the beginning of the BEGINNING

I have a sty in my eye. Probably not the best way to start a fresh blog, but whatever, go ahead, sue me. The sty is annoying me in so many ways and it is actually ten times worse than the time I had pink eye. I don't know why this sty is so bad, or why I sound like Dr. Seuss.

Thanks for stopping by my blog. I hope that you get as much out of it as I will. Please note that your validation of my experiences through meaningful and out of control comments are always appreciated.

Why am I starting a blog?

1. I am trying to become famous. I realized that to truly make a difference in this world, you either have to have ridiculous amounts of money like Warren Buffett or Bill Gates, OR you have to be famous like Bono or Angelina Jolie. Celebrities have become the new wave of raising the necessary money to make world changes. I hope that what I write is entertaining enough for you to want to check my blog as often as you check your Facebook or Myspace accounts.

2. I want to share my life with you (the world). I have, and am in the process of making some significant decisions in my life, and quite often, people don't know where the decision came from or what decision I actually made. This is a blog to help enlighten you about me and about some thoughts that are pertinent to all of our existences while we are on this earth.

***********************************

Peace Corps - Pronounced 'peace core' NOT 'peace corpse.'

So after a long and strenuous and really really annoying process, I have finally finished ALL of my medical kit. Here's what has happened to this point. In March, I randomly typed in www.peacecorps.gov and decided to read through exactly what the Peace Corps was. All I knew at this point about the Corps was what I saw on Shallow Hal, the movie with Jack Black. I honestly thought that the Peace Corps were a bunch of tree hugging fruit cakes who acted like hippies on a global scale. Nonetheless, I ventured on and found that they offered positions in NGO development and Business Development and I thought, NIIIIIIIIIIIIICE (sort of like Borat, but more manly).

After looking around and reading the descriptions, I began my application and although it took me about a week to complete along with another two weeks to get all of my transcripts, recommendations, and other required docs in I stayed the course (something absolutely rare to me). I have always had this belief that if an organization is good enough to work with, they will recognize my talents and just recruit me on the spot - it's happened in the past, so I thought, why not always? But I thought that this would be a great opportunity to exercise my process skills and just go through with it. Then came the interview.

The interview was the best part. Here's a secret that you should apply, if you know who your interviewer is for anything, find them outside of the interview setting before you meet with them. Befriend them and build a rapport that is more like a friendship than like an interview. My interview lasted about two and a half hours and most of the time we were talking about her boyfriend. We looked through the nomination list and found something that I thought fit me perfectly, so I said I wanted it and she nominated me on the spot that day. Being assertive works, try it. It was from that point that the process got annoying.

So, they send you this medical kit with requirements for just about everything that anyone can think of. It took me about three weeks to get the appointments, shots, blood work, dental work, turn my head and cough tests and about US$400 in fees to get everything done. After I sealed the envelope and sent it in, they then thought it would be humorous to send me a list of three other things that I needed before I could get placed. I just finished and faxed it all today and hopefully, they won't be asking me for any more things. From now on, I play the waiting game.

The most interesting part in this process is the normal fluctuations in trying to decide whether or not I really want to go. These are my prime years and for what I could be spending my time accumulating wealth and moving up in the working world, finding a girl to settle down with and have beautiful babies with, and growing closer with friends, I am planning on going to the jungles, mountains, or forest to spend TWO YEARS with random people I don't know from Adam at this point - to both help and to teach, to learn and to grow. 27 months of doing who knows what under the label of "Business Development" for people in Central/South America.

Learn what "Business Development" means and what the volunteers actually do...

I am really excited about the prospect of being able to help people grow though. My thoughts so far are to:
1. start a business ethics and leadership library (please donate books!)
2. begin an annual conference for business and political leaders
3. start a mentorship/apprenticeship program for youths to get connected with people in various fields to see what they want to do in the future
Business development in a developing nation! That is as exciting as it gets.

At this point, the see-saw of my mind is going back and forth much more than you can imagine. Words cannot put into place the type of anxiety and desire for the 'right' decision to be made that I feel. Only if the world was a one way street by which you couldn't make any turns or go the opposite direction.

As for now, I will wait and see what to do. This turmoil between staying in the States, pursuing a career, or joining the Peace Corps and living for others for two years is driving me mad. What do you think?