Recently, one of my friends wrote a blog entry entitled ‘Letter to Me at 16.’ I thought this was a clever idea. But, I didn’t want to totally copy her. Then I remembered something my little exchange student sister from Finland used to do (maybe she still does this)… She would write a letter to herself for 5 to 10 years into the future. Then on her birthday, she would open the letter and see all of the things she had written to herself at that point in her life…sometimes for laughs and sometimes to see how far she had come.

So, I thought I might try this. I thought that I would write to myself 5 years into the future. Since I am 31….that would put my letter to me at 36. Completely random number (can’t call it odd because it is actually even)…but I digress.

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Dear Erika,

Me

Here is a photo of yourself in your early 30s. You are now 36. Just 4 short years away from turning 40. Isn’t it crazy how quickly time flies?? You probably have more wrinkles now. Who the hell gives a flying fig?

Hopefully by now you have taken a few yoga classes and have calmed yourself down. You seriously need to take a chill pill and relax. Right now you are so wound up that you could probably be a toy monkey.

So that you don’t distract yourself, let’s focus on the things that really matter:

Life

• You have a beautiful niece. Make sure you are calling and writing and paying attention to every second. Love her and be the ‘crazy’ Aunt who does silly things for her birthday and calls her to tell her ridiculous stories.
• Forget about killing yourself for work. Work is just what you do, it’s not who you are (as my dad likes to say). Just do your job to the best of your ability and then get back to what really matters family and friends.

Love

• Things will work out. Even if they don’t…hopefully…you can learn to love yourself. At least your parents, brother and friends think you are special. Nobody else really matters.
• Love everyone unconditionally. Don’t give your family, your friends or other loved ones just half of your attention. Be sincere and genuine.

Dreams

• You’ve let many people/circumstances kill your dreams over time, and it is time to take a stand and refocus (if you haven’t already). Remember when you used to wanted to be a fashion designer? It doesn’t matter if you’re good…it just matters that you are happy.
• You’ve let people get you down…but the only person who can change how you feel is you. Would you just take yoga already? I seriously hope you are taking a yoga class by the time you read this later in life.

Peace

• Reduce negative influences in your life…and just live.

Love…yourself : )

As always…Take Care and Smile!

http://www.erikawatters.com/

One summer many years ago, I went to work in the Dominican Republic. Weekdays were spent working, weekends were spent on the beach. On one fateful weekend, the girls that I was working with and I went to a beach close to Santo Domingo for a bit of rest and relaxation. All of us were about as white as the powdery white sand. In fact, we may have been whiter than the sand. As the only Floridian among two girls from the northeast, I decided to forego applying sunblock while they applied SPF 55. At one point, both of them asked me to apply the sunblock to their backs. I carefully applied the thick pasty sunblock to their backs and then without a second thought…placed my hands on my thighs. After hours of baking in the sun, here was the end result.

Don't get any ideas. Those are my handprints on my legs.

Lesson learned. Always remember to wash your hands after applying SPF 55. (Or better yet…use some sunblock instead of frying in the sun).

http://www.erikawatters.com/

It is a tough decision.

According to Google Maps, it is approximately 8.7 miles or about a 35 minute bike ride to my office from my apartment. These are the official stats after recalculating the route about 500 times in an effort to avoid riding on major roadways.

I will go on record by saying that I have a rather fuel efficient little Toyota Echo. It’s been a part of my life for 8 years now (well…my Toyota Echo 2.0 has been…ever since my massive car accident involving a hunting dog, a cement culvert and some Dukes of Hazzard driving moves…not pretty). So, why would I even consider riding my bike to work?

Well, why not? So, I started to think about all the positives and negatives. Eventually, I’ll probably try a test ride just to see how long it takes because the last thing that I want to do is force myself to get up an hour earlier in the morning just to torture myself to get to work.

Positive

• Get exercise to and from work
• Cut down on monthly fuel costs
• Speed past cars stuck in rush hour traffic
• Get an up-front parking space at work
• Be able to eat chocolate at 9 am because I rode my bike to work
• Be able to purchase a little basket for my bike so that I can carry clothes/lunch/etc to and from work
• Get to use my super cool bike bell

Negative

• Get up earlier so that I can get to work on time
• Carry extra clothes/shampoo/shower stuff to work just so that I don’t gross everyone out
• Shower in the totally sketchy shower in our office
• Suck it up and deal with it if it is raining
• Possibly get hit by a mac truck on my way to work (o.k. maybe not so likely)
• Can’t bike in the winter so would have to go back to driving car for half the year

So, I pose this question to all those out there reading, should I or should I not ride my bike to work?

http://www.erikawatters.com/

As one of my 9th grade teachers put it, “life is not fair.” Well put. She should have also added that some people are just not nice. How can you be positive and rise above those who are obviously on some sort of bizarre power trip?  That’s a very good question and one that I would love to have an answer to as it would help me greatly in my day-to-day interactions.

Here’s a little background story for you…

The first job that I ever held was as a cashier at Wal-Mart. Oh yeah…good ol’ Wal-Mart. After a few months, I was able to land a spot as the cashier in the pharmacy, which was definitely WAY better than being on the front lines. If I ever learned anything about the Power of Being Nice, it was at Wal-Mart. So many people would come through the lines-either in a hurry or just off from a really bad day at work-and would just be down right evil to the person behind the counter. There was no way to be fast enough or pleasant enough or clever enough to make them happy. So, as a last resort, I figured the only thing that I could do was smile at them and say, “HAVE A NICE DAY!” as they left the register. Hmmm…they probably just cursed me in their mind as they walked away from the counter. Ahhh…what did I care, I was only 16.

I’ve found this trick to work quite well in other situations. Now, I respond to all of my emails with, “have a nice day” or “have a wonderful day” or “take care and smile” or “have a fun day” or “have a fabulous day”.  I tend to hand type this message every single time I prepare an email, and I type it out before I actually craft the email. Typing this phrase out beforehand ensures that I think about being nice before saying something stupid.

O.k. so this backstory brings me to my main point about people who are on some serious power trips. My question is, “what gives people?” I mean, come on. Are you really so insecure that you feel you have to prove your power? Do you feel as though you have to talk louder? Or talk more often to make a point? Are you really making a point? Or are you just talking to hear how you sound out loud? Do you ever really question why things are done in the first place? Do you get to the problem before accusing the person delivering the news? Why do you talk over people without hearing the other point of view?

For some reason, I always seem to find people who are on serious power trips. As I get older, it gets harder and harder to be ‘nice’. Sometimes I just want to blurt out, “you’re being a pea brain.” But, I don’t.  The Power of Nice always comes through, and I always manage to win people over. But, I guess I have to wonder…is there a better way to be assertive (with a smile) and let people know that they really need to get off their high horse?

http://www.erikawatters.com/