Recharging the Batteries, and Moving Out?

So we've hit the last three day weekend of the year @ UCLA, and I'm taking the time to just recharge from what's been a crazy and wild quarter. I spent a lot of time sleeping, working out, and spending time with really good company (you know who you are!). I also saw the UCLA softball team win a 12-inning, epic duel to eliminate the evil Stanford (we're gonna take the national title... AGAIN! Over Cal... AGAIN!). And what's interesting is that the events this weekend, combined with an ESPN interview with Keira Goerl's mother (the mother of the star UCLA softball pitcher) has compelled me to make a resolution for the next year. Maybe I should explain:

With the score tied 1-1, and Goerl in the circle (the equivalent of the baseball pitcher's mound), an ESPN reporter asked Goerl's mother how her daughter can stay so cool and collected in the circle in these pressure situations, and yet maintain her competitiveness. She responded saying that her daughter constantly tries to find a balance, not just between being calm and being emotional while on the playing field, but in life as well. Softball is not her life.

And at that moment, it just made sense. For a while, I'd been living my life like I could only be successful if just immersed myself into something. And to some extent, it works; I have been pretty successful in things I've just jumped into. But it's such a huge emotional investment that at times it's felt like one big emotional roller coaster. But that roller coaster isn't so dramatic if you find balance. Finding balance, in essence, is like diversifying your emotional investments. And like diversifying financial investments, it protects you if any one of those investments goes sour.

Just recently, I've found that Samahang and school work have almost completely taken up my emotional investment. Fortunately both things have been going pretty well as of late, but more than once that imbalance has messed with me when things haven't been so rosy. So for the next year, I'm making a resolution to find more balance in my life, and in particular, I need to put more investment in relationships outside of Samahang, especially family, and in my health.

In other Randy news, the managers of my apartment complex have just pushed the rent up to $1800 a month. When I first moved in, it was $1605. Then it pushed up to $1750 (the original price, but we got the lower price for good credit). Now, at $1800, and considering we have some crappy appliances, and repairs come slow, and the laundry sucks here, I've come to the same conclusion as my current roommates and decided to move the hell out. Apartment hunting, episode II, now begins!

So I probably won't be updating until after Samahang elections, when I'll finally figure out what the next year of my life looks like, so until then, wish me luck, and have a happy official beginning of Summer!