Breaking Up Is Hard To Do

I've always had two tried-and-true methods to get myself through hard times - listening to music and writing. So, not surprisingly, I turned to writing about the termination of my most recent romance, or, in Facebook lingo, I went from being "in a relationship" to "single."

Ouch, right?

I've gone through my share of break ups, some good, some not so good. My big break up happened during the summer before I started college. I knew it was my big break up because of how it made me feel - completely crushed. I spent 2 weeks afterwards locked in my room with seasons 1-4 of Desperate Housewives; walking and breathing barely felt possible, let alone the effort of trying to function like a normal human being.

This pain eventually subsided and I returned to being me again (yay!).

Fast forward three years. After taking another chance with my high school sweetheart, the break up train came around yet again. This time, however, it was different. Even though it hurt to see the relationship dissolve, I knew it was for the best. I knew he wasn't right for me. As much as I wanted him to be The One (or something close to it), there had always been evidence that he wasn't. I knew the sooner that I accepted this, the better off I'd be. Still, I resisted. I thought he brought something to my life that was otherwise missing. I thought he held the key to me and who I ultimately was. In breaking up with him, I thought I was no longer special.

I was wrong.

Somewhere amidst all the self-pity and moping, I realized that he didn't hold the key to what made me great. Even with my puffy eyes and broken heart, I was still pretty magnificent. I just had some healing to do and some stuff to figure out - like why I thought I needed him to make me feel whole and happy.

The truth of the matter is, I ultimately chose me over a relationship that wasn't working anymore. Because of this break up, we both now have time to honestly look at ourselves and decide what kind of people we really want to be (and be with). We both have a chance to learn from past mistakes and make sure not to repeat them in our next relationships.

While our relationship wasn't perfect (and let's face it, most aren't), I have no regrets or feelings of loss; our time together taught me a lot about myself, love and relationships, and has given me valuable lessons for my future endeavors. So while the pain is still fresh and my wounds will take a while to heal, I know I made the right choice for me.

The Test of Willpower

Last week, while browsing Netflix for something informative to watch, I came upon a documentary called Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead. In a nutshell, it illustrates the health benefits of juicing through the journey of an over-weight man who has decided to do a 60-day juice fast to kick-start his new healthy life.

After watching this film, I was inspired to see what a juice regimen could do for me. Now, I definitely wasn't going to drink only fruit and vegetable juice for SIXTY days, but I decided I'd try it out for 5. So I bought a inexpensive juicer, made a trip to Trader Joe's for some fruits and veggies, and began my fast on Monday.

ALL of this goes into ONE 8oz cup of juice

Although the machine is a bit of a pain to clean, it is actually fun preparing the fruits and slicing the vegetables and ultimately feeding them through the chute. Also, I LOVE the color of the juice and pulp, so bright and vibrant!

The first day was great, I felt healthy, refreshed and motivated that I could easily keep going through Friday.

Heh.

Yesterday was the hardest day. You start to miss salty, crunchy, chewy foods and the temptation to cheat is almost irresistible - especially when your coworker (who sits directly across from you) brings in a giant box of danishes and pastries. Ahhhh. But, I have willpower. Woo!

Today, the same coworker brought pastries again, along with a variety of muffins and donuts. YUM. My my is salivating as I type. The only thing keeping me from leaping up and sinking my teeth into the flaky frosted goodness of "vacation" breakfast is my colorful glass of juice....One more day....

I must say, I've enjoyed the energy I've gotten through doing this (although you're sluggish and tired for the 2nd and 3rd days) and I would definitely consider doing it again. It's a great test of willpower. If you're up for it, I challenge you to give it a try - 5 days, just juice.....GO!

For more information on juicing and the documentary, visit http://www.fatsickandnearlydead.com/

Thoughts After the New GRE

After 4 full weeks of intensive studying, I took the revised GRE yesterday. The 4 hours went by quickly, and by the end I was thankful that I was done.

You are usually given your raw Verbal and Quantitative scores at the end of the test, but since I took the revised GRE on the first day of its distribution, I was only given a range of my scores on the old scoring scale. However, I was pleased to find out that I scored in the 700-800 range in the Quant section! Yay! Again, this will be translated to the new scoring scale, but I will not find out my final scores until early November. Ugh.

I am just relieved that I will not have to be retaking the GRE and have checked off that important part of my graduate school application. :)