Successes and Failures...

"Making your mark on the world is hard. If it were easy, everybody would do it. But it's not. It takes patience, it takes commitment, and it comes with plenty of failure along the way. The real test is not whether you avoid the failure, because you won't. It's whether you let it harden or shame you into inaction, or whether you learn from it; whether you choose to persevere."

-Barack Obama

This week I've encountered some failures... not being offered an RA position (when my three friends who applied were), realizing that I can't fit Ultimate Frisbee into my schedule (Apparently my body can't take a total of 4 hours of workouts a day between ultimate and volleyball, who knew?), and realizing that sometimes all I can do is listen and feel a bit powerless.

I don't tend to fail.

So I am trying sosososososooooo hard to not take it personally,

to remember all the things I can do well,

knowing that these are minor setbacks in the long run,

and celebrating the little victories in life

like

beasting my last government exam

(got it back today, a 96!!!)

performing for the first time at Knox, at an open mic

(and getting lots of compliments)

knowing I am going to a farm saturday to plant some seeds

and meet some new people

focusing on volleyball

(missing you Erin, you give me so much drive!)

not falling on my butt on the icy icy sidewalks

seeing happy friends who will be AMAZING RAs

working my way towards the end of my first winter term

(which they say is the worst, if you can make it through it,

you can make it through Knox)

looking forward to spring

trying to see the beauty in the huge swarms of crows that love campus

(pictures to come, I hope)

getting geared up for my birthday next friday

(which I share with my roomie!)

being a good lister

giving advice where I can

(and only where it's helpful)

listening to NOW 5 with friends

(and singing along to NSYNC)

realizing just how much I love and appreciate my family

making appointments that need to be made

(like with the oral surgeon...)

Waaaay more little victories than setbacks!