Today's bright spot

Today was long.

I had a midterm at 8 this morning.  It was my Chinese 101 speaking midterm and I was beyond nervous.  I was so nervous I woke up quite sick.  Thankfully, the midterm went very well, and I even had extra time to finish my homework for my next class.

After class I went to work.  I was recently promoted/demoted/reassigned/misplaced into a new position at my work.  Switching jobs is always extremely tough for me.  Today was baptism by fire at work.  I was super stressed out, enough so that my supervisor kept trying to feed me cookies to calm me down.

Somehow that was not helpful for me.

I ended up staying at work for 2 extra hours just trying to finish everything up.  And somehow the extra $18.00 for my efforts does not seem at all worth it.

When I got home I was prepared to head straight for the books, because I have to take my Chinese 101 written midterm tomorrow at 8. I'm not ready for the test.  And by the time I got home, I wasn't even ready to study for the test because I was so drained.

But, thank goodness, a dear friend of mine called right as I was about to lose my mind.  We talked for less than 15 minutes.  It was a short conversation, but it was a real conversation.  It amazes me how that one conversation, no matter how short, was the best part of my day.  I feel better about that conversation than I do about the extra cash I made or the good grade I got on my midterm.  This proves the point that life has been trying to teach me for a while now: successful relationships are the only successes that really count in the long term.  I am so glad this is the case, because I'd rather occupy myself with cultivating healthy, fulfilling relationships with friends, family, God, and myself than worry about anything else.  Moments like that phone conversation can bring meaning to an otherwise dismal day.

By the way, you should watch this.