Onto the questions! Check out previous installments here.
Stephany 12 Comments
Onto the questions! Check out previous installments here.
Stephany 7 Comments
11. You’re having lunch with three people you respect and admire. They all start criticizing a close friend of yours, not knowing she is your friend. The criticism is distasteful and unjustified. What do you do?
12. If you could offer a newborn child only one piece of advice, what would it be?
13. Would you break the law to save a loved one?
14. Have you ever seen insanity where you later saw creativity?
15. What’s something you know you do differently than most people?
Stephany 6 Comments
6. If happiness was the national currency, what kind of work would make you rich?
Writing for pleasure, such as writing for this blog, feature pieces for magazines, and fiction. Writing is my number one passion and I couldn’t last a day without it. Writing for this blog fills me with joy and happiness, and being a part of this amazing community does the same.
I think I would also like to take trips around the United States and the world to visit blog friends because some of you are closer to me than my own real-life friends.
7. Are you doing what you believe in, or are you settling for what you are doing?
Hands down, I’m settling. I’m working at a job that’s not really going to do much to further my career, other than helping me deal with stressful situations and instill a work ethic. And I don’t feel as if I put enough effort into school as I need to. Every semester, I arm myself with notebooks and planners and the determination to make this one the Best One Yet and I never do. I become lazy around the fourth week and start settling for what is comfortable and familiar.
And while I don’t know if I’m doing what I believe in at my internship, I am doing work that fulfills and challenges me. I feel happy each day I arrive and maintain that attitude throughout the day.
8. If the average human life span was 40 years, how would you live your life differently?
First of all, how sad would life be if this were true? I wouldn’t have my mom around or my grandparents or many of my mentors. Also, I would have less than 12 years to live! Eep! While I think I would still be concerned with school and writing, I would also want to live my life more freely. I wouldn’t have to worry about saving for a long period of time or opening any type of investment.
I would be more concerned with settling down, though, and having kids. I would want as much time possible with them before I died.
9. To what degree have you actually controlled the course your life has taken?
I think it’s important for me to take responsibility and say I have controlled it a lot. (While yes, I do credit God for steering my ship, as well.) I’m the one who has made some bad decisions and good decisions. I chose education over journalism, prolonging my undergrad experience and putting me in situations I should never have been in. I let my dad walk all over me until I finally had enough. I am the girl who strives to be someone people can count on and talk to.
Who’s to say where the next 22 years will take me? I hope I still have a semblance of control over my life and can make good decisions and embrace the bad ones for the lessons they’ll bring me.
10. Are you more worried about doing things right, or doing the right things?
I am definitely more worried about doing the right things. I know everyone has a moral compass hidden deep within their layers and some of us choose to adhere to what it’s telling us, while others do not. Morally and ethically, I know what’s right and I know what I need to do to keep my conscience clean and God proud of me. I know that feeling I get in the pit of my stomach when I do something wrong and I hate it.
I just know that I want to be known as a good person and someone who touched lives. I feel like I’m honoring and respecting myself more when I listen to my moral compass and do the right thing.
Stephany 12 Comments
Right now, I’m in Orlando! It’s Friday, so I’m hopefully still sleeping when this posts and gearing up for a day at Disney World! Be jealous.
A while back, Ashley linked to this survey on her Life List and it looked like a really interesting survey to take, with questions that were different and introspective. So, here you go, my first 5 questions on this list answered:
1. How old would you be if you didn’t know how old you are?
I would never put my age at 22, or older. I think many bloggers would easily be able to say they act a lot older than their age indicates, but it’s not so for me. I would pinpoint my age around 19-20, with the fact that I’m still in school, still live with my mom, have a part-time job where I’m only responsible to pay our phone bill + gas when needed, and have seemingly no responsibility for important issues.
I’m not saying I’m not responsible or mature, and I do think there are certain areas of my life where I do act way above my age. It also doesn’t help that I’m constantly mistaken as a high-schooler. But there are some areas of my life that I think I could take a bigger step toward fixing and proving myself to be the 22-year-old that I am.
2. Which is worse, failing or never trying?
I think they both are pretty bad. In both instances, you’re left with regrets. You’re left with what-ifs. Failing makes you feel like a loser and never trying makes you feel lazy. I will say that the horrible feeling I get in the pit of my stomach from not trying is way worse than the pit I get when I fail. When you fail at something, you learn. You grow. You move on, knowing you won’t make that same mistake again. (Hopefully.) But when you live a life of never trying new things and experiences, you can’t learn or grow. You become stuck on a stagnant path of nothingness. It’s a terrible feeling I know all too well.
3. If life is so short, why do we do so many things we don’t like and like so many things we don’t do?
I’m having a hard time with this question. I’ve typed and deleted an answer about 5 times because it’s a hard one to answer. On the one hand, it’s just life. Sometimes, you have to do things you don’t want to do, like work commitments and spending time with your in-laws. Sometimes, money issues and fears get in the way of things we like but don’t do, such as traveling. On the other hand, I think it’s because we become comfortable in our shallow worlds where we sit in our bubble of containment, not venturing out to make a difference because we’re afraid of what will happen. We’re afraid we’ll grow and change and become a person with a whole new set of goals and ideals.
4. When it’s all said and done, will you have said more than you’ve done?
I think that’s natural. There is so much I want to do, so much I want to see. At 22, I feel like my future is wide open. I feel like I have so much time to do everything and it fills me with such excitement. There are some Big Life Events that I want to happen (such as getting married, becoming a mother, and graduating college) and then there are life experiences that I want to enjoy (such as traveling, getting published, running a half-marathon). I don’t think I’ve ever sat down and come up with a Life List, which is something I should do.
At the end of my life, I hope I can say I lived a fulfilled life, where I touched people. I want to be surrounded by loved ones and know I was happy with myself.
5. What is the one thing you’d most like to change about the world?
Judgment. I would like the world to have less judgment. I think we too quickly judge others by outward appearances too easily. I know I do it. If I kept a tally of how many people I judged in one day, I would be a little embarrassed by the number. I see it all the time at work, with people judging how others dress and take care of their children – even if they have “too many” kids. I see it on TV and in magazines and blogs. I know change has to start within. It has to start with me. If I started judging less, maybe it would spark others around me to start judging less. Food for thought, at least.