus infection, surely will take some time. In the meantime, more ice cream sounds like a plan to me.

In January, I went on a trip to [...]]]> [See, I used to want to be a history teacher. I haven't taught much about history in quite a long time, but I thought I could put something together based on this video I found on line. Take 20 min out of your day and learn something.]

In January, I went on a trip to India for a few weeks. (You can read all about it here.) Before I left, many people asked me the same question: Why India? Well, the answer is that I was invited to go; but there’s a little more to it then that. I have always been interested in India. I studied a lot about it in college and I taught about it when I was student teaching. Does this make me an expert? By no means – but because of this interest, going to India was one of the things I hoped to accomplish before I died. So when the opportunity came along I jumped at it. I realize that I am in the minority, as many people that I talked to still questioned my wanting to go.

I found this clip on TED.com that really explains the difference between our two cultures – well as best as one can in 20 minutes – and might shed some light on that famous Indian head bob. The Western World operates with the belief that we only have one life to live, that’s it. While in Indian culture, a person has many lives to get it right. As a result each culture has developed their business models around their respective cultural view. I believe that each view can learn from each other. Take a look:

And just for fun, here are some questions I thought of while watching this presentation. Leave a comment if you want. It’d be fun to start a discussion. (Can you tell I miss intellectual discussions?)

• What do you think would happen to the American business model if individual thought was valued over institutional thought? Or do you think that Americans value institutional thought over individual thought to begin with?
• Which cultural view do you identify with most? How does this influence your behavior?
• Based on what you know about Indian culture, what aspects of American business do you think would benefit their business model?
• Thinking about what Pattanaik said about how mythology impacts business; what parts of American mythology impact American business?
• How would having a Chief Belief Officer change the American Business model?

I hope, if you took the time to watch the video, you learned something. If you made it to the end of this entry, thanks for reading the first lesson I put together in a long time. I guess I’ve still got it!

Class dismissed!

This fact should come as no surprise to you. I love The Olympics so much that I started this tradition with some friends of mine where we cook the food of the host country during the Opening Ceremonies.

What may surprise you is why I’m such a fanatic.

I love the [...]]]> I love The Olympics.

This fact should come as no surprise to you. I love The Olympics so much that I started this tradition with some friends of mine where we cook the food of the host country during the Opening Ceremonies.

What may surprise you is why I’m such a fanatic.

I love the whole Olympic movement. I love that it is a GLOBAL event. I don’t know how many of you are aware, but during The Olympics all nations are supposed to call off all wars. This obviously isn’t the case any more, but I always thought that the idea was a great one. Furthermore, countries send their very best to compete in (mostly) honest competition. This are in many cases amateur athletes. Some have made it there by their own accord, others are part of a government program, but either way each one has a dream – to compete their best against the best for an Olympic medal. Maybe it’s the idealist in me, but there is just something so pure about it that I love.

Beyond that, I love seeing all of these sports that are not as well known in my neck of the woods – like curling. I mean I guess it’s sort of sweeping the nation now, but for the most part, I only get to see it during The Olympics. Then there’s bobsled, snowboard cross, speed skating, and that crazy skeleton. In the summer, it’s diving, all of the track events, and swimming. [Side Bar - I am one of the few that like the Winter Olympics more then the Summer Olympics. There's so much more danger involved. Also a lot of those sports involve a lot of speed. It's just more interesting to me.] The commentary for these sports is always great because it so unfiltered. The commentator is usually a past athlete who is very passionate about the sport; so it always amuses me to hear their reactions to things I don’t really know much about.

There only a few days left. I hope to catch as much coverage that I can.

Constantly improving on awesome. Learning everyday.

Yeah, I think that sums it up best.

What would yours be?

You can read about my international travel here: Marissa’s Trip to India

About the year older part of [...]]]> So it’s already February! Crazy right? Since I last wrote, I’m year older and have been to 2 different countries. I’d say 2010 is off to a great start. I’ve gotta keep the momentum going.

You can read about my international travel here: Marissa’s Trip to India

About the year older part of my year . . . I actually feel older this year, but in a good way. I feel more comfortable in my own skin. It’s kinda awesome. I feel like I am ready to take the bull by the horns and conquer the world. Well, maybe I’ll start with something smaller, but that’s the idea.

So that’s what’s up here. I’m going to try and post more this year. I feel like blogging again. We’ll see how it goes.