Goooooaaallll!!!!

I haven't blogged in a few days (ok, ok-- it's been about a week) and in that time, I've done some thinking. I must warn you that the following may be explained in a roundabout, at times confusing way, but here goes.

Folks, goals are important. I find myself charged up and motivated when I'm around someone that has high standards for themselves and is always thinking of the future. It's an attractive quality in a person. I hung out with an old friend from high school last night. He is 26 and has 2 degrees. One is in finance or economics--something that makes my head hurt-- and the other is nursing. He didn't particularly think about nursing or have a desire to do it, but he was in a few car accidents in a short time and decided that life is too short -- so he wanted to help people. There are lots of ways to help people that won't bury you in debt, but go big or go home, right? In the next few years, he's thinking of going to the military to go through Officer Candidate School. 

Anyway, while talking to him and catching up on each other's lives in the last (ahem) 10 years, I realized that goal oriented people are just plain awesome. It was like night and day talking to him and talking to the last guy I dated. They both had goals, but the last guy's goals were vague... not as concrete.Therefore, easier to slack on. It reminds me of a PR class I took in college. We talked about strategies and tactics and we were supposed to list a task, or a goal in this case, and then ways to accomplish that goal. It's just like life! You want to lose 20 pounds? Ok, great goal-- but don't stop there-- HOW are you going to do that!? Something to ponder since a lot of people get very frustrated when the Goal Gods don't magically smile down on them and their desires aren't fulfilled. "I can't understand why I haven't lost weight!" Well, more 'cheat' days than healthy days certainly didn't help. Heeeerrre's your sign.

Also, the other thing I've been thinking a lot about is a person's character. I often wish life was like that movie, Shallow Hal, where Jack Black's character could only see a person for who they are and not what they look like. Wouldn't that be wonderful!? You meet someone, in a friend situation, dating, whatever, and then there's a falling out of some sort. When things get hard, are they there for you? Did they REALLY care about you to begin with if they aren't there for you now? Admittedly, I am not a person to generally stay in touch or even talk to my ex boyfriends. There is one though that is a great friend. In fact just a few short weeks after we broke up (and THAT wasn't pretty) my Grandma died. He was there for me and has been there for me several times since then. That's not just for the bad things, but the good things too. He WANTS me to be happy in whatever I do. Just because things don't work out the way you envision them, doesn't mean that you are at a loss. You could gain a lot too. God's plans are crazy awesome.

But back to the real point-- if a person cares for you and then isn't there for you for whatever reason, it leads you believe that they only did nice things for you in the first place because they somehow benefitted from it. Lame. People sometimes really REALLY suck. But, then again, most people are pretty great. You have to weed out those crappy people of poor character from your life and stop trying to hang on to what you THOUGHT you wanted with them. Surround yourself with people that you respect and want to be like and half similar goals. Let all the other stuff go. Move on. Be a better person because of it.