AndrewBrunelle.com

When I got sick a few years ago with brain cancer, it totally changed my perspective on life and all it encompasses. When I found out I was completely cured, I was so joyous that I started to do things I was previously afraid to do, things I would have never attempted as a pre-cancerous human. When you look death in the face and see it clearly, and survive, it totally changes the way you think. You acknowledge the trivial as trivial, like the accumulation of useless merchandise. You also acknowledge what is truly important from a permanent perspective. You realize what is worth living for and what is not. You no longer have to get the latest gadget, like an iPhone or whatever else is coming out. You are content with life itself, minus all the things that supposedly make it so great.

I know that if I were born in a different time, an earlier time, I would be dead right now. My brain ventricle would have exploded and I would no longer be here. But for some reason, I was lucky enough to be alive in this amazing time where having a brain tumor near the brainstem was not only operable, but compleely curable. I am eternally grateful for that and no matter how terrible my life gets on this end, I can always say, “At least I am not dead. At least I survived.” So, to me, accumulating things that do not place me in a higher state of consciousness is a worthless activity. If I can find something that is truly useful and will help me in my mission, then I will buy it. But I will not waste my time or money on items that contribute nothing to society, the world, and the universe. It just does not make sense.

Have you ever been out in public and you see one of those magazine stands with all that celebrity gossip on it? I think everyone at least looks at the cover of these magazines. Everyone acts like they hate how others obsess about celebrities’ lives, but deep down, they want to know, too. And they are mostly negative stories about topics like rehab and divorce. I feel compassion for these celebrities, who are put on a pedastal by society, and every misstep they make, they are hounded. I mean, when the photographers start showing up at rehab to catch a shot of the newest intake, it is getting out of control. This is one of the things I no longer watch or pay attention to. I know that we are all human and no one is perfect. I accept people for who they are. If they make mistakes, fine. It is expected. It does not make them bad people, and the tabloids should examine themselves before crticizing another. What I tend to find is people who criticize others have an inner critic about themselves and the only way they can hide their self-loathing is through projecting it outward onto someone else.

Realize that making life more complicated than it already is gets in the way of living your goals. If you fill your home with items that do not reflect who you wish to become, then how do you expect to become that person? Just think of a goal you have. Think, “What would a person who has already accomplished this goal act like? What things would he/she own?” Get rid of anything that does not align with your goals. Also, eliminate all behaviors that do not align with the person you are striving to become. Why waste time on the unimportant when you can spend that time on the important? Why read tabloid magazines when you could spend time reading up on whatever career you want to get into?

It is tough to make a decision about what to commit your life to. It really is. But the most difficult part is actually facing what you feel you should do. Maybe you don’t think you can accomplish it. Maybe you feel it will be too much work. Maybe your stable job and routine is too hard to change. Well, I never heard of a saying, “Stagnation is the spice of life.” In order to get where you need to be, a solid contributor, you must change things about yourself, but for the better. These changes will be resisted at first, but once you overcome the intial resistance, you can move on to growing with ease. Part of this resistance is fear of the unknown. Educating yourself about whatever you wish to accomplish should assuage some of those fears. Work from your strengths and build up your weaknesses. Practice what you preach. Become what you know you can.

Accepting the truth of your life and not denying the truth or escaping from the truth is something I learned the hard way, although now I see things much better. I can’t help but think of a quote from (I believe) Fight Club: “We all lie to ourselves to be happy.” I believe it has some truth to it. If we are dissatisfied with a certain part of our lives, sometimes we say, “It’s not that bad,” or “It’s fine. No, it really is. I swear.” But fooling yourself is something that will only lead to more suffering. If you pretend you are having great finances or in great physical health when you do not possess these qualities, it will eventually blow up in your face. I know from experience. You can intend to be at those levels of perfection, but do not pretend you are there. Do not lie to yourself. Denying what you currently have is lowering your awareness. If you view your reality in the most positive way possible and put out the intention for greater things, you will make strides towards where you need to go.

When you do this lying to yourself, you may get into a state of relief, but in the back of your mind, you know what the truth is. And do not pretend to be ignorant of the truth. Some may say ignorance is bliss, but I don’t buy into that. If ignorance was bliss, then we would all deny every fault we have and try to pass ourselves off as some perfect being, one who has it all together. And it would be easy. And it is not. It is not easy pretending to be someone you are not. And the lies catch up with you, eventually. If you kid yourself and say you are not in debt when you are, try saying that to the credit agency that keeps calling your house, looking for the money you owe them. “Sorry, you must be mistaken. I am not in debt.” Come on.

Part of this is acceptance. Accepting the truth and moving on from there. It can be scary facing the truth, which is why so many people live in denial. Some people say things like, “I have this lump on my leg, but I am too afraid to go to the doctor. What if it is cancer?” Well, if it is cancer, don’t you think the doctor would help? But it’s the very fact you need to face this truth, this terrifying truth, that you shy away from reality and lower your awareness. Even if the truth is painful, you will feel grateful for building up the courage to face it. And it will definitely make you a stronger person.

Here is something I notice. Whenever I eat meat with someone, anyone, I bring up the fact these animals are raised in concentration camp-like conditions, fed their own excrement, and killed in the most inhumane way, I get this response: “Oh, come on. I don’t want to hear this while I’m eating. Let me enjoy my meal.” Human beings cannot bear very much reality. I guess it is the easy way out to deny such things. It allows us to live in a state of semi-awareness, but we never really get to the point of really understanding ourselves fully. And we end up lagging far behind in the self-acceptance department. It is only after you completely and fully accept yourself that you can move on to bigger and better things, at least from a spiritual perspective. It does not seem intelligent to ignore certain facets of your life and just let them stay that way, convincing yourself it is “not that bad.” Accept the fact that your life is not perfect and truly accept the truths in all areas and move from there. Once you really know where you stand, there is an accurate foundation for improvement.

Understand that this will not happen overnight. But it is totally worth it, at least so far for me. The closer I am getting to unconditional acceptance, the better off I am. And you do not have to put negative labels on the current state of anything. You can always view things positively. Take the facts, the objective facts, and view them getting better subjectively. Ten thousand dollars in debt becomes “I am working hard to get out of debt and progressing on to financial abundance,” or “I intend to work out of this debt and accumulate money to live the life of my dreams.” As the old proverb says, the truth shall set you free. Good luck.

Every now and then I take a look in Steve Pavlina’s archives for some articles that helped me in the past. This one
really got to me on self-discipline and seeing where you truly are. I know myself all too well to pass this up. If I keep denying where I am and acting like I live this life of awesome productivity, I will be lying to myself and others. Although my life is getting better every day and I am accomplishing much, I still find I waste a lot of time doing ‘nothing.’ It’s not really nothing, but it is not something that will get me closer to my goals, my goals being vague enough already. I would love to pursue a career in comedy, in some facet or another, but my intuitive side is saying that I can contribute more. I guess maybe I am shying away from it because I realize the intense commitment it will take for me to do so. My mission is to show people how to live more fulfilling lives and mark the trivial as trivial and start living for what matters. Show people the interconnectedness of everything on this planet, everything in this universe. And, to me, this makes sense on every level, but it takes time to really grasp the extent of it, and that will take quite a bit of self-discipline.

Here are some questions Steve decided to put out there for digestion into the acceptance of my level of self-discipline:

Do you shower/bathe every day? No
Do you get up at the same time every morning? Including weekends? No
Are you overweight? No
Do you have any addictions (caffeine, nicotine, sugar, etc.) you’d like to break but haven’t? No
Is your email inbox empty right now? No
Is your office neat and well organized? Yes
Is your home neat and well organized? Somewhat
How much time do you waste in a typical day? On a weekend? 90-230 min
If you make a promise to someone, what’s the percentage chance you’ll keep it? 55%
If you make a promise to yourself, what’s the percentage chance you’ll keep it? 10%
Could you fast for one day? No
How well organized is your computer’s hard drive? Very
How often do you exercise? Hardly ever
What’s the greatest physical challenge you’ve ever faced, and how long ago was it? Brain cancer, five years
How many hours of focused work do you complete in a typical workday? Maybe one
How many items on your to do list are older than 90 days? What’s a to-do list
Do you have clear, written goals? Do you have written plans to achieve them? No
If you lost your job, how much time would you spend each day looking for a new one, and how long would you maintain that level of effort? Honestly, I would probably try and start a home-based business.
How much TV do you currently watch? Could you give up TV for 30 days? Very little, if any
How do you look right now? What does your appearance say about your level of discipline (clothes, grooming, etc)? Not much
Do you primarily select foods to eat based on health considerations or on taste/satiety? Usually health
When was the last time you consciously adopted a positive new habit? Discontinued a bad habit? Not too long ago
Are you in debt? Do you consider this debt an investment or a mistake? I will be in debt very soon. An investment
Did you decide in advance to be reading this blog right now, or did it just happen? Yes, I did decide in advance
Can you tell me what you’ll be doing tomorrow? Next weekend? Working tomorrow, the same next weekend
On a scale of 1-10, how would you rate your overall level of self-discipline? 3-4
What more could you accomplish if you could answer that last question with a 9 or 10? I could become an amazing stand-up comedian, writer, speaker, etc.

Part of me lagging on the self-discipline and really going after my goals is I have this tendency to always worry about what others close to me will think. If I were to dive into some sort of spiritual quest, I don’t want people I care about saying things like, “You’re crazy,” or “You need a real job. Think about security.” And I blame myself for holding back on these things. Those irrational fears and stress only exist in my mind and if I keep holding out on this, I will be denying the whole world, even the universe, an amazing gift I have. I really need to do some serious work on my beliefs about the world and people in general. I have to open myself up to others and accept that only through tackling a goal like this head-on will I be able to acccomplish it.

This will require an insane amount of self-discipline. I need to be able to take the appropriate action regardless of how I feel. I am not always going to be motivated, but if I can discipline myself to take action regardless, I will be much closer to where I need to be. I’ve started to see this blossom, but I am nowhere near where I need to be. But I will not rush myself. I will get there when I get there. But even at work now, I am starting to write out little sayings on pieces of register paper. My favorite so far was: “The belief that you need a job exists only if you choose to believe it.” If I were to tell that to my family, my belief system says that they will debunk it, saying that if you do not have a job, do not take the secure route, you will never succeed in life.

I am going back to college for the experience of learning with like minds. When you put out the intention to meet people who are on the same vibrational level as you, you need to act on anything that will bring me closer to this ideal. Upon visiting the campus, I found some people there that are obviously vibrating at a high frequency, people I can learn from, people I can give to. I truly believe, in a way, that we are the sum of all our experiences. We become what we experience. If we learn from every experience, we take that knowledge with us to tackle the next one and the next one. And this is how I am hoping to build this self-discipline. Start out small and work my way up. It’s so easy to use the avoidance behavior, but challenging myself to really push myself into the realm of getting things done is going to be rewarding.

Upon unearthing these Pavlina articles, the Do it Now article comes to mind. I used to think about building self-discipline, but I neve really took that step towards doing it. I would think about how great it would be, getting some sort of emotional high off that, and then sink back down to my low-awareness living. In a way, I was what you would call a self-help junkie. To my credit, I have made significant strides in the past year-and-a-half, but it is just the tip of the iceberg. I remain patient with myself and keep working towards where I see myself. These things do not happen overnight and I accept it. But actually (and I do mean actually) taking steps in the right direction is something that will become easier the more I do it. And I just need to think of the benefit it will have on everyone in my reality. It will lead the world and the universe towards great changes. It will offer solutions to common problems we now experience. And if I do not do this, I know I will have wasted my life.

This is something I am truly passionate about, something many people may have a hard time understanding, but there comes a time in my life where I need to pursue the goals that are right for me, no matter what others think. And what I am doing is such a noble purpose that if anyone has a problem with it, they resist the idea themselves. Maybe my ego is getting involved a little, hoping there are some profound quotes with my name at the bottom in the future (and always in italics). But I know I have the ability to make some significant strides and the first step is to build a comepetency for what I am doing and how to make a living doing so. And then, the fun begins. Wish me luck.

The more I think about this negative world, the more I create negativity. The more I am open to the possibility of good and love, the more of it I see. The closer I get to a purpose for my life, a strong ideal, the more empowered I become. The further I try and live a fulfilling life, one that I can look back on and feel I contributed a large amount, the more at peace I become. The longer I procrastinate on all of this, the further away I push my peace away. The longer I use feeble excuses to mitigate what I should be doing, the less time I have to complete my goals. And if I do not contribute my life to serving the greater good, the lofty ideal in my heart, I have wasted my life.

Ghandi said, “You must be the change you want to see in the world.” I completely agree with that. If you want people to change, wouldn’t it make sense that you have to make those same changes first? You have to lead by example. You cannot claim to be an activist for the environment while buying things that pollute the environment. You should not preach something you do not practice yourself. That just leads to incongruencies. It’s like me preaching the benefits of the Atkins diet, even though I have never experienced it myself. Even if I know all about the diet, I still have not experienced it. Viewing something fromt he outside is totally different from experiencing something from the inside.

There are definitely things in this world that need to change. I am sure most people can list at least ten things they would like to change in this world. But just talking about it doesn’t change the situation. For example, let’s say you are a wage slave at a job you hate and you complain about your job to your friends, your family, your co-workers, and everyone under the sun. That just adds to the negativity you are already feeling and offers no solution. Now let’s say you quit that job to pursue more meaningful work. You stopped worrying so much about playing it safe and decided to go all or nothing towards a purpose you have in mind for your life. And even though you may fail initially, even the failure is more rewarding than the highest success at that previous job. And even though you haven’t got it figured out yet, you enjoy the path you are on and embrace all of its twists and turns.

If you die with your music still in you, your life will most likelly be filled with regret. Think of how many people could have benefitted from your hypothetical life of service. But because you chose to take the road everyone else takes, without any real meaning except meeting your physical needs, you stagnate at a certain mental level, a certain level of consciousness, and you remeain there for the rest of your life. It is a choice to grow. It is a choice to pursue a higher purpose. It is also a choice to sit back and do nothing. But in every choice you make, you are the one who is responsible. Stop playing the victim. Start imagining possibilities. Do some soul searching. Stop watching television. Find your passion. Empower yourself. Deprogram your social considioning. It’s all here in this pamphlet.

Make changes that will not just benefit you, but the world as well. If we leave one thing after we die, wouldn’t it be nice to have a net positive effect on the planet? If you add up all your positive actions and subtract the negative ones, you would most likely want your actions towards the greater good outmatch the evil or inconsequential acts, wouldn’t you? You should strive to be someone who embraces abundance and has no problem being generous. It is a complete shift in mindset that will cultivate these changes. It is a complete shift in actions that will supplement these changes.

You can be the change in the world. Even if you think what you do doesn’t matter on a large scale (like reducing your ecological footprint), still do it anyway. Your model may inspire others to do so and that could lead to a revolution. It will be like a positive spiral upward. When people see your passion, your energy, your resilience, and your guts, they will wonder where you got all of this from. And when they are truly ready to listen, you can tell them how to lead richer, more fulfilling lives. You can be the navigator. You can give your vast experience to others. You can be the model for service to the highest good of all. Or you can stay at that dead-end job. You can work like a dog your whole life at a job you hate and die unhappy. It is up to you. Both paths are neither right nor wrong. It’s just one is more empowering than the other. Your choice.

I am currently working on a set list for Monday and Tuesday as I will be performing at the Comedy Cabana on those two days. I feel pretty good about it, and I have a feeling my set will be dynamite. I usually do well at comedy club settings, but in other, non-comedy settings such as coffee houses and generic open mics, I often fail to capture the mood of the crowd, as they are more musical and poetry-reading oriented. Some people like to do that sort of thing and I’m fine with it. It’s just I feel like they have all this music and then, “Oh, by the way, we have a comedian.”

It is probably good experience anyway because I will encounter resistant crowds in the future, no doubt, and I will have to figure out a way to deal with them. But I am not so bad at thinking on my toes. When I was up in Rhode Island, I did a couple coffee shops and ended up totally scrapping my planned material and just commented on the room and talked about how the jokes I tried did not work. I got some gigantic laughs. I’ve been studying comedy for over five years now and what I’ve learned is that if you are not doing so well and do not acknowledge that, you will come off as ignorant. At least if you say something, as I did, “Someone better get over here and get me off this stage.” I kind of dragged out everything I did. Part of the problem was the house I was living in was not very conducive to coming up with a solid set that I could memorize. See the previous post for details. No central air, nowhere to really sit at a table to concentrate, constant distractions, and the heat was unbearable.

In order for me to concentrate fully, I need a quiet, calm, and comfortable atmosphere, like the one I harbor at home. And when I rehearse my act, I need to be alone. People always asking, “What are you doing? Why are you talking to yourself?” I need about a three-hour uninterrupted block of time to get into the “zone.” I could not do that in Rhode Island. The way my friend’s mind worked, we always had to be doing something external to my comedy. We had to go here to pick up this, we had to eat something, we had to pick up his drug-addicted girlfriend (which I will not comment on further). So it was no wonder I went onstage twice unprepared, not to mention that I was so exhausted because I could not get a deep sleep in such a humid environment. My condition calls for at least eight to ten hours of sleep for me to function normally, or at least close to normal. But if I were to tell him that, he’d look at me like I was from Mars.

It was the whole always having to be “on” that got to me. I need time to unwind and to get myself in a mental mood to do things, and there was just no time. I am not someone who can live life on the edge, completing millions of arduous and trivial tasks just for the sake of doing so. I carefully choose the actions I take in advance because I know what is important to me and what is simply not worth it. As a small example, I no longer go to movies much because most of them are severely disappointing. The only movies I will go see are the ones I am sure will be worth my time and money. When you are away from home, you end up doing things that you realize were not worth your time. I saw two movies I was utterly disappointed in and could have spent my time doing much more enlightening activities. For some reason, since I began this journey into self-exploration, entertainment does not do it for me anymore. Or maybe it is just the quality has dwindled so far down it’s just not worth it.

All I really know for sure is that I am ready to get on with my life. Overcoming obstacles is something I am now too familiar with and the only thing I can do now is take it easy. I need to work on comedy, work on getting my degree, and learn to embrace my life the way I was always meant to. It is a shame that some people will never break their mental model of reality to truly live the life of their dreams, but I know I am currently on that path, and the path is just as rewarding as the destination. Joy in the present trumps suspended joy in the future. That is all.

I’m sure we all hear that saying enough, but how many of us actually pursue variety in lieu of repetition? For many people in today’s world, repeition is the spice of life. They get up every day, go to the same job, go home, and it works the same way, every day, like clockwork. This is the way most people I’ve seen live. Very scarcely do they mix it up and do something totally spontaneous. People get set in their ways and just do what feels comfortable for five, ten, twenty years before they realize that it is not so interesting. They finally figure out that you cannot grow by staying in your comfort zone. You can only grow by getting outside your comfort zone and starting to experience new things every day. If you experience one new thing every day for the next twenty years, you’ll have 7305 new experiences (accounting for the five leap years also). So, wouldn’t you say that it should be worth it to spice it up just a tad?

If you live your life in an experiential way, taking in each experience, rather than evaluating them with labels, but just letting the experience pass you by, and moving onto the next one with gratitude, grace, ease, and lightness, you will start to see how powerful this way of living is. It will push you to experience more and more of what you currently are not. It is a powerful tool for fulfillment. If you root yourself in experiences, rather than material possessions, rather than things that are, by nature, impermanent, you will feel more secure. This is because people cannot take those experiences away from you. Someone could come over today and take all your possessions, your land, your home, but they can never take what you’ve done, who you’ve met, and the good/bad times you’ve endured. Root yourself in what cannot be taken away and you’ll be freer than most people in this world.

They say that people look for love in material possessions, like that next new car is going to make me feel good enough to be loved. But perhaps this sort of feeling is misjudged as unconditional love is out there everywhere if you look hard enough. And you will never acquire it from the things around you, but from living things and nature and to spend time interacting with the “living sector” of life, rather than spending time in the “possession sector.” Of course, spending time with both of these sectors count as an experience, but which of the two is richer? Your laptop will not help you when you’re down, nor will your washer/dryer combination. But living things, be them animals or people in your life, will often try to help cheer you up or help you with your situation. And if you do not feel that way, I urge you to try and find people who will do these things for you.

If you are grateful for each and every experience you have, and try to find the good in all of it, more good things will happen to you. Optimism is so much better than pessimism. Although everyone gets a bout of pessimism once in awhile, rerouting that negativity with a healthy dose of joy is just what the doctor ordered. If you view all your experiences in the most positive way possible, you start to build momentum towards the positive life you’ve always dreamed of. I see this as proof in my own life and the lives of those who live by these rules. Even if you cannot completely control what happens to you, you can always choose how to react to what is going on. So make the empowering choice and spice up your life. Get as many experiences as you can, good or bad, and then give them all a positive spin. It will be worth it. Peace to everyone.

The best way to spend your present moments is in the present, not in the past or in the future, worrying about things that have not happened, wondering if things will happen. It is better to enjoy each moment as it comes without expectation than it is to expect something. Make no appointments and you’ll have no disappointments. The fact is that ever moment on this Earth, in the universe, is a gift, one that should not be sqandered, so wasting your time in non-present negativity is not going to get you anywhere.

I like the whole “time is an illusion” concept. It is true because the only moment you can actively perceive is right now. You may be able to dip into your past or dream about the future, but you are doing those things in the present. Your best bet is to stay present and work towards eternal joy. Know in the depths of your heart that joy is all around you, waiting to be released and that in order to get it, you just need to focus on each and every moment as it is, without expectation, and allow that moment to be, and the next, and the next.

Think about it: if you expect nothing, anything is a bonus. Even if the occurrence is negative, you have the capacity to make it better, if you please to. If not, you allow it into your reality. As things come at you, or you go to things (my personal favorite), you start to look at them from a whole different perspective. For example, I recently got some supposedly “bad” news when I found out my comedy performance would be delayed a few weeks, but after some anger and a nap, I came to my senses and knew I wasn’t even ready for a July 9th performance anyway. Working nine days straight and 11 out of 12 will definitely put comedy on the back burner, and with my show approaching so rapidly and my mind allocated to other tasks, it is now perceived as a blessing, rather than a curse.

I believe perhaps I intended for this to happen because I really kept saying to myself, “There is no way I’ll be ready in time.” So I was sending that message out into the universe, and the universe manifested me more time. I love to see this power of thought stuff in action. One time, my grandfather was going to pick me up to do some driving (before I had my license), and he said he would be there at ten, but I knew I wouldn’t have enough time to get ready, so I said to the world, “I need more time,” and he calls me at ten till ten and says he’ll be a half-hour late, as something held him up at his condo.

So staying in the present and acknowledging that there really is no “time” except now really opens new doors for you and your life. Just do me a favor and try it out. Go for a presence walk. Do what it is that allows you to see it firsthand. You’ll thank me someday. And if not, well, sorry.

I never knew how to control spam until now with the Askimet thing that they have as a feature on Wordpress to begin with. Thank God for that. I was so tired of receiving hundreds of emails each month telling me that I have more spam comments to moderate. Whew! That was one hell of a bad thing. I could not believe the amount of spam that comes through this website. It had to be almost one hundred a day. Those people or those machines that distribute it must work real hard to keep their spam going. I’m just glad that now I can concentrate on writing.

I’ve been having some technological problems with my computer as of late. One of the big problems is that every few minutes, this machine freezes for like two to five seconds, then again two seconds after that. Then it is okay for about five minutes, then it does it again. I am looking into whether or not I have viruses on this computer and I tried downloading the Ad-Aware, but it always displays an error message halfway through the scan, which is getting pretty irritating because it supposedly detected over 100 adwares before it kept crashing. I need to do something about these problems, and I believe actually buying one of these virus programs could help quite a bit. Rather than using the free watered-down version, why not spend the fifty or so dollars and really make sure this machine is working to it highest potential. Why should I keep suffering with a machine that is working well below its optimal level because of numerous adware, spyware, and other viruses? I figure, it is a win-win situation.

So yesterday I went to my Transfer Orientation at Coastal Carolina University. I am not in the mood for doing links, but I will put one for CCU. It seems like a really nice school and I think I will love the professors I have. My advisor is great and another teacher, this Indian guy from India who has the Apu voice exactly is going to be one of my teachers. It is going to be a fun year. Two people from my work were also at the Orientation and it at least made me feel a bit better. Going at it alone is so much harder than going at it with people you know. After some really tough times, I feel like my life is finally going where it needs to go.

After winning my comedy contest, I finally have the first three dates that I will emcee for the comics that are performing that night. They are: July 9-11. I still have to pick my other four, but they will come in due time. My brother and grandparents are going on a cruise and they will miss my first three sessions, but if I make sure I get them there the other times, I will have much more moral support and all of that good stuff.

My car is working fine as well. I just filled it up for around $25. Not bad if you ask me, at least not at this point. I had about a quarter or a tank in there when I decided to fill it up, so $30 dollars seems like a reasonable amount to spend to fill up my tank. It will only be probably once or twice a month anyway, the way I drive and how far I go on a regular basis. However, commuting to CCU five times a week could prove to bring my mileage up to about over 150 a week or maybe more, but that is fine, at least at this point in my life. I’m going to need to become accustomed to travel if I wish to become a professional stand-up comedian.

On a side note, I finally decided it is a good idea for me to become a teacher. A math teacher, that is. I mean, I love math, I am good at teaching it to others, and I have the kind of personality that can’t help but get up in front of others and show them what is going on. This is kind of funny because I am not really a social person per se. I am more of someone who may say a few really insightful or funny things in a conversation, but I am not the center of attention, unless I am up on that stage. It may have something to do with being higher up than everyone else that makes me into this performer. Who knows?

Anyway, I now know where life will take me, at least to some extent, and that sort of vision is something to keep me going. I have so much going for me now and I feel like I can accomplish anything that I want. I am looking forward to it all. Have a nice day and I will be back momentarily, although I cannot say when.

I felt like I needed to belt out another blog entry today. It just feels right at this point. I am feeling really good this week. I was in the paper. I have achieved ‘celebrity status’ among the people I know and the people that I will come to know. And it is all because I believed in myself and I caught a glimpse of my own greatness. The only regret I have is that I could have done this sooner in my life. I guess now that I know who I am and where I come from and what I am about, I can now start to move myself further and further towards my dream. If you do not have a dream, a purpose, a plan for this life, then why bother? And this is a plan that fulfills me at this point. Hopefully, I can become successful enough where I can do this sort of thing for a living, stand-up comedy that is.

I found it kind of funny how most people at my work told me they would never expect me to be a comedian. That kind of makes it even more worth it because that is part of how I go about my act. I just surprise the hell out of the whole audience. I go up there and do what it is I do and I get results, at least to this point, and I intend to go further and further into this “career choice” until I become one of the better comedians out there. It would be nice to get a few specials eventually.

It is going to be a good, long road and I am ready for it. It means a lot to me that I accomplish this goal. It is something to work towards, a pinnacle, a zenith. I had to put that word in. I want to see how far my potential can stretch, how far I can go, how wonderful this life can turn out to be. Getting myself into the state where I believe the whole world is conspiring to make me successful is something that would be nice. I need to put in the work and effort to make this comedy thing work out to the best of my ability. It will take hard work, perseverence, and a little luck to get where I want to be.

At least I am on the path. The path towards my goal, and the path itself has to be just as rewarding as the destination. That is the key. If I want to get somewhere that will make me happy in the future, I sure as hell better be happy now as well. At least I enjoy the process. I love coming up with the jokes, and I love it when I get this ‘aha’ moment that allows me to write a joke and get the wording perfect. It takes a ton of effort to do this consistently. And I would not have it any other way. That is what makes doing this sort of thing rewarding. Putting in the time and hard work and then seeing it pay off onstage is something that you cannot buy. It is something you have to work at.

Anyway, I can’t believe how wonderful the Magic Bullet Blender is. I got one from my grandmother, who bought it for me. It is so great how easy it is to make fruit smoothies and other great drinks. And no, I am not being paid to say that. I am so happy that I finally got something that makes it easy to consume fruit in large quantities without chewing. This is how wonderful my life is going right now. With comedy and the Magic Bullet Blender at my side, how can I possibly go wrong? A sense of humor is worth twice its weight in gold.

I thought I would pay homage to my first ever blog post, entitled, Hello, World! Although it was an automatic post brought on by Wordpress, a way to get myself started on this blog, I am thankful for it, as it propelled me into the blogging world. Blogging is something many people do, but so few do it effectively. I am not one of the people who truly blogs effectively, because if I did, I would be making a decent income at it. I don’t know if making money blogging is something I seriously want to do anymore, mostly because I feel like there is more out there for me. You know, like blogging would be somehow limiting my abilities. So, this is more of a side project now, rather than a full-fledged ordeal. It is something I enjoy doing and will continue to do for the remainder of my life. How long it will be, I do not know, but getting somewhere in the range of 10,000 posts seems like a solid goal. Ten thousand quality posts that is.

Recently, I entered a comedy contest in my home city and placed in the top four and made it to the finals. I am looking forward to putting my comedy on in the next two weeks, when the finals are held. If I win, I get to emcee at the comedy club for a whole week, which means I will have to request that whole week off from work, but comedy is my dream and selling groceries is definitely nowhere near where I see myself in five, ten, and fifteen years from now. I have to get myself in tip-top shape for this competition, and it will take the best of my memory skills to pull off a victory, as I have no idea who I will be competing against, as more than half of the competitors were in a previous preliminary round. It is an endeavor worth fighting for, I believe. If I bring my A game, rather than my B or C game, I am quite sure I can place in the top three, if not win the whole thing. I just have to count on an audience as generous as last Monday. I also have to make sure I feel as good as I did when I went the previous time. I am starting to juice vegetables today and tomorrow, and throughout the next couple of weeks to boost my energy for the stage. To me, there is almost nothing better than getting a laugh from over one hundred people. Maybe winning the Powerball jackpot, but even if I won that, what would I do with all that money?

I am planning a voyage back to college next semester as well,and that will certainly eat up a lot of my plate, in terms of time and effort. Maybe it is still a good idea to go into teaching and do comedy on the side, but I am not completely sure. All I know is that I enjoy mathematics and I enjoy comedy, and I think I could teach mathematics to people in a funny way, a way that would allow them to remember it. I mean, in a perfect world, there would be a job for a mathematical comedian, but most people do not want to do equations while in a nightclub. I can see it now, me up there with a chalkboard