What do you love about where you live?

There are quite a few things I can choose from for this prompt. The only problem is where to start?

I live in a decent sized city (compared to others within a few hundred miles) so there are plenty of options for restaurants and stores. Yet, we’re surrounded by open farm land, so I live close enough to get OUT of the city and see a change of scenery (and get away from the people).

My family lives outside of this city in rural communities, but because of the way everything opens up when you leave the city it doesn’t feel like they’re far away. The time it takes for me to travel those distances here might otherwise double or triple in other parts of the country because of traffic.

We get four seasons here, which is great, but sometimes the snow and ice can get bad. (Not Dallas Icepocalypse bad, mind you, because our local DoT absolutely has to be prepared for those situations and our infrastructure is set up appropriately.) Thankfully, I now have the option and ability to work from home if the weather gets bad, so that kind of makes up for it.

I think those are probably the top of the list of things I “love” about where I live. There’s always room for improvement, or I could work towards moving somewhere else if I REALLY felt the need, but beggars can’t be choosers, right?

What positive emotion do you feel most often?

Emotions are a weird thing to think about. At least, that’s just how I feel about the subject, given that I’m no psychologist or anything. So, I’ll keep my answer today a bit shorter.

I like to think that as far as positive emotions go, I feel happiness more often than others. I encounter plenty of opportunities to laugh at jokes and enjoy those little moments of success when playing games.

That being said, I’m usually in a kind of neutral mood/mindset the vast majority of the time, and I try not to let negative emotions take hold and control me. I don’t let the temporary absence of positive emotions control me, either, because life is a rollercoaster of experiences. I accept that I’ll have good days and bad days like anyone else, and I don’t put unnecessary effort into chasing happiness because it will come and go.

How do you plan your goals?

If we’re talking personal goals? I’m terrible at planning for personal goals. I look at the things I want, I get all wrapped up in my head around a vague goal for those things, and it usually falls apart. Occasionally I will make a more focused attempt, but not too often.

Work goals are usually a lot more solid. We define the goal, we break down the relevant activities and divvy them out, then set a timeline. That is the way a goal needs to be planned out, in the simplest description, and we do well with it.

Circling back to personal goals, you would think that I could apply the same structure to those, right? I suppose there have been a couple of times that worked, but usually it’s because someone else is involved and they’re depending on me (whether they realize it or not) to make things work out. I can step things out for some goals, put that structure in place, but then it falls apart because I’m putting it all on myself and I’m only accountable to myself. So, the natural assumption is I’m probably not too concerned with the success or failure of said goal.

I don’t have the same drive or ambition as others, and that’s okay. I like to remind myself that goals are good to have, even if you stumble or fail. You can always pick yourself up and make a new goal and go at your own pace based on what you learned last time.

Create an emergency preparedness plan.

How detailed do we need to get? What’s the emergency? Not all plans are going to cover the same things.

Emergency medical care? Sudden death in the family? Got laid off? Car breaks down?

You get the idea.

The biggest hurdle I often see or hear about with these circumstances is probably related to money. If you have enough to cover yourself, initially, no matter the emergency, you’re probably going to be okay.

But you need to have that money, and in today’s world that isn’t always the case. I’ve been there. Emergency medical care involving surgery? Huge bill, no insurance, and a low paying job with no savings. I got through that by reaching out to different people, asking questions, and finding the right resources to help mitigate the issue (no money).

Keeping that in mind, I think the best “emergency preparedness plan” needs to start with knowing who to contact when the shit hits the fan. That could be family, friends, coworkers, or some kind of official who is responsible for the area that owns whatever emergency it is.

So, who DO you contact? Not everyone has family or friends they can trust. Or coworkers, I guess.

My medical emergency started with asking my sister-in-law about how I could afford something serious, and her knowledge (at the time) helped me get to a hospital that would work with me on the financials without screwing me over.

Car emergency? I’ve called both friends and family before to get a ride or help contact people who could reach us.

Sudden death in the family? Well, this one is a little awkward to walk through. Am I going to be responsible for paperwork and following up with legal entities, or am I just attending a funeral and helping my family through the grieving process? The latter is easier, because in my case I just need to make sure my manager knows that I’m going to be unable to work for a short period (and thankfully she is wonderful and understanding) but the former is something I’ve not experienced personally. I suppose the funeral home might provide guidance on how to handle things (so if this is your situation, I’m sorry, but that’s the best I could brainstorm this morning.)

Job loss? Again, I’ve asked friends and family, and somehow I also ended up on the radar of a job placement agency, but ultimately I just looked for a new job (which, admittedly, is easier said than done and not everyone is going to be mentally equipped to handle the shock and uncertainty.)

In each case, though, money is still a big part. Medical bills need to be paid, cars need repairing or replacing, funerals cost money (and have you seen the prices on caskets/coffins?) and even without a job you still have bills to pay and you have to eat. Not sure I can give anything solid for a plan in this case except to say “fingers crossed it’s cheap/affordable and you have some kind of savings.”

Emergencies suck, and plans can fall apart no matter how detailed and potentially responsive they are. I’m not going to advocate for NOT having a plan, but I will advocate for going with the flow and rolling with the punches that life throws at you.

What is a word you feel that too many people use?

I’m not sure how I should be interpreting this prompt, and by that I mean “what was the original intention”.

So, I’m taking a slightly different approach. What is a word that too many people use incorrectly because they don’t understand how to proofread for spelling.

From a written word perspective, when people type “defiantly” but context clues always point to them meaning to use “definitely”, that drives me nuts.

When people are actually talking and they say “condiluted” (which isn’t even a word!) and they mean “convoluted”, my brain twitches a little. I hate it.

Maybe that’s just a me thing, and I know that the English language is tough, but I’m usually speaking/working with educated and well-read individuals who should be able to make the correct distinctions between these words.

I probably could have used this as an answer to an older prompt about pet peeves, but I don’t actually encounter these instances of improper English all too often, and I know that they happen to many other people, so I feel like it properly applies to today’s prompt.

What brings you peace?

One of the things I appreciate most about my manager is their dedication to the idea of respecting work/life balance.

“Take the time you need.”

“You really should take some time off.”

The first one is used often because someone on my team always has something going on that requires our time and attention. Whether that be taking time off during the day for an appointment, for some other extenuating circumstance, or simply because we’re not feeling well, we know our time is protected.

The second one is because my manager has an acute awareness of burnout and cares for each of us.

This all leads to being able to get the rest we need, when we need it most, and not worrying about what’s to come. It gives us the peace of mind we need to properly take care of ourselves. That peace is what makes it easier to recover and rejuvenate after stressful projects or major life events. It means we know we can rest without feeling guilty, because we have our managers faith and trust backing us through it all.

What is the most important thing to carry with you all the time?

With the way technology has developed, I’d say a smartphone has become the most important thing to carry. Provided you have enough battery life and good signal you can basically have the world at your fingertips. All the information you need in one tiny package that fits in your pocket.

My family and I recently went on a short road trip vacation, and having access to a map that could automatically give you directions while trying to find the optimal route is life changing. We also have access to an app that lets us track each other’s positions (we were driving two separate vehicles.) Absolutely handy little devices.