I am Thankfull

I think if we all dig down deep into our souls, hearts, and minds we would discover we are pretty darn blessed. There is not a day that goes by that I do not wake up and thank God for the many blessings in my life, my job being one of the top. I am thankful for my co-workers; they are amazing coaches, amazing leaders, funny, personable, and kind. They help me to grow, learn, and encourage me to be the best professional I can be.

I am thankful I do not deep sea fish, clean windows on high-rise buildings or clean porta potties. Let’s be honest I am thankful my job does not require me to clean anything especially bodily fluids. Rather we have craft hours at our office.

I am thankful that co-workers become friends, and quickly become best friends.

I am thankful that I get to meet people from all over the globe, learn about different cultures, experience different personalities, and one day travel to far off places.

I am thankful I can pay for the roof over my head, the shoes on my feet, the food in my belly, and the clothes on my body. I am thankful for the team building experience I am able to participate in from Dragon Boat races, to ball games, to happy hours, to DaVita sponsored events.

I am thankful for the people, the job, and the company that I have the opportunity to devote 8-12 hours of my day to.

Opening Game

It is not a secret that I am not a huge fan of professional sports. Even though college football is the oxygen to my fall months, I still do not really like professional football. That being said when you are a big sister for Big Brothers Big Sisters and number 18 himself (Payton Manning for those of you not from the Denver area) provides you with NFL open game tickets you smile, take the tickets, and do a happy dance inside because there are people who would sell their soul to the devil for these tickets. Let me take a quick min to brag on my little, she is smart as a tack, beautiful inside and out, and has a great personality. You see in order for us to get these high demand tickets my little had to write an essay about bullying at school and how to decrease the frequency of such cowardly behavior. Her essay WON!!

The morning of September 5, 2013 I put on my one and only Broncos shirt, luckily the mayor requested everyone paint Denver ‘orange’ on this specific day so I got to wear jeans and a t-shirt to the office. I left work a tad early, dealt with the horrific traffic in order to pick up my little. We rode the light rail, the first time ever for me, back into town. You see I do not like traffic and I figured for my own sanity and for the livelihood of all those on the road it would be best if I simply parked at a light rail station and rode the train which as it turned out dropped off us nearly at the front door of Mile High Stadium. As we departed the train, it looked like rain and with my luck regarding rain and football I anticipated a huge downpour delaying the game for hours. You may think I am being dramatic, however, the last time I was at a football game in which it rained it was the OSU/TU game in 2011 and there was a 3 hour rain delay. This caused the game to kickoff after midnight; I quickly began praying to the rain god’s that we would not be encountering a storm of such epic proportions this time around. Luckily kickoff occurred 45 mins following the original slated time.

It rained, it lightening, it rained some more, we got wet, it got humid, it got smelly, but the Broncos won in a sweet sweet victory over the Raven’s.

This was a sweet redemption for the Broncos and the town of Denver being the Raven’s knocked them out of Super Bowl contention last year.

My little and I had a great time along with every other fan!

Deluge

I was awoken this morning at 5:30 to a weather phone alter, apparently it rained a little while I was sleeping….and when I say a little I mean 3-7” depending on where ones lives. Schools were closed, universities were closed, roads were closed, and I felt my brain needed to be closed for the day as well. However, I didn’t get any notification that my brain could have the day off so I pull myself out of bed on this rainy socked in day and venture into the office. While driving in I realized a few things: 1) If there is any sort of moisture coming from the sky people all of sudden go into ‘I forgot how to drive’ mode. Although caution should be used while driving we need not forget how to operate an automobile, and if you are one that neglects to remember the rules of the roads when wet than it may be best to call in sick and let the rest of us drive in peace. 2) If it is pouring and the best way to get from point A to point B is via the germ tube (aka the free shuttle) check the seat before sitting down. There is chance it might be soaking wet and you will stand up with a discolored backside. 3) It is never fun for a fire to start in the office building during a day with record rain fall. There are many things I can think I would rather do than huddle under an umbrella in the pouring rain. Luckily the fire was put out and we were all able to stand under blow driers before returning back to work. 4) I am more than thankful for my job that allows me to stay inside all day if I want. I think everyone around me is also very happy for this life choice, for you see if I get wet in anything other than workout clothes I turn green and mean. 5) I thought I moved from Oregon to Oklahoma to Colorado. I thought I lived in a state that had over 300 days of sunshine a year. I thought I lived in the mile high city, far far away from humidity. I thought this morning I woke up back in Oregon. Signing off from the Barrington Ark

Beautiful People Do Not Just Happen

For those of you who were blessed to experience August 28, 1963 in our nation’s history, I am sure you are sitting here today wondering how that could have possibly been 50 years ago. ‘I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.” I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood. I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice. I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today. I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification; one day right there in Alabama, little black boys and girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sister and brothers. I have a dream today.’ Martin Luther King Jr. was a beautiful soul. A man of such character, passion, and enthusiasm to change the dichotomy with which our nation resided. It is sad to me that after 50 we still face division in parts of our country. I challenge all of us to think deeply about the words that were spoken 50 years ago today and focus closely on words which this nation itself was founded on ‘that all men are created equal’. I will close with a quote I saw today, which seemed quite fitting…… ‘The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of the depths. These persons have an appreciation, sensitivity, and an understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness, and a deep loving concern. Beautiful people do not just happen’. Martin Luther King was in fact a magnificently beautiful person.

Secret of Life

Are you ever sitting at work, in a waiting room, at the beach, or in a restaurant, and your mind wonders? This happens to me quite often and the subject matters which my brain tends to navigate towards are always very interesting. Today as I was jamming out to the Lady A station on Pandora and auditing a document, I suddenly began to think about the secret to life. This has been a topic covered in movies ‘Do you know what the secret of life is?......One thing. Just one thing. You stick to that and the rest don’t mean shit’. Name that movie! It is heard in song lyrics ‘The secret to life is a good cup of coffee….’ Articles have been written, books have been published, and yet it is still a blazing topic. What does all this mean, more specifically what is that secret everyone seems to be talking about? How do people find unending happiness, where do folks find the silver lining in all of life’s ups and downs, how do people find strength to weather the most difficult of situations with so much grace and dignity….what is their secret? I pondered this for some time, and then I realized the secret to life lies within each of us individually. We all have different ‘one things’ that drive us, provide us happiness, lift us up when we are down, and give us hope……the one thing that if we stick to the rest won’t mean shit. For me I find the most happiness when I can touch hearts, lives, and leave a situation a bit better than when I arrived. You see the secret to life is different for all of us, for some it might very well be a cup of coffee, a good book, faith, a new pair of shoes, or that perfect designer purse. For someone else it might be their volunteer service, the time devoted to helping others, being a mentor, or searching for what they love. Yet for others it might be their career advancement, finding connections, the travels they take, the business deals they make. At the end of the day it really does not matter what YOUR secret is as long as you live by it and let it guide your life with its light. What is your secret?

ISFJ

Is it just me, or is anyone else excited that today is Friday. This week has been one of growth, cramming my brain full of more information than I was aware it could hold, and very little sleep. Discussions were had on core values, effective ways of communication, the importance of a credo, conflict resolution, and we took the Myers-Briggs Personality Test. As my eyes are glazing over I am able to sit and reflect on what this week has meet to me, what I was able to discover about myself and how eerily similar the events of the past few days felt like intensive therapy. As much as I would like to share everything that has been this week, I am going to take time to share what I learned about myself through the Myers-Briggs test. Some aspects I knew, some aspects were eye opening. Extroversions vs. Introversion (Your Worlds) The results of this section seemed to be surprising to many, but not to me. After the 70 question assessment it was determined that I am more of an introvert. Now this does not mean that I am a hermit and do not like to socialize and get out. In fact the results have nothing to do with how well one socializes but, rather how one gets energized. Introverts get energized by spending time alone, they find themselves exhausted when in large groups for too long. Introverted individuals (according to Myers-Briggs) are reflective, they tend to direct energy and attention inward, often times it is hard to get to know introverts, they have depth of interests, gather information before relationships, tend to think before speaking, and often reflect and then speak or act. Sensing vs. Intuition (The Perceiving Process) This was a very close score for me, only 2 points separated me from one side to the other. Yet at the end of the day I was sectioned off into Sensing. This again was not took shocking in that there are situations in which I need facts and am really detailed, yet other situations in which I go with my gut and am more spontaneous. An individual that falls into the sensing category is one that is grounded in the present, fact and detail oriented, practical, impatient with theory, take things step by step. Thinking vs. Feeling (The Judging (decision) Process) I was 100% tied in this section, which for anyone that knows me well could attest to. In different situations I would go off of reasoning and others I would go off of feeling. Also not shocking 2/3 of men fall into the think tank and 2/3 of women base decisions off of feelings. Thinkers tend to be impersonal, objective, need things to be firm and fair. Whereas Feelers are less comfortable with logic, concerned with harmony, show empathy and compassion, and think about people. Judging vs. Perceiving (Structure of the Outside World) This was a shocking result for me, but a pleasant shock. You see prior to my life changing event 1.5 years ago I was as far to the judging side as possible. I was organized, controlled, structured, 0 flexibility, anxiety if there were not deadlines and strict plans. However, although I still favor structure, deadlines, organization, and plans I am also more open, flexible, spontaneous, and adaptable. After all was said and done I found out I was a ISTJ/ISFJ. For all you doubters out there, no, that is not an alien life form, the letter combinations reflect the personality group I fall into. There are 2 here, since I had a tied section. Long story short my personality is that of a Guardian (Inspector/Protector). Displaying characteristics of dedication, tough mindedness, modesty, and a since of belonging. Caretaking, quiet and gentle, handles neediness in others, and has a strong work ethic. If you are interested in discovering your personality I would highly recommend taking this test. If you have taken it in the past then take it again. Life events and life changes may cause the results to change. With everything in life that is constantly changing, your personality can fluctuate a little as well over the years.

DaVita Academy

Last week I spent two days with these three great, whacky, loving, co-workers who happen to also be friends!

We found ourselves being new employees (we like to call employees, teammates) at the same time and had the opportunity to attend a company seminar (we like to call this seminar, Academy) together.

We had a lot of introspective thinking, looking, and uncovering.

We watched teammates dance, sing, and form conga lines.

We were put into teams for DaVita Olympics.

We found out we have a lot of teammates that can bust a move and can sing like a rock star.

We had late nights which included shenanigans and early mornings which included a lot of coffee.

We had team cheers. We learned a lot, saw a lot, cried a little, were encouraged, inspired, and had fun. And………

We graduated!!