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Week #4

I think this week has led me to a couple of big revelations. From the activities that I have been participating in this class, and also the humbling experience I am having taking Macroeconomics and Managerial Accounting. First is that I get discouraged too easily and sometimes I let fear of failure cause me to stop in my tracks. After doing the fear worksheet, I realized that the root of my worries is usually focused in the wrong area, like looking stupid or having other people see me fail. I am going to have to get a thicker skin as it advised in the materials this week.

I also have had an epiphany of sorts from a sad experience. My friend died this week of cancer. She was a single mom and her family situation is less than ideal. A few of her friends were tasked with cleaning their home while the family was at the hospital and funeral home. We were also asked by the family to sort her belongings into sentimental things, goodwill donations and garbage. As we worked the past few days, I was sad as piles of souvenirs and other trinkets and mementos that she had carried through her life were basically tossed away. The piles boiled down to massive amounts of donations, a few boxes of pictures and sentimental items, and a whole lot of trash. I was struck with the realization that material possessions, even treasured ones to myself are someone else's trash. It was a sobering reminder that all we leave behind truly is our legacy. I felt like it was a much needed reminder that stuff should not be the focus of our lives. I have thought about this so much this week as I have worked to figure out what my core values are. I also need to take these experiences and tie them back into the fear worksheet. I need to realize that we have one shot at this life experience and that we should not give over control of ourselves to others by allowing fear of what they think to get in the way. In the end, it really does not matter how much wealth you have amassed. It matters who you were and how you will be remembered by those who you love. This is part of why my core values centered so much around my family. For me, career is always going to come behind family, but it does not mean I won't be successful in my career. It just means that I will have to work to keep myself centered.

I really loved the "How Will You Measure Your Life?" document. I feel like this really parallels what I went through this week. I feel like it helped me to see what I really want to become and how I want to allocate my most precious resource of time. I think the article was a sobering reminder that if we do not work to keep our core values at the center of our lives, the lure of the world can cause us to make choices that draw us away from the things that have the highest value. I really liked understanding that it can be done! It requires balance and hard work, but I needed the encouragement and understanding that success at home and success in career is not mutually exclusive. It just takes direct effort and energy to stay balanced.

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