#themikecashion

[time2betransparent-blog]

Recap - Final Post

This is my final post for the time2betransparent blog. There are many, many more experiences, emotions and lessons to share although I feel as though with the last 93 posts, many were able to see into some of the craziness that may be going on under the surface and behind a smile in someone else.

This blog acted as a great release and a great way to connect with people in a different way. People all have their struggles but many of them keep them bottled up inside.

During the course of the last three months, I shared 93(now 94) posts. Each day this blog fluctuated between 50 - 200 readers. About every other day, someone reached out to me with a direct message thanking me for sharing my story, telling me about a similar struggle that they were going through and that they wish they had the courage to do the same. Unfortunately our culture promotes vulnerability, mistakes, being different and being happy with who you are as being less than ok.

I now know that I can be me. No one is perfect even if they try to present themselves that way. Everyone makes mistakes, many of which no one ever finds out about. Everyone learns hard lessons. Everyone moves on.

Remember that on those bad days, you are not the only one that is struggling.

Recognize that everyone has a bad day. Your waitress or waiter may come across as unfriendly today although maybe they just found out that their grandparent was diagnosed with a rapid form of cancer and may only have one more year of life. They have been crying during their shift and are just trying to keep it together but they are hurting. That was me last week...

Do not fall into the trap that you need to look important, be “super busy” or work all the time. Life is too short to be fake. Be honest, work hard, be proud of the goals you set and accomplish and embrace life.

Remember to smile even if it hurts. Everyday is a great day in some fashion. Sometimes you just might have to look a little harder to find the little rays of awesome that shine on us each day.

Thank you for following along, reaching out, sharing, reblogging, liking, commenting and being awesome. Since March of 2015 things have changed radically and are actually quite nice.

I may not be blogging here anymore although I will continue to blog over at themikecashion.tumblr.com and hope you will check in from time to time.

[themikecashion-blog]

Misperception.

Yesterday I had coordinated an event in Portsmouth, NH that required travel. I coordinated it before I sold my car to focus on walking, cycling, bus, rail and plane travel(all things not driving). To be honest I completely forgot about the event until a message showed up on the notification bar of my smartphone. It was one of my friends asking about the upcoming event on Tuesday.

At first I thought, oops I completely forgot about that, the timing might be tough and I did not think about alternative transportation as I had a car when it was planned. Then I spent a few minutes searching on google, three additional website visits and a plan started to form. There really were not any problems that could not be solved by adjusting my schedule a little.

My plan consisted of cycling to the bus station in Concord, taking a bus to south station in Boston, catch a bus from South Station to the Portsmouth Transportation Center and then take a bus to downtown Portsmouth where I would grab a coffee and walk over to the restaurant that we would be meeting at for food and drinks. Oh my, I had an amazing meatloaf sandwich!

Anyways, when my friends realized that I did not have a car and that I traveled in a different way they were slightly concerned. It would have been great to cycle from Concord directly to Portsmouth although I could not afford the large amount of unproductive time where I would be focused on peddling.

They thought the travel method was on the crazy side and as if it was extremely unproductive. On the other hand it was very productive for me. I spent much time sending and responding to email, coordinating upcoming events, bouncing ideas off of people, reaching out to people, writing blog posts, submitting resumes, applying for jobs, planning the following day as well as some reading and some watching of great TED Talks. On the unproductive side of things I took an hour nap to catch up on the lack of sleep I got the night before(3 hours).

If I had had driven to and from Portsmouth, it would have been over two hours of unproductive and stressful time especially around the evening commute time.

If I had backed out of the event, I still would have done all of the same things that I did on the bus at a local coffee shop or in my office at home. Although I probably would not have taken a nap.

Remember to not take things for what they appear on the surface. You may be surprised how things actually are playing out on the inside.

If we take a second to compare those highly paid international sales people, consultants, executive team members, politicians and etc that travel often, they can spend anywhere from 1 hour on a flight to 12+ hour flight at a time. Very rarely do you see someone traveling for work that does not have their laptop, tablet, smartphone. headset and earbuds handy to get work done. Being on a long leg of travel can be some of the most productive time you can have.

I am definitely non-conventional but remember to step back before forming an opinion on the matter before asking clarifying questions to learn more. You might be surprised.

My friends all had great intentions and wanted to help or offer me rides although I have committed to walking, cycling, riding the bus, rails or flying with no driving involved. It is just me being me.