These past couple of weeks have been overwhelming, so I’ve been wondering how I can simplify my life. When I really thought about it, there were so many things that weren’t serving me. Everything from small daily annoyances to things that are life changing. This is not a vent post. This is about changing your mindset.
I’ve been having trouble with my cell service for months. I’m not sure why, but voicemails cut out or I don’t receive them until hours or days later. The majority of my calls are dropped and I usually have poor reception wherever I go. I’m not sure if it’s my location or my phone itself, but it is so annoying. My mom asked me why I don’t call the phone company to try to get to the bottom of this. Well, that’s a good question. Why am I putting up with this? Instead of getting annoyed, why not try to change my situation? I called the phone company and they updated some settings. However, the issues are not fixed completely and this time, I will be calling back. I pay for cell service each month and have insurance on my phone. As a paying customer, I deserve quality service. Why do we settle for crappy service, bad treatment or keep things that no longer are useful to us? I can’t be the only one who does this.
In January, I signed up for a payment plan for a pair of expensive glasses that scans text and reads it aloud. It’s a portable device that you can take with you to read menus, signs, price tags etc. You can also curl up on the couch with a book and it will read it to you. Apparently, these are the Goldie Locks of glasses because the lighting has to be just right. These glasses are also supposed to recognize products using a database, recognize colors of objects and even people’s faces. Unfortunately, none of these features work very well. Although the device is portable, it is still attached to a wire which is inconvenient, so I only took it to the store with me a couple of times. It was also advertised as being extremely quiet so those around you couldn’t hear it, but that wasn’t true either.
The only thing I loved about this device was that I actually was able to read an actual paper book for the first time. It was a book I ordered online. I didn’t have to change the format or alter it in any way. I just picked it up, pushed a button on the glasses and started reading. Now days, I can get most books on Kindle or Audible, but this particular one I couldn’t get in electronic format. That was in the first month of having the device. After that, I rarely used it. I purchased it in January and now we are in August. It has barely been useful to me and I kept telling myself, maybe I’ll use it later. Maybe my circumstances will change and it will become more useful.
I finally decided that this was no longer serving me. Why am I spending money on something I don’t use? Why am I keeping things that don’t work well for me? I posted it for sale on Facebook and the next day the company contacted me asking me to return it. I’m not going to get my money back, but I will no longer be throwing money away. That money could be spent on things that do make a difference in my life. I figured that there was nothing I could do until I paid it off, but the fact is, I didn’t know until I did something about it.
Too often, we get stuck in this negative mindset where we feel we can’t change things. Sometimes, I feel like it’s not worth the bother, but usually it is. If you can eliminate something that makes you angry, depresses you, places a burden on you or hurts you, it is worth the effort. Even if you have to disrupt your busy schedule or make a huge change in your life. What are the things in your life that are no longer serving you? What steps can you take right now to reduce or eliminate them?
I am choosing to let go of the transcription business idea. There have been so many obstacles beyond what is normal. First, there was the 
Now, here’s the good part. On that horrible day when I decided that enough was enough, I was scheduled to talk to a life coach. I had come across her in a parenting group on Facebook a few weeks ago. She is currently getting certified, so I asked her about the process and didn’t think much about it. I had almost forgotten about the call and when I realized it was scheduled for that night, I was dreading it. I was in such a horrible mood that I didn’t want to talk to anyone. I wanted to curl up with the blankets over my head. Not to mention that I hate calling anyone I’ve never talked to before, but I made the call anyway. I knew as soon as I heard her voice that I’d like her. She shared lots of information about the program and answered my endless questions. During our call, she did a mini coaching session and when she asked what my dream career would be, my first thought was coaching. I told her that I have really struggled finding a meaningful career and that I’d like to help others to get passed their road blocks and find what excites them. It became glaringly obvious to me that transcription didn’t even pop into my mind.
What you need:
After breakfast, we decided to make another sticker collage. This time with fish and flowers. Less than ten minutes later, I was scrambling again to find something to do.
Rosebud loves to go through my drawer of craft supplies which mostly consists of beads, shells and other jewelry making items. I had some string and larger beads so I thought, why not try some beading. It's a great fine motor activity and Rosebud loves to wear necklaces. I cut the string and put a little piece of tape on the end. We often do that for the kids at work to make it easier to pull the string through the beads. However, when we started beading, the tape was making the string too big to pull through the beads.
I had to go to plan B. I was hesitant to use the wire, but I was supervising her and knew it would be easier to get the beads on. I showed her how to string the beads which she was having trouble with. I expected this, as it was her first time. I decided that I'd put the beads on for her, but she had to pick out her beads and hand them to me. She picked out a couple of beads and then lost her train of thought. When I'd ask her which bead she wanted next, she'd say, "making a necklace." Then just scattered the beads around.
What did I learn?
In order to get some transcription practice, I wanted to find a company that hires beginners and allowed me to work on my own schedule. Rev.com met that criteria even though their pay was minimal. You may have noticed that I did not link to them directly as I do not want to direct any traffic towards their website. To get hired, you have to complete a grammar test and a transcription practice test. I completed the grammar portion without difficulty, but when it came to the transcription test, I discovered that the web based editor is not accessible with Voiceover. For those who don’t know, Voiceover is a screen reading software built into Appple products. It reads the text on screen aloud so that the person can hear it instead of reading the words. With the editor, I was not able to read what I had typed in the text box so I was unable to proof read and fix any mistakes I made and admittedly, there were a few. However, there would have been less had I been able to read what I was typing. Unfortunately, I had to submit the application as it was. I figured that I would have a better chance of getting my concerns taken seriously if I had actually applied.
After I submitted the application, I followed up with an E-mail explaining my situation. I explained that their editor was not accessible, gave them some information on Voiceover and told them that I hoped they would work on this issue in the near future so I could reapply and work for them. On Monday morning I got a response that was actually shocking. Usually discrimination is subtle and even though you know you were discriminated against, it’s harder to prove. In this case, it was as plain as day. An employee of Rev.com stated that their editor was not compatible with screen readers and that they weren’t actively seeking a solution at this time nor in the future. He went on to say that their company was not a good fit for “visually challenged/visually disabled people.”
As the afternoon went on, I thought about my abilities as a parent and how some of the things I'm not good at really shake my confidence. There's the dancing which hopefully the neighbors weren't watching. I worried about it unnecessarily. Am I good enough? Am I doing this right? Then I have to remind myself that it's not about being good enough. It's about spending the time together and having fun. I'm horrible at drawing and Rosebud loves to draw. She is always asking me to draw with her. My shapes are crooked, the lines are rarely ever straight and forget coloring inside the lines, especially if the picture is complicated. It doesn't stop me from trying, but it always nags at me that's not good. I'm not showing her the right way and as she gets older, will this bother her? Probably not as much as it bothers me. I try because I want to be involved in what she's doing. Isn't that what's important?
There are people out there who don't even know me who might question my abilities as a parent. I might be a terrible dancer, a little socially awkward and color outside the lines, but I can fix boo-boos, bake