B is for BACKGROUND info!

To where did my passion for life run and hide? Here is a little background.

I came to terms with my workaholicism at a very young age, working toward entrepreneurship as early as five years old. Here are a few examples of my early attempts at work:

• Kool-Aid stands
• Pet sitting services
• Dog walking
• Professional stapler
• To be clear, I do not mean the inanimate object of a stapler. Rather, I thought it was a brilliant idea to offer to do all of the stapling for my customers. And yes, I supplied the stapler and staples.
• Artist
• Specializing in portraits of stuffed animals and pets
• Miscellaneous cleaning in houses
• Baby sitting

Okay okay, I didn't say these ideas were good or successful, but I was consistently coming up with new ideas for income. I recently found some pastel drawings I did of different Ty Beanie Babies. I had planned on selling these at art shows.

The pictures are horrible. Exhibit A:

 This is my portrait of the Platypus, whose name was likely Patti... Or Patrick... Or Polydactyl... or something cleverly beginning with a P.

I obviously wasn't even pleased at the time with my art, as most of the pages resemble this one, with large X's going through the drawings.

The pet and baby sitting businesses seemed to be the most rewarding choices for me until I reached the age of fifteen and was able to get a "real" job. I worked part time jobs at Pacific Sunwear, Media Play, and Buffalo's. At age seventeen, I began working full time in sales.

It turns out that I, Jennifer Butler, am fantastic in sales... especially when motivated by commission. I attribute this to my intelligence, wit, stunning good looks, and obvious modesty. Before long, I was pulling in the big bucks and was offered one promotion after the other.

I suppose this is when I first lost sight of my passion. I had tunnel vision and was purely fixated on one thing: money. It took another five or more years, three car accidents, a bout with cancer, a few deaths in the family, and emotional and physical injuries to snap me out of that ridiculous mindset. It was during this transitional period of time when I decided to go back to school and pursue my passion: writing.

I found a different full time job... one that worked around my school schedule rather than keeping me 60 hours a week and on call the rest of the time. I initially struggled leaving the monetary beauty of my previous job, but I soon found peace in my decision.

Regardless of the new chapter in my life, I still felt burnt out, tired, and jaded. I had to work incredibly hard to retrain myself on how to approach each day. It is something on which I still work very hard. It takes consistent daily effort to remind myself of the positive aspects of my current lifestyle and my goals in life.

Stay tuned to see what daily effort I tackle next! Please visit the poll at the top of the page to place your vote on the next activity for me!

"You must live in the present, launch yourself on every wave, find your eternity in each moment."

-- Henry David Thoreau

Thank you to Good Reads for the above quote.