Day 31 - Recap

In looking back over the past month of my blogging adventures, I feel I've already grown and learned a lot about myself. By challenging my fears I am hopefully making myself a better person, and the world around me a better place. While blogging every day has definitely been more time consuming then I could have imagined, the benefits far outweigh any thoughts of stopping. Also, I must admit, some of my fears are costing me money! Costs of things such as entrance fees to events and places, or supplies needed in order to tackle fears weren't calculated in the undertaking of this blog but still, I continue because I am loving this experiment in self-exploration! So far, in the past 31 days I've:

- I trusted a stranger, and he was right!

- I confronted numerous people in a positive manner and by not choosing the comfort of quietness, I braved my fears and got the results I wanted!

- My self confidence has been boosted by compliments received and I can now confidently wear long necklaces. I now own 3 great necklaces, and continue to shop for more!

- I have successfully baked 3 batches of cookies this month! While my waistline doesn't need them, I'm so excited to be able to bake them that I don't care!

- I tackled my fear of stairs and raised $220 for charity!

- I groomed my cat successfully and not only does she feel better, but I have less clean-up from shedding and hairball disasters. It's been a win-win situation!

- I learned to trust in myself and my talents, and accept truths such as, I am good at what I do!

- I am taking charge of my health and made doctor's appointments that are long over due and even made an appointment to boost my bust and self esteem, too! No "boob jobs" planned, refer to my "Uplifted" post if you must!

- I conquered my fear of bugs. Okay, it's limited to the cricket species but one step at a time, right?

While all my accomplishments aren't included here (that's what the blog is for!), I am really happy with the results of the things I've tackled so far. I'm looking forward to participating in the upcoming events I've already signed up for, and can't wait to find new adventures and fears to tackle as well! Here's to the next 334 blog posts! Hopefully if you're reading this, you'll join me in some of my efforts. Cheers!

Day 30 - Step Up Event

Today was a big day for me, I conquered the Kohl's Step Up For Kids, half climb of the AON building (refer to blog post, "Day 7" for the basics). Following is a recount of this first time climber's experience...

With 40 flights of stairs ahead of me, I took a moment at the base of the climb to make sure my I-pod was well prepared for the journey, and before I knew it, I was off. By floor 17, I thought, "Wow, this is real, I can't believe I'm doing this!" and that's when the real huffing and puffing started. At floor 20 I thought, "Thank goodness, I'm half way done!". At flight 23 I found a lost child and worked with another climber to help find her mother, and then continued onward and upward. I must have looked pretty pathetic nearing floor 29 as another climber offered what I hope was encouraging words followed by the "thumbs up" signal but between my I-pod and what seemed to be my heart pounding in my head I couldn't hear him and really, he could have told me anything so I just smiled and said "thank you!" as he passed me by. The landing at level 32 found me thinking, "Hell." Yeah, that's about all I thought at that point and at floor 35 I began the countdown in my head, "Just 5 more to go!". I think it was at staircase 36 that a father carrying a new born up the stairs lapped me, and I just had to laugh and remind myself today was about completing the task, not about time.

As I neared 40, I could hear the music blaring encouraging me to climb faster, so I did. I stepped through the doorway at 40 feeling super-accomplished. I took a moment to drink some water and cool down and was relieved, I was done! Of course, after standing around for a minute or two in efforts to catch my breath, a gentleman told me I had to step across the time clock to allow the timing chip on my shoe to calculate an end time. I had to laugh and again remind myself that this was all about finishing and not about my final time, right!? Fear of stairs conquered, blog updated, and now I think it's time for this blogger to conquer a nap!

Day 29 - Sketch

http://www.lpzoo.org/education/programs/adult-programs

I signed up for a wildlife sketch workshop, via the link above, hosted by the Lincoln Park Zoo. I've always wanted to be one of those artists that sit in the park and sketch, or paint along the streets of Venice, but have made a lot of excuses for not doing so. When I saw this structured opportunity on the zoo's website, I jumped at the chance to set fear aside and confidently draw where no Lynn has drawn before. I'm looking forward to seeing my results and maybe even sharing them with you in March!

Day 28 - Lion Tamer

I am the proud owner of a fuzz-ball. Actually, she owns me, who am I kidding? Being a fuzz-ball, or to be politically correct "Domestic Long Hair", cat owner has it's challenges. Matts. Tangles. Knots. Shedding. These things are not helped by the fact that my DLH seems to have no grooming skills of her own, and solely relies on me to brush her and keep her tangle free. That of course, is a full time job and seeing as I already have two jobs, brushing and grooming the DLH doesn't get done as often as it should. So, since neither I nor the DLH can keep up with her high-maintenance grooming schedule, I elect to get her groomed professionally and trimmed into what is called a Lion Cut. She comes home with a mane, a trimmed body and legs, and fur "boots". While she truly enjoys her days at the spa, the problem is, quarterly spa treatments get expensive!

Last fall, I found myself in the grooming supply section of a pet store, and I realized that for the price of one "spa treatment", I could purchase a mid-level trimmer and groom the DLH myself. So I took a leap, and made the purchase. Now mind you, I have not gone to kitty grooming school and know nothing on how to give a proper haircut. My haircutting resume would be short, and my references would include very unsatisfied, mangled Barbie doll heads, but I didn't let lack of experience dissuade me. I have so far, given my DLH two fur-trims, and while the results were probably humiliating for the girl, I must mention that I have never been confident enough to give her a full Lion Cut. Why? Because she GROWLS! She growls continuously to let me know that she does not want those trimmers anywhere near her chest, belly or "naughty bits". So my previous de-fuzzing sessions of the DLH have been limited to her back and sides, and scissoring of the belly. This still leaves a tangled chest and rear end. Because I know growling is a warning, and that cat bites are very nasty and hard to keep clean, the DLH wins the battle of the trimmers and I back off to avoid any escalated behaviors or reactions.

Recently, with the full support of my blog behind me, I decided I would tame the lion! The most recent grooming session of the DLH included a trimmed body, chest and legs! No scissors allowed! I pushed past my fears and intimidation created by the horrendous growling and got the job done. And while it is nowhere near a great job, it does save me $320+ a year in grooming fees and it helps the DLH avoid hairballs (yuk!). Who knows, with enough practice maybe I'll open a kitty salon someday, but for now the lion has been tamed, and fear conquered. Results below.

- Lion Cut, 2011 -

Day 27 - @#$&*%!

Today's planned blog has been postponed because, quite frankly, I woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning. Hopefully, regular programming will return tomorrow. I had planned on creating a post of a much different subject and fear today, but ya know what, I'm irritated and I just want to complain. Yep, I just want to complain for the sake of complaining. Now, you might wonder, "How does complaining translate to the overall theme of this blog?". Well, to be honest, I'm afraid to complain.

The fact is, everyone has a bad day now and again and most people let the world know when they do. My fear is, if I complain publicly then people will see that I am not perfect, or perhaps think that I just can't "handle" life, or interpret my complaints as weaknesses. There are a few people that I wholeheartedly confide in, but over all, I don't let people know that sometimes just getting out of bed seems like an insurmountable chore. For example, I belong to a social networking site and although I read other people's statuses who kvetch, I refuse to post anything that even hints at negativity because I don't want people to know that I'm human. Human = imperfect, vulnerable, and weak. Perfectionist much?

So, with fear of being weak or viewed as being imperfect set aside, here are my unedited, somewhat trivial, complaints for the day. I leave you with these thoughts...

I woke up 10 minutes early, but two accidents on the way to work
delayed my commute by 20 minutes, so thank you asshole drivers who crashed and made me miss my much needed Rise-n-Shine Yoga class today.

I really needed Yoga today, physically, mentally and emotionally.

The bathrooms at work are under construction. This does not make someone with stomach cramps happy and what the hell anyway? You (building people that are doing construction) KNEW people would be using this facility pre-November 2010, so why are you just NOW working on the damn bathroom that was perfectly FINE before???

At lunch, the cafeteria ran out of eggrolls and I ended up with another chicken breast sandwich. There are only so many condiment combinations that one can create in order to turn a char grilled, dried out chicken breast into something edible.

Quit asking me questions, I don't have all the answers!

I HATE SNOW!!!

If we're going to dinner, and you say, "You pick the restaurant, I don't care where we go.", I don't expect to hear "No, I don't want spaghetti I want a hamburger." when I suggest Italian food. Just tell me where the hell it is you want to eat then, why am I guessing and wasting my energy if you already know what it is you do and don't want?!

Can't you people clean up after yourselves?!

Day 26 - Advice of Strangers

http://www.kingsspeech.com/about.html

While having drinks one night at a local bar, the topic of conversation became recently viewed movies. As my most recent cinematic experience was the laughable cartoon, "Tangled", the bartender quickly took control of the conversation and mentioned a movie that, at the time, I hadn't even heard of. He began to give a glowing synopsis of the movie, "The King's Speech" and offered his personal review of the actors as well. As he spoke, I decided that my bartender was obviously in the wrong profession and was really the next Roger Ebert in disguise. Believing in his movie critique talent, I couldn't refuse his suggestion.

Putting fear of differences aside, I put complete trust in a stranger's advice to see a movie I had never heard of. Of course, the lapse of time between our conversation and the actual ticket buying allowed me to realize the movie I was preparing to see is now a 12 time Oscar nominee. However, had I not had the previous conversation with my own personal Roger Ebert, I would have quickly gotten annoyed with the current Oscar hype, and ignored viewing what turned out to be an excellent movie. I give it two thumbs up!

Day 25 - 2N

Included in my ever-growing spreadsheet of fears to tackle was task #86: "Introduce yourself to a neighbor". I wanted to task myself with an introduction because, 1) it's downright intimidating and 2) it's sad when you live in a 3 floor walk up, 6 units, and don't know anyone that shares that space with you. When I added this fear to my list, I originally thought I might bake cookies, or slip an invite under my neighbor's door to break the ice. I imagined coffee, baked goods, nice conversation and maybe even an invite into their home - what I got was loud music.

Enter fear #78: "Confront Someone". I'm horrible at finding the nerve to confront people, so I added this task to my list to help me grow personally. Little did I know #86 and #78 would be a head on collision for me as I came home last night.

Just as I took my shoes off to relax, it started. That's right, the 1960's, Oldies But Goodies sing along was taking place right underneath me. At first, I tried to ignore it, after all it was still early in the evening but as the do-wops continued, it became apparent that I wasn't going to be able to tune out such lyrics as, "He's a rebel and he'll never ever be any good". I got irritated. I paced the floor debating my course of action and then just as, "and then he kissed me..." played, I found myself putting on my shoes.

I descended the stairs quickly and pounded on the door of unit 2N to no avail. Since the occupant couldn't hear me over the blaring noise, I waited for a break in the song before I knocked again. Finally the music stopped and a meek little voice answered, "Hello?" through the door. "What? I'm not talking through a damn door", I thought, so I calmly asked, "Can we talk?". The door opened slowly, and what appeared to be a timid little Munchkin peeked out from around the corner.

I said hello, and noted that we had never properly met so I introduced myself. I also mentioned that I might be just a little perturbed by the volume of his music. To make light of an awkward situation, I did include that I liked most of his musical selections, but requested they just be turned down a bit. He giggled. He thanked me for pointing out his abuse of musical power, as he didn't want to be known as the "obnoxious neighbor" to everyone in the building. I giggled this time around. We parted ways on a good note, and I'm hoping by putting fears aside and introducing myself that my confrontation will pay off with a little more peace and quiet for all to relish.