caitlin elizabeth photography | compromise

someone once told me that life was about compromise.  

and i'm all about that.

now, i will admit that there are something things that just must go my way. 

things that i will never be willing to compromise on.

like frozen yogurt.

i will forever and always get original tart with fruit toppings and white chocolate chips.
it's the most delectable combination.
why mess something up when it's just so right?

or gummi bears. i'm a haribo girl.  the generic 7-11 brand just doesn't cut it.

but generally, i'm a go-with-the-flow kind of person... not too particular about a lot of things.
i make due with what i have, the situations i'm presented with.  i adapt.

when the grocery store doesn't have the flavor of ben and jerry's i'm dying for, i re-direct my taste buds to another, albeit less satisfying, flavor.  or when purchasing the newest and greatest gear isn't within reach - i push what i already own to the limit.

if i know my wants are outlandish, i concede - and find the middle ground.

junior year when i found out i was accepted into the study abroad program for italy i had to get another job.  and when i turned in over 20 applications and didn't hear anything back, i had to figure something out. (it was the 'off' season in the bustling tourist metropolis of williamsburg, va - no one needed me to take their messages or type their letters)  i tried this online thing where you answered people's questions for money - but i wasn't making enough.  i kept putting in applications as a waitress around town. i was getting desperate.  but just before i decided that my only options were prostitution or selling my soul to the devil, i took a chance and tried something i never would've dreamed of doing before.

i stepped foot into a hooters.  and filled out an application.

you see... i was THAT girl in college.  the one who didn't kiss boys she wasn't dating or go to frat parties.  it just wasn't my thing. i wasn't particularly outgoing.  i was goofy, i didn't wear makeup and loved apple picking and shakespeare...
and while i had waitressed before, hooters girl just wasn't on the radar.

but 2 weeks later i stood awkwardly on that overly shellacked wooden floor and hollered "hey y'all" every time the door open and learned how to pour beer like a pro - all while wearing white tube socks and sketchers - with nude tights and a snug little outfit. 

and while i'm not going to say that it was the most wonderful experience of my life, i will say that it changed me.  in a lot of ways for the better.  and all because i was willing to do something i never would've even considered 6 months before.  but when i realized that i didn't really have any other options, i compromised, and did something i never would've done had i not been forced to make something work. 

point being: when you compromise, you experience new things.
your opinions change (or you become even more convicted in the ones you already have).
you learn. you gain valuable insight on life, happiness, tribulations.

in the next week, i challenge you (all 8 of you who actually read this thing haha) to do something you NEVER would've dreamed you would do.  be it flirt with a complete stranger or take that leap of faith when you're generally an overly-cautious individual.

or just compromise.
one something you don't really want to, but know you should.
business or personal.
big or small.