"Like Sand through the Hourglass...

these are the Days of Our Lives." I recently spoke to a friend who just entered a new relationship.  He spoke to me about how he feels life is short and how a person should seize an opportunity when it comes his way, while his girlfriend believes that life is very long and should be lived for the people that mean the most to us- it's not all about you but the people around you as well.

What inspired that train of thought?  Well, besides the fact that it is past midnight and the thoughts are flowing freely because is a bit "open" right now, I couldn't help but reflect on my life since the start of 2011.  From the beginning of January until today, I have submitted b-school applications, went to Nashville, took an amazing trip to Singapore and am back now with what feels like a new lease on life.  Moreso, with each passing day, there is some thread of my past that is hooking onto my present to show me that everything happens for a reason (this also happens to be one of my strengths-connectedness- but more on that later). The point:  while the days may go by quickly and accumulate rapidly into months and even years, looking back on life, I want to be able to think that whatever I did was somehow worthwhile, that it added up to something productive and involved happy memories with my friends and family as well as growth and achievement for myself.  Life may be short but when time adds up, it doesn't feel so short anymore.

I also attended a program at work today that helped me understand my strengths using Strengths Finder 2.0 by Tom Rath.  The online assessment helped me realize what my top strengths are; surprisingly though, some of the qualities that the researchers behind it have defined as a strength don't necessarily feel like a strength.  For example, a strength of mine is intellection which refers to being introspective and thoughtful -  I didn't particularly view it as a strength because it felt very passive; I wanted a strength that showed how I am out to make a change, that I'm a go-getter.  However, the point of the test is to show you the strengths in order for you to take them and harness them into the most successful strategy for your career- in essence, your strengths are what you make of them.

Check out the link below for more info!
http://www.strengthsfinder.com/home.aspx