Ok, so my apologies because I don't know what I was thinking when I decided to start a blog. I was a bit ignorant to the fact that I actually have NO free time!
Right now I am the Head Coach for the Women's Basketball Team here & I am the Head Youth Coordinator for the basketball club BG74. I am also writing and putting together a Youth Concept for the entire Club (this is equivalent to writing a dissertation in College). This means that my only day off in the week (including weekends) is Wednesday...my weekends are jammed packed with games of all age groups. I am often times in Berlin on Saturday and Hamburg on Sunday or I coach a team in the morning in Göttingen on Saturday, then jump in a car & get to my other games in Oldenburg/Wolfenbüttel/or another city and then come back to Göttingen for games on Sunday...I am a busy woman.
This is why my blogs are few & far between.
It was not until I decided to start a darn blog that I noticed that I did NOT have ANY free time...and obviously I was fine with that and it kept me busy (to say the least) and best of all, I am having a lot of fun with my job!
I keep thinking back to one of my all time favorite books, Momo by Michael Ende, the author of The NeverEnding Story. This really helps me to keep everything in perspective...especially when I am freaking out because I feel like I am running out of time!
You know, it's a funny thing--casual conversation. Random people on the street or in a cafe who know what I am doing here in Göttingen will say things to me like, "Jen, you are sooo busy, when are you going to slow down?....or Jen, if you keep going at this rate, you will kill yourself from exhaustion" (I like that one....no, no, it's not an overstatement or anything)! "Jen, you should stop one of your two jobs!"
All I am thinking in my head when people say things like that to me is "Yeah, I am gonna stop, maybe a minute after never...set your clocks!" I am young, I am full of energy, and even though I am busy...I am having A LOT of fun. I can imagine other people's situations and I could see when people are stressed and are really busy it could be a horrible thing if they are not having fun doing what they are doing.
I also think of another quote when I am a little (or A LOT) stressed, "it's the process that is so much stress, but the progress...that feels the best."
Yes I am stressed with my job, yeah I do not feel like there are enough hours in the day sometimes, yes it is horrible to deal with people who do not want to cooperate or do not have the understanding and tolerance to work through problems...and yes it could be a difficult situation for me to be in...if I let it be.
If I thought about how little free time I have for myself, for my apartment, for my grocery shopping, for my daily life, how little time I have on a weekend to just sit on my sofa and watch some Spanish football and relax, for my social life...I adore my friends here! If I thought about all those things, it might just drive me nuts---or make me smile!
That all just depends on the way you look at things. I mean, it can be looked at in a negative light, too much work, not enough free time, I miss my family, don't hang out with my friends enough, bla, bla, bla! On the other hand, it can be looked at in a really positive light at the same time...I have a well paying job (more than a lot of people in the world), I have enough food on my table, Wednesday is a great day to have off because it splits up my work week, I am helping people every single time I go to work, my jobs keep me busy so that I don't miss my family so much, I have 100% health insurance with this busy job of mine, I am exposed to people everyday who range in the ages from 8 & 9 years old to my boss and the other coaches here in the club who are around 60 years old, and last but not least---I am learning something every time I go to work.
I like positive people, I like to be in their presence, I like to smile at strangers and I like to help people...I am a people person for sure and I am so happy to have my job!
I will tell you a very quick story where my positivity and love of life got me into a very silly predicament. I was in Egypt for my Christmas holidays this past December and I stayed at a nice hotel in the most beautiful location on the Red Sea. The weather was absolutely excellent, sunshine every single day! I had been there already for 10 days and I, of course knew every guest by name and all the employees as well. On the 10th day, I was eating lunch and I got up from my table to get some more food (of course I did) and a guest from Germany of all places looked right at me and said, "how are you doing?" I said back to him, "Oh, I am doing great...thank you for asking Axl!" Now, Axl is in his mid-40's with hair down to his bum and seriously still living in the 80's with his clothes and rock star lingo...it was not just the namesake that reminded me of Axl Rose from Guns N' Roses! We are talkin' a pair of acid-washed jean shorts (ripped for sure), a feather earring, a business-in-the-front, party-in-the-back hairdo, a whiskey stench and a Def Lepard Swagger that was enough to imagine he drives a Trans-Am back in Germany! I got a kick outta him, so we ended up talking pretty often in the evenings at the bar or over dinner or whatever...by the pool, where ever. [back to the conversation] After I answered him, he looked right at me in my eyes and he said, "I don't believe you one bit! It is impossible to be as happy as you are every time I see you and everyday since you have been here...I am not buying it Jen, I don't like you at all...nobody can be that happy!" He was a bit angry at me and he became really loud in the dining room (could have been the amount of alcohol consumption..?!). I just looked right at him and I said, "I am not sorry for being myself, however I am sorry that you feel that way, I hope you have a better day."
That conversation with Axel got me thinking a lot...ya know, like a good book or a good movie which makes you really think for days and even weeks after you experience it...like Momo!
It's now 1.54 AM and it's time for bed...I have 60 kiddies waiting for me in the morning at 9.00AM for basketball school, I almost can't wait!
"I don't sleep, cuz sleep is the cousin of death."
When I do sleep...I like to "dream beautiful and unusual."
G'nite.
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