Common Courtesy Goes A Long Way
By Cheval John
Photo courtesy of Stuart Miles
Just because we are in the age of social media does not mean that it gives a person the right to act a fool.
Over the last few weeks, people have posted mean things about others especially celebrities.
They feel that they will not be caught because they post these mean tweets as anonymous.
The only question is why would they post the mean tweets if they will not say those mean things in person?
The possible answer is that they have felt so insecure their entire lives and believed that putting other people down makes them feel better about themselves.
They do not realize that when they put down other people on social media, it will wind up hurting them in the long run because the person is developing a bad reputation to others.
If they only lift people up by sending a complimentary thank you note,tweet, etc. to the person for a great article they wrote, they will make their day and also will feel better about themselves.
I can guarantee that you will build a strong reputation for not only being a generous person, but will create a strong support because you took the time to be courteous.
Build Your Mental Strength Through Adversity
By Cheval John
Photo courtesy of stockimages
Sometimes life will throw you a curve ball when you least expect it.
When the curve ball occurs, you have a choice of whether to go out and have a pity party or pick yourself up and continue to fight for your dreams.
It is true that you have no control over your circumstances.
However, you can control your emotions.
When you want to go after your dreams, they will be a force of resistance that will try to stop you from achieving your goals.
Resistance and adversity are there to test you and see what you are made of.
If you really want to fulfill your goals, then you will find a way to overcome the resistance and adversity to achieve your goals.
At the same time, adversity is your friend because it allows you to build your mental toughness and develop the strength to push through to achieve your goals.
Just like an airplane flies against the wind to receive lift.
So if you are going through a tough time, do not give up.
Your breakthrough to fulfilling your dreams is right around the corner.
The World Is Our Oyster
By Cheval John
Photo Courtesy of khunaspix
As today is the last day of Natalie Sisson’s 15 Days To Freedom Blog Challenge, I want to say that it was an honor and a priviledge to participate in this blog challenge with many others from around the world.
It was a fun challenge because of the discipline of putting out quality blog posts everyday during this challenge.
As I mentioned in the first day of the challenge, I was blogging consecutively from the first day of this month because I thought that Natalie’s blog challenge was a 30-day blog challenge.
I guess you can call me an over-achiever.
However, I needed to start the year off right and blogging everyday was the right energy booster to make sure that 2015 was the breakout year for me.
You can look through this website and see all of the post that was written during Natalie’s blog challenge.
My favorite blog challenge was Day 14, “What’s One Thing You Are Going To Do To Make You Feel Alive And Be A Tourist In Your Hometown?” #paraphrased.
The reason why I loved that blog challenge was because I love to travel and I feel that the world is out there for everyone to explore.
The thing is that there is no excuse for anyone not to travel because the internet has given us the opportunity to run an online business from anywhere in the world.
You might think that you do not have the time to travel because of your work.
The truth of the matter is that we are heading towards a time where the majority of workers will either be self-employed or remote workers.
According to this article by Meghan M. Biro in Forbes, 30 to 45 percent of employees work from home.
What this means is that a person does not have any excuse on why they can’t travel the world.
If you are looking for inspiration on running a business from anywhere in the world or you want to work remotely, you can follow Ms. Sisson’s blog, “The Suitcase Entrepreneur.”
Ms. Sisson is the shining example for anyone who wants to run an online business from anywhere in the world.
If you agree or disagree with this post, you can leave a comment below.
Explore Your Hometown Like A Tourist
By Cheval John
Photo courtesy of taoty
Travel gives people the opportunity to explore a culture that is different from their own.
It breaks the preconceived notions of how people in a foreign country live.
Unfortunately, many only travel as a tourist to escape the rigors of work, especially here in the United States.
According to a report by CBS News, the average American only get two weeks of paid vacation time.
That same report by CBS said 25 % of Americans use the entire two weeks of their paid vacation time.
It is not surprising because we have the mindset of “Living To Work.”
We are really focused on getting the promotion we will sacrifice living just to achieve the promotion.
In reality, we were raised to believe that we had to go get good grades in school that we could get into college.
Once we get into college, we should choose the major that will get us that job and from there work until retirement.
We don’t think that it is possible to spend time in a foreign country and explore a different culture.
Another belief is that the only ones who could spend an extended period of time overseas are college students.
The truth is this type of lifestyle in overseas travel is open to anyone who really want to experience a different culture.
However, it doesn’t hurt if you start living abroad during your time in college.
According to the National Association of Foreign Student Advisors (NAFSA), 289,408 U.S. students studied abroad during the 2012-13 school year.
That is only a small percentage of about 18 million students who attends universities in the U.S. according to the Statistic Brain report.
What this shows is that if you studied abroad and are looking to enter the workforce or try to gain an overseas assignment with a company, you will stand out from the millions of people who did not studied abroad.
And if you did studied abroad or lived abroad, you will experience re-entry culture shock.
You will start to feel like things are boring in your hometown, will feel sadness because you can’t relate to your friends or family because they have not spent time overseas.
I can tell you that if you feel that way, you should try to find people who have studied abroad themselves and learned how they overcame re-entry shock.
Also, you can start exploring your hometown like a tourist.
You can visit the museum, attend a symphony orchestra concert, go to a sporting event, etc.
That will allow you to maintain your sense of adventure when you traveled abroad to your hometown.
I can tell you that while I spent three months in Chile, (the majority of the time in Vina del Mar), I walked around the city and explored it.
Prior to spending time in Vina del Mar, I had a preconceived notion that it was going to be touristy because the city is the tourist capital of Chile.
However, I was happily surprised that it was not too touristy because I had arrived during their winter time and the weather changed a lot like here in Texas.
After returning and experiencing re-entry shock, I decided to read up on stories of people who lived overseas.
I also realized that I could walk around the city of Huntsville, which is a small town, and get around easily.
Now that I am in the Houston area, I will aim to explore Houston as much as possible while I am here.
I know that I will learn something new about the city of Houston and will also maintain my sense of adventure for travel.
Have you studied, interned or lived overseas? If you did how did you overcome re-entry shock and how have you maintained your sense of adventure in your hometown? You can leave your comments below.
This post is in response to Natalie Sisson’s question, “What is the one thing you will do to make you feel alive in your hometown as a tourist #paraphrased as part of her “15 Days To Freedom Blog Challenge.”
Don’t Cry When Things Don’t Go Your Way
By Cheval John
If you feel that things are not going your way, celebrate because the adversity can be a way for you to discover your strengths.
You might have aspired to play professional baseball, but had a injury that derailed your dreams.
Or wanted to work at a prestigious company, but they did not take any interest in you.
Though they are “devastating” events, it was a blessing in disguise because you were meant to do more with your life.
When I started college late in 2003 at 22 years old, I felt that I was behind everyone who were about to graduated with their college degrees.
I was thinking that if I had started college immediately after moving to Huntsville, Texas, then I would have been able to graduate at the same time as the others.
I had made up my mind that I was going to try and graduate with my Bachelor’s Degree as fast as I could.
Though I enjoyed college, making friends and learning my second language as Spanish major, I was constantly comparing myself to others who were making money in their jobs because of their degrees while I was working in the fast food industry during my time as an undergraduate.
When I finally graduated in 2009 from Sam Houston State via Lone Star College (gained Associate Degree in 2007), I thought I was going to join the work force because of the degrees.
However, I was wrong as I had graduated in the middle of the “Great Recession” and I was looking for work because I had quit the last fast food job.
I was angry, feeling sorry for myself and blaming people because I thought if I had only started college before 2003, I would not have been in this position in looking for a job.
At that moment thanks to my parents, I understood that I had a lot to be thankful for because I had achieved my college degrees despite graduating high school with a 1.9 G.P.A. that prevent most people from attending college.
If I had graduated in 2003, I would have missed out on the opportunity to gain valuable work experience in public relations, journalism, television, and radio.
Also, I would have missed out on covering Sam Houston State football consecutive national championship appearance in Frisco, Texas, the baseball team winning three consecutive Southland Conference Championships and three at-large berths in the NCAA tournament and of course, the Bearkat bowling team winning the school’s first ever, NCAA Division 1 National Championship.
So celebrate your failures because they are the lessons that will guide you to your eventual goals that will allow you to make the world a better place.
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