So Sick Of...

So Sick of…

By Drew Bankston

We’ve heard it before and each of us has probably said it at least once. “I’m so sick of my job,” “I’m so sick of this traffic,” “I’m so sick of this person or that person,” “I’m so sick of being sick.” Even though we say it, and there is a very good possibility that we truly mean it at the time we say it, a good night’s sleep will usually take care of it with only a few lingering remnants left over at the morning light. Sometimes, however, a good night’s sleep doesn’t do the trick. What happens then?

For most of us, we will continue to put up with the situation until something happens that forces us to deal with it. In the meantime, we feel like we’re being used and are miserable. Why do we do this to ourselves?

We fall into situations that don’t seem to fit with us but we stick with them because we become comfortable in our discomfort. It’s easier to put up with the discomfort of the situation than it is to try and change it. Once we realize that the fact we are sick and tired of a situation and that acting to change it will make our lives easier, then we quit complaining about it and do something to change the situation.  Don’t worry. I do the same thing, but I’m getting better. I’m actually sick of complaining, so the best way to handle it is to have nothing to complain about.  In order to do that, I have to evaluate my life and adjust it daily. If my job is getting to me, I need to start looking around for something else. I need to act on the situations and stop reacting to them. Only then can I, and you, be in control of our own lives and stop being so sick of, well, everything! Let’s give it a try, shall we?

When the Day...

When the Day…

We all have those days. You know what they are. Those days when you just don’t want to go to work. You don’t want to stay there after you showed up. You would love to feign sickness and head home. Some days, it happens more often than you’d like. But, being the responsible person that you are, you go to work, you stay at work, and only wish that you could make it stop.

There are those fortunate few who can walk out and find another job within a few days of walking away, but for most of us, that’s not the case. So why do you think that we become dissatisfied with the jobs that we depend on to help us pay our bills? What changes from the time that we walk in and fall in love with this position?

We often fall in love with the idea of what we think the job will entail and then become disappointed when it turns out to be just another hob. It’s not like finding a restaurant that we begin going to and then fall in love with. We have those fun things in life where the more often we do them, the more we enjoy them,. Making new friends and hanging out. Finding a new place to go where we learn the names of those new friends and then learn what we have in common. Life becomes more and more fun.

At work, however, we can become tired of the routine. The fun leaves once the newness wears off and it’s difficult for us to find that again. So how can we do that?

So often, the fun wears off because we let it do so. We can often rekindle that feeling we had by looking for new things in our jobs, new challenges to overcome, and new territory to explore. If you try that and nothing changes then perhaps it really is time to find something different, because going into a job day after day that you don’t love, will just eat you up from the inside out.

So evaluate your situation honestly, try one more time to make things better, and if it doesn’t improve from the inside out, then work hard to find that new direction from the outside in!

Getting to Know...

Getting to Know…

This past weekend I had the pleasure and opportunity to sit at a table at Comic-Con in Fort Collins, Colorado. It was my job to sell books, specifically, my books. As many of you know I’ve written and published 12 books. I absolutely love selling my books at conventions but more than that I love meeting the people that want to read my books.

It was wonderful meeting so many people this weekend, but one fan stuck out more than others. Her name is Sky.

Sky is a younger girl about 10 or 11 years old. She timidly came up to my table with her parents and looked at one particular book, “The Sounds of Tomorrow” which is quickly becoming one of my most popular books, in fact, last year and this as well, I sold out of that particular book. She picked up the book and told me that she came to the convention last year and bought that book. She proceeded to tell me how much she loved it. She told me that she did a book report on the story for her school and that she loved it so much that she wanted to buy another copy. I was very touched and provided her with another copy. She then, very timidly again, asked if I would sign it for her. When I did, her face lit up and she thanked me over and over. My heart soared. This was an amazing event not only at this convention but in my life.

After this happened and Sky left, it made me realize that each person who reads my stories has feelings about what they just read. I remember when I wrote this story and how much fun it was developing the characters and the plot and the storyline. It was so much fun watching the entire story develop. Many authors plan out their stories from beginning to end, but I come up with the idea and then let the characters write the story. It’s always amazing to me how each story ends. So to have so many people loving this particular story makes me so humble and grateful.

I want to get to know each of you and what you think about my books. I would encourage each of you, if you want, to write to me at author@drewbankston.com and tell me what you like or dislike about my stories. Tell me a little about yourself. Help me get to know who you are.

Many thanks to you all for being a fan to one degree or another. Each of you makes my life happy and my heart skip a beat. I hope to get to meet each of you someday.

Up or...

Up or…

by Drew Bankston

I am a very positive person. I get up each morning expecting the day to be amazing and I am seldom wrong. To me, each day is amazing. I have life, I have a job, I have a few friends, I have a family, and I have dreams and goals that I continue to work on with the anticipation of seeing them come true and reaching them someday.

Every now and again, however, I run into people who don’t think or feel the same way as I do. These negative people used to irritate me and bring me down. I would get grumpy and allowed their attitude to change mine. What a really crummy thing for me to allow someone else to change my attitude and change how I view my life. Once I realized what was going on, I determined to change that part of my life, I couldn’t change them, so the change had to come from within.

Today I worked with one of those people. I watched and listened as this person painted a picture of a life that was filled with woe and self-pity. I chose to just listen only, smile, and continue to be positive. After doing all of this I came home and found that my attitude was just as crisp and chipper as it was when I first woke up this morning. I was happy. I was ready to tackle the night and have fun.

It’s so important to realize how much we control our own lives, our own emotions, and our own futures. So often we allow outside circumstances to creep in and change how we feel about everything, but keeping focused on how we are and where we want to go will propel us farther and faster than you could ever hope for. Always stay up. Don’t let there be an alternative. No “or”, just always up. By doing so you’ll see your world improve and your days progress to a level that you’ve never known to exist. Always up!

If You Take Another Step You Might...

If You take Another Step You Might…

by Drew Bankston

It seems like every now and then I go through periods of reflection, thinking about where I am in life, where I’ve been, and where I still want to end up. I think that we all go through this type of thought process from time to time. Today I’m looking at how many things I have on my pate and wondering if I really need them all infant of me in order to be happy.

Happiness can often be elusive and fleeting. For some, happiness comes while hanging out with friends or family. For others, it could just be the opposite finding happiness only when alone and doing the things that one person enjoys. For still others, happiness can come from totally different sources. I used to think that for me, happiness came with being constantly busy and changing the ever elusive dream of success. Well, maybe not so elusive. I feel that my entire life has been a success. Perhaps it’s time, however, to drop one of the businesses that I’ve been so keen on perpetuating, but which one? I love them all.

If you’re like me, you love life and everything that goes with it. Yeah, even the bad parts. I use those as learning tools. So each day as we go through life and walk that path through time, each step brings us closer to something. Sometimes we become discouraged and decide to just quit. If there’s something you love, however, why would you quit? What if you took that one more step? What would lie ahead if you just took that one more step? If you quit, then you would never know. Keep taking those steps toward your passion and you’ll find out. That’s what I plan on doing. Next week we can talk about where those steps might lead.

And Then it Happens to You

And Then it Happens to You

by Drew Bankston

When I used to teach Kung Fu, one of the things that I would tell my students is that with time and distance things become less impactful. For example, we here in Colorado might hear about a shooting in Florida. We’re sad, outraged and bothered by it, but not as much so as if it happened in our town. When we look back on a tornado that wiped out part of a nearby town, it’s less impactful ten years later than it is today. Time and distance make things less urgent in our minds.

Sometimes we hear about a person on the news, who is being stalked or harassed, and to us it’s just another news story. But what if such an event were to happen to you? What if something happened in your life or the life of a loved one that was not getting resolved? What if you suddenly and unexpectedly became the target of undeserved attacks and you needed help? How would you handle such a situation?

I only bring this up because recently this has happened in my life. I’m learning that there are some very disturbed people in this world. Thankfully, I know several people who can help with this situation and things are in the works unbeknownst to the perpetrators. Like a tiger, I sit back and watch until the time is right and everything is in place, then when I pounce, they don’t know what hit them.

It’s sad that there are people like this in the world, and even sadder that they have no idea what their thrill-seeking can do to the lives of others. Why would someone do this? I have no idea. Money? Grins and giggles? Whatever it is, it’s still bullying and not at all acceptable.

Be kind to others, friends, and help those in need.

Oil Absorption

by Drew Bankston

Today we'll talk about how the skin absorbs certain types of oils. We will classify oils into three different categories of absorption: slow, moderate and fast. Let's start out by talking about some oils that are absorbed into the skin slowly, and what this means to you.
A few oils that are slow to be absorbed by the skin are: avocado oil, shea butter, oat oil, castor oil and evening primrose oil. 

These oils, if rubbed onto the skin, will sit on the surface for a long time before the skin can efficiently adsorb them. Consequently, the surface of the skin will feel oily for a very long time once the oil is rubbed on. 

You might ask then, why would you use any of these oils on your skin? When you combine one or more of these oils with others that absorb quickly, in something like lip balm, your lips become soft instantly and also have a slight sheen. The slower absorbing oils then keep your lips soft for hours making the lip balm a longer lasting variety. Next week we'll talk about oils that absorb with a more moderate speed.