Listen

"One cannot listen to what you don't say." - Unknown

Do you listen to others? Do you listen to their body language? Do you listen between the lines?

Have you ever found yourself in the position where you want to tell someone something but you just can't find the words to say? I've found myself in that position more than once but more than once I've found my own way out of it. I'll either tell them that I need to talk to them in a different way by moving my body in another direction, or by stating right out "I'm not totally comfortable with that subject."  Usually that works, but when it doesn't then usually the other person figures out that I'm not interested when I walk away.

I like to watch a persons body language to see if they become uncomfortable or too comfortable with the subject at hand. Too uncomfortable... I stop the subject and move on.
No big deal. If they get too comfortable then it's still time to move on. You may not want to hear them spill the beans on everything in their life. They may realize that they said to much and clam up themselves. We are curious creatures, but sometimes what we find out is not what we want to know.

Listen to your communication partner and listen to your own conscious,  If one or the other is telling you that something is wrong, then something probably is. Just keep that in mind.

Oh and Happy Easter Holiday Weekend :)

Brains, Brawn & Beauty

Dear Crush in High School.

I know that it's been what, four years since we parted on the stage. I was so proud to play at your graduation, even though I probably would never see you again. To hear your name being called as you walked across that stage, you took your diploma and after I saw you outside for a brief moment to call congratulations, you walked out of my life for the moment.

Oh sure, I heard about you in Yale and how you were doing so well, learning Latin of all things when you could be the next Marie Curie. Oh, did I say that out loud, my apologies. Just a slight slip. But, oh were you gorgeous. At that time in my head at least. I heard stories of how you snippy with your mother and sister and I didn't really want to believe (what girl wants to hear that thier crush really isn't that perfect?) and quite frankly ignrored them.

I would look for you at the parades, I knew that like me you would look for the band. The band is what really brought us together. Band, what interesting times. But boy could you play that trombone. But last year, when I congratulated you on Graduating from YALE you know what you did? Oh, no you didn't break my heart when you shot down a congratulations from graduating from a top school. You just made me realize something. Something very big.

You might have had the brains and the brawn, but honey...
I've got Brawn, Brains, and Beauty and I let everyone share it!
So Blow. On. That!

Sincerely...

~Me

S.O. [19]

"Appearances are not reality, but they often can be a convincing alternative to it."

 

 

I'm not quite sure what the world may think of llamas having anything to do with this post but I think they have something do with this post so that is why they are here. So stop wondering.

Llamas. Very strange creatures indeed.

 

"Appearances are not reality..."

 

This I can see as being relevant to llamas. I mean really, look at that llama. You see a sweet, hay chomping animal who looks cool and collected. One cool llama. But if you know a mean llama, well it can kind of ruin everything for you. I mean really... They Spit!

 

"...but they often can be a convincing alternative to it."

I would rather have this picture of a llama and believe that llamas can be gorgeous and calm. And can be completly satisfied when eating hay on the barn floor. Instead of being absolutely crazy and trying to eat your hair. Yes... it has happened before. If you have not experienced it, then you have never visited a successful farm!  

 

Now, consider for a moment what you are wearing today. Are you wearing an outfit that makes you comforatble? Are you wearing something that you thought was well... you? Or are you wearing something that the rest of the world is wearing? Are you wearing something that displays a rather large logo and boots that were in the magazine last week? Or are you wearing something that was in the back of the store, actually fits you and defines who you are? '

 

By wearing an outfit that isn't you, you are putting out the image, or rather the appearance of not being real to yourself! It's an easy fix, just go find something that is really you way down deep inside. For instance, don't you really really want to wear that hot pink shirt with the zebra print pants to match? I thought so... and look! I can't find it anywhere in the magazines!

 

When you wear that magazine cutout outfit you are convincing the world around you that this is really who you are. You are not original. You are a cookie cut out of a fashion magazine. And how much fun is that?

 

Are you the alternative to reality that you want to be?

 

Or are you going to be like the llama and be the cookie cut?

 

 

How Original Mr. Llama... This is why I don't go too near you anymore at the farm...

S.O. [18]

You're only brave 'til you're scared, you're only unique until compared.

It's taken me a while to go through this phrase, I still don't quite understand it, but that's alright, right? We don't always understand what we read or hear. That makes us thinkers, we think to understand, we weigh the facts and go through the steps to understand what is being said.

Now, we are brave, occasionally. We are brave enough to stand in a group of people and say "Hello my name is Elizabeth and I am taking this class because..." or able to order something at the drive through or stand in front of an audience and a speech. The president is brave, the teacher is brave and the student is brave, for running for the presidency, for teaching a group of smart individuals and the student is brave for answering the question. We are all brave and have done a brave act in our lives.

Now "You're only brave 'till you're scared...", consider what you have to be in order to be brave. You can't be scared. If you're scared, you have 0% in your brave meter. You can't be brave if your scared level out weighs your brave level. You just become a scared-y cat. Sorry, but its true. Ever watch the Lion King? Mufasa tells his son, Simba, that he is scared, but he is brave too. Being scared is part of being brave. You don't know what you're running into sometimes, but you run into anyways because you also have that rush of adrenaline that out weighs your scared level. Does this make sense at all?

The second statement "You're only unique until compared" is a little bit different. I know I'm comparing my favorite subject, Disney princesses, but these girls are a perfect example. Each princess is different. Ariel wants to live on land and be with the humans, Cinderella wants to get out from her step mothers thumb, Jasmine wants to have a better life outside the palace walls, Belle watns to live her life in peace with her father and her books, Aurora wants to marry a common stranger and break the palace rules, and Snow White wanted to live out her life at the castle being mooned by Prince Charming. When it all comes down to it, all the girls want something different, something unique in their quest to find a happy ending. Each girl may have a different hair color, back ground, and attitude, I mean really, compare Snow White and Jasmine. Snow White goes along with everything, is scared out of her mind and the first thing she does is clean. Jasmine on the other hand, when she gets the chance in the market stands up and shows whose boss! I could keep going, but a similarity between all these girls is that in the end, they become princesses. Princess Belle after marrying Prince Adam, Princess Ariel was the youngest of King Triton's seven girls and marries Prince Eric. Princess Cinderella after she marries the Prince. Princess Jasmine as she is the only daughter of the Sultan. Princess Ariel/Brier Rose as she is the only daughter of the King and Queen and supposedly marries Prince Phillip and Princess Snow White, the only daughter of an unnamed King and Queen, and marries Prince Charming as well.

                        

  

So, how unique are you? Are you unique enough to be copied? It is a form of flattery you know.

And how brave are you? Do you let your scared level out weigh your brave-ness?

Think about it.



S.O. [16]

"It's like trying to rake leaves without a rake."

One of my past teachers actually said this to our class in reference to students in need of special education, however, the amount of care and education that these students are receiving is not enough! Not NEARLY enough! We give these students all the materials and interventions that we can however, well, like my teacher said, "It's like trying to rake leaves  without a rake." They may have all this at this disposal, but they can't pick it up and use it all.

Sometimes we need to build the rake to collect the leaves. First we need a grip, like a grip on reality. It's not like many of us do, thank you public schools for enabling that idea in our heads. We can't get very far with just a grip, we still need to go from the grip in our hand to the knowledge, er, the leaves, on the ground.

Then we need the staff. That's the big long part that connects the grip to the spindles at the end. You can pick up a few things but not much. You can stab the leaves enough to pick up a few but you still have the ENTIRE lawn to do! At least we kind of made it to the ground, we still need to bend over a little but at least we're there!

Oh Heck no, we are NOT done! If we want to have a lawn like the Jones across the street we need to finish our rake soon! We need the spokes to pick up the maximum amount of leaves! According to the nearest hardware stores, the more spokes you have on your rakes and the more of an area on Earth that your now completed rake can take up, the more leaves you can officially retain.

So in a way, my teacher was right. Without the proper approach to education, we can't teach our special education students. And if we can't teach or reach our special education students, then we, as a whole, are not very good educators.

S.O. [17]

"In true love the smallest distance is too great, and the greatest distance can be bridged."

Have you ever been in love? Have you ever felt the need to be involved with a person that you cannot bear a moment without knowing how they are doing? Have you ever?

We are young, we may not know the difference between being in love and being obsessed. Obsessed is when someone is over the moon about something, maybe an actor, singer or general topic. Being in love, to me is when two people are together and have a connection between the two hearts, or two souls, or even in a topic. There is a hundred ways that people can meet, and a hundred ways that people can fall in love.

Can we expect to have any reaction when we fall in love? Do we have expectations when we are in love? Are we in love right now? I cannot say. I may be in love, for I miss him very much, but whose to say that we are in love? Or for that matter, inseperable?

The shortest distance can refer to the body, for as he moved away all those years past, I felt a coldness and a feeling of not knowing when I'd see him again. Would it be years? Months or days? Hours or just moments? I never wanted him to let go, and why would I? He made me feel safe and secure. Love knows no bounds.

Years went by, as you may have guessed, and what is the best way to bridge a distance? I want to see him again and feel the same way that I had felt the last time I had seen him, but how is this possible without bridging that age old gap between us? We were seperated, by time, money, miles, friends, so how could this distance be breached? Simple, by communication. Whether it was via love, or memories or just a rekindling of a friendship, I'm happy that we're back in contact, and I'm hoping that a rekindling of our relationship is beginning, but one can only hope.

As always darling, you remain in my prayers. ♥

Fresh Out Of Luck

"Luck is what happens when preperation meets opportunity." - Elmer Leterman

Let's break this one down a bit. First off, what does it mean to be fresh? Often you hear 'fresh' labeled in front of food, like "FRESH FISH!!" or "FRESH FRUIT" at the supermarket. Sometimes 'fresh' is used to describe an attitude that needs to be adjusted in the home. For instance: "Jeremy is being so 'FRESH' today, he just will not do as he is told!" Other times 'fresh' is to describe a smell, like 'fresh flowers' or 'fresh poo.' I had to think of another example, forgive me for the childish term... I was being 'fresh!'

Moving on to the term 'out'. The term could mean a direction, such as someone moving from 'out' to in and so forth. You could be 'out' of your mind like I often am... My mind checked 'out' and has not checked back in. It has left the building, it is long 'out' of sight, all terms to mean that it is gone, missing... it is becoming very hard to not to use the word out in the description.

Of... haven't a clue on how to describe this.

Luck. LUCK! Luck of the Irish, Full'a luck, and lucky as the day is long. Luck is some times pure coincidence, just connivance or perhaps you were in the right place in the right time. Some believe in luck charms, good luck phrases and good luck procedures, such as not washing your game socks until the end of the season. Uh, ew?

To be fresh out of luck though, means to be well, out of luck and stuck in the mud. You'll have to rely on your ingenuity to get yourself out of the situation.  Sorry, can't help you much there. Unless if you listen to Leterman mentioned earlier, somethings just happen in the best way. I believe everyone has luck, whether it is in the form of a lucky penny or are just born with luck. Every one has their days that are up or down, and days where the luck runs out or appears with no warning. Try eating some Lucky Charms, maybe that will boost your luck for a little while!

Have a luck filled day! 

Sound Off [15]

"You can pick your friends, but not your family." 

This also ties in with another quote that I've heard, that my mom told me that you should just let poeple go in your life that you do not need. Or are just plain hurting you. Every day you make a connection and make a new friend, but the instant that something goes wrong, you start to question the relationship. You wonder why the friendship started, you start to wonder how the relationship came to be

Family though, you're pretty much stuck with them. You're born into a family, or adopted into a family and that's where you will remain. But like your friends, you will find people that aid, or hinder you in life. Family, they typically are there to help you. Don't listen to the sitcoms, family is there to love and support you. Most of the time. When you come home with a new tattoo and a pierced tounge... I don't have an answer for thier behaviors.

We're all in this world together, so I think it is to your advantage to know who you are choosing to be your friends, and who you leave out in the cold may be the one person that you need tomorrow to fix a problem, or just be that someone that you can lean on.

We all know who members in our family are, after all, we were born knowing them! We just do not know our friends, or who could be our friends. Remember: "A stranger is someone we don't know yet." We never know what they will bring to the table, or how they are going to change our minds or how they are going to help us in the long run. We just know that they are there, all we need to do now, is be there for them.

- On a semi-related note: Can you tell who the friends are and who the family is here? No? Good. That's because they're all beautiful to the individual in the family. -

Sound Off [14]

"You have enemies? Good, that means you've stood up for something."

I can say the various times I've stood up for myself, and either faced my opponent strongly to avoid another confrontation, or faced my opponent and the situation grew worse. Sometimes, you really can't do anything about the situation and you need to let it simmer out with the times.

Once an enemy was created, and I tried to form a friendship, at least one where we could cordially meet one another and exchange the time. Did not quite work out the way I had planned. I did try, and it was amusing to see her avoid confrontation with me, I was more saddened that she could not hear me say to her face how much of a person I thought she was, and will turn into. Someday she'll see what I thought of her. All very nice things mind you, but sometimes you have to let them simmer and wait for the outcome later on.

Another time, I was confronted with another girl whom never truly appreciated what others did and looked at herself as being perfect. I made it clear that I did not like her remarks, and she could keep them to herself. However the bullying continued, and I counted down the days for the school year to end. When she was gone, I breathed easier, even though there were bigger fish to fry, well, I was the smaller fish to fry but still. I had tried, and made an enemy out of someone that really wasn't worth the time.

Have I tried standing up for myself? Yes. Has it gotten me anywhere? Yes. Moving on from girl bullies, lets look at boy bullies. Again, have I tried standing up for myself? Yes. Has it gotten me anywhere? Yes. Have those boys even looked at me again? Only a few, and I am grateful for those few. The others, if you think about it, they weren't worth it if they couldn't respect me. I'm grateful for the men that respect my answers and allow me to be me, and I do not have respect for the boys who do not respect women.

This is considering relationships, looking into the work place, I have created a few unwanted enemies. For instance, I hit a co-workers car. Completely by accident. Paid the bill, and both of us when on our way. Sort of, trying to get my old job back as you read this. However, I faced the bill and he has more respect for me seeing how I accepted the payment. When I stood up for myself in another work environment, it didn't go as well, I was told to go home without the chance to explain myself. I waited until I had the moment to do so and after that I didn't make any enemies, but I didn't make any more friends. It's work though, and in the environment that I was in at the time, there were no 'friendships', there were work-relationships, but the way that the corporation was going, there was no time to begin or improve work relationships. The job left me and it has turned into another learned experience.

I hope you can understand that you can stand up for yourself, and you can be the better person when you do. You may make enemies, but when you do, you also create friends who may not make themselves visible, but they are there all the same. I have friends, I have enemies, I have some people who would give me the time but that is all they would offer. I've stood up for myself, and found myself in a more difficult situation than anticipated, but I've learned. Have you found yourself in one of these situations? How have you solved the problem? I hope you are in a better place for showing that you can stand up for yourself, no matter the situation. 

Sound Off [13]

"Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind, don't matter and those who matter, don't mind."-Dr.Seuss

I have always loved this quote, from hearing it as a child when reading the Dr. Seuss books to watching a few friends preform the lyrics on stage when Suessical was in town. It carries a powerful meaning to young children, letting them know that it is okay to be themselves. If the boys want to wear a pink shirt and the girls want to play trucks its okay! Those who tell the girls to play with the dolls because "trucks are for boys" are not listening to the beautiful quote. These girls are being who they are! They boys are too! The people who are forming their children to be specifically gender roled, or having them 'fit' into the 'norms' are not helping their children, or anyone for that matter. These people really mind therefore, they truly don't matter.

In the world there should be more members who encourage originality and children who speak their mind. We really don't know what they are thinking, feeling or wanting to do everyday of their lives. The creative people fix the world, and they do it even if they don't have permission. They just do it anyways and the world is a better place for it.

In my classroom I want students who wear different outfits, stripes on spots, yellow on orange and everything in between. This will tell me that my students are being the creative people who they are, and they will know that I care and matter in their lives because I will encourage them being this way. One day I just might let the students dress up as their favorite professions! I hope to get a boy ballerina and a girl carpenter!

I don't want to be one those teachers/parents/peers that mind about how others act. I don't want to be someone that doesn't matter. I want to be someone who doesn't mind, and matters in someones life.

Don't you think this is the better way to go too?

S.O. [12]

"Sometimes, the smell of some one's body is better than any perfume, gets you higher than any drug, and leaves you more breathless than space." - Anon.

If you can, close your eyes, (if you are on a train, driving, or otherwise already doing another task, keep your eyes on the road and ignore the previous three words to this tangent...) and think of a out of the way shop. Now open the door to your shop and take a whiff. What does it smell like? Does it smell like freshly made chocolate? Brand new candles? Or does cinnamon make its way to your nose?

What do you sell in your shop? Or did your shop turn into some one's house perhaps? Say it's Grandma's kitchen, full of goodies and fresh cookies? Or is it Grandpa's or Dad's workshop full of old equipment, grease and the stove smoke in the winter?

Or do you smell that one person that you are in love with? Do you smell his (or her) Cologne or perfume? Is this what you smell?

If anyone has ever experienced this, then they know of what heaven smells like.  

There is one smell, that sets me on my toes, has me close my eyes and have the flash backs start again. Of summer nights in the rain, watching the stormy skies, counting stars, chasing the milky way, of hugs and excited laughs, of sorrow and friendship, of the one boy that I owe so many stolen summer nights to.

This one smell leaves me begging for more, for another hug, for another night, for a chance to keep it. I live on the smell, mixed with his cologne and his own tantalizing smell. Others wear what he wears, but only he can make it his. It is as common as snow in winter and yet I keep chasing it, forever out of my reach.

The most beautiful part of this scent, is that everyone has this scent on their mind right now, whether it is vanilla coffee, fresh fall leaves, snow that fell during the night, the crackle of bonfires, everyone chases it until the end of their days. And the cause of the scent sometimes don't even know that their existence make ourselves so happy. I can just barely remember it now, but the moment that I see him I will be over powered by his scent to the point that again I will swoon... ♥

S.O. [11]

"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty." ~ Sir Winston Churchill

Everyone knows somebody who is a pessimist. They are constantly complaining about this or that, and who did this and who did that and mentioning everything but what is important at that point in time. Occasionally this type of person would get us down, if they were to comment on an action we had recently done or explain their dislike of the outfit that you are wearing. Pessimist! Imagine an opportunity includes, a group of you are able to go to a concert. Everything is set, the rides, tickets, refreshments, money for pictures, cameras etc. Then Pessimist Penny starts talking. She talks about the trip and how long it would take to get there and how she despises long car rides. When its time to pay for the ticket she moans and groans about how much the (discounted) ticket costs. And on and on and on. Before long when ever Pessimistic Penny shows up, the group wants to shove out. If allowed she could ruin every wonderful opportunity you and your friends could have.

But then there is Optimistic Ollie, who sees the brighter side of life. She believes, if the door is shut, bolted and supported from behind, there will be a way to get through that door. Gosh darn it, she will find a way. And maybe that way will be going through the window three feet off the ground and going back through the door the other way, but she will get through that door no matter what it takes. After the ordeal she will wipe the dirt off her brow and go, "I'm glad I finally got through that door, either wise no one else would have been able to!"

Everyone knows a Pessimistic Penny or a Optimistic Ollie, but what we need to do is balance ourselves between being pessimistic and optimistic. When we balance ourselves more opportunities than ever will appear and a better persona of yourself will be available to your friends and family. 

 

S.O. [10]

"The sun may always rise with the new morning, yet none of it makes sense until you explain it to me with your eyes."

As you may know, I am not in a relationship right now, with one of the opposite sex mind you, and commenting on this may bite me in the buttocks later on. However I'm going about this in a few different ways.

First of all, have you ever played the trust game? When you close your eyes trusting that the person behind you will catch you? How about when someone is describing something to you, and you try to get a general idea of what the article the person is describing? Gogh once received a letter from a friend that described a rhinoceros. Gogh tried to draw the rhinoceros, however his design did not look anything like what the friend had first described. At least, so was the rumor that my art teacher once told me.
Have you ever asked someone to describe beauty? Or something as beautiful as a sunrise? The sun does rise every day, but with a different sunrise every morning. How could one star so close to us provide us with so many spectacular phenomenons? However, if you were blind, or could not see as far as the sunset on the horizon, how would you ask someone to describe it to you? Colors would become meaningless, and shapes, well everyone has seen a circle on a line. How could you describe the richness of the colors, the palate of colors that God has created across the heavens, the deep silent diminishing rising of the clouds and the twinkling of the late night stars that lightly pepper across the skies? Would there be an explanation? Are you thinking of a sunrise that you had seen once, perhaps when riding the bus and you were caught by surprise in the early hours. Or if you were driving home late one night from a concert and you reached the time of sunrises and stopped the car to revel in the beauty. Could you describe the sunrise that you saw to me? Would you be able to write it on paper, whisper it into your lovers ear, or even remember it years from now?

Another way to look at this is considering how sunrises make us feel. It brings on a new day, light warms the world and all has another chance to breathe. The monsters retreat in the darkness of the shadows, the flowers open and there is a fresh scent, as if the world began anew again in such a short time as a sunrise. I understand it all, as I have seen many sunrises, both with the true horizons at 4 a.m. as the sun peaked over the edge of the great ocean, in the arms of a lover, and waiting for the bus with friends. If I did have a lover though, who wished to describe the beauty of the sunrise to me, before I turned to dust, I would love to hear his voice. During sunrises though, you don't need a voice, all you need is silence and understanding.

Beauty cannot be duplicated, it cannot be surpassed or completely destroyed for its beauty will live on, become more beautiful and capture the hearts of many. Perhaps this is why God provides us with such a event every morning of our lives. He wants to share beauty with the world. Bring me a man who understands this, and I would like to share a sunrise with him.

S.O. [9]

"Some people dance. Not in the way you or me see, but in the lives they lead, and who they dance with will change their lives forever." -Anon.

Every day we dance, whether we realize it or not. We dance around the kitchen making breakfast, shuffling around looking for the coffee pot, the clean cup, snag the undercooked breakfast, etc.
We boogie into the warm shower, slip across the wet floor and have a foxtrot with the dry towels. You are dancing.
When we step outside of our boundries then we encounter more things to dance with, the busy traffic, the pedestrians on the sidewalks, avoiding the many tourist traps and more. You are dancing.
We find our friends and dance around giving hugs, throwing kisses and pulling out chairs to have lunch. Lunch is over and we stand up and dance for hugs, kisses and flirty looks to the cute waiters. Again we are dancing.
You get the drift.
Sometimes we meet new people, and we many at first try to dance around them to see who they really are. We don't want to dive in and dance a closer dance without first having a dance routine. First bow to your partner and eye them up and down, pershaps they will be a good dance partner, perhaps not. We keep dancing with them closer and closer, then finally the end of the night comes and either we continue dancing as the lights go up or somebody leaves, fast.
Some people you want to dance with for the longest time as possible, others you wish you were dancing only the square dance, where you see your partner only when its time to switch.
Other times you wish that you could dance to the same tune for the longest time as possible, or perhaps you wish to change the soundtrack and switch to another dance routine.
I don't mind how you dance, sometimes you dance to my soundtrack and to my steps, sometimes you dance to a different tune and with another woman. I don't mind at all. I'll lead, you lead, somebody else will lead. That is how I like to dance, and occasionally it matches up with the tunes of the world.

S.O. [8]

"People may not give in to lust, yet it is inescapable."

Lust, often associated with sex, if you consider that to be an exciting activity. I disagree with this one. Completely.

So say that (ladies) you happen to see a really annoyingly handsome man down by the beach. Long shorts, brown tan gorgeous blue eyes and pool water dripping off of him like sun rays off of a sun god. *Sigh* I saw him today actually. Tehe, lets call him Jake. So Jake. All I would love to see of him is his perfectly chisled body just coming out of that pool every morning, noon and night. Thats all. Lust? Nah. Want the hotness in my pool everyday? Yes!

I have not given into to lust. I just kinda gave into the want. The want of his sexy body in my pool. But I'll live with the memory hehe. So for me, its escapable, I've got his memory, but I don't need the lust.

I've been surviving without the lust for a few years, and I imagine I'll go for a few more. Except for the fact that I really want those red and white pumps... now those I'm lusting after... *wink*

S.O. [7]

'You can't save the world, but maybe you can save the person who means the world to you.'

There is always someone on your mind, whether it is your parent, sibling, significant other or best friend. Or perhaps the person who you know is not in the best situation. There is always someone on your mind.

But are you on someone elses? We always wonder who is thinking of us, our crush (the boy next door) or even your mothers. We never know and we may never know. Someday we may, but right now we don't.

For the time being though, can you think of how many times you've given you're all for someone that you really care about? There are people who would risk thier lives, run into fires offer thier own healty lungs. Someone out there would give the world for you to survive.

Think of it this way, how many heroes are there in the world? That actually fly and save hundreds of people a year? Besides firemen, doctors, policemen and lifegaurds, I'm not sure who does. I have met a few heroes, they live in my town. I appreciate all they have done for the community and in turn I hope to give a little back. None of these people can save the world but they do save people. Maybe not people they particularly like but they do save these people. These people are heroes.

Can you be a heroe to someone? Can you help the one person that means the world to you? Together we all can form together to be a hero to the world, but we can't be heroes individually to the world. Perhaps there are individuals who can become heroes, every day heroes, like those who rescue the cat from the high trees or someone who travels six lanes of traffic to give you a tank of gas. Let's unite to save the world, but still be the person who goes home and saves the person that truly means the world to you.

Give a smile too, they're free and easy to give out. You never know, it may actually makes somebodys world of a day.

Sound Off [6]

'Every few years you'll look back and realize you never planned that far ahead back then.' -Anon.

It's true, we don't really know what is happening in a few years, or within a few moments. We may have the day planned without any room to spare and suddenly we have a flat tire and no way to move for a few hours.
As children we don't know what the future holds, except for the lollipop that lives in the drawer that we can't have.
As teenagers we want to be out of the house, and don't think of the problems that may ensue from living on our own turf. When we get there we realize how hard it is to hold down our own homes, with the mortgages, extra payments and the gas bills.
Before life used to be simple, boys were boys and didn't have cooties, then had cooties, then have cooties all over again. Love was just written on the Valentines Day cards, not just that stupid thing that makes our hearts break and bleed when we think of somebody, sort of but not always special.
Suddenly life may become complicated, but everything makes us stronger, no matter how we look at it. We wish that certain things may have gone a certain way but in the end it all works out, which we do appreciate.
Once in a while we find ourselves in the middle of huge decisions that we have to make, but we never do consider how much it would impact our lives in the long run. We never do think of that, that far ahead.
Some other advice that we hear of when considering who we want to date is what we should think of what the relationship may look like in a few years. Men sometimes want to meet the mothers of their new dates to see what their wives may look like in a few years. As women we may look at the annoying habits of our dates and think of how long we can stand the traits, a few days? A few years? Do it again and it's over?
In a few years I may look back and think, why did I do that? Who did I know that put me in the position that I'm in now? Looking back now I can see who I knew and who I'm still friends with and I know these relationships is what put me in the place I am now currently in.

We never do plan far enough ahead. Sometimes we just have to pack a little extra and hope that everything will end on a happy note.

Sound Off [5]

'You were the best mistake I've made.' -Anon.

Often people talk about how they were happy that dated certain people, and were happier that they went through that relationship. I can say the same thing myself, I have found myself out of relationships that I was happy that I was involved with. Could say that most of them were with boys, as you may have discovered already, but a few relationships have been with girls.

There are a few girls that I have known that I learned a few lessons from. One of which was not to trust the first guy that I met, not to get pregnant and have a child and to figure out what I'm doing in life or else I'll end up on the fast track to loserville.

Of the first 'best friend' I had, a relationship that lasted almost to middle school, I learned a number of things from her. She was an intersting character, Justine was. I learned from her that if I wasn't old enough to understand what was going on, then I probably wasn't old enough to worry about it. For instance, she wanted to watch Sleepy Hollow, but I had to call home first to see if I could watch it. Well, as it turns out I couldn't because I wasn't 13 yet. The only reason why she could was because she had an older brother. Quite frankly, when I finally did watch the film seven years later, I was still pretty scared that something was going to bite me. She was more exposed to different things because she had an older brother, and since I had a younger brother I took care to be careful of what I watched. As years passed our lives become more and more seperated and I found myself looking at her in a different light. Gone was the years where we found amusement in catching bugs to feed to the chickens, gone were the years where we told ghost stories about different characters we found in schools, gone were the years of innocent play. She grew up, too fast for my liking, and when I confronted her about her latest behavior, she turned against me. I don't blame her, she must have looked at me and seen a small girl who still found amusement in the Disney movies and in chasing lightning bugs across the yard. I'll cherish the memories, though few there were, but as for calling her a friend again, I don't know if I will.

Another girl, Cora, showed me a few things. She showed me that its okay to be crazy, but not so crazy that you push everyone away and not care. She showed me how it was okay to write, but the more you dissagreed, the less you were liked. It wasn't about having your own style, it was more about having your own style that others appreciate. The best form of flattery is imitation, is it not? And the more drama you created around yourself, the less people wished to hear about it. The less drama that you created around yourself then the more friends you are likely to have appreciate hearing your voice. She also taught me to wait for the man that makes your life better, not wait for the man that promises you a ring then does not keep his word.

Another girl, Dora, gave me an inspiration. It wasn't just about who saw your hair, its how you wore your hair. She dyed it a few colors, and she was admired for her bravery. She though, has a man that takes care of her, which is another trait that I admire in her. Of course, the silly girl, moved away and won't respond to my messages so she can hear about how proud I am of her for being a good mother.

These are just a few of the girls that were a part of my past, I'm not sure if I will see any of them again, but I'm glad that they stumbled into my life, for how else would I have learned these wonderful lessons?

Sound Off [4]

'Life is too short not to take that one in a million chance.'

This hits a couple of points in my current situation. I had a boy friend who made a few decisions. One of them was let me walk away. Another one was let his girl friend let him walk all over him. But he wrote to me a few days ago and told me that he didn't know if he made the right decisions, time would tell. And he's right. Time would tell, but time doesn't wait for you, it just keeps ticking on.

Last night I went out with my friends brother, just to catch up for the night, and he said something similar. How do we know that we made the right choices? Will we ever find out?

Life is short, we are only here on average fifty years. That is half a century! Half a century of making choices and living with the decisions. And every single chance may never arrive again. There is only one chance to make that perfect kiss, one chance to jump into the summer lake, one chance to make the right choice.

The question that everyone individually must answer is, how do we know if it is the one and only choice we have?

I had a one in a million shot, and I missed it. He left and seems happier, I didn't turn around. I had another chance one that I would regret or tell the story for the rest of my life, I decided to keep telling the story. I can either dance in the pure rain or wait until I'm old and can't because there is too much acid. I can either find my own shoes and dance and let everyone see me or hide without showing off my talent. I'd rather be the person that every girl can look up and hear the heroic stories from than be a washed up bean bag with no stories and no life.

I'm taking my chances and I'll run with that decision.

Sound Off [3]

'Sanity is acting just as insane as everyone else.'
 
I'm not sure who wrote this, but I have a similar saying. If everyone was normal, then there would be a few abnormal people (Cue in Igor when he goes "ABBY NORMAL!!!") BUT, there is a but, what if none of us are normal? What if everyone of us in this world is just as insane as the person next to him? Then wouldn't everyone be sane if everyone was insane? Hence, wouldn't everyone be normal if everyone was abnormal? Then no one would be excluded, left out and inadvertently not have a group to belong in. "It takes all kinds of people to make the world go 'round." NOT TRUE. It takes Everyone to make the world go around. If you look outside your window you can see a few things. There are trees, bushes, birds, bugs; all kinds of flora and fauna.  Each life force has is way in life and together they create nature. Nature. Isn't it human nature to get along? We are all human on the inside! We all come from some kind of life force! Some thing drives us along this road of life!
Each tree has been given a different name, and functions slightly differently than the one standing gracefully next to it. Bring this back to the human race, each person is slightly different than the person standing next to her or him. With out these differences we would all not exist. Even robots have different purposes. Each robot or electronic device in your home does a different chore, one washes dishes, another serves a clock and another you are reading this article off of right now.
In conclusion, please stop looking at someone else as being insane, you both are insane, and therefore, both of you are sane human beings.