I'm a girl, a woman, a female, so I'll be frank. I often find myself thinking about love, romance, relationships, the whole ball of wax. The question that's been on my mind as of late - what would you sacrifice for love? Nothing? Everything?

I may be the only person who thinks that love truly is what it's all about, but I do. That with love you can survive just about anything. I'm not saying it will be easy, no siree, but it will be worth it, because in my mind, that's what I've been put on this Earth for. I'm not here to build a company from the ground up and watch it flourish, nor am I here to help govern a city, state or country. I am here to attempt to change people's lives, or heck, a life, with what I've been taught and what I feel in my heart. So what is it about this day and age that has so many people not settling down? Are all twenty-somethings willing to watch a great relationship slip by because they want to be single that badly?

Talking to a girlfriend today made me realize I'm not the only one suffering from this disease. In fact, she shares all of my thoughts and ideals when it comes to this topic. She said, you sacrifice for what you want the most, and when you do, it's worth everything you gave up in the first place. I conclude this post sitting in the Las Vegas airport, having spent 2 hours mulling over this topic in flight. I must admit, I was surprised at the conclusion I reached. Hypothetical question: would I be willing to sacrifice a great job in my dream industry to stay where I know the good guys are?  Would I be willing to move to LA to follow my dreams, knowing the odds of finding a great guy aren't in my favor? Would I be willing to sacrifice my dreams of a great love and incredible relationship to pursue my career dreams? Because if me, a huge advocate for love, isn't willing or ready to sacrifice one dream for the other, I can't expect you to sacrifice yours.

"Love cannot accept what it is. Everywhere on earth it cries out against kindness, compassion, intelligence, everything that leads to compromise. Love demands the impossible, the absolute, the sky on fire, inexhaustible springtime, life after death, and death itself transfigured into eternal life."

--Albert Camus 

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Preach, Joseph. 

I've said the above, or something close, many times before and I'm sure I'll say it many more to come (sorry!), but it has become such a prevalent idea in my life, I can't stop repeating it. I used to love planning - outings, social gatherings, my Saturday down to the time slots. Now, I despise it. You ask me to plan a trip, odds are it won't get done. The only reason I have my vacation booked is because I did it the second I thought about it.

I was that girl who had her life planned out to a T and was determined to see it through. Funny thing happened, though - none of it worked out. That job I thought I wanted after college? Didn't get it. The idea that I wanted to be married by 25? Changed completely. The job I did get changed me completely and frankly, I can't even imagine being married right now. Growing up, being in your twenties sounds so old. You assume that you'll have your life and everything in it together by/during that decade, but I'm finding (at least for me) that's nowhere true. I love working at the company I do and living in the state I am, but I know neither of these are permanent, nor would I want them to be.

I'm still trying to figure out what I want to do with my life and where I want that to happen and who with. At this point, I've adopted a very laissez-faire attitude towards my life and can only hope I continue that. I went from wanting everything to be right on time, right on schedule to the complete opposite end, accepting that when things have lined up and the time is right, everything will work out. I've truly given up what I planned and put faith in the Big Guy up top to guide me, knowing He will present me with the right opportunities at the right time. 

So my advice to you is to stop living the life you think you want and simply start living your life. The rest will come and you'll be happier than ever.

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Yes, the above statement summarizes me pretty well. I am, what I like to believe, a very creative person with an insane imagination (that often times gets me into trouble...oops). I have this theory that the more creative you are, the less athletic you are. Now, before you get huffy and annoyed that I could think you there, reading that book isn't athletic, let me explain.

I like to think of it as a scale:

Creative ------------------------------------------ Athletic

Now, in this scale, obviously you can fall in the middle or closer to one side than the other, but the root of my theory is again, the more you are of one, the less you are of the other. It should also be noted that when I say athletic, I am mostly referring to participating in team sports. I love to run but to be honest, I don't like doing it with other people. I stay away from anything athletic in which my success is tied to another person. At the same time, I would rather sit outside and read a book or play the guitar than go play volleyball or find some friends for a quick game of racquetball. 

I've talked to people about this and used their responses, as well as my memories of others to provide supporting data for my theory and mostly, it holds true. Of course, you have the oddball who loves to play music before playing soccer that night, but most of the time, the theory lives up. Of the guys I spoke to and can remember, there is a very distinct line in the sand. One even stated matter of factly "'I'm not creative at all" and he's the one that goes and plays any team sport he can during lunch. Then, as I'm thinking of my creative male friends, I see another pattern emerge similar to my own - creative most of the time, solo athletic activities some of the time. Biking, running, swimming, they do it all. 

Let me conclude by emphasizing that I think both kinds of people are great - I've often found myself wishing I were on the other end of the spectrum because reading and writing will do nothing for my health in the long run. But I'm not and because of that, you get to read a blog of random ideas and thoughts (you're welcome). 

So, where do you fall on the Creathletic scale?

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