Persistently Patient

I don't think anything tries your patience more than big life events. 

I was in a friends wedding this last weekend, which just highlighted this fact to me. 

I went a few days early to help her out and make sure that everything was done. Nothing seems to bring the stress out as much as making sure all the little details you've been planning for months that always seem to fall apart at the last minute. Sure enough some things didn't go according to plan, but largely they did. The wedding happened, the reception went off with a bang (and out with a sparkle!). It was a huge success and now they are enjoying time as a newly wed couple on their honeymoon. 

This just shows you no matter what: it will happen, time will continue, and life will go on.

Now I am by no means the picture of patience. I come with a strong predisposition towards loosing my cool. Which means that it is something that I have had to work on. Two years ago, getting my connecting flight this weekend cancelled on me would have seemed like the end of the world. I didn't end up making it back to Colorado until the next day. And the kids who couldn't stop screaming next to me on my red-eye? On a flight we had been delayed because someone called in sick? I would have been frustrated, livid even. I would have thought it was going to be the worst day. Especially since I was heading straight into work.

But did it? No. 

Do you want to know my trick that I've realized? It doesn't help to get upset about things you can't fix. It's extremely draining actually. Those kids who were crying? They were up at 3 am, and the little one couldn't get his ears to pop. The crewman who called in sick? I've woken up sick before, and I don't want that spread around a plane. These were things I couldn't help. So why should I waste my time worrying about them?

Now will I be able to keep my cool on my wedding day? I highly doubt it. I still get overwhelmed, but I'm better now than I used to be and I just want to continue that. So for now? I was the calm person helping out my friend out with on her wedding day. Especially when an extra person showed up for dinner, her younger brother was loud and annoying, and when the day before the groom still hadn't decided who was going to be his best man. At the end however, everything was beautiful and it all ended up going smoothly.

Persistently Patient. 

It's my mantra, something I've tried to be better at. Especially when I became an aunt at a very young age. I sometimes would loose my cool, and you never want it to happen it's just the final straw some days. But if you let these things get to you it will seep into all aspects of your life. And you don't want to lash out at those you love. I can tell you that I am so much happier now. It's done wonders for my anxiety, so for all the perfectionists out there. Just remember to breathe and don't sweat the stuff you can't change. 

The Unreasonable Man

When was the last time that you were doing something, for me it was reading, and came across one of the best quotes you've seen in a while? 

For me it was Thursday. Want to know what it was? 

"The reasonable man adapts himself to the world: the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man." George Bernard Shaw

I love that quote, I love what's behind it. 

Now I spend plenty of time on Pinterest and one of my favorite things is to find great quotes, but I always feel like its much more special when the quote finds you. Because then naturally you go looking for what was behind that quote, where it came from. It sparks your curiosity, and curiosity sparks creativity. 

Now I know not everyone thinks they are creative, but you are. Could you imagine what would happen if people didn't write? Or draw? Or sing? Or talk? Yes, even the smallest conversation is creative. You can't survive on small talk alone, and sometimes big dreams come out when you talk. Which is I think why I love this quote. 

Who in their right mind would try to adapt the world to themselves? Well the answer is simple, the human race. 

Sometimes I will admit we go to far, but this is what we are put here to do, live our passion. Now if that means that you come up with the cure for cancer, become the next Renoir, the President one day, or if you write a story that has never been told, start teaching in a way no one else has ever though of, change the face of healthcare, change how cars are built, want to know what I have to say? Do it. 

Someone had to be the first Socrates, the first Renoir, someone did it first. That can be you. 

I'm in DC because I love policy something fierce and I want to change things for the better. Is it realistic to think that I'm going to do it? No. Does that stop me from following my dreams? No.

So go out, let things inspire you, let it push you further on the path of following you passions. But most importantly remember that you can be the unreasonable man. 

Turning Twenty-one

Last month I ended one internship, started another, moved apartments, joined a softball team, and probably what was one of the biggest things for me, I turned 21. 

Now I know that to all those over age, look back on it and realize that it looks a lot bigger on the other side. I disagree. I think it looks equally big as I have passed it and now as I am have my twenty-first year on earth. 

Why? Because even though this means you are legally an adult and legal to drink it means so much more. It's the official end of childhood and moving past the stage where people give you slack, and into the years when you are free to do what you want. This is the time that we really become who we are. I couldn't wait to turn twenty-one, namely because I was the youngest of all my friends to turn, and I couldn't wait to be able to have my social hour with them back. Being able to order a glass of wine is nice too, but not as nice as to finally have the ability to do anything I want. 

I mean that truly. As we grow up we get scared and nervous, but most of all excited. I don't ever want to regret getting older. I want to know that I've done the things I loved and I am pursuing those still. My parents, free of children at home are jet-setting all over the world. My friends are marrying the loves of their lives. My younger brother is living on his own for the first time. My best friend is taking the last summer we have as college students to spend time with his family and enjoy life.

So I know that most people look at the twenty-first birthday as the beginning of the end. It's not. It is simply another beginning another chapter, and it comes with struggles and happiness and heartache and laughter and tears. And I can't wait. 

So here's to being young and having the world at your feet, no matter what age you are.

 I'll even include some pictures from how I celebrated my big 2-1, because sometimes the reason it's a classic, is because it's perfect. Vegas truly was a great trip that I'll never forget. 

If you can go to Madam Tussaud's it was so much fun posing and seeing how tall the 'stars' really are!

Whatever you do be safe on your 21st, but remember to have fun.

 You don't turn of age everyday!

Productivity and procrastination

My parents, and every roommate I've ever lived with will attest that I am one of the largest procrastinators they have ever met. I am notorious for leaving things to last minute, however one of the things that I have learned over the years is to be productive. 

I know that this sounds crazy, but hear me out. In college we learn to do the most amount of work in the shortest time possible. This is being productive, those late nights where you buckle down and do it? Productivity.

Everything we do, all of our actions, they become our habits. Therefore I try to do the same thing everyday that is going to help me be more productive. For me it means making the bed. What? That's going to help you with your homework? Yep. Cleaning the house, making dinner, making your bed? Those are all productive things, and if you remember way back in middle school objects in motion tend to stay in motion. This holds true for habits, and actions, and productivity. If you are productive, you tend to stay productive. 

For me the difference between my procrastination, and what other people often think of is the fact that I ultimately am a productive person. This isn't something that's come naturally, but I've become cognizant of this and have tried to change my natural habits. 

The things we want? We have to fight for, and make a conscious effort to go after. So go ahead, watch one more episode of Game of Thrones, I'm not going to judge you, just make sure that you'll be responsible and productive with the time you're given. And remember it can all start with making your bed every morning. 

Things come in threes ~ Finding the good

Have you ever noticed that things come in threes?

It's an old wives tale, that in my small town back home seems to hold true to.

However, it's not just the old ladies who see it, I've seen in with everything in my life, or almost everything. Recently I had three groups of three bad things that happened in my life. Deaths, illnesses, health scares, you name it. I was sitting at eight for about a week and was getting pretty antsy. I didn't think I could handle more bad news, more loss, more sorrow. 

Something I think we forget is that it isn't just bad things that happen in threes. Good things can come in threes too. I believe that you will never just get the bad, all bad has to come with some good. You just have to find it, and in some cases that literally means you have to make the choice. I was tested this week, I had to make a choice I almost made myself sick over it, and that was completely unnecessary. Try as I might, those moments when I think that I'm chilling out and a becoming laid back human who lets life take me where it wants to? Yeah, well throw a decision in there and I'm right back to high anxiety Kaite. 

You have to choose the good, choose happiness, whether that means a job offer you've wanted or basking in a sunny day after rain. Go out there and choose to find the good. I did and obviously it was a step in the right direction because the universe threw two more things back at me, good things mind you. I have a summer internship in the field I love, I have a place to stay (and a friend from home as a roommate), and I won the student government position for the next school year that I'd been campaigning for. 

I'm excited and now that my life has settled a little, I'm trying to figure out what is going to happen next. Because life is never smooth sailing, it has highs and lows, and that to me is the beautiful thing. Tragedy really does make the good things seem that much better. 

Another thing this has taught me? You have to actively pursue what you want. I don't know if everything would have worked out if I hadn't taken that first step, that first decision. Everything happens for a reason, and we don't always get to know why. 

So my PSA for the day? Go find the good. Find it and when you find something you want, go after it. Life has a funny way of paying you back for things like that. 

Fake it, Till you make it

We've all been there. Start of something new, and with the new comes the unknown. With the unknown comes confusion, and often frustration. 

I can't tell you how frustrated I get when hooking up a new printer, or when you look at the excel spread sheet for making a new budget. 

This doesn't always have to be the case. At this point in our lives we are constantly in a state of flux. The only thing guaranteed in life is change, and when that change leads us to a new job or internship, fake it till you make it. Seriously, we aren't going to learn everything overnight or know what is going on, but if you are confident in yourself everything seems to fall into place. 

Take a breath and move forward. 

A few days ago I got a phone call from the front asking me if I was comfortable giving a tour of the Capitol. I received tour training yesterday. Meaning while I knew the way around, it didn't mean I knew all the dates, names, and stories that make up the tour.

I gave the tour and had a wonderful time. Turns out even if I didn't know every date, every name, I still knew a lot more than I thought I did and what I didn't know I was honest and they were totally okay with that.

This is an important lesson I've learned a few times, but recent I was reminded. It's okay if you don't know everything, but if you try you are going to get so much farther than you'd believe. People give more chances to those who try, to those who actually go out of their way to try to do better. Want to wow those around you? Go out of your comfort zone and say yes too early, make mistakes but learn from them and you will do better so much faster than you believed possible.

My piece of advice today?
Fake it, till you make it.


Has this ever happened to you guys? Let me know!

Getting swept away

Have you ever been swept away? 

Swept away in the moment, in life, in pursuing your dreams, on an adventure, a trip, anything? 

Because if not, I highly recommend doing it. At least once in your life. Or daily. 

I'm not going to apologize for the strange long term absence. Because lordy, it's been a while.  And I won't apologize, because sometimes getting swept up in life is worth missing out on the norm, worth just trying to live. 

However, I would love to share what I've been doing. 

In January, I took an Internship with the Wyoming State Legislature. It was a brand new internship program that I ran the pilot program for, and it was fantastic, and the only reason it happened is because I was pushed past my comfort level. 

I will say the best piece of advice I can give you right now is don't say no. If someone tells you to apply for an internship, a fellowship, a program. Just do it. The worst is that they tell you no, you have to keep living like you are now. The best? They take you. 

That's what happened to me, and I spent two wonderful months being the policy research intern for the Labor, Health, and Social Services Committee. Now I know that policy isn't everyone's cup of tea, and out in our neck of the woods it isn't exactly common, but I think that's the point I'm getting at. Even if your passion, the thing that drives you isn't common or isn't easy to find way to get experience in, keep looking. Talk to a professor, your adviser, or the department that it would relate to, because they love love love to help students get involved.

Here I am above, with the State Capitol behind me, sorry its a little fuzzy!

When the legislature finished, so did my school load (I may have my final project that I still have to work on... sshh!) and I wasn't sure what the next step was for me. That moment when we were wrapping up, I was tipped off to a position that was open that might need an intern. So I applied, and ended up getting the position.

Within one week I had a flight booked, within two I had flown out. That is how fast life happens, within a day of the idea I had an interview, and less than a week later I was offered the position. Now I'm sitting here writing this post from my apartment which is down the street from the Library of Congress, which is a few buildings up Senator Enzi's office, where I'm working.

It's been just about three months since I found out I was interning in Cheyenne, and now I'm in DC just in time for the Cherry Blossom festival, which has always been on my bucket list. So please, please, get swept away. Get caught up in life, say yes to crazy offers, and follow your heart. Whether it's flying halfway across the country, or going on a walk across town with a friend to find new hideaways you've never seen before, just let life guide you.