Day 5/100

JANUARY 22

List 5 negative things that happened this week. How can you turn them into positives?

Well, this exercise came at the beginning of the week, Monday, so I will list things from last Monday to this Monday.

Lets start with the biggest negative from last week…

1. Unknown loss of medical insurance.
As I’ve said before, I have stomach issues that I’ve had my whole life that just keep getting worse. I’ve been to the doctor once and they’ve given me antacids, which actually made it worse. I’ve tried a lot of things, but never went to the doctor again because I didn’t trust that they would do everything they can to help me. I assume it would be a 5 minute visit saying I’m overreacting and move on to the next patient in the next room. Well, with the push of many people, I actually made an appointment for last week. When I went to go check in, I was informed that my medical insurance was terminated. Really?

So, I guess to turn this around into some sort of positive: it woke me up. I cannot and should not be even a day late paying for medical insurance. Also, being the new year, I was informed that my monthly premium went up around $40, so I am paying a little less than $400/month for just myself. That’s just too expensive for someone who has mental health problems and stomach issues that I did not ask to be born with. So it definitely makes me think about reconsidering different insurance.

2. My social anxiety and agoraphobia has been tested multiple times.
I’ve had to take over at work while my mom is on vacation with her friends, which means that I am now at the front desk instead of my back office. I get anxious talking to people that I don’t know whether it’s in person or on the phone. On a positive note, this has pushed me to step out of my comfort zone and realize that it really isn’t all that bad. Slowly, I am getting better at this whole social stuff.

3. Overdrawn bank account
I used to work at a very well known bank, a fortune 500 company. Being an employee, they push you to have accounts with them because it makes revenue for the bank and it gives the bankers one less customer to reach their daily goals. After I left the bank, I moved all of my money to a different bank. Also, with leaving a Fortune 500 company comes the termination of all of the special perks. I started being charged those pesky monthly maintenance fees. Now, with the bank that I was employed with, you have to maintain a 3 month average of $15,000 to waive the monthly fee. That’s definitely not me. Knowing their policies and how easily an employee can bend backwards to help benefit the customer, I called to get the fees refunded. I got most of them refunded, but my social anxiety was also tested here. Sometimes you just have to ask in order to receive.

4. No classes this semester = No financial aid
Ever since I’ve decided to not take classes this semester, I can’t help but think that I’m making a mistake. I didn’t drop my classes yet because, realistically, I am still unsure about taking the semester off. After looking through my classes, the professors, and school unit caps (for financial aid) I decided that I will take classes this semester if the school responds to my email in my favor. I’ve dropped the 2 most difficult classes that I wouldn’t be able to concentrate on. BUT I am still enrolled in 3 classes (9 units), 2 of which are online courses. I am still nervous about having to take the semester off, but I’ve realized [through this] that I don’t give up. I’m persistent. To me, that’s a good quality to have.

5. I’ve been lacking on the recipes, baking, and meal prep.
It isn’t that big of a deal, but it does make me feel bad about myself that I haven’t followed through with this for a week or two. I have prepped my lunch for the current week, which is probably the most important for me to prep. With lunch made, I am not tempted to go out to lunch. The office goes out to lunch almost everyday. So even though I didn’t prep snacks or breakfast for this week, it still was important for me to keep up with lunch because that’s when I eat the most.