Some Words from Mother Theresa

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives; Be kind anyway.

If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies; Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you; Be honest and frank anyway.

What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight; Build anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous; Be happy anyway.

The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow; Do good anyway.

Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough; Give the world the best you've got anyway.

You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and your God; It was never between you and them anyway."

Ten Things Thursday

So, Thursdays will be my "Ten Things" day. Starting today. :)
And today's topic is...(drumroll...)-

Ten Things that Drive me Crazy:

1) Insects/Rodents (I'm afraid of them)
2) Being Late (puts me in a bad mood- I dont feel grounded or centered)
3) Rude/Disrespectful People (like on the subway during rush hour)
4) The Rain (like tonite!)
5) Ignorance/Intolerance
6) Dishonesty
7) Unreliable People
8) Clogged sinks
9) Traffic jams
10)Waiting in line.

On Casting

So I go to a "request casting" tonite that one of my agents sent me on. I arrive there and the first thing the guy says is, "With all due respect, we are looking for a white person for this project". I politely respond that yes, but my agent sent me here and that the casting person had already seen my picture ahead of time and they had specifically requested that I come in. He apologized again and said that there must have been some sort of misunderstanding, but thanks me for coming in. I thanked him and walked away. I immediately call my agent and told her what happened. We were both baffled by this guys strange behavior, but we did have a good laugh about it. I'm just glad that I didnt waste cab money on my way over there.

Its a weird category that I am in as an actor. Im bi-racial, so I get sent in for ALOT of different things/types. Ive often been told that I am "hard to cast". My favorite box to check on those forms is "ethnically ambiguous".
Anyway, these things always leaving me feeling a little weird- with a mini identity crisis,lol.

Another day....have another one coming up on Thursday- hope I'm "white enough" for that one....

Jenn

So I had my Equifit this morning. This was a follow up to the one I had last year. (its like a physical for grown-ups) I've come a long way since last year. I am happy. I still have a long way to go, but I am well on my way.

I had a new person this time, a guy, and he was telling me a lot of interesting things. I wish I'd had my notebook with me so that I could take notes. He was very inspiring and I am going to try to find a way to train with him. I'm not one of those people who are good at doing training on my own. I need someone there with me for motivation and guidance. Thats why I like classes so much.

One thing he told me was that the reason guys lose weight so much faster than women is that they have more muscle. And when you have more muscle, you can burn calories even when you are just sitting. So, I need to build more muscle.

We talked a lot about what Ive been doing in the past year, and he really stressed that my priority needs to be in strength training. That Im doing too much of the other stuff (cardio, flex,etc) and not enough of the strength...

He made me feel great about what I am doing so far though, stressing that its important to take care of our bodies while we are still young, because when we get older its often too late to reverse the damage. So he commended me on my efforts. :)

Working out for me is not so much about vanity as much as it is about health. Health has been a major issue for both of my parents and has caused a lot of strain on my family. I dont want to repeat their mistakes. So I really try hard to eat right (and limit the oreo intake) and work out regularly.

Another thing I really like about working out is that Im getting in touch with my inner athlete. I was a dancer growing up- and since I went to a performing arts school there were no sports teams. So now I am taking all of these classes and doing all of these things that I never got to do when I was growing up. I signed up for football this year with my friends (no one else seemed interested in basketball) so I am excited about that too (although a little nervous as well).

Look out Serena! Jaja....:)

Ducks

Someone emailed me this yesterday and I thought it was so powerful!! We can all learn a lot from ducks!! :)

From Eckhart Tolle’s, “The New Earth”

“ …after two ducks get into a fight, which never lasts long, they will separate and float off in two directions. Then each duck will flap its wings vigorously a few times, thus releasing the surplus energy that built up during the fight. After they flap their wings, they float peacefully, as if nothing had ever happened.



If the duck had a human mind, it would keep the fight alive by thinking, by story-making, This would probably be the duck’s story” “I don’t believe what he just did. He came within five inches of me. He thinks he owns this pond. He has no consideration for my private space. I’ll never trust him again. Next time he’ll try something else just to annoy me. I’m sure he’s plotting something else just to annoy me. I’m sure he’s plotting something else already. But I’m not going to stand for this. I’ll teach him a lesson hee’ll never forget.” And on and on the mind spins tales, still thinking, talking, about it days, month or years later.

Happy Birthday Dad!

Today was my fathers birthday! Here is a picture of him! This was taken at the retirement party we threw for him last fall.

I sm very blessed to have a father like him.

Nine Years

And I still remember everything. Every single detail.