I would rather be sleeping too.

I will just come out and say it... I'm annoyed with my dream today.

That's probably bad to say, but I feel it in my eyelids.

Fact is, what I would like to be doing right now is sleeping. It doesn't matter what time it is really, I just wish I was sleeping, not typing, not trying to pluck a topic from my fading brain, and not pushing myself to somehow encourage somebody within my Monday post. I shouldn't have admitted that maybe... sometimes it doesn't come naturally because all you see are your complaints and situations swirling in front of you. I think the worst part for me right now is that it is totally ME making myself stay up and write something for today. My own sliver of motivation!

I guess you could say that I'm annoyed with the part of me that just won't give up already! I mean come on Sherylynn... you haven't finished your poetry book, your other book, or even compiled all your blog posts into a book, yet you still dream of being a writer? But yet, I know that one late night emotion should not hide all my day time motivation, and so I continue typing. My late night bipolar self fights with ... herself.

Ahhh It's a confusing time.

I believe I am not the only one though, I guess that's where I am going with this. As my trustworthy facebook news feed has updated me, today starts a week of crunch time in the university world. Essays, studying, finals, presentations, all that fun. If you haven't gotten to that point yet where it's late at night and your assignment is no where near being done and you feel so overwhelmed and you would cry but you just don't have the energy and all you want to do is not fail and just sleeeeeeep... then I am glad I got to you first. If you are at that stage, that's ok too. I can work with that.

I don't have so many great words of wisdom that will miraculously help you finish every single one of your papers/presentations/studying, etc., but I do have a God that encourages, protects, sustains, inspires and loves all the students. Also, I used to succesfully(well more or less) run on about 4-5 hours of sleep for four months straight, but at some point on my late studying sessions I just wanted to hear that somebody else understood the pressure and panic that I felt at that moment.

So now... whether you are taking a break or just down right delaying your next batch of intense study, have it in your hearts that I am praying for you tonight to flourish in whatever assignment you are working on, that though my pressures may have been different and my current dreams are probably different than yours, I understand your desire to grasp that last little bit of motivation to finish off your assignment, as well as the semester.

I just want you to know that you can do it. Don't doubt it, question it or deny it. You can do it and I am proud of you for making it this far. Don't forget how great and talented you are!

Love to all my student friends these next few weeks.
(Non-student friends, throw aside jealousy, I have love for you too!)

Am I Being Crazy?

Sometimes, you just have to ask yourself that question.

For starters, I am not meaning to shine a 'bad spotlight' on women these last few weeks but largely this question has been swirling in my mind from the fact that sometimes, girls are just crazy. Why? Because we have about 120 different main emotions, complete with 194,490 sub-emotions, and approximately 3,438 thoughts connected to every one of those emotions that has the ability to automatically respond to someone in about 478,289 different ways.

Don't quote those as true facts.

But I'm probably pretty close.

These 'crazy' thoughts stem from this book I've been reading lately called 'Brain on Fire' by Susannah Cahalan (if you want to look it up) which follows Susannah's path on being diagnosed in the last few years with this extremely rare autoimmune disease that actually made her brain, and ultimatley herself, go crazy!
Obviously I don't believe myself to have this disease, but Susannah brings up some interesting thoughts when she evaluates herself to see if she is possibly relapsing back into the paranoia that initially started her whole sickness. She takes the time to quickly analyze her thoughts, reactions and actions to ensure she is on the right path for peaceful emotions.

Self-evaluation, this is great. When you find yourself in a situation where a person is looking at you incredulously, this is a splendid time to ask yourself, "Am I being crazy? Am I completely over reacting to this? Should I go for a walk and calm down? Am I being absolutely paranoid for no reason?" These are good thoughts to have. Whether you are single, dating, married, etc. and you are a woman, you will always come across situations where friendships, relationships, coworkers, etc. will make you upset to some degree. What to do at this point?! Self-evaluation. Take a quick second to pinpoint what it is that makes you the most upset and what other emotions are flowing out of that. I encourage you to steer away from the evaluation of who is right or wrong, but reflect within yourself and see how you can control your reaction.

Being a married lady now I try and stay on top of this and be aware that sometimes I will just act and react absolutely crazy (not that I try so hard to be normal the rest of the time..). I just don't even know what to do with myself sometimes though, let alone explain to my husband why I'm completely over reacting to something. Ahhh life. Women. Men must love us and want to run from us all at the same time sometimes. My husband is remarkable though and understands that sometimes the sorting of emotions is a process before I can figure out what it is that bothers me so; sometimes I just need a nap, sometimes it's looking back at something somebody else may have said to me, other times it's some pizza, sometimes just give me a hug and make me stop talking! He's fantastic. We will always be learning.

So to wrap up here, my thoughts this week are thoughts of encouragement for women to be aware that A) we have a lot of emotions and B) this isn't a bad thing we just have to be aware and use these emotions wisely. I really think that asking yourself in the middle of a dispute or a breakdown "Am I being crazy?" will help give you a new perspective on how your 'argument' may appear to the other person at that moment and ultimately, bring you back to a stable emotional level. Also, I think we would be easier for our brothers, dads, boyfriends, guy friends, and husbands to understand us just that little bit better. I promise you we will still remain a great mystery to them.

Ladies... be beautiful and fantastic this week, embracing those emotions but not letting them run wild to cause unneccessary emotional mudslides of your personality. Much love, much love.

The Female World: Alarming

Greetings my fellow night owls and friends.

Today I bring you some ramblings from the part of my brain that says many fun and random things at night time, at that point when I should cave and go to bed but I still want to get my weekly writing in. Let's see what happens.

Lately I have been people watching. Lately meaning the last 25 years. And as I people watch I am quite alarmed by females. If I wasn't one of them I would probably want to shy away from the species. Many can be intimidating in what they wear, say and do. I'm not trying to point fingers or cause guilt or say that I am perfect (bahahah), that is not my intent, I just have a concern on my heart for this unique group of humans.

After weeks, maybe months, of invisible note taking and zero evidence collecting I have come up with the following conclusions on where my concerns stem from:

1) Many girls want to be considered hot.
2) Many girls want reassurance that they have a good body, face, smile, hair, makeup, style, etc.
3) Self photos, apparently known as "selfies", are alarmingly taking over the female world.
4) A good portion of girls don't realize how much they are loved and cherished.

And by girls I mean young women.

So I don't want to overwhelm myself or yourself with taking on such a huge topic or give an entire essay to read on this topic but I have these "tidbit thoughts" I will share for tonight.

One day Facebook began and "Selfies" began to overtake my news feed... self photos of young women in mirrors. Mirrors everywhere with awkward full body shots and cleavage and tight clothing and this big white circle from the flash, and a hand holding a camera, and then some duck face got invented and it all became too much for me. Sometimes I feel like a toddler stuck in the 'Why? Why? Why? Why? But WHY?' stage when I go on facebook. I can't quite grasp these pictures of women that I feel don't portray the strength and confidence that is within them. Women have worth, not a price tag, and self-confidence is not portrayed in a full body shot of yourself, but in knowing that there is a peace within. A peace that comes from knowing that you were created for a purpose, you are cherished, you are loved, you are not just a body to be admired, commented on or 'like'd. I think you are awesome. Take pride in you and all the wonderful unique thoughts, goals, dreams and character that have been given to you specifically.

Ladies, friends, night owls... be amazing and fantastic this week. I pray that confidence and peace will well up inside of you. When joy overflows from the inside, it's ok to keep secrets from facebook and instead share that joy, self-confidence and contentment with a friend! A real live friend!

Strategic Placement Dating

Friends, I will again give you some unrequested tips on dating this week. Your welcome.

Today I shall share another lesson I have learned on dating: don't strategically place yourself to get a guys attention.

You may be confused what I mean when I say strategic placement. Let me explain through the use of  some situations you may or may not have thought to yourself when attempting to get a males attention:

I'm going to stay online all day, then maybe we can facebook chat, maybe even skype.
I'll make sure to be the last one at his party because "I am waiting for my ride".
I know where he usually grabs coffee in the morning, that's where I'm going to start going too.
I'm going to walk my dog around his neighbourhood hoping he sees me, even though I live across town.
If I switch banks to his bank I think we might run into each other more.
I'm going to wear his favorite colour for a conversation starter.
I just found out which is his favorite clothing store, I'll try and get a job there.
I'll 'accidentally' pocket dial him and see if he phones back.
I'm going to get my mom to drop me off so that maybe he might offer to drive me home.
He said he liked trees, so I will wear this shirt with a tree on it whenever I think I might run into him.

I dare you to believe that this doesn't happen to some degree every day everwhere around you. Girls are totally crazy. And I say that and can come up with such fantastic examples because I use to try and strategically place myself all the time so this one guy would see me. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't. Either way, my thought process was way off!

Ask yourself a few of these questions:
Do you really want a guy to like you because you are conveniently right in front of him all the time? Or do you want to just live your life being you, and not constantly manipulating scenarios so that you end up near him, talking to him, getting a ride home from him, etc.
Would you not rather have a guy that notices you from across the room as opposed to a guy that practically trips over you because you positioned yourself so close?

When I realized how much of my life I was depending on somebody else something clicked in me and I realized that the last few years of my life the majority of my decisions had been based, not on my own preferences, but on what I thought a guy might want of me. Horrible to admit that, but there it is. Friends, I encourage you not to make decisions based on whether the guy you like is also going or not but to follow your own interests and dreams and then look to see who is beside you.

Don't place yourself in the way of a dating path, be you, following your own interests and the path will come to you.

Stay awesome friends... stay awesome.

How to Find Friends and a Husband

Say whaaaat? Yes, I know, such a bold claim of me.
Take Note: I did not say husbands.

Alright, so let's jump in and get to the point of such a powerful title.
Last week I was trying to write up something on dating... this week I tried again and ended up with this:
Here are two key things that will get you both friends that respect you and a husband that cherishes you:
     1) Figure out who you are.
     2) Be you.

That's it! Taaa daaa!
Now, if you are thinking "No, Sherylynn, it's not that simple" or "Sherylynn, you got my hopes up for nothing, I want to punch you in the face" then keep reading and I will explain further.

One of the most freeing lessons you will ever have in your life is the lesson of knowing who God created you to be and loving yourself. Never ever will I say that it is a simple process, path, or journey but when you get to a point in your life when you realize that the Creator of the Universe also created you and, even more than that, he considers you one of his favourites!!... you're not so concerned if a fellow human being doesn't get your sense of humour.

So I say it again: figure out who you are. And if you can figure out who you were called to be before you go through some really emotionally draining experiences, well done, you are one of the few but I greatly encourage it. But basically, find out what makes you happy, sad, frustrated, encouraged. What is your favorite animal or restaurant? What breaks your heart? Do you have a favourite colour? What are your dreams and goals in life? What are your beliefs? Does your favorite food change everyday? Find out these things about yourself and embrace them. Continue to work to improve negative traits while still loving the quirky habits you have. When you find this, a self confidence will begin to grow inside of you that you have never felt before. This doesn't mean that you have the answers to all life will throw at you but it means that you have the confidence in yourself to know that the answers and guidance will come.

This is when freedom arrives, because once you know who you are you can start to just be you, and the stress of trying to live up to standards and people's opinions about who you are "supposed to be" is thrown off your shoulders. You don't have to panic about being anybody else, you just have to be you... and who better to be you, than you! Now when you communicate with others and the opposite gender you don't have to worry about looking cool or hip or being funny... you just have to do whatever comes naturally to you. Doing this will attract the people that connect with who you are and will also bring the right guy to you.

Think about it: if you go on a date with a guy and you are being yourself, but after he doesn't want to make plans for a second date... what a relief! He was not for you. If you tried to convince yourself that you were perfect for him and maybe you need to change who you are so he can see it... you deceive him and you deceive yourself. Find the freedom of knowing that when you go on a date as yourself, there is nothing to lose. It's better to find out that he is not the guy for you after the first five minutes than after the first five years.

Take Note: I am not saying for you to take on the attitude of "Well, I'm me and if you don't like it, screw you." No... that is not what this is all about. When you find who God has created you to be, you will have peace and contentment in your life and people will be attracted to that. Your closest friends will be the ones who best match your personality and are encouraged by you and vice versa. Adjusting who you are to match someone else's expectation will never grow self-respect, confidence or peace within you, only turmoil, fear and guilt.

YOU are beautiful, so don't hide yourself; embrace who you are and flourish in who you were meant to be!

Dreams in small portions

Sometimes when you are tired you don't want to chase after a dream. And that's understandable.

It just sucks when you become refreshed and you wish you had still worked towards your dream even when you were tired because you could have been that much further ahead.

Also, sometimes if you miss a deadline for a goal you think you failed the goal entirely. Not so, though. It just means that you get to try again. You only fail if you give up.

My ever so deep thoughts come from.. well for starters, they come from me... but they come from the fact that it is now technically Tuesday... and not Monday when I normally post. And I normally post on Monday so that I can continue a strict schedule to keep me writing every week. I like to write every week with the meager time I put away to do it because I know that if I wait for time to open up, well, I'll just be waiting forever. Dreams happen when you just make them happen. You do them. Tired or not.

So tonight I am tired and started writing this whole other thing on dating for your reading pleasure but I just ended up confusing myself and then I felt over my head in creating a comprehensive point to the entire thing. So instead of just not writing this week because of my frustrations towards one topic I opted to write this. It's not much, it's not perfect, it's not particularly life changing or funny I don't think, but it's one little piece closer to my dreams of writing books and other things of publication.

If I woke up tomorrow and realized that I hadn't posted anything the night before, simply because I couldn't make my sentences make sense or because I just got tired and wanted to sleep, I would be saddened with myself.

So for this week, I leave you with this quote:
Don't rely on giant strides everyday, take the baby steps when you can; they are the ones others took the most notice over anyways.

I hope you all have a great week working towards goals and dreams. Don't go for perfection, just go.
We'll talk about dating next week after I sort all those thoughts out with a refreshed brain.

Blonde Accountability: Why you need friends.

It's Monday, a whole new week to live. Let's party party!

Today I felt the importance to discuss accountability... especially as a blonde. Yes, if you were unaware I am a blonde (technically self proclaimed strawberry blonde but pff specifics), and here is a true story for you. You may have read this on my facebook page before but I was thinking about it this past week and decided to expand on it. Here it is...

Scenario: My brother and I are driving past the Chilliwack Airport on a week night, it is super dark outside.
Sher: "I wonder what happens when they have to change that light?" (the light that spins around on the top of the airport)
Brother: .....looks at Sher...."They probably do it during the day."
Sher: "oh right.....I don't want to talk about this anymore."

So, a pretty simple situation right? Two people talking and sharing their different perspectives and one of them just happens to come up with a blonde question, it happens!

Now see, at the time of this conversation I was quite serious about my question; in my mind it was pitch black outside and if the spinning airport light burnt out how the heck would the airplanes know where to go!! A crisis situation would have come up. It was only until I shared my question of concern with someone else did I realize that my thought process was missing an element of 'light'. I also realized that my great concern was actually completely ungrounded and I was fretting about nothing. This my friends, is the importance of friends and accountability. I could have gone my entire life deeply pondering how they change this light thinking that there was no way to do it... OR I would have realized years later that obviously they would do it during the day when the light wouldn't be in use.

When sharing thoughts, concerns and life situations with a trusted and responsible friend you open yourself up to gaining clarity for your particular situation. If you ask a friend for feedback on a decision you are making in your life they can provide 'light' to the situation in what the Bible says on the topic or perhaps share a similar situation they have already walked through and what they learned. A friend can also help keep you accountable to dreams, goals, commitments, but you have to be willing to share parts of your life with them. At the very least, your friend can kindly explain to you that your question was kind of blonde and they will encourage you not to repeat it in large groups. Friends are gems!

I encourage you not to be afraid to go to a trusted and responsible friend to help you shine 'light' on your situation and to gain another perspective. Your singular perspective could have flaws to it, shocking I know, which is why it is always good to get another opinion and make sure you are on track with who you want to become.



Be brave this week and share some thoughts and dreams with a friend!
Have a fantastic week friends, I am blessed to know you all!