List 5 Things...
...that you consider an accomplishment but might be considered lame by others:
(I found this on Mary's blog, Mary Says... Daily Blog, and I thought I would give this a shot, as I really like the things that make me think.)
1. Getting my EMT certification. I am terrible at testing and usually not as dedicated to studying as I can be. But I did this with fervor and did nothing but work, sit through all the lectures and practicals (even when sick - I did not miss ANY lectures at all!) all day Saturday and Sunday, work on the volumnious amounts of homework and practice with friends and ride my Wednesday shift every week. I made it through and passed every module test except one on the first shot (and all my scores were 88 and higher. However, the peds one I got a 67 the first time and a 77 the second. Easily my lowest score. The peds stuff is hard - all the numbers are different for stats. I took my state boards and scored a 77 and then on the National Registry test (which is no longer required... grumble, grumble) I scored a 79 - I have no idea how. Anyway, it was an excellent exprience and very helpful to have that certification.
2. Succeeding at my current job. I haven't always been successful and when I have, I haven't been happy. Where I am now, I am happy and I am successful. It is not easy, by any means, and I am by no means perfect at what I do. But I work hard and I bust my butt and this year I managed with great skills all the things - at least most of the things - that last year were a problem for me. I'm doing so much better than I did the year before. That is very, very important to me.
3. Being able to touch my toes. Yeah, that sounds really lame but trust me when I tell you it is not that simple. Because I am afflicted with Limb Girdle Muscular Dystrophy, I cannot lift anything over 25lbs. I just can't. I could work out with weights until the cows come home, and nothing will happen. Not a single thing. The reason for this is that with MD, the enzyme(s) that should be in muscles improving its memory and allowing me to strengthen my muscles (or at least keeping them at their current strength) is/are not in my muscles, doing their jobs, but are floating loose in my bloodstream, not knowing what to do. So my muscles slowly lose mass and there is not a workout in the world that will allow me to gain what I don't have. And a few years ago, I couldn't stretch, either and I couldn't touch my toes. Well. I started taking yoga and after about a year, not only can I touch my toes, but I can lift a little bit more than I could, I can better keep my balance and I can almost put my palms on the floor. My ability to stretch and keep fit that way has dramatically improved. I can do things I wasn't able to do five years ago.
4. Getting my drivers license. When I was 16 and a half, I had to sit through the drivers education classes that the high school had. They showed movies with accidents from drunk drivers and truckers who fell asleep and they were graphic. I am not kidding, they were very disgusting. When I saw that, I was violently ill and scared shitless. Look at that. They want me to learn how to operate something that can do that kind of damage and loss of life. I realised that this was a huge responsibility and one I did not want. So my 17th birthday came and went and so did my 18th and I was perfectly happy not to drive. My parents, however, were not perfectly happy to have to take me places. When I was 19 they made me take driving lessons with a school. When I was 19.5 I got my license. Now I not only drive my own vehicle but an ambulance, too!
5. Eating shrimp. It's not that simple, but more eating a lot of things. Everyone I know now thinks I'm a fussy eater and they are correct. What they don't know is that I was far, far worse as a kid than I am now. When I was a kid, myabe up until I was nine or ten, I did not eat anything aside from hot dogs. Yes, that's right. I liked cereals and fruits but no vegetables, not many meats. I could live with hamburger but did not really like it. I ate hot dogs everywhere and with no toppings. I did discover pizza around nine or ten years old. But now I eat a lot of salads, chciken, shrimp, some beef (but very, very infrequently), veal (also very infrequently), lamb, turkey, and other things. Pasta, too, but who needs more bready foods in their diet? I also eat rice. Saying I eat "chicken" doesn't mean much, but I eat a lot of different types of prepared chicken: Italian, Chinese, Indian, Pakistani, Morrocan, Turkish, etc. I like most foriegn foods over American cuisine, which runs more to unhealthy fried foods. I don't like fried foods, maple syrup, whipped cream, powdered sugar, etc - so there are some American things that I never developed taste for - which is good.
(I found this on Mary's blog, Mary Says... Daily Blog, and I thought I would give this a shot, as I really like the things that make me think.)
1. Getting my EMT certification. I am terrible at testing and usually not as dedicated to studying as I can be. But I did this with fervor and did nothing but work, sit through all the lectures and practicals (even when sick - I did not miss ANY lectures at all!) all day Saturday and Sunday, work on the volumnious amounts of homework and practice with friends and ride my Wednesday shift every week. I made it through and passed every module test except one on the first shot (and all my scores were 88 and higher. However, the peds one I got a 67 the first time and a 77 the second. Easily my lowest score. The peds stuff is hard - all the numbers are different for stats. I took my state boards and scored a 77 and then on the National Registry test (which is no longer required... grumble, grumble) I scored a 79 - I have no idea how. Anyway, it was an excellent exprience and very helpful to have that certification.
2. Succeeding at my current job. I haven't always been successful and when I have, I haven't been happy. Where I am now, I am happy and I am successful. It is not easy, by any means, and I am by no means perfect at what I do. But I work hard and I bust my butt and this year I managed with great skills all the things - at least most of the things - that last year were a problem for me. I'm doing so much better than I did the year before. That is very, very important to me.
3. Being able to touch my toes. Yeah, that sounds really lame but trust me when I tell you it is not that simple. Because I am afflicted with Limb Girdle Muscular Dystrophy, I cannot lift anything over 25lbs. I just can't. I could work out with weights until the cows come home, and nothing will happen. Not a single thing. The reason for this is that with MD, the enzyme(s) that should be in muscles improving its memory and allowing me to strengthen my muscles (or at least keeping them at their current strength) is/are not in my muscles, doing their jobs, but are floating loose in my bloodstream, not knowing what to do. So my muscles slowly lose mass and there is not a workout in the world that will allow me to gain what I don't have. And a few years ago, I couldn't stretch, either and I couldn't touch my toes. Well. I started taking yoga and after about a year, not only can I touch my toes, but I can lift a little bit more than I could, I can better keep my balance and I can almost put my palms on the floor. My ability to stretch and keep fit that way has dramatically improved. I can do things I wasn't able to do five years ago.
4. Getting my drivers license. When I was 16 and a half, I had to sit through the drivers education classes that the high school had. They showed movies with accidents from drunk drivers and truckers who fell asleep and they were graphic. I am not kidding, they were very disgusting. When I saw that, I was violently ill and scared shitless. Look at that. They want me to learn how to operate something that can do that kind of damage and loss of life. I realised that this was a huge responsibility and one I did not want. So my 17th birthday came and went and so did my 18th and I was perfectly happy not to drive. My parents, however, were not perfectly happy to have to take me places. When I was 19 they made me take driving lessons with a school. When I was 19.5 I got my license. Now I not only drive my own vehicle but an ambulance, too!
5. Eating shrimp. It's not that simple, but more eating a lot of things. Everyone I know now thinks I'm a fussy eater and they are correct. What they don't know is that I was far, far worse as a kid than I am now. When I was a kid, myabe up until I was nine or ten, I did not eat anything aside from hot dogs. Yes, that's right. I liked cereals and fruits but no vegetables, not many meats. I could live with hamburger but did not really like it. I ate hot dogs everywhere and with no toppings. I did discover pizza around nine or ten years old. But now I eat a lot of salads, chciken, shrimp, some beef (but very, very infrequently), veal (also very infrequently), lamb, turkey, and other things. Pasta, too, but who needs more bready foods in their diet? I also eat rice. Saying I eat "chicken" doesn't mean much, but I eat a lot of different types of prepared chicken: Italian, Chinese, Indian, Pakistani, Morrocan, Turkish, etc. I like most foriegn foods over American cuisine, which runs more to unhealthy fried foods. I don't like fried foods, maple syrup, whipped cream, powdered sugar, etc - so there are some American things that I never developed taste for - which is good.
What I'm working on now is losing weight and cutting sugar way back. I have successfully managed to excise over 50% of my sugar intake. Some days I am down 50% of my normal sugar intake, some days 90% but mostly I keep 3/4 successfully out. Not bad at all! Hopefully I will lose the excess weight and be able to say that losing 45lbs was my success of late!
I guess the first two items may not qualify in that they are not really viewed by others as lame. The latter three, however, are likely high candidates for both criteria. I enjoyed filling this out.
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