Can you guys believe that we only have 12 more weeks before the year ends!!!!  The thought of that just blows my mind.  I feel like I haven’t accomplished most of what I wanted to do this year because the time went by so quickly.  But that in itself is another post.

• This week was another mixed bag.  And as I looked out onto my neighborhood early this morning, the foliage reminded me that life is truly a mixed bag.  Everything is not the same, even with commonality, there’s still something unique about everything.  Does that make sense?

Eventhough we’re in the Fall season, the trees in my neighborhood represented the mixed bag that life can be and the variation in response to life experiences based on who we are on the inside.

As they respond to the Fall environmental changes, based on their genetic make-up (that would equate (in my mind) to our psychological, mental and emotional make-up), some trees have already shed most of their leaves, some are still sporting vivid green, some have become brown and some are still full of leaves and are as splendidly green as they were in Spring and Summer.  Their response to environmental factors absolutely reflect their “insides”.

As I looked around, I realised just like trees, different experiences bring out different responses in me … in all of us.  However, I do believe that the trick is to stay grounded, stay strong, stay focused and even if we lose a few “leaves” the goal is to stay rooted and stand tall.

• I’m grateful this week for making it through the work week.  My week started with layoffs, then continued with an employee who’s trying to get me to help her cheat the company using FMLA, then ended with a chapter that I’m happy to close.
• I’m grateful for the periods of introspection I’ve had this week.  I’m grateful for the opportunities they afforded me to focus on who I really want to be as a person.  As I get older, my thoughts have shifted even more towards who I want to be over what I want to do.  But more on that later.
• I’m also grateful this week for a very strange interaction I had with someone I consider a friend.  It wasn’t unpleasant, but it wasn’t pleasant either.  But what it did was remind me that we’re all changing, that relationships don’t stay the same, that it’s okay to be uncomfortable sometimes and that every interaction — pleasant or unpleasant — is a learning opportunity.
• One totally fun thing that happened to me this week is that …… I GOT TICKETS FOR THE DR. OZ show!!!!!  I behaved like this when I got the email:    What’s even better, initially, all the people I asked to come couldn’t because of work so I confirmed for one ticket.  Then my friend Ophelia was sad she couldn’t come.  Got an email two days later saying they had extra tickets, Ophelia got the day off so was more: 

The show is part of the plans I made for my birthday and I’m glad that I can at least do that since my vacation is going to cut short because of the departure of my work nemesis.

This week’s post is a little ‘heavy’ since most of the interactions this week were all over the place and not so pleasant.  Despite that, I hope you all had a great week and cheers for an great upcoming week!   😀