Infertile...really?

I came across this article that states young people actually think they are infertile. Although this surprises me, it also does not surprise me in several ways. I have posted the link at the end of this post.

Let's back up and let me preempt this post by saying I am at a cool point in my life right now where I see everything through two sets of eyes. One set that is still in my late teens to early twenties, and one set that is the age I am now (not telling) which of course is more grown up and reasonable.

Ok, back to the article. So the present day me was a little surprised because my rational adult thought when I first read the headline was "You big dummy!" (in my Fred Sanford voice). Of course you are fertile and only when you actually WANT to have a real baby will you realize you were cursed with not being able to do so and that will be because you paid a bunch of money to a doctor to tell you this. Everyone should always assume they are fertile until proven otherwise by a licensed physician.

Now, for the irrational child-like me. Yea, I thought that too, and so did a bunch of my friends when I was younger and dumber. If I had a dime for everyone who told me they couldn't have kids based purely on the fact that they had not had any yet I would be sitting at Trump status. We all thought that too. I still have friends who tell me that just because they have not gotten a girl pregnant yet. I had a bunch of unprotected sex as a teenager and never got preggers...until later.

What is so disturbing about this thought process is that it is sticking. EVERYONE thinks this now. Young people are becoming more and more risky with their behavior and using YOLO for their excuse. For those who don't know YOLO stands for You Only Live Once. This type of lifestyle is ruining our youth and our future. It's corny and old but Whitney said it best, "I believe the children are our future...". What a future we have in front of us with this mind set.

Yes, you only live once, but that is not an excuse or ticket to behave irrationally or irresponsibly. Instead, think of it as a reason to DO IT THE RIGHT WAY and NOT CARELESSLY. Prepare your life so that you can enjoy every aspect of it, instead of rushing into things and dealing with the consequences later. It is much easier to make a plan and stick to it to achieve your goals than to just wander aimlessly and look back at your life in 10 years and wonder why you didn't achieve what you wanted in life.

I wish I could interview some of these kids in 5 or 1o years from now right now. My first questions would be:

1. How'd that face tatt work out for your career?

2. How many kids you got now?

To all my young readers, wake up. Realize that you DO only have one life to live. One life that should be cherished, protected, and honored. TRUST AND BELIEVE life is nothing like a rap video, even for those guys. That's only on the weekends, everyday is everyday, and it's going to be about 4 million (exaggeration) regular days to every 4 rap video days. That's the reality of life. So if you don't want all your regular days to be shitty...wake up, now!

To all my older readers, be a mentor to someone, don't just walk past our youth in the streets and say "it's not my kid". It may not be your kid, but they are someone's kid. If it was my kid I sure hope someone like me would stop and offer a thought provoking conversation that would slap her back into reality. I do it all the time. All the time.

Remember...

Live, love, laugh, learn, & teach!

http://jezebel.com/5883016/young-people-totally-think-theyre-infertile

Satisfaction...

Satisfaction...
Sometimes that is a hard word for me. Whether or not you are satisfied with something is such a relative thing. Two people can experience the same thing and one can feel satisfied and the other not. Today I want to talk about satisfaction with life as a whole. Are you satisfied? If not, what would make you satisfied?
Satisfaction can come in many forms, a job, money, love. For me satisfaction is deeply rooted in my happiness. Am I happy with my life, how it is at the moment, how I think it will turn out, etc. Sometimes I feel as if there is something missing in my life, something that I am not satisfied with, and yet I cannot put my finger on what this item is. What would make my life complete?
A different job, or the job of my dreams would make my life complete. I would be able to make enough money to support my family and would wake up eager to go to work everyday. But, isn't that what everyone wants? It would also make me happy if my daughters were straight A students in honor classes, or if I had enough money to buy the things that I want without a care in the world.
But would those things really satisfy me? I'm not so sure. I think once those wants were met, I would want for something else. So does that mean I am never satisfied? I cannot agree with that either because I know there are things in my life that I am satisfied with.
When I talk to my brother about these feelings, he tries to put things into perspective for me. there are people out there with no job, mothers with no help from family, no father for their children, no car, no job, no education, no health care. I have a little something of all these things. I have a job, even though I do not like it. I have family help, though limited at times and rightly so. I have a husband who has always been here for me and my children and who fixes my car whenever it needs it. I have a decent education, my children are getting good educations, and I am currently enrolled in school now. I have insurance on myself and the kids. What else could I want? What could be more satisfying?
When he tells me these things it makes me feel bad because I know he is 100% right. So again, for me, I think my unsatisfaction is more deeply rooted. When I tell my best friend about these feelings, he says I am still looking for something. Something I have not filled or found yet, and only I can figure out what it is. So, I began a personal journey to try to discover this missing link in my life. Many suggestions come to mind right away. Is it closure, friendship, intimacy, acceptance? While I think I am searching for certain things within those categories, I also think that is not "it".
I was watching an episode of LA Ink a couple of nights ago. I do like this show, although I am not an avid viewer of any show. I don't record them or set special time aside for them because I feel real life is more interesting. But when I am in my bed, restless and awake at 2a.m. and there is a marathon on, I watch. So in this episode a girl got a tattoo that said "Fortes fortuna adiuvat" which means Fortune Favors the Bold. She said she had always wanted to do cool stuff like race cars, bikes, etc, and she realized one day if she wanted to do those things she just had to be bold and go out and do them, they were not going to come to her.
That's when it hit me. What's missing, what my dissatisfaction is. It's my career. I never did what I wanted to really do when I grew up. And my inner soul has been trying to get me to realize this. this is my missing piece to my puzzle, my something that I am still searching for. And yet, now that I know for sure what it is, it seems even farther away. I want to work in the water, with the water, and the creatures of the water. Outside. Wet. Cold. All things I do no necessarily care for...and yet will not be happy in my life without them. Funny isn't it?
So, I became bold, changed my major, signed up for my first class, and researched a scholarship I will apply for next year. I may be at the beginning of the race...but I am bold enough to not waste anymore time and get it started. You should too...
Live, Love, Laugh, Learn, and Teach!
~AprilFresh

Beyoncé - Flaws And All

I posted this video to pay homage to all the true men and women out there who do unconditionally love their mate, flaws and all. I am lucky to be able to have found someone like that, and I hope everyone out there finds theirs. This song uplifts me in several ways. Take a listen and tell me how it affects you...