I keep meaning to explain this to you in a very conversational way, but somehow there never seems to be enough time to be able to really just "talk" to you. So, in an effort to make better use of "time," I have relied on the wonders of Wikipedia to be able to explain the 7-point Creed, which is the integral foundation of this week's blog question.
Without furter ado--
John Wooden's Seven Point Creed,[1] given to him by his father Joshua upon his graduation from grammar school:
* Be true to yourself.
* Make each day your masterpiece.
* Help others.
* Drink deeply from good books, especially the Bible.
* Make friendship a fine art.
* Build a shelter against a rainy day.
* Pray for guidance and give thanks for your blessings every day.
If you don't know who John Wooden is, look him up--his story is quite remarkable. As a coach, I deeply admire him and the things he has accomplished. As a human being, he is amazing in every sense of the word and one of the few people I can honestly say I aspire to emulate. As you know, I don't say that about very many people.
In any case, your task for this week is to come up with your own 7-Point Creed and share it here. I know that I am asking a lot of you. I know that this is not something you can do in two days. And this is why I am extending the deadline until Sunday night. You will really need to put a lot of thought into this. Ask yourself these questions to help you along:
What do I value?
What are my morals?
How do I want to be perceived by others?
What do I want my legacy to be?
What have I learned in my life?
What else do I want to learn?
Now, I certainly don't want you to answer those questions and consider that to be your creed. Remember, a creed is a sort of guideline for living, but it is also completely subjective. Look at Wooden's creed again. The statements there are kind of ambiguous and can be open to interpretation, don't you think? So, when you are doing this, try to keep that in mind. However, it is precisely BECAUSE the statements are ambiguous that you will have to explain what you mean by them, what they mean to you and why you chose them. Always the why.
What you are basically doing is creating a blueprint by which you can live your life. YOUR life. Nobody else's.
After all, who is more important than you?
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ReplyDeleteI have to admit this blog was harder than expected. But after much deliberation, I think I’ve managed to come up with a 7-point creed that I can actually live by. It is as follows:
ReplyDelete1. Speak your mind.
2. Your happiness comes first.
3. Set goals, then go above and beyond them
4. Learn from every experience.
5. Never give up on yourself.
6. Find the beauty in others and life.
7. Get over it.
Most of the points in my creed don’t add up to the way I live my life now. However, as of today I think I’m going to change my lifestyle to fit it.
My first creed is perhaps the one that gets me through my days. In a previous blog, I said that something I value is candidness. My first point is alluding to that value. Often times I’m scolded for my comments, but it’s extremely hard for me not to speak my mind. Most of the time my comments are irrational, and don’t make sense, but I feel the need to make them known. Same goes for my opinions. No matter what happens to me, I never want to censor myself or hide my opinions. Thus, I think it is perhaps the most important point on my creed.
My second creed has to do with the recent epiphany I had freshman year. For years I tried to make others happy, while I neglected my own happiness. Needless to say, my emotions were all over the place. I was always angry or sad. As a result, I’ve decided that one of my creeds should include my happiness. Don’t get me wrong, I’m going to continue to attempt to make others happy, but in the long run I’m going to make choices and decisions based off of what is best for me.
Often times we set goals, and barely reach them. My third creed is something I try to do for myself now. In other words, I’m going to edit the quote “Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars.” I am going to shoot for the moon, but I won’t miss. Instead, I’ll land in the Andromeda galaxy which is approximately 2.5 million light years away from earth. What I’m trying to say is, when I want to accomplish something, I’m just not going to do what’s necessary to get by. I’m going to far exceed my expectations as well as others, in hopes that I will be more satisfied in the end.
ReplyDeleteMy fourth creed is kind of cliché. It’s similar to the one that talks about learning from your mistakes. However, I think it’s an important attribute when trying to aim for a jovial lifestyle. I often find myself trying to erase experiences that I didn’t like. I’ve realized however, that these experiences, whether they are happy or sad, have made me the person I am today. Without them, I wouldn’t have acquired half my knowledge about the world. As a result, I think it’s important to look at every event that happens in your life as a lesson in school. For as long as I live, I will try my hardest to always desire to learn something
I don’t really give myself positive reinforcement. When I mess something up, I constantly abuse myself mentally for perhaps the next week and a half. To be honest, it’s not very healthy. I don’t know how many times I’ve told myself I’m stupid, and I should give up because there’s no point in trying anymore. What doesn’t help is the fact that sometimes there is someone constantly saying the same things in my ear. Just in a nicer way. As a result, I think having this creed on my list will serve as a confidence booster for me. If I give up on myself, or listen to people’s negative comments about me, I won’t be able to achieve my goals. And, well, I want to achieve all my goals. (See point #3) Thus, I think it’s important that I have one creed that speaks to the fact that you must have faith in yourself.
My sixth creed is probably going to be the most difficult for me. During the duration of my relationships with people, I often find myself picking out their flaws. Though Olivia thinks this a good thing because she believes you will always turn out on top, I don’t think it’s very…nice. If someone always told me my flaws, I would get irritated pretty quickly. Though I don’t walk up to people and whip out a list of their flaws, I don’t think I should waste my time finding what other people do wrong. I’m always looking for the worst in people. I do this because I’ve met people in my life that have meant so much to me, until I realized their actual personalities. For a while I was taken aback. How could I not have realized that they had been such insufferable jerks? As a result, I came to the notion that everyone and the whole entire world is an evil and trying to ruin my life. I rationalized with myself that it was okay to find people’s bad faults, just to protect my emotions. In reality however, this is probably the dumbest thought I’ve ever had. Thus, I think it’s important to find the beauty in others, as well as life. You only live for so long and I don’t want to spend my life running away from people in fear that they’ll do something bad. I’m going to try and find the beauty in people and bring the best out of them. If everyone found the good in others maybe one day we could all hold hands and sing Kumbaya around a campfire.
ReplyDeleteMy last creed seems kind of cold-hearted compared to the other 6, not to mention ambiguous. When I say ‘it’ I mean pretty much everything. When something bad happens in my life, I think it’s better to not wallow in my grief or anger. Think how much more peaceful this world would be if people didn’t hold grudges or didn’t want revenge. This creed applies particularly to high school but can be applied to life later on. The drama in high school is ridiculous. Especially girl drama. I’m sorry that your best friend stole your boyfriend, but that doesn’t mean that you should bitch and moan whatever chance you get, and try to make your ex-best friend’s life a living hell. To be honest, your boyfriend was probably a pig, and your ex-best friend wasn’t really your friend in the beginning. In other words, you should just get over it. In addition, I hate when others live in their past. I notice a lot of adults do this and it bothers me to no end. I try to live by the idea that everything happens for a reason, and you can’t change what happened in the past. What I’m trying to say is: shit happens. That’s that. No second tries. No re-dos. No make-ups. No rain checks. It’s a done deal. Sitting on your butt all day, and letting your emotions get the best of you is not the way to handle things. Getting over it will probably result in less stress, and I’m sure your mental health will be better too.
In the end, I’ve never thought about how I want to live my life, but with these guidelines, I’m sure it will make growing up not so hard after all.
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ReplyDeleteWell i just erased everything I wrote and didn't save the document. So first I would like to answer three questions I have not already answered. To do so, I have to take a few steps back into my childhood and recall what I have done.
ReplyDeleteAfter watching The Sandlot for the very first time, I realized I wanted nothing more than to leave a truly great legacy. The moment I heard "heros never die, but legends last forever" come out of Babe Ruth's mouth, I realized I wanted nothing more than to be remembered forever. However, it wasn't until recently that I realized what i wanted to be remembered for. I now know I want nothing more than to be a professional musician. I put so much hard work and dedication into every verse I write. Every word is thought out thoroughly and chosen very carefully. (If you are in period 12, then you understand what I'm talking about because of my OP, if not....http://www.facebook.com/pages/Bobby-Kelly/276956722324651). I never want to be remembered as the guy that was "alright" I want to be the best.
The second question asks what I have learned in my life. Being that my life hasn't had much in it, I don't have much to speak upon. However, I conveniently had an experience that made me think of many past experiences about an hour ago. I lied to my mom to hide something that made me uncomfortable around her, and got grounded for lying. As much as this seems so trivial and so unimportant, it goes back to many more things that I have done in my life. I have lied countless times, and have gotten caught almost every time. I have come to the conclusion that lying is not the answer to any mistake you make. You have to live and learn from mistakes, and take the consequence given. It will only be ten times worse if you lie about it.
The other thing tonights experiences made me think of was that everything happens for a reason. No matter what happens in your life, every second has a different reaction that comes with it. Some greater force is pushing us along and every single thing you do happens so something else will come out of it. So always remember that no matter how much things seem to suck at the moment, everything you do and everything that happens to you is done for a purpose. You may never realize what that purpose is, but it has one, and you have to accept it.
To answer the third question, I have to step out of my childhood and my present life and look into my future. I want to learn many things in life. I want everything to be very clear in front of my face as to how to get my future goals accomplished. I want a road map in front of my eyes, pointing me in the right direction, showing me where to go. However, being that this is impossible, I have to ask myself what do I want to learn that is possible to learn? I want to learn from every mistake I make. I want to stop moving on from every mistake I make as if it never happend. As I said before, everything happens for a reason, but if you ignore that reason, you will end up going in the wrong direction.
Now for my 7 point creed.
I have put a lot of time and effort into thinking about my 7 point creed. I have though of where I am verses where I want to be. I have thought about my future and my past, my mistakes and my accomplishments, my fails and my victories. I have thought about my relationships, my friends, my family, and my associations. I have thought of all my distractions and all of my socializations. I have thought of my teachers and my grades, my goals and where I want to be with my grades. Mostly, I have looked several times at Wooden's creed. After all of this hard thought, I have finally come up with a creed that I am proud of. So here it goes.
ReplyDelete1. Live every day as if it were your last.
2. Don't cover up mistakes with more mistakes.
3. Make your own footprints, don't step in someone else's.
4. Happiness is the most important thing.
5. Elder's know best, so treat them with the respect they deserve.
6. Treat everyone well, but treat yourself better.
7. Success can only be measured by what you wish to achieve.
Life is good don't let it all go to waste. I hope to abide by these guidelines because in the end, it's the decisions I make now that will change my life forever. You have to live life to it's fullest because before you know it, some greater force is taking over your life while you look back and say "I wish." I want to say "I'm glad" and that my life was a true success. So not only have I come up with a creed, but I've also come up with a modo by which I would like to end my blog by.
Sometimes what you think is best, is the thing that is truly holding you back.
To Nyamekye: Your sixth point in your creed is pretty much the opposite of what I do. As I go along, I usually find the flaws in myself and try to change them. Of course that is easier said than done (as I have learned in the past four years).
ReplyDelete7-Point Creed (In no particular order):
ReplyDeleteVanity is never a reason for philanthropy.
Breaking someone’s trust is breaking someone’s heart.
Thinking positive activates your prefrontal cortex.
Don’t tamper with fate.
Think clearly even in opaque situations.
Don’t put a curtain around yourself when you want to be on stage.
The past should not be forgotten nor dwelled upon.
From reading those, you’re probably thinking, “What the hell is this guy thinking?” (Luckily, I am able to explain myself.) Those seven aphorisms that I made up are the main ideals I live by daily. At the moment, these seven things represent what matters the most in my life, and, like everything in the world, they are fickle and not set in stone.
My first aphorism displays my scornfulness towards those that give away things to make his or her selves look good in other people’s eyes. These charlatans are weak in my eyes. Hiding yourself behind something you’re not is disgusting and vile, especially if it is deceptive and greedy. I’m not saying Oprah is a bad person, but other people give away stuff with the guise of philanthropy when they just want others to like “them” and what they have. To see someone do this is very disconcerting.
Trustworthiness is probably one of the best attributes I developed. I don’t think I’ve ever told a lie in the past five years (I used to tell lies because I was protecting myself from getting in trouble). I figured out a few years ago that a lie, if strong and sneaky enough, can completely break down the psyche and tear apart emotions. Since I don’t want to feel that way again, I won’t make others feel that way either.
I actually learned that fact through a video game (Brain Age). I think I already knew that when I wanted to do something or I had confidence in what I was doing, I could do it better no matter what. I usually try to think positively in most of the things I do, just so I can get through it and go on to bigger and better things.
Fate is one of those things that you can’t really tell exist, and you can’t prove it is or isn’t real. It is just one of those things that help us rationalize why certain things happen in our lives, without putting blame on something tangible. I try not to mess with it because it isn’t in my power to change it, even if it is unfavorable.
Another one of my good traits is my ability to remain calm in strenuous situations. I don’t know why, but I always seem to keep a rational mind about me, even when others around me are freaking out or breaking down. Maybe it’s my math brain keeping out emotions, but my rationality has made people feel better and helped them contain their senses, which I consider a good thing.
This is pretty much a rendition of “be yourself”. You shouldn’t restrict yourself to what others want you to be, especially if it doesn’t make you happy. Just because someone doesn’t want you to be one way, doesn’t mean you can’t be that way if it is who you really are. It’s pretty cliché, but whatever. I live by it.
Past experiences are what make you who you are, and I believe that you should not try to erase your past, even if it is unfavorable. However, if you get too caught up in what you or others did years before, you become blind to what is happening in the present. The present is definitely more important than the past because it represents what you have become, but the past is what allowed you to form yourself.
Coming up with my creed was very difficult for me because every time I tried to write something down, I ended up with many more than seven points. However, after much deliberation I was finally able to delete the excess to come up with my seven. It was very painful to delete them because I live my life following those guidelines as well, but I decided the ones I have listed are the most important.
ReplyDelete1. Be grateful every day.
2. Speak up and be heard.
3. Dare to dream.
4. Learn to dance in the rain.
5. Find the beauty in everything.
6. Success only comes to those who work.
7. Love as though you have never been hurt.
When coming up with my creed, being grateful came to my mind first. Being grateful is something that, in my life, is a very broad statement. First to be thankful, I remember how freaking great my life is. Yes, I’m a teenage girl – I bitch and complain, but that doesn’t mean there is one minute that goes by when I am not appreciative of everything I have. Every day I know that there is always, always, always going to be someone who has it worse than I do. There are some days where I just want to scream, “WHY ME?!” but deep down I know that I have a wonderful life. Sure, I’m not the prettiest, or the smartest, or the wealthiest, but I have an amazing life. I’m thankful for so many things in my life, including the people who have hurt me. Without them, I wouldn’t be the person I am now. I’m even thankful for some of my mistakes. I know it sounds stupid, but honestly, my mistakes have taught me a lot about the world, myself, and the people around me. So every day I make myself take a few quiet moments to be thankful for the good and the bad, because I know there is someone out there who would kill to have my life. Being thankful isn’t reserved just for every fourth Thursday of November. Secondly, being grateful means being thankful for time. I’m thankful for the time I have to live and the time I get to spend with my loved ones. Something can drastically change everything I know in a matter of seconds. So, until that time comes, I live as if that is all there is left. I live each day to its fullest because I never know when it’s going to change.
Speaking up means not letting moments pass by. Before my freshman year I was one to just let moments slip away. I would keep my mouth shut even if people didn’t understand how I was feeling. I kept everything inside until I completely flipped. I guess you can say that part of me has changed a lot since middle school. Now, I try to speak up as much as I can. Speaking up is not letting time slip away. It’s learning to tell someone how much they mean to me. It’s apologizing when I should. It’s telling someone “I love you.” It’s swallowing my pride. It’s admitting I’m wrong. It’s letting someone know I’m aggravated with them. Speaking up is saying what I should and what I mean at the right time. I still miss out on these “right times” once in a while, but I’m trying to make this a much bigger part of my life and so far, I’ve been doing pretty well with it. I no longer feel the regret of wondering what could have been if I just said what I was feeling. On the other hand, being heard is realizing that my opinion matters. For so long, I thought my opinion wasn’t that important and that other people’s opinion mattered way more than mine, but now I’ve realized that they aren’t any more special. Sure, my opinion might not always match yours, but at least I have one I believe in. My opinions will be heard and no one is going to shut me out anymore.
ReplyDeleteI’m a daydreamer so I guess that’s why “daring to dream” is so important to me. For a while I tried to make everyone else around me happy, which in turn caused my dreams to fall to the side, but not anymore. Now I follow my own heart, not someone else’s. I do things because my heart wants me to, not because someone else tells me I can or cannot. I have big dreams for myself and although some people have laughed in my face or rolled their eyes at me when I told them, I plan on achieving them at some point in my life. Without people daring to dream, where would this world be? We wouldn’t have half of the accomplishments this world has seen. So, I’m not going to stop daring or dreaming, so one day I’ll be able to say I accomplished everything that I wanted to.
For years I’ve tried to live by my fourth point. I’ve had some pretty low points that people don’t even know about, but I’ve always tried to learn to dance in the rain. I’ve learned how to make the best out of what I have. I’ve learned how to get back up when I’m down. For years, my life was about getting up when people would try to push me down, and in the last few months I’ve realized how important getting back up is. There are times when I can’t change what situation I’m in or what people do to me; so I’ve realized how vital it is to make the best of what is thrown my way and get back up, instead of waiting for all of the bad things to be over. I think this point in my creed will continuously help me throughout my life and set a specific attitude for when I’m in bad situations.
I find the beauty in everything I come across. I see the beauty in otherwise ugly animals or landscapes, but most importantly I always try to find the beauty in people. Within the first ten minutes of knowing someone, I try to find a quality I like about them. A person might have three thousand things that are bad about them, but most of the time I try to find their redeeming quality. Even if they have hurt me, I still see their good side most of the time. Always finding the beauty in things and people is something new to me in the last year or so. Before I would give lame attempts at it, but for the most part I was much more cynical and distrusting of people. Now, I’ve learned to see the beauty in everything around me, resulting in a much happier me. Happiness and beauty is there if I look for it. I will always plan on finding it.
ReplyDeleteIf there is one thing that I have learned in my short life is that success only comes to those who work. Everything special and meaningful in life takes work. Whether it is grades, friendships, athletics, or even relationships, it takes hard work to be successful. As I stated earlier, I have a lot of dreams I plan to accomplish by the time I pass, but I’ve realized that each one of them will take a lot of work. Anyone who is happy with where they are today has worked very hard to get there. I love the feeling of success and accomplishment, so I know I will have to continue to work if I want to be happy in life. I know I’m going to have to teach myself. Knowledge and success doesn’t just appear. I have to be responsible for the success I have in life. I’m not going to wake up one day with my dream life in front of me without busting my ass to get there first.
I love to love. Love is the basis behind my entire creed, so it was very vital for me to include this last point because without it, there would be no guideline for my life. I’m a big believer in love and how powerful it is. I love life. I love my friends. I love my family. I love what I do every day. And I want to continue my life this way. I want to love deeply for my entire life. However this isn’t to say that I love everything/everyone that comes into my life, but I do care about most people. Yet there are those rare, special times when I find someone/something new that I love. Love brings me happiness. That’s why the people I hold close are so important to me. And since love just makes me feel so warm and fuzzy, I want to have it in my life for a long time. I don’t ever want there to be a day where I can say I don’t love one person. Without it, I’d be completely miserable. I do everything in my life wholly with my entire heart, and love is no exception.
“And most importantly, keep smiling because life is a beautiful thing and there’s so much to smile about.” – Marilyn Monroe. I’m a sucker for cute, meaningful, inspirational quotes like this one. In fact, they are scattered around the walls of my bedroom. So I guess you could say I like having quotes and guidelines for how I want to live my life. It makes me feel inspired, organized, and somehow more comfortable with where I am. As the years go by, I’m sure I’ll still be a sap for topics such as these and will still be living my life by the same creed I just wrote.
Tom: I especially loved your last point. I’m a big believer in not forgetting your past. There are a lot of things I’ve done that I’m not proud of in my past, but hey, it’s made me who I am. So I can see your point there. Although I agree with your point about not dwelling upon the past, I find it particularly hard sometimes, but I’ve been trying to work on this much more diligently lately. So even though I agree with you on both accounts in your last point, I find it much harder to not dwell upon the past.
ReplyDeleteNyamekye: I like the fact that you noted what things you want to change about your life, like not being so negative about people, and then worked them into your creed. It’s a nice breath of fresh air when someone is able to realize what they want to change about themselves, and then take initiative to do it. Good job and good luck (:
Nyamekye: I love your third creed. People always seem to think they are done with their goals once they reach them and this isn't the case. You're exactly right, you have to go above and beyond what you set for yourself. Your creed is a breathe of fresh air just as Dominique said. People need to realize that goals aren't set so that you can change them into something you KNOW is achievable. You have to set a goal to be something you think is nearly impossible. REACH FOR THE STARS.
ReplyDeleteTom: Your first creed made me think a lot. You are completely correct. People always give just so they can say, "look what I did I'm such a great person :p" but that shouldn't be the reason behind doing anything. Take Costal's class for example. Last year, we were given a goal to be more philanthropic, and I'm sure the only reason people gave was to say they gave for the project, and then gave up as soon as it was over. I'll be honest, I did that, and now that I look your creed, I almost regret it. I'm going to try and live by this creed.
Dom: "I love to love." I love this entire paragraph. I wanted to add something into my creed about love, but couldn't think of what how to word it. You're absolutely right, love is the basis for almost everything in life. Love is what keeps me going most of the time. However, people always seem to think love is just with you and your spouse, or you and your family. It is not at all. Love is what holds all of your relationships together. So yes, you do love your friends, never say you don't because once you lose them, you'll realize how much love is important. (That could work for a creed).
Dominique: I couldn't help noticing the similarities between many of our creeds. We both mentioned things like how you should make yourself happy first, how you should never give up your aspirations and how you should speak what's on your mind. Your last creed, however, makes me kind of sad. I used to love a lot of things. Like a lot. And now I find myself hating everything. It's like I've lost the capacity to love, or I just don't want to feel that emotion anymore. I think it's because, love is so filled with passion, and it makes people do irrational things, and I like to stick to logic. It scares me to think that such an emotion could completely efface my whole logical lifestyle. But, I must say that I am envious of your ability to get that "warm and fuzzy feeling." I know I often make fun of you for being so emotional, but I've always been jealous of the way you can connect with people on a personal level. It's something I haven't figured out to do in the past 16 years, and will probably take me a while to figure out. No matter how hard I try to "connect" with people, I can never do it. What I'm trying to say is that you should never lose your capacity to love. It's a beautiful trait and it makes you who you are.
ReplyDeleteTom: I must say your creed totally blew me away. I wasn't expecting any of that! I like your creed "don't tamper with fate." Many people think fate is stupid and made up, but I can't help thinking that it exists. Your choices ultimately pick your destiny, but something in me tells me that certain things happen for a reason. I think, everything that happens to an individual is perfectly planned out so they can learn from said experience. Your 6th creed is something I touched on too. I think it's because, as teenagers we've had many experiences of trying to fit in. I'm happy though that we've all come to a consensus that you should just be your own person. Awesome job, Tom!
I’ve given a lot of thought to the following seven creeds. I probably changed them about five or ten times before I realized how to go about this. These aren’t seven things I just try to live by, but instead they are seven creeds that I’ve broken one too many times. They are seven creeds that I have learned to live by and that now, through many mistakes, have molded themselves into my life.
ReplyDelete1. At the end of day, make sure your smiling.
I get flashes of Mr. Sera’s class last year when I say this but smiles are contagious. One little smile can make a difference in anyone’s day. Besides smiling for others you must do it for yourself. You must always stay positive in order to truly achieve what you wish. Of course everyone gets into their slumps and I hate the world phases but don’t let that take over your life. Remember all the good you have and everything you’ve been blessed with because I’m sure that will give you a reason to smile.
2. Never psych yourself out.
Don’t bite off more than you can chew and don’t chew less then what you’re capable of. If you psych yourself out you’ll never accomplish anything. You’ll be stuck there soaking in your own pity party getting down yourself. “I’m not smart enough.” “I just don’t have time.” Etc. Personally, I find myself in this all the time and it really does nothing but give me anxiety. Then I have trouble breathing and eating and I become too weak to even go to school. You must remember to breathe, relax, and know you are capable of anything that you set your mind to.
3. Don’t let anyone else take control of your future.
It was either this or don’t let anyone else determine what mood you’re in. I concluded they share the same underlining meaning. You have control of your own future and no one else. Don’t let anyone come in the way of your dreams and aspirations. If you’re feeling good don’t let anyone else take that from you. I let people affect my mood all the time and I’m just learning now how to ignore it because I’d much rather stay happy then worry about someone who doesn’t care enough to see the bad affect they’ve had on me.
4. Don’t let the little things get to you.
So you’re walking in the hallway and someone bumps into you. Do you: A. Curse them out B. Act miserable for the rest of the day telling all your friends of this tragic event OR C. Shrug it off because it’s really just not that serious. If you chose A or B you let the little things bother you. Granted, we all have our days, but really who cares? It was most likely an accident and everyone is always so quick to get pissed off. You’ll never be happy if you’re incessantly getting pissed at things that don’t even matter. Who wants to live like that?
5. Let those who want to, help.
ReplyDeleteIndependence is a great thing, but too much will leave you alone. Some people build this huge cinder block wall around them as if everyone were out to get them. Not everyone wants to hurt you, some people genuinely care and it’s important to let those people in. It’s a lot more fun during the holidays when you’re with the ones you love and you’re accomplishments feel a lot better when you have others to celebrate them with. It’s not healthy to always be alone. It’s good to have the support of others around you.
6. Live with a perfect balance of your mind and heart.
You must always remember what is truly important to you, all your loves and desires. Though it’s important to use logic when making decisions, you must never loose touch with your emotions. That is how you loose yourself. It’s like going for a job you despise because it has good pay. Or like an adult loosing their inner child, it’s sad. Contrary to this your heart may get you into a lot of trouble, that’s with irrational thinking. You walk in on someone who has just murdered your entire family, initial instinct; kill them because that’s what every organ in your body is begging for you to do. However this does nothing but land you both in jail. Less dramatic, it’s like going after you Ex’s brother, which I know way too well. I know it’s wrong because my mind isn’t dumb but yet my heart is pulling me in a different direction. This is why you must live with a perfect balance between your mind and heart or you’ll get caught up with a dangerous overload of simply one or the other.
7. Sing in the shower, who cares whose listening.
Scream, shout, act a fool in front of everyone around. We’ve done so many blogs and had so many conversations about caring what others think and needing to belong, but really who cares? It doesn’t matter what they’re whispering next to you or saying when you walk out the room as long as you’re having fun. As long as you’re happy and you’re satisfied with where you are, what you’ve accomplished it doesn’t matter what everyone else thinks or says. You come first, your happiness. Take care of that and let everything else fall in place. I feel like I just had a resolution of some sort when thinking of this last creed. I’ve been worried so much about pleasing everyone and I forgot about my personal happiness, thanks Bunje you just helped me remember.
DOMINIQUE:
ReplyDelete“Love as though you have never been hurt” This beautiful. I read it and agreed with every word. You know how much of a romantic I am and I think everyone needs love in their life. Those who don’t have it are missing out, and those who give it up after having being hurt are simply dumb. Love is the GREASTEST thing on earth; I too love to love.
MIMI:
“Set goals, then go above and beyond them.” This makes me think of all those pretty little stars above our heads in room 204. I love the idea of striving past our set goals. To me this is our only way of actually achieving success. Your explanation for this creed made me laugh; I think I’m going for the moon as well.
BOBBY:
“Treat everyone well, but treat yourself better.” This is an important creed to live by. No one else matters more then yourself. Too many people put others first or forget that they are living for themselves not others, whether that be their piers or more commonly their parents.
Kendy: "Let those who want to, help." I love this point. I'm extremely uptight and super-independent. I never want anyone's help or advice. I am guilty of "building this huge cinder block wall around them as if everyone were out to get them." The way you said it makes me realize that I need to relax, and stop being so uptight, afraid and serious. I've realized it's okay to let go and just have fun. Also, I like how you made your creed based on the things that you've broken. I admire how you're trying to work on the things you know you struggle with. :)
ReplyDeleteKendall: Your entire creed made me smile. I like everything that you had to say. I had most of yours on my original creed before I had to cut it down to seven points. However, one I didn't have was about letting others help out. Most of the time I try to let people help me, but sometimes I just turn people away because I want to do something myself, which makes me end up overwhelmed and frustrated. So overall I love your creed and appreciate and admire the fact that you based your creed off of things you've broken in the past. I did that with some of my creed as well. (:
ReplyDeleteLet this be known as “The Ginger Creed:”
ReplyDelete1.Always smile.
2.Never stop at the first “no.”
3.Find not only your’s, but others’ way to the top.
4.Build homes in the hearts of others.
5.Let your name be seen in light.
6.Keep running when the sand runs out.
7.Make art a fine friendship.
Okay, so let me just point out that each of these points can be tied together with any other point on my creed. Not one of these are meant to occur on its own, mainly because life itself is not linear and therefore events cannot occur with only one or two variables. With that being said...
1. Always smile.
This is by far THE most important part of my creed, it is also the most ambiguous. To me, a smile is the most powerful thing in all of the universe. A smile can cheer up another person, confirm an agreement, and is the most important part of meeting new people. Most importantly, a smile shows confidence. If I’m going to enter the harsh world soon, then I want to show everyone that I’m confident.
2. Never stop at the first “no.”
Okay, this one comes from my second favorite trait, persistence. If you allow someone to tell you no, then you are letting other people live your life for you. Now, I specify the first “no” because there are times in which everyone is wrong. If at any point I were to realize that I was in the wrong through my own thought process, then it would only be wise to back down to keep the dignity that I still have. I find that persistence is a key trait someone needs to be successful in the world though, so never back down from an argument that you know you are right about.
3. Find no only your’s, but others’ way to the top.
ReplyDeleteThis point is double sided. On one hand it reminds myself to help others. Why help others? Well, “happiness is only real when shared.” If I find myself successful one day, I’d hope that I’d have other friends that I met along the way who are also successful, if not then I’ve only stepped on people to my way to the top. The second prong on this spear is that to find your own way to the top, you need to be able to see how others make it to the top.
4. Build homes in the hearts of others.
This piece also speaks to the fact that a home isn’t complete with just the outer walls, but is only finished off with the people in it. More importantly, it is not my goal in life to find love. I am not some beast that can only be human if I love and am loved in return. However, it is my goal to find as many people in the world in which I can truly say that I love. Let me define the word “love” before I sound like a douche. Love is when you care for someone enough that you are willing to die to save that person. This shows compassion, which without it nobody can really find happiness. After all, that is the ultimate pursuit to me.
5. Let your name be seen in light.
Picture yourself in thirty or so years, do you want to be known by many or unknown to all? One day I hope that I can say that I have the kind of name that everyone just knows. That may be pompous to most people, but can’t that be a good thing? I don’t want to be a famous actor, but I do want to own an entertainment business, hopefully it will be one that can match and surpass the calibre of Disney. I’d also like to one day have traveled the world and in the process I want to have left a positive mark on people everywhere. Obviously I don’t want to be infamous though, so I decided to use the world “light” to denote a positive scenario.
6. Keep running when the sand runs out.
This part of my creed derives from a Rascal Flatts song, “When the Sand Runs Out.” It pretty much states that until the day that I die, I will not waste a moment of my life. It continues to say that after I die, my influence will remain in the world. By now you probably noticed that I’m concerned with how I influence the world. To me, that is the one way that I can gauge how successful I am. But being happy and experiencing new things is what I enjoy most about life, therefore this has found its way onto my creed.
7. Make art a fine friendship.
Since this is the last part of my creed, I decided that I had to dedicate something to the arts. The arts are the most important part of this earth, without it there is no creativity. I don’t plan on directly going into the arts out of college, but one day I will be back in the arts. I want to be a proud sponsor of the arts in the community and I want to participate in it every moment I get. Thus, art will be my friend. The day I forget about art is the day that I am no longer human, which is probably why I wanted to piece it into my creed. Through art I have learned to love life, I would never want to forget it.
It’s difficult to pinpoint the things that make life beautiful. After all, we are little more than a luckily arranged collection of chemicals. So, we try to squeeze as much pleasure and mirth out of our lives as possible. Over the course of my 6040 days spent walking the Earth; I have discovered a few things that make my life what it is.
ReplyDeleteHere are some things I think are important:
1.Be your own god.
2.Refrain from comparison to others.
3.Let the little things go, and appreciate the little things.
4.Give to each aspiration yourself.
5.Avoid vanity, but always carry an air of confidence.
6.With age comes bitterness, always retain youth.
7.Creating happiness in others will create happiness within you.
These things are important because:
1. Time spent praying is time wasted. While it may sound harsh, this is my creed. Some spend their time on their knees, begging forgiveness from a deity who will never respond. If you want salvation, create it. If you want redemption, redeem yourself with your actions. No minister, priest, or rabbi can absolve you from your immoral actions. Be your own god. Go forth with the sense that you are the master of your own world. There is no greater plan for you, and you are what you make yourself.
2. Comparing your achievements to that of others can never create harmony. You are your own personal competition. While sometimes competitiveness can help you achieve your goals, it can act as a cancer and eat away at your spirit when left to its own vices.
3. This may seem a bit contradictory, because it is a bit contradictory. While there are small nuances and quirks in people that may irk you, you must learn to overlook the negative and see the positive. More importantly, when you are faced with minor obstacles, it is crucial to face them with acumen and put them behind you. On the other hand, there are some instances where the small intricacies of life must be dwelled on. The shifting of the seasons and the progress of wonder are all little things that must be cherished every day.
4. Give your all to every venture you entertain. Those who put in half the effort are those who receive half the result. Regret weighs on people, and when you don’t give your all to a task, you’ll never know what could have come of it.
5. Confidence is one of the most important traits you can carry. A confident person always controls the conversation, and always demands respect from everyone in the room. A good posture, strong voice, and friendly air can all create the atmosphere of a person who knows himself well. However, you must be careful that you do not allow confidence to manifest into vanity. Condescension is dangerous in that it casts others away from you.
6. As we age, we become everything we once hated. We lose the life and youth that used to permeate every pore of our being. It’s a sad part of life, however, it is not necessarily true. Age gracefully and retain as much youthful curiosity and wonder as possible as you progress.
7. The greatest feeling you can attain in life is knowing that you’ve made someone else’s better. Whatever hardships you face, helping others will help you in all situations. The sacrifices you make in the name of philanthropy will always be returned to you in one way or another.
To Mimi:
ReplyDeleteI really think that your creed is great, even though our personalities are extremely different there is still a lot to learn from your creed. I think your 6th point of the creed is the most important part of yours. You may find it to be the hardest, but if you begin to see the good in people you will then begin to see what you want to be. Once that begins to happen, the 6th part will become extremely easy.
To Bobby: I want to focus this comment on your music. We have a common goal in life of wanting to be remembered. I’d just like to say that you lyrics are great! I was listening to them earlier today. My only suggestion with you music is to make sure that the music doesn’t overpower the verses. Oh and may I suggest you writing an OP as a wrap?
To Kendall: I just want to take your creed and use it instead of mine. You did a great job with it. I especially like your 5th point. As AP kids, we tend to not let others help us. That’s definitely the one aspect on our creeds that everyone will forget. Your 7th one said it THE best though, who cares? “Those who care don’t matter and those who matter don’t care.”
To be truthful I don't necessily like the idea of a 7-point creed. I don't like the idea of giving myself guidelines and things to live by and stuff like that.
ReplyDeleteTo humor all of you I will play along and create a 7-point creed of my own. It goes as follows:
1.Not all people will like me, others may even despise me, yet I will take this chance to live:
As we all have discovered before, a lot of people don't like me and I am okay with that. This is my only life and I, unlike others,
would prefer not to waste my life away worrying about what other people think. There are far more important aspects of life than
personal image and concern of others thoughts towards me.
2.I will love those whom I can, and I will strive to understand them more:
In my opinion you never truely know anyone, not even yourself. There will be those people, friends, family, and
others who I will love. I will love what I know about them, but be curious about what I don't know. I have, in the past,
found out things about people that I would never have guessed in a million years. Reguardless of what it was, it didn't change
how I felt about them, and it never will. I like knowing things about people. If you ask anyone in my family they will truthfully tell
you that I am a very nosey person. I just can't help it; I like knowing the truth and finding answers.
3.I am content with what I have and I’m grateful for it all every single day:
Growing up I haven't had much. That being said, I have always been greatful for what I have had. Wheither it was food for dinner
or an iPhone I have always been happy for what I am given. I constantly say "thank you" if I am handed or told something,
even if it's the hardest test that I could possibly be given. There will always be people worse off than I am. There will always be a place worse
then where I am: a place that I can go. It is a great petpeeve of mine when people complain about what they have, or don't have.
I just wan to shake them and tell them to open their eyes, but I know it will be useless. People are greedy, or people aren't greedy.
I happen to be someone who isn't greedy, at least I don't think I am.
4.I forgive myself and I forgive you. Together we live in a peaceful world:
A big problem I have is forgiving people. With stupid typical high-school things, I walked into this year with a clean slate.
I can't hold grudges forever. Nothing can be said or done to change what has happened in the past. Because I know thins,
I gave holding things above people's heads. But certin things I can't seem to let go of. For instance I can't forgive that man for
leaving that bar drunk and killing my cousin. I would like to learn to forgive these people to whom I cannot. I would like to
not want to punch certin people in the face everytime I see them. I don't like drama, and try to stay away from it as much as possible.
Maybe one day I can gladly say that I do not not forgive anyone and I live the most peaceful of lives. I strive to not hate or not
be unforgiving.
5.Everything that I need is either already in me or it is coming to me:
ReplyDeleteI strongly believe in choices. I think that if choices are made the consequences following are deserving. By making choices
you will have what you need. Right now I am using what I need to survive. By choosing to do what ever it is I choose to
do in the future, I will have what I need to survive.
6.Not all days will bring me sunshine, so I will rejoice also for the rain:
Everyone has a downfall. Everyone has a bad day, or a bad expirence. With me there are certin things I lingure on
and shortly forget and move on. I don't give pitty. Grow up. If you live in the negative you will die in the negative.
Take the past, both the good and the bad, and use it to make a better life for yourself and those around you.
I would like to not lingure on things. Some things I do and some things I don't. My life would be more fuffillig
if I could say that I don't drown in the rain, but dance in it instead.
7.No fear shall trample me whatsoever, though some tasks seem to outweigh my strength:
I don't let my fears overcome me. At least most of them I don't. The one fear I have that overcome me though, is my
fear of Santa Clause. For some reason, I can't just let it slide. When I sear him, hear him, hear his name, I freak. I start
to sweat and sometimes turn pink! Other than that life can be fearful. Fears take a toll on some people, and for the most
part they don't take a toll on me. I want to keep it that way. I don't want to die afraid. I don't want to live afraid either.
I have watched fears stop people in their tracks. I have watched people kill themselves over fears. And that bothers me.
At some point or another every person will have to face their fears. It's those that can live through the meeting that are
great. Unfourtunately a fat man in a red suit keeps me from being here. I have been trying to overcome this for quite a while
now, however I still can't look at his picture without wanting to cry!
To Mike G: I think that your creed number 3 is amazing. It seems something that most people wouldn't think of. It's interesting and complicated. It takes a lot of work to make it to the top let alone help someone else to the top. Good for you!
ReplyDeleteTo Kendall: I love your statement about smilling at the end of the day, I think it's your first creed. I smile a lot. Well when I'm not trying to rush through the halls to get to Matlack's on time! Everytime I leave my house I have a smile smeared across my face. When I come home an even bigger smile forms. I think that smiling make lfe easier and worth living!
To Mimi: "Get over it" is the story of my life. I think it's much easier said then dome, however. Stupid break-ups and junk like that: yes get over it! More personal things are harder to get over though. I wish people just wouldn't pitty themselves and ask for pitty from others. That's realllllllly irritating.
Writing a seven point creed was much more difficult than I ever figured it could be. Not because I couldn’t think of seven points, that was the easy part. The hard part was putting all of my thoughts on how to be guided in life into seven little phrases. When I created my list at first, I had about 13 different points with more to come. After the process of elimination and combination, here is the result.
ReplyDelete1. Never stop learning, READ!
2. Better yourself for your own sake, view yourself in the third person.
3. Stay fresh, be spontaneous. Repetition makes you old and average.
4. You’ll never be remembered for the things you didn’t do.
5. Be risky, but differentiate between good risk and bad risk. Regret is painful and incurable.
6. The relationships you attain are worth more than anything in your wallet, be part of a community.
7. Avoid all things restraining and repetitive: Religion, Your Past, Old People, Television, Video Games, Workaholism, Peer Pressure, etc…
People can’t wait to finish school, but I can. Why would you ever want to stop learning? Learning is fresh, fun, and interesting. Only recently has learning become very valuable to me. Learning lets you make sense of the entire world and how it works. Learning doesn’t necessarily equal schooling, which is why I added READ! Reading is the greatest way to access the world and make sense of it. When I finish all my schooling, it won’t be the end. I want to learn for the rest of my life, because not only do I want to be smart for others, I want to be more intelligent for myself.
Don’t go to school to please your parents, and don’t lose weight for your significant other, do it for yourself. People tend to put themselves last behind everyone else. Make yourself first, do things to better yourself. There was a time in my life where I was not bettering myself, and I was being non-constructive. When I realized that you should be impressing yourself, suddenly I was back. The easiest way to better yourself is to take a step back and look. “Look at your self in the mirror” is essentially the same thing as view yourself in the third person. When I actually started to do that, I started to better myself, and it feels great!
Who would like to be average in life? Exactly, no one! If you ever look at the difference between old and young people, it isn’t the amount of wrinkles that makes them different. Young people are fresh and spontaneous, and unfortunately people lose that sense as they start to get older. Take path B in life, do that thing you thought would be crazy, never lose that sense of freshness that comes with life. When you do lose it, you become old and average.
In terms of leaving a legacy, people are hailed for their accomplishments. You will be remembered for all the things you do in life. Never though, will someone be remembered for what they “almost” or “wanted” to do. Just do it! As mentioned in the previous creed, be fresh. Go crazy, do all sorts of things. You’ll better yourself as well as your legacy.
The word risky has two meanings. Meeting up with that guy/girl you met is a good risk. Driving home drunk is a bad risk. Draw the line between where the two meet for you. In the past, I always had a grey area between good risk and bad risk. It doesn’t work, you need a finite line. Once you deferential between the two, you need to be risky (taking the good risks). This corresponds to the past two creeds. Once you pass up on a risk, you’ll find it to be very painful. Since time machines don’t exist, that pain is incurable. Once I realized how painful regret can be, I saw the importance of taking risks.
Rich people tend to die alone. Money is handy, but it’s not worth much in the end. The people you bond with are priceless. The journeys and experiences you have with others will should be the most valuable thing you can obtain. If your more concerned with the strength of your investment portfolio than the strength of the bonds between you and others, you will be awfully upset once you realize where your going.
ReplyDeleteAlong with being fresh and risky, you need to avoid things that inhibit your ability to be more than average. Religion is the shackle of the living, come up with your own belief system, don’t get caught up in that repetitive tangle. Your past can be very restraining, so ignore it. Well, maybe not all of it, your past can also motivate you. So forget the bad, cherish the good. Old people are cranky, repetitive, and ignorant. Stay young, avoid these people trying to be “elders” because while they might know a few things, they know absolutely nothing concerning you. Television might as well be on a loop. Be different, the information coming from your television is not just useless, but time consuming. Same thing for video games, do something meaningful instead. Avoid workaholism, stay fresh and young. Finally, peer pressure. The pressure limits your creativity and affects just about every aspect of who you are. Avoid being a clone.
So there it is, a somewhat in-depth analysis of my seven point creed. Like I said before, fitting everything into seven points was difficult, but I hope I you can still understand my values and morals. I hope you find it a guide to live by.
Two other points I really liked were “Be your own God” and “With age comes bitterness, always retain youth” both by Matt. I explained both in my own creed. The fact that more than one person put them in their creeds evinces their importance. “Time spent praying is time wasted” was very clever.
Kendall said “Never psych yourself out” which I appreciate very much. It has taken me numerous attempts and failures to figure that one out. You will always do your best when you are calm but focused. Wether it is a race or test, this point definitely will help guide you.
“The past should not be forgotten nor dwelled upon”. While it is a slight paradox Tom, it is genius. I mention the past in my points, but your point is much more witty than my own. Knowing what has happened in this past is key, but it should never over analyze the past. Very well said.
After a long time spent on reflecting on pretty much everything important to me, I managed to come up with my personal 7-Point-Creed. In no particular order, here are my seven creeds:
ReplyDelete1. Immerse yourself in thought
Observe everything around you, and let it all into your mind. Allow new ideas into your mind and let your imagination go wild. Epiphany lies in your mind, you just have to find it. I’m always thinking, and I’d like to continue to always think for the rest of my life. It’s cheesy, but my thoughts make me who I am.
2. Look for friendship in all people.
Rather than judge others and show distaste toward everyone, get to know them. There’s no need for hostility. See the best in everyone, and be loving to (almost) all. My friends, even those who I’m not that close with, are all amazing in their own way. I need friendship to survive. So I want to continue to meet and befriend new people.
3. Love yourself.
By this I don’t mean you should be a pompous snob. Just enjoy who you are and be confident in yourself. As a person who use to have extremely low self esteem, I know that the realization of my own importance is crucial. If I want to feel great, I need to know that I’m great. Stop doubting yourself- you are awesome.
4. Do not let others control you.
Avoid having others pressure or force you into doing things you don’t want to do. I want to have my own free will when making decisions. Afterall, this is my life, not anyone else’s. Do what YOU want to do.
5. Enjoy life.
If want happiness... then be happy. Have fun with everything. No moping around, be energetic and optimistic. Don’t get all worked up over stupid things. Be happy in all the things around you, and be happy to be alive. I only have one life, so I might as well make the most out of it by enjoying it.
6. Work hard and don’t stop.
Strive toward your goals. Try your best in pretty much everything. Fight to get to where you want to be. Try and try, and be a perfectionist. Persistence and determination is all I need to accomplish the things I want, so that’s why I want to continue to make my best endeavor in everything.
7. Have consideration for others.
I’ve seen some people who are just plain rude and nasty for no reason, spreading their negative energy onto everyone else. You should treat others well- even if you don’t know them. With one effortless move you could ruin a person’s day. But in the same way, you can easily cheer someone up with simple acts of kindness. Be considerate and altruistic to others, and happiness will follow.
Not only does my 7-point creed reflect how I live my life, but also what I can improve on. Of course, these aren’t the only guidelines on how I live my life, but I managed to narrow it down to a few of the most important.
ReplyDelete1. Dance like no one is watching
2. Give back to others/make a change
3. Be grateful for everything
4. Don’t follow your dreams, chase them
5. Surround yourself with positive energy
6. Kill them with kindness
7. Always remain a kid at heart
Almost every single day I feel like I’m confined to a small space inside my house to do whatever without feeling like I’m being judged. I say whatever I want, sing as loud as I can, and dance however I like. Once I step out that small space, it’s a whole new me. There are many times when I wish I had spoken up, but never did. That leaves many regrets. I realize that I have to step out of my comfort zone and let my voice be heard. And who cares if people don’t agree with me? I can’t please everyone.
Nothing feels better than putting a smile on someone’s face or knowing you made someone’s day. I really like people who not only have the title of artist, musician, actress, actor, but also philanthropist. These people who use their money and power to help the less fortunate truly inspire me. This doesn’t mean that I do charity work a lot and go all out. It can be little things like donating a food to a food bank or donating a toy to a children’s hospital. This sounds completely cliché, but giving back to others and making a difference in peoples’ lives will truly make the world a better place.
I take things for granted more than I probably should. But there are random times when I remind myself that I’m the luckiest person in the world. Some people don’t have anything. No food, water, family, shelter, etc. I have all of that, and MORE. So it’s not completely right for me to get upset whenever my dad doesn’t make something I like for dinner. Be grateful that you have a table full of food. Be grateful that you have an IPod with 5000 of your favorite songs. Be grateful that you have loving parents whose lives revolve around you. Most importantly, be grateful that you’re even alive. It’s not always easy for me to do all of that, but I know some people would kill to have the life that I live.
Some people never expect their lives to turn out the way they did. It’s because they had a big dream and never stopped working towards it. It all depends on the amount of hard work. Some people it may take longer than others. Nothing ever comes easy, whether it’s becoming a doctor, CEO, singer, artist etc. Be passionate in everything you do. Make sure your life is in your own hands and not someone else’s. I’ll never let anything deter me off of my path to success. If my dreams are really worth it, than I’ll never give up.
ReplyDeleteI like to surround myself with all things positive. Positive people and positive thoughts are the way to go! Your surroundings and environment shape who you are and your actions. If I’m hanging around with kids who do drugs and skip class, chances are I do drugs and skip class. That’s why I make sure my friends are people like me. They do well in school and have similar goals as mine. Also thinking positive gives me a peace of mind. If I think negative thoughts all the time, it stresses me out. So I like to have an optimistic view on most things.
Ever meet someone that’s genuinely nice and you never see them get mad? I envy people like that. These are the people that never act on impulse. People that never want to punch someone in the face whenever they’re upset about something. If I hear something negative said about me or someone else, I always try to stay away from it. I never want to sink to their level. It’s best to kill them with kindness. Nothing is more detrimental and disconcerting to a person’s bad intentions, if you’re nice to them.
Everyone has to grow up sooner or later. As you get older, you constantly worry about what others think of you. And there’s also a lot less time to just have fun. Whenever I’m around my younger cousins, I couldn’t be happier. Even though I’m older than them, I quite enjoy playing the games they play and some of the other stuff they do. I’m comfortable when I’m around them because have it really easy. I realize that things don’t have to be as complicated as I make them out to be. It’s best to let the kid inside you take over once in a while.
Kendall: I love your first creed. It made me smile, actually. Smiling really does help brighten up the mood of myself and others. More people need to live life like you- optimism seems hard to find these days.
ReplyDeleteDominique: I adore your last creed, “I love to love.” I don’t really know why, but I just liked it so much. I’d like to live life always loving as well. Also, I really liked that Marylin Monroe quote, I’m definitely going to keep it saved somewhere!
Amanda: I really agree with your first creed. People shouldn’t be so afraid to express themselves. Voicing myself is something I need to work on however. Though, I think everyone dances like an idiot or just acts differently when no one’s around. People in general are afraid of being judged, but fighting this fear is the best thing to do.
•Don’t allow yourself to remain unintelligent. Make yourself learn.
ReplyDeleteI don’t like unmotivated people that much, nor the situation that caused them to be unmotivated. One is something you can’t control, the other is something you can. You have no say over whether you’re dealt the worst cards in the deck, or the best. Some are dealt the best, and they throw them in the trash. Some are dealt the worst, and they win the entire pot with them. Win the pot, no matter what cards you’re dealt.
•Reading won’t kill you. Try to pick up a good book occasionally.
I know this could go under the first one, but I decided against that. I figured that reading could go as its own point, because I really like reading, and it’s totally different from other forms of entertainment. Reading does require a bit more work, but comes with more of a reward. It expands vocabulary and makes you a better writer. It also expands your imagination. Movies are just someone else’s imagination at work, while reading is your imagination filling in all the spaces the author left empty.
•Don’t make the mistakes your parents made, but remember that some of their actions weren’t mistakes.
I know some people with bad parents. Mine aren’t close to as bad, but they’ve made mistakes. I think so, anyways. One day I may look back and think “That was actually a really good idea mom/dad. Sorry for thinking that way about it.” But make yourself a better parent. In turn, you’ll make your kids better than you were. Unless you’ve got a jealousy problem, this should be something you want.
•Unless working from sunrise to sunset is your form of entertainment, allow yourself some free time.
Oh god. This one I’ve figured out in two months. Hopefully I don’t find myself in a future situation where I have this much work, but I think I’m just kidding myself when I say that. Make free time. I wouldn’t remain sane without it. I use it to relax and escape from current problems I have. I don’t have to think about anything during free time, and I like it like that.
•Procrastination is a terrible and ugly thing that has reared its head at me too many times. Don’t become familiar with it.
I’m not a compulsive procrastinator. If something is due on a Monday, I start at 3 on Sunday. And that works. But sometimes I’m just not feeling it, you know? So I leave the work till 9. Or 10. Or maybe 11. And then I hop into bed at 1, wondering what the hell I was thinking. Procrastinating will leave you tired and worn out in the morning, two things which should be solved by that time.
•When angered, think. Don’t say anything you don’t think is sincere, because people will take it as sincere anyways.
Take time and think about what you’re going to say. This is tough, because you can’t really practice without pissing people off. But it can save you from an argument, and possibly a broken relationship. Besides saving yourself from regret and arguments, there’s also a certain pride in doing this. It feels pretty damn good when you realize you had control over yourself in a certain situation.
•Unfortunately, it’s in human nature to judge based on appearance. This makes it your job to beat human nature.
This one is probably the toughest. Sure, you’ll judge someone based on appearance. It’s going to happen. But don’t let that stop you from talking to that person. It could turn out that that person will be a life-long friend. Or someone who can help you later in life. Who knows?
Tom: I like yours. Yeah. That’s not all I have to say though. So don’t start feeling down. Yours feels complex. Very thought out and complex. I don’t even know why. It’s probably because of big words like “vanity”, “prefrontal”, and “with”. And it makes sense. It doesn’t feel cliché, or simple, and even though I feel like the creed should have simple points, it’s not necessarily a rule.
ReplyDeleteMatt: Well, the first is the best. I really like this one, even though it’s one I’ve never really thought about. I’m starting to wonder why I didn’t put anything in my creed concerning faith, but I guess it just didn’t seem that important. Anyways, enough about me. Being the master of your own world is what makes the most sense. Time wasted letting others be your god for you is time you’ll never get back.
George: Like I said to tom, I like how yours feel complex and thought out. And not cliché. That would probably go with the “avoid repetition” points. Ironically, you mention repetition twice in your creed. Are you trolling us George? If so, keep it up. You’re doing a fantastic job. I think I’m doing that one wrong though. I’ve never make the conscious effort to not be repetitive, so I think I’m falling into that trap.
Thomas: I love your creed, especially your last one. It bothers the hell out of me whenever someone brings up a past mistake I’ve made. People should always learn from their mistakes, and then move on. Everything has been said and done already. You’ve done all that you can to mend the mistake and now it’s time to focus on the present.
ReplyDeleteKendall: I really agree with your 4th creed. Some things and people are not worth my time. I’m a pretty sensitive person and I do let little things get to me a lot. But you’re completely right, why would I want to live my life like that?
Michael: I really like your 5th creed. It doesn’t seem pompous to me at all that you want your name to be known to most people. I mean who doesn’t dream of being rich and famous? Anyways, I think it’s important that you mentioned you want to leave a positive mark on people everywhere. No one wants to be left in the dark. Everyone has a purpose in life and should be remembered for something.
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ReplyDeleteAfter much deleting and typing, I finally have come up with what I think to be the perfect 7 Creeds list for me.
ReplyDelete1.Let the sun shine through each day, never a cloud in the sky, so the rain can't fall down
2.Plant seeds in others hearts
3.Take each step with pride
4.Let your imagination be child-like, but know you limits
5.Don't hide things that can't be hid
6.Do what you think is right.
7.Treat your success as a failure, and your failure as success
1.Let the sun shine through each day, never a cloud in the sky, so the rain can't fall down
Letting the sun shine through means to become an optimist. Never let arduous obstacles empower your mind so that you can't make decisive decisions. Have the courage to run through each day with a smile on your face, and see every obstacle as an adventure worth overcoming. Having the life of a pessimist who would let the gray clouds gather over a beautiful sky, is not a life worth living. Every minute of everyday would be taking for granted, every experience a disappointment, so its better to fight through those dreadful feelings by letting the sun shine.
2.Plant seeds in others hearts
Relationships are the key to a persons happiness. With each relationship we form, we instill that happiness in ourselves and the other person in the relationship. It also instill the blue prints on how to open up other relationships with others. If we use this cycle of planting seeds I believe the world can become a better place, were we all connect with each other in some way. Learning to love, accept and build relationships is necessary in this world full with tons of varieties of people. We can helps to influence people in a positive way by implanting seeds.
3.Take each step with pride
Have confidence in yourself. Confidence is key to a high self-esteem. A high self-esteem is parallel to a high self-worth, and a high self-worth leads to happiness about oneself. If we have the confidence to step forward each day, no one will be able to bring us down and the bullets of everyday drama, such as gossip and rumors, will bounce right off us. We will be impervious to the negative effects of people and their choices and thus be able to make our own.
4.Let your imagination be child-like, but know you limits
Do what you want and what you can imagine but know your limits as a human. We are not god, we don't have the power to change every single thing about the world to what we want in the short amount of time we have on earth. However, that doesn't mean we shouldn't still have crazy imaginations. If we dream big we have power to change something negative about the world so that future generations don't have to experience the same thing.
5.Don't hide things that can't be hid.
Hiding who you are and what you want to do is extremely difficult. It takes effort and many facades to make up and maintain the lies that accompany hidings ones true face. However if we can stray from the effort of maintaining those lies we relieve a huge iceberg off our shoulders. We could finally be able to focus on ourselves and our happiness, rather than having the efforts of those lies devour us whole. If we just tell the truth from the start we can experience a powerful emotion, one in which we may have never felt.
6.Do what you think is right.
Let nobody influence the choices you make, if you mess up take it as a chance to learn and be prepared the next time a similar situation arises. But know the choice of picking the wrong choice has consequences attached to them, so always try to determine the right choice ethically and morally to help guarantee a right choice.
7.Treat your success as a failure, and your failure as a success
ReplyDeleteDon't ever stop when you reach your goal. When we reach our goal, we don't strive for anything else. We stop complete function of work and begin to slack off, thinking “since I made it where I want to be, why should I try?” We begin to lose that “hard work” ethic that we are going to need for future goals and if we lose it, its nearly impossible to get back. Reaching a goal is never the actual goal we should try to maintain. We don't learn from our cumulative successes however through the quantity of failures, we accumulate knowledge and growth.
Amanda L: You and me think alike. I didn't think anyone was gonna put something about remaining a kid. I'm always kid-like. I don't know what it is about being a kid but you feel free, free from judgment, free from restraint, free from the world. If we were to look back I'm sure we can find that perhaps being a kid was the best moment of our lives. Especially since we're reaching the end of our high school career we reflect more on those moments, now more than ever.
ReplyDeleteCole S: I like your point about procrastination. When think of my 7 Creed''s I thought mostly of the basic virtues of life when trying to create them but I never thought about something as simple as procrastination. I'm not gonna lie I often procrastinate too, often pulling all nighters in which i feel lethargic in the morning. This is not a good trait to live with. Always procrastinating can actually ruin health and destroy sleep patterns and I know this but i still do it.
Emily D: I try to look for friends in all people however, sometimes I just can't see it happening. Sometimes i feel there's no way I'm going to connect with this person, we share no similar interest, no similar stories on life, no connection, so it's in my best interest to drop the effort and relieve the stress of making that person like me. I agree that it is good to look for friends in everyone, its just not possible though, not in the world we live in.
Some of my points may not make sense to you, but they describe the way I live my life, or at least the way I try to. Without further ado…
ReplyDeleteMy seven-point creed:
1. Expect beauty in unexpected places.
This one is kind of a paradox. After all, once you expect the unexpected, wouldn’t it then be expected? Contradictions aside, what I mean is that the greatest joys in life can’t be predicted. Beauty is hidden like Easter eggs in the monotony of our daily lives. If you keep your head down and your mind closed, you’ll miss out on the marvels that constantly surround us. By beauty I am not just referring to rainbows and butterflies. One of the greatest sources of beauty can be found in the people around us. Have you ever driven past the same lake, or walked by the same tree everyday on your way home, and one day suddenly noticed a spark of something new? People are like that, too. Even if you think you know someone inside and out, even if you’ve known them for years, stay on the lookout for unexpected beauty. I promise, it’s there.
2. Live for the experience, not the outcome.
So many times I have watched my peers writhe in the pain of a heartbreak. Even after the wounds turn to scars and the tears dry up, all they seem to be able to focus on is the ending. With all the pain that endings cause, it is a mystery to me why we only allow ourselves to see the outcome of a situation. All things in life must end. Life must end. But when a person dies, we shouldn’t act as though the joy they once delivered to the world never existed. It’s the same for relationships. In our youth, a relationship is always only seconds away from crumbling to nothing. But for all the tears these endings leave us with, we should never forget the happiness they once caused. This goes for academics as well. I’m hoping that my fellow APers will forgive me for saying this, but there are more important things in life than grades. The purpose of high school is for us to learn. Knowledge comes from experience. Therefore, the greatest way to learn is to try your very best, and experience all that you can along the way. The experience is what matters.
3. Let the voice in your heart be the loudest.
This is my romantic take on much more badass message: don’t listen to anyone but yourself. Maybe this contradicts my other love-people-because-people-are-awesome creeds, but it is absolutely necessary in gaining a sense of inner happiness. Through the deafening cacophony of bad advice and misguidance, you must allow your own voice to come across loud and clear. Choose only the paths that are right for you. In simplest terms, be yourself. There is nothing you will be better at, and certainly nothing that will make you happier than simply being yourself. Don’t listen to your parents. Don’t listen to your friends. Listen to yourself. As much as the people in your life might care about you, they’ll never know exactly what’s best for you, because they’re not you. Sure, you should take their thoughts into consideration, but don’t let them control your life. Be yourself and live the life you were meant to live because you’re the only one who can.
4. Cherish your every flaw.
I cringe every time I hear someone call themselves fat. I shudder when someone says “I’m ugly.” There are literally thousands of aspects of both my physical appearance and my personality that I would change if I could, but wouldn’t we all? No one is perfect, but the people who come closest are those who accept themselves for who they are. The heart of beauty is perception. If you’re always getting down on yourself for your physical and character flaws, stop seeing them as flaws. See them as quirks. See them as freckles on the face of humanity because, like freckles, they make you stand out, and there are people out there who will find them adorable.
5. Respect people—all people, no exceptions.
ReplyDeleteIf I were to order the points in my creed by importance, this would be my number one. There is no human being on this planet who doesn’t deserve to be treated with some level respect. All people, no matter what race, religion, gender, sexuality, background, etc., are equivalent. No one is any greater or less than anyone else. Isn’t it kind of illogical, not to mention unfair, to judge someone for something they have no control over? And when it comes to decisions, people have their reasons, and unless you could step inside their mind, there is no way you could fully understand those reasons. Never assume you know everything about anyone, and never assume that you have the right to judge or condemn them. Treat people right simply because they are people. There needn’t be any other incentive.
6. Strive for the courage to stand up.
Knowing the difference between right and wrong is great, but unapplied knowledge is useless. It’s not enough to know what’s right; sometimes you must do something about it. Be brave enough to stand up for yourself, to stand up for those around you, and to stand up for your beliefs. The older you get, the more people will lose interest in you. They will tiptoe into your life only to dive back out shortly after. Even the people who are always there for you can’t always be there. But don’t fear this isolation. Independence is the mother of courage. Take some initiative and learn to be steady on your own two feet. Be strong in the darkness of misfortune. Bare your teeth in the face of adversity. When someone steps on you, cherish the opportunity to show your strength and get back up. People will always be there to push you down, and you’ll never get back on your feet if you don’t have the courage to stand up.
7. Don’t overreact. Remember the big picture.
One of the mantras I constantly play in my head is “the sun will burn out in 4 billion years, so none of this really matters.” It’s pathetically depressing, but I think it’s important to remind ourselves sometimes how insignificant we are, and how little anything we do makes a difference. It’s humbling. If you think it’s the end of the world that you failed a test or that someone insulted you, just go outside on a clear night and look up. See that vast expanse of brilliant little dots? It’s the universe, and it’s exponentially bigger than you. Don’t ever forget how small your problems are. Even if they mean the world to you at this very moment, one day they’ll just be distant memories. Sometimes it takes a while to put things into perspective, but try your best to see the world from every angle. If bad things are going to happen, they’re going to happen whether or not you complain. So rather than stressing about the small stuff, zoom out and take a look at the bigger picture.
Alright, I'm just going to make a list, and explain why I picked each creed:
ReplyDelete1.) Shred the Gnar
2.) Don't take life so seriously.
3.) Be who you are and no one else.
4.) Love everyone with all you have.
5.) Don't judge others
6.) Do what you love.
7.) Recognize the beauty in life and learn to appreciate it.
1.) Shred the Gnar.
On October 5, 2011, a beautiful soul was taken away. Someone who touched so many lives with his warmth and love and passion for life. Someone who was an amazing brother, and an inspirational human being. His name was Kody. When I attended the funeral, his brother, also one of my best friends, gave the most beautiful and passionate eulogy I’ve ever heard. After listening to him, as well as many others who were close to Kody, I had a whole new take on life. I learned that Kody had a motto that he lived by, a motto I have now come to live by as well, called “Shred the Gnar.” It basically means shred, or surf, the gnarliest and toughest waves. In other words, take on the greatest challenges in life and don’t let anything stop you. No matter how rough the waves, don’t be afraid to ride them. Push as hard you can for everything, anything is possible as long as you have faith in yourself. Never let life beat you down. The only way you can beat it is by living it. I hope that I can live as much as this amazing young man did in his 19 years of life. He is my inspiration and my guiding angel.
2.) Don't take life so seriously.
I think it is extremely important to learn to laugh at yourself. Every cloud has a silver lining, there's no reason for you to go around thinking the worst of everything. Look on the bright side, don't take everything so seriously. It's true, laughter IS the best medicine. So instead of stressing, just laugh it off. And don't be afraid to look like an idiot. Nothing is more important than your happiness, have fun while you still can.
3.) Be who you are and no one else.
Have confidence in who you are. Don't change yourself for ANYONE. You can't be true to others unless you are true to yourself. Embrace the things that make you different.
4.) Love everyone with all you have.
There is good in everyone and everything. All you need is love to bring out that good, in my opinion. So treat everyone with the kindness and respect they, as a human being, deserve. Even if they do no return the favor, you still love them. Open your heart to everyone, and treat everyone as your equal.
5.) Don't judge others.
NEVER hate. Hate is poisonous. It spreads and it kills and it causes nothing but pain. Don't ever judge someone, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle. You don't know who they are, or what they've had to deal with. Don't hate them because they act or look a certain way.
6.) Do what you love.
Life is short. So live while you still can. Do what you love, and nothing else. No one can force you to do something you don't want to do. Stay above the influence, live your own life, and only do what you love to do. What is life without passion?
7.) Recognize the beauty in life and learn to appreciate it.
There is beauty in everything. We live in a extraordinary world, filled with things way beyond our understanding. Everyday, a miracle happens. Learn to appreciate the beautiful things in life. Don't dwell on the evils, what does not kill you only makes you stronger. We are surrounded by so much beauty, and yet we are blind to how blessed we really are.
Live for discovery; live for purpose
ReplyDeleteLife is a wonderful, yet short, experience. It is only right to make the best of every opportunity we are presented with. It is only right to strive to make an impact with the time we are afforded. When we die, we want our life to be a celebration of others; for people to remember the marks we made in their lives. To be forgotten is to have failed in life; we may as well have never existed. To make a significant, positive difference in society is the greatest gift one can ever give. Our lives are measured by the people affected by our actions. Live to make a difference, live to discover something about not only ourselves, but the world, and live for a reason.
Live within one’s own means; avoid indulging in extravagancies
A sure fire way to incite financial trouble into to spend outside one’s means. This is done by either indulging in extravagancies and finer things that one has not rightly earned. This is done by making miscalculations in what one can afford. This is done by making bone-headed life decisions. For example, marrying and having children when not having a well established financial base. The key to success and amounting wealth is to live frugally and make prudent decisions. Then, when one has established a stable foundation of finances, one may marry and have children, and occasionally give way to some indulgences. Of course, nothing outside of one’s realm of finances.
Never be satisfied; strive for greatness in everything one does.
This is adopted from one the few people that inspire me; Bill Belichick. Despite the greatness one may achieve, one should never be satisfied with their work. The sure way to succeed is to never stop pushing for a greater effort. Belichick lives by the creed “When you lose, say little; when you win, say less.” Only focus on the negatives and how to improve upon them, don’t be caught up in the positives. By doing so, one can assure the greatest possible outcomes in everything one does. Of course, no body is perfect. Despite this, it is only right to make the best of our opportunities and give it our all.
Before trusting others, trust in yourself
One cannot succeed without having confidence. Confidence is the key to everything in life. To have confidence is to trust in one’s abilities and never give into doubt. When others doubt your ability, make t a goal to prove them dead wrong. Fight to prove all the naysayers wrong. If the doubts of others are allowed to burrow into your mind, they will plant seeds of uncertainty that are sure to cause one to founder. Believing in oneself will dictate the degree of success one experiences.
Ignorance is repulsive; establish an open and active mind.
ReplyDeleteThe worst thing to be in life is an ignorant and ill-mannered person. One who has radical and repulsive views. One who refuses, in an atrocious manner, to accept others for whom they are. Do not be this person. Avoid being this type of person at all times. It will do nothing but erode any sliver of respect one might have. Instead live to achieve knowledge and awareness of everything. Being knowledgeable in the social and intellectual sense is one of the greatest tools to living life the right way. Avoid laziness of the mind; ignorance in the intellectual sense is just as repulsive. Knowledge is part of the code to loving successfully. Knowledge and openness of mind is a vital to accomplishing any task. Active thinking will push one further down the path of achievement.
Avoid vociferous behavior; instead, adopt patience and humility.
Nobody respects a rambunctious and unruly spectator. If one wishes to assert oneself, do so in a controlling, yet calm manner. People will respect humility and patience. Patience allows one to fully assess a situation, and humility will allow one to compose oneself properly in conversation and debate. So not be pushed around. Allow one’s words and actions to be peacefully and sternly communicated. People will join and coincide with the more properly composed individual. Humility is to avoid pride. Pride is undesirable; allow for patience to control pride and temper unruliness.
Seek something or someone to love.
Or both. Life is not complete until one is able to establish a passion in life. Or a passion for someone else. Happiness will only be obtained when one can find these beautiful and powerful connections. No matter how much success one may achieve; happiness cannot stem solely from accomplishments. Somebody or something to love will complete the quest for happiness. And overall, this is what life is about. Having a purpose and positively affecting others. Success and love are the rewards of living life right.
Rachel: Wow, your post is...inspiring. I found many of your creeds similar to my own, and I especially liked your creed about not overreacting. I've never really thought about it that way, but you're right, it is very humbling. And I also liked your creed about cherishing your every flaw. I think if everyone just stepped back for a moment, and thought about how beautiful they are, they'd realize that all their little "flaws" are what makes them who they are.
ReplyDeleteMatt: I love your creed about how creating happiness in others will create happiness within you. I think if you do everything you can to help those that need it, you won't have to strive for happiness or inner peace, it will already be there.
Michael G.: I love your creed about letting your name be seen in lights. If you don't dream big, you'll have nothing to look forward to in life. If we always reach for the stars, then there's no doubt in my mind that we will eventually catch one.
Mimi:
ReplyDeleteI love your seventh point: get over. It’s totally you—logical, but incredibly snarky. Hahaha. Anyway, people react so dramatically sometimes. No matter how much crap you have in your life, it could always be worse. How dare you complain about girl drama while people all over the world are dying every second? If there’s one thing that makes me lose respect for someone it’s self-pity. If I spoke my mind nearly as often as you do, I would say “get over it” about six dozen times a day.
Amanda:
I love your last point: always remain a kid at heart. I’ve always felt that that worst thing a kid can do is grow up. Growing up means getting bitter. It means seeing the world no longer as a place of wonder and opportunity, but as a place of regret. It’s really difficult to resist this impeding bitterness sometimes, but I think we should all try our best to view the world the way we did when we first saw it.
George:
I was surprised by how much I agree with each of your points, but the third was my favorite. I pity people who let themselves get into slumps and never try anything new. I think we should always make an effort to make each day different from the one before. Life is full of an infinite number of experiences just waiting to happen. So why waste time doing the same thing day after day?
1. One bad apple doesn’t kill the whole tree.
ReplyDelete2. Sorry is meant for misunderstandings.
3. Trying is more important than results.
4. Be grateful like you’ll lose everything if you’re not.
5. Try to see the flip side of every stone.
6. Choose happiness.
7. Change for you.
1. One bad apple doesn’t kill the whole tree: Not to generalize, but people are too quick to group everybody in the “everybody sucks” category. So many of the people around me constantly groan, “I hate people.” Sure, everybody has undesirable traits, but it’s not fair to just decide that there’s no hope for anybody. If we lose hope in people, how can we live? If we don’t think that people can and most often are motivated by good, then how can we not just throw ourselves off cliffs? People are flawed, but as soon as a couple maniacs come along, all of the sudden everybody acts like humans have lost all hope. The world is ending. Our species will never recover. Well, newsflash, all species are flawed. The more specimens of a species, the more flaws you’re going to see manifested. As of October 31st, there were 7 billion people. Obviously, there are going to be a lot of genuinely morally skewed people. Just because a small proportion of people are bad doesn’t mean we’re all goners by a long shot. Trust that people are good and try to be one of those good people.
2. Sorry is meant for misunderstandings: I’m not sure I’ve ever met anybody who completely agrees with me on this, but here goes. I hate the word “sorry.” I hate it. I hate it. I hate it. It’s not because I’m just a grudge-holding and self-righteous person, I just don’t think it’s being true to you. When I say something, no matter how hurtful or awful it is, I mean it. Even if it’s only for that split second that I say it, I mean it. Sure, I’m hotheaded and sure it usually bites me in the butt later. But I’m not the one to say sorry. Maybe I’ll regret how the person reacts or it they misunderstood me, but it’s not fair to me or them to say sorry. I wanted to say it. I wanted to hurt them. I meant it in its entirety when I said it, and if it wasn’t true, I mean to hurt them completely when I said it. Maybe I was wrong in what I said or how I felt. But to say sorry for something I really meant or meant to do, it isn’t fair. Why even accept an apology when you know the person meant it? Of course you should regret what happened, because then you’ll know that next time you should think a little more before you say something, but never regret feeling it. You wanted it at the time, so don’t regret it.
3. Trying is more important than results: My dad always told me, “Just be the best person you can be.” For me, as long as I know I’m trying my hardest, I can be happy even if I don’t get where I want to go. It doesn’t matter if you get there, so long as you try your hardest to get there. I can be satisfied with always trying as hard as I can. I’m one of those people who constantly stress themselves out because when I’m not stressed out my life feels stationary and stagnant. When I feel lazy I feel like a waste of time. Maybe I won’t get to everywhere I want to go in life, but wherever I’ll be, I’ll know that I tried as hard as I could to get there.
4. Be grateful like you’ll lose everything if you’re not: Once several years back, my father went for a run in the rain. It was early in the morning it began to thunder and lightning. My mother woke me up at 6:33 a.m. and told me what was going on. Once she went out driving and came back empty-handed, and twice she went out. I was a wreck thinking I was going to lose my father; I was only about twelve. I can remember through the haze of tears kneeling down on the floor to pray to God. It was possibly the only time I’d ever truly prayed to God, and maybe one of a couple times in my whole life I’d ever even pretended to. But I told him that I would never take anything for granted ever again if he’d bring my father home. Not ten seconds later my mother’s car came down the driveway with my father in tow. I guess this is where this all came from. Other than that, I just feel that we come home and tell stories about all the bad that happened in the day. All the shitty and all the dumb things. But we never notice the home-cooked meal or the soft bed waiting for us. We never notice the, “How was your day?” or the hug from a friend. We tend to take all the little things for granted.
ReplyDelete5. Try to see the flip side of every stone: When somebody does anything, they have a reason for doing it. It may be screwed up and gruesome. Whether or not you agree by this reason, it makes sense to them. No matter how much you disagree, it makes complete sense to the person they are. I feel that it’s important to attempt to understand where people come from. We all have reasons and events that define the person we are and our actions, and when we screw up we’re all the first ones to defend ourselves. You don’t need to pardon anybody for what they did, just try to understand. Don’t hate them, just understand them. It’s important to not to automatically hate people when you hear about something they did. We need to try to see the flip side and the reason behind the crime if we are ever to understand the crime itself. And maybe the reason sounds horrible to us, but that’s because it’s to us. It shouldn’t make sense to us because our pasts are rarely the same.
6. Choose happiness: This one is pretty simple to me. Happiness is a choice. We choose how we perceive the world. Choose to see it in a positive manner. View a wilted flower as the fertilizer for a new flower. View heartbreak as a fresh start. View a broken leg as an excuse for people to be nice to you. Just choose to see things as happy, and choose to feel happy. Unless you have a genuine reason to feel sad, like you just killed somebody, just choose happiness. You’ll start to see the beauty in everything.
7. Change for you: I can say from experience that people can change. Nobody is cemented into their personality forever. I’ve changed a lot, and I think people tend to change annually. I’ve changed to be a happier person, and I think that it’s okay to choose who you are so long as it’s for you. It’s horrible to change for another person. Just like the sorry thing, you have to be true to yourself. But it’s perfectly acceptable and maybe even wonderful to change as long as it’s for you or for something very important to you. Change is to better you. If somebody says you’re too stupid, don’t try to be smart because of what they say. Try to be smart to better you. Other people’s opinions should rarely matter, only your opinion of yourself truly counts.
Janel: I love, “If you live in the negative, you will die in the negative.” People do need to find joy in the rain. The rain makes you appreciate the sun. And rainy days can be beautiful too if people would just open their eyes to different types of beauty. If you choose to see the rain as beautiful, it will be beautiful to you.
ReplyDeleteEmily: What you put about loving yourself is adorable. I’ve always thought that to be happy you need to love yourself, and that no matter what everybody should love themselves. I used to have horribly low self esteem as well, but there comes a point where you start to see all the good in yourself. But still, when I say I love myself, I feel like such a snob. I don’t consider myself perfect by a long shot, but I love myself anyway. If you love yourself for your flaws too, it’s a lot easier to love other people for theirs too.
Mike G: I’m pretty concerned with leaving a mark on the world as well. I’ve always aspired to leave the world having given more than I have taken. It’s the least that I could do. I’d like to inspire more than I’ve hurt, and incite laughter more than tears. I’d like to give to the world even in the most literal sense more than I have taken. I would like people to know my name, but I think it’d be even more wonderful if I was just “that girl from the supermarket” or “the lady at the airport.” I’d like to make people smile everywhere, whether or not they know my name, as do you.
To Cole: I enjoyed the fact that you included and stressed the importance of educating yourself and reading. Both are tools that will help achieve success. Also, your warning against procrastination works in two ways; don’t wait for an opportunity to come, go and hunt it down, and be responsible for your work and yourself. Overall, your points are very insightful and important to succeeding in life. I enjoyed your creed.
ReplyDeleteTo Tom: I thoroughly enjoyed your creed. I feel as you are evolving as a writer every week, and it’s amazing. I feel as your creed displayed honest and true ideals. You were telling it like it should be and rationalized your beliefs. Honestly, an impeccable job. My personal favorite point from your creed is the last one. The past must always be considered, it is something to learn form and grow from. However it is important not to allow those unfavorable thoughts take hold of you in a negative fashion. Truly insightful. Good job.
To Mike: I only comment on things that I feel are honestly and insightfully thought out. That being said, I was struck positively in regards to your points concerning “building homes in the hearts of others” and “always smiling”. Both are requisite to living a loving and honest life that others can respect. Your creed brightened my mood and left me with some sincere thoughts. Your creed accurately describes your character.
To Amber: I don't really have much to say, but I can say that I completely agree with your last point because I have some experience in that area of life. (meiosis)
ReplyDeleteThe list I present to you below is a list that I did, in fact, take the time to formulate. I have several morals and virtues that I live by, but they coincide with those of everyone else. For the sake of distinction, I did my best to choose a select few of my virtues that others may disagree with. Of course, my fellow AP students may agree with the majority of my Seven-Point Creed because it may apply to them. Anyway, here you go:
ReplyDelete1. Indicate sincerity when sarcasm is deleterious.
2. Contribute where you are most useful.
3. Find time to read for pleasure.
4. Balance between necessity and hobby.
5. Be chary of whoever you decide to trust.
6. Be open-minded to other’s convictions.
7. Learn to recognize, accept, and improve mistakes.
There seems to be a lack of sincerity almost everywhere. Sincerity is not always needed, but sometimes it fails to appear when it is needed the most. The situation which I base this “virtue” off of is the situation where humor is found. It is okay to make a joke every once in a while, but there are times when solemnity is correct choice of tone. I guess I could say this “virtue” came from a specific situation. My father is extremely sarcastic at times, which can be funny, but sometimes it can be offensive. I don’t remember the exact topic, but I remember my mother said that sometimes his sarcasm hurts. I would like to avoid hurting anyone with sarcasm, although I employ sarcasm quite often when attempting to be humorous.
Everyone has their own strengths and weaknesses. If you truly care for someone, you help them where he or she needs help. I help my fellow students if they ask me for help. While I’m not the smartest in any of my classes, people come to me for help because they know I am willing to help. When I ask a friend for help, they usually help me. I know I’ve exhausted the word “help,” so now I’ll explain my other reason for choosing this as a virtue. Find a subject in which you are skilled and that you enjoy. Pursue this subject as a career. Even if it doesn’t bring you the most amount of money, it will make you happy. After all, money is NOT the source of true happiness.
I’ve always enjoyed sitting down and reading a good book. When I was younger, I read the Spiderwick Chronicles four times. There are a few other books that I read twice, like Everlost. Unfortunately, I’ve read less in recent years. School work increased tenfold and I spent the little free time I had watching television or playing video games. I understand the importance of reading. Reading is the ultimate source of knowledge: like I said to Bobby Kelly last week, “If you don’t read you will be stupid.” So, I’ve been trying to squeeze in some time to read for pleasure. I would really like my writing to improve, and I know reading more is half the battle, the other half being writing.
Laziness plagues society. Some people are lazier than others. I’m know I’m not as lazy as some people because I’m in difficult classes and get good grades, but that doesn’t mean I’m never lazy. Sometimes I don’t feel like doing any homework at all when I get home from school, but I do it anyway. Completing my homework is a necessity, as well as some house chores. Just like anyone else, I like having time for myself, time to do things that are only necessary for my own enjoyment. Sometimes I spend more time doing things I want to do instead of things I need to do, and thus procrastination is born. I hate the feeling of procrastination, but I endure it often. I’d like to try to prevent as much procrastination as possible by finding a healthy balance between the wants and the needs.
Trust is one of the cliché virtues that I avoided when making the list. Instead of just using the traditional “trust” in my Seven-Point Creed, I made my own additions. As human beings, we need to trust others. Some events that took place in my past diminish my ability to trust others. I trusted someone who I should not have trusted, and my trust had been violated. I know I’m not the only who has had this happen, but I take especially careful measures to prevent this from happening to me again. I share secrets with friends, but not many. They seem to be bothered when I withhold information that would be useless to them anyway. But since they are true friends, they force an understanding.
ReplyDeleteI come from a very conservative family. While I have conservative views, I’m still young, so I also have a few liberal views. As someone who stands strong in his faith, I find it difficult to be open-minded at times. This is what was taught to me, so this is what I believe. It’s justifiable to stand fast in your beliefs, but sometimes a little open-mindedness can open a whole new world of understanding. It is also difficult to make friends if you’re completely hard-headed, so to speak. Sometimes it is necessary to explore the other sides of the argument to get a better and complete understanding of the subject.
I’m not too bad with following my Seven-Point Creed, and that includes the last one. It even ties in with the previous point, which is to be open-minded. We all make mistakes because we are human. That’s another universal truth. When I recognize that I made a mistake, I’m usually content with it. Of course there are the mistakes that are embarrassing or humiliating, but I still use the mistakes to learn from. The hard part is recognizing when a mistake is made. It is my goal to recognize as many of my mistakes as possible, accept that what I did was a mistake, and use the lesson to improve myself for the future.
To Bobby K: I don’t know if I’d agree with your first point. If I knew today was my last day, I wouldn’t have done the blog post. However, I’d say that you should expect your life to end at any time, but live as if you have tomorrow to live. And your fourth point isn’t even an instruction, it’s just an opinion. Finally, I especially enjoy your sixth point because I tend to put others before me.
ReplyDeleteTo Thomas F: Your expression of philanthropy reminds me of what Thoreau said about philanthropy in Walden. Keeping your wits in tough situations is a difficult feat, but that’s really awesome that you can do that. I imagine that you’d be useful in the army if you can keep your cool under enemy fire. I also talked about past mistakes, but I further explained that they can be used to your advantage if you allow them to teach you a lesson.
To Michal G: I smile quite often and I’m glad that I do. It makes me smile to know that I can smile whenever I want. I never thought of a smile as a sign of confidence, but I can agree with that. My other favorite point of yours is the third one. Helping others is an important part of being human, and seeing how others get to the top is key to getting there yourself.
I’ve decided that I’m just going to explain each point I guess as I go along. Also these are in no particular order.
ReplyDeleteThink before you speak
This is the first one I thought of and the reason I put it in my creed is because it bothers me to no end when people don’t think before they open their mouth. I’ve had this problem in the past, but currently I think about everything before I say it because I’m starting to learn the true capability of words and they are really powerful things (however accidents do happen but I’m usually quick to apologize). Words are audible translations of thoughts and feelings and when you miss-use them people can really get hurt. And so it really makes me mad when people get irresponsibly impassioned and just let whatever happens to be on the tip of their tongue come out of their mouths. I’m not trying to say that nothing passion fueled should be said but if your going to say something you need make sure you contemplate what ever the implication of your words may be. Because I’ve seen too many people be seriously offended because someone just let words come out and then just brushed it off.
Never waste time
Time is so valuable because you never get more and it can change anything and everything. This ones pretty self explanatory I think because I mean never waste time in any aspect of you life, work, school, friends, family. Life goes so fast now a day and to waste time is just foolish when you have time to spend with your friends or family spend it productively and happily. In terms of work and school I basically mean don’t procrastinate. Get things done.
Prioritize
This one, although similar to never waste time, has its own importance. In order to not waste time and use it wisely you have to decide what’s important. For me my priorities are everything, I prioritize my homework, my chores, my friends/ family, my activities, all as individual things and then I prioritize those groups as a whole. In my life anyway (maybe it doesn’t work for everyone else in the same as it works more me) if things don’t have a set importance then they have no importance, unfortunately. Like my school work and grades take the highest priority then would be band/ music (then when that’s over drama) then friends and family (certain individuals have more priority over others). I find this keeps my life organized.
Appreciate everything
By this I mean be thankful. There are so many things to be thankful for in the world that are overlooked everyday because were so busy with the rest of our lives, which is really unfortunate because usually what were busy with is unavoidable like jobs and homework. Without those things many of us would find ourselves in sad, sorry situations. We usually remember to appreciate what is always on our minds like money and shelter and friends. But so many people forget to look out a window in fall and see the color of the trees and how beautifully they contrast the sky on a sunny day. Or the sparkle in a child’s eye, I went to church this morning with my family and there was a little girl who sat two rows in front of us and before mass started she spotted a friend of hers and her face lit up like she hadn’t seen this other kid in years and they were reuniting a life long friendship. But what really stuck out to me is the smile on her face every time she looked back at her friend it made me feel like warm and fuzzy which is weird because children generally annoy me.
My seven-point creed, in no particular order:
ReplyDelete1) Make informed decisions, not passionate ones
2) Make time for culture
3) Always be questioning
4) Do everything with a purpose
5) Find joy in the little things
6) Make others a priority, but don't forget yourself
7) Don't rush deciding how you're going to live your life
1) Always gather as much information as possible before deciding one way or another. Knee-jerk reactions are dangerous, as they can sometimes slam your knee into the tabletop. I've always felt that rational analysis should be valued above emotional responses, and that to “trust your feelings,” is neither prudent nor wise. I, like Han Solo, believe that I control my own destiny and that because of that, I have a responsibility to myself and others to make clear and thought-out decisions. This is not to say that emotions don't figure into the decision making process, but to blindly follow emotions with the blast-shield down is imbecilic. Besides, I'd take interstellar badass over force-using moisture farmer any day.
2) Of all the parts of my creed, this is probably the most frivolous of them. However, if I can avoid sounding like a PBS fundraiser show, culture is the heartbeat of society. The ability to express oneself in ways beyond words, in images, music and film, is a staple of a society that remains free-thinking and independent. Also, music always helps to put me in a better mood, so by reminding myself to make time to emotionally edify myself every so often, I may be able to remain sane.
3)This next part of my creed goes hand in hand with the first two, in that culture helps society to question itself, and that the answers to those questions should shape our decisions. To always be questioning means to never accept popular passions, news, or opinions at face-value. Everyone has their own motives, and considering those motives is an important part of understanding whatever information they give you. On the surface, this may sound paranoid, but what little experience I have accumulated has shown me that, if someone in power has an advantage to push, they will do so. By refusing to blindly accept anything, I feel that I can protect myself and others from being manipulated.
Walk a mile in someone else’s shoes
ReplyDeletePeople in general are made to serve one purpose: their own self-interest. We would understand and relate and interact better if only more people were able to see life through the eyes of others. You save time and frustration when you just stop and take a look at life through another persons shoes. Overall I just feel like were all better off at least attempt to see life through the eyes of another because other people have a more enlightened insight that would be very valuable to us.
Realize your potential
There is a huge difference between trying your best and achieving your full potential. Trying your best means that you put effort into what ever you have done. Achieving your full potential means you did absolutely the best that you or anyone else can do. I personally believe that everyone has the potential to achieve perfection (or whatever the human equivalent is to perfection, and the human equivalent is not "your best"). If we realize our true potential we would never fail.
Don't let anyone hold you back
If the course of our lives we encounter enough internal problems that the last thing any of us needs is to be held back by another person. At the end of the day the only one making you succeed is yourself, which is why we shouldn't get hung up on people who are only going to be in our lives for a short time, we don't need them and if their not helping you odds are they're probably hurting you.
So here's the compiled list of my creed:
Think before you speak
Never waste time
Prioritize
Appreciate everything
Walk a mile in someone else's shoes
Realize your potential
4)“Do everything with a purpose” is best explained by the most common misconception associated with statements of this nature. Fun is a purpose. When I suggest that it's good to “do everything with a purpose” I don't mean that every moment should be spent studying, working, practicing or in other pursuits that provide more tangible results. Entertainment is not only a purpose, but a very worthwhile purpose. When alarm bells should go off is when you ask yourself, “why am I doing this,” and the only answers that come to mind are “because I have to,” or “just because I have nothing better to do.” There will always be something better to do, and if you have to do it, there's a reason that you have to do it beyond “I have to.”
ReplyDelete5)I'm the kind of person who can entertain himself with a paperclip, or will take an iPod with dozens of apps on it, and spend half an hour sitting flicking the screen back and forth, just because I find the technology so intriguing. Finding joy in the little things means that even when everything in life seems worthless and purposeless, the simplest thing can still lift your spirits. Whether it's finding a silver lining or just making yourself giggle by flicking a paper ball around, there's a lot of value to being someone who is easily amused.
6)Here comes the tricky part, balancing your own needs and wants against those of others. There are two important points I'd like to make on this relationship. One, doing things for others is great, and so is unselfishness, but doing things that help others to help yourself is just as good. Never be afraid to take credit for what you've done, is more-or-less what I'm getting at. Two, helping others is admirable, but helping others when you can't help yourself is just stupid. Get your own life in order before you try to sort out others'.
7)This final part is the simplest, just because I think I should live my life this way right now does not mean circumstances won't change; values can shift, and priorities can be scrambled, that doesn't mean that I've compromised my principles, I've just adapted them. So when I say not to rush how I am going to live my life, I mean that I should be willing and able to adapt.
George: I really liked the third part of your creed because it's so true. There's always so much of the same thing going on that it's really important to not let yourself fade to the background.
ReplyDeleteAmber: your first poimnt is really I don't know I really good I guess, not that Im always so pessimistic about peoples good will but I really enjoy how you explained it.
Rachel: for your fifth point what about people who have 0 respect for anyone?
*1.Steal confidence from the cosmos
ReplyDelete*2.Believe in everything
*3.Live for others – as well as yourself
*4.Thank the earth
*5.Be gracious and kind to your enemies
*6.Work to help other people
*7.Love and fight with the same intensity
1.Years ago I picked up this line, or something like it, from a book, and began to feel some kind of inclination to carry it out. I’ve never been the most self-assured girl but have grown more confident over the years by simply identifying with this phrase and what it means to me. Relative to the universe, you are nothing but a speck of dust on the radar. To you, you are everything, you are the universe! So be like them in their almighty expanses because what is the point in ever reducing your own importance.
2.As an athlete, I’ve been continuously exposed to “The Champions Creed” and all the truth that lies in that poem. To sum it up, I’ve chosen to live my life putting unconditional belief into myself, my opinions, and my friends, because it’s really the only way I know how. I’ve been furiously let down because of this, but also remarkably proud. When you believe in yourself, you can accomplish more. When you believe in other people, they are motivated to accomplish more. When you assert your beliefs with conviction, it’s extremely difficult to be proven wrong.
3.Although we are the ones that come first in our own lives, it’s necessary to have a close second, close third, etc…because when we get right down to it, the presence of other people are about as necessary to us in our fight for survival as we are. It’s okay to have a crutch for when things are hard, just like it’s okay to be weak. You will always find someone to be there for you.
4.When we go about our days, it’s common to disregard the things that have always been there (like nature), because we’ve grown so used to its consistency. But realizing the free beauty of all that is around you will always put you in a better place, and establish a more secure balance in your life.
5.There isn’t much to interpret for this one. It all falls in line with good karma, treating people as you would like to be treated, and not sinking to the low levels of those who are among you. These things are easier said than done, however. When someone shows hostility or animosity towards you, it’s painless, even satisfying, to return the same to them. But if you could go about your day carrying out this creed, it’s an empowering feeling doubled with a specific kind of self-respect.
6.When I help someone, I feel a stronger sense of worth, and that’s a beautiful thing. We could spend our whole lives in a pattern of self-serving circles and truly get nowhere. The prospect of helping people makes life worthwhile sometimes. It makes you worthwhile sometimes. As I continue to explain the reasons for my creed I’m noticing that the presences of these notions are responsible for one’s happiness and success…These guidelines don’t just outline your actions they present a track to success, and living in unity with yourself.
7.I believe that love and hate(or maybe I should just say drive) are incredibly powerful, and this power should never fluctuate in force. The passion in your beliefs should mirror the passion in your love, because both deserve strong operating force. Your opinions are worthless if you have no meaning to back it, just like your devotion to somebody or something means nothing if you put no effort into your feelings.
Olivia- Looks like we got comment spliced, so for some reason that makes me think I should comment on your creed. So for variety's sake I'd like to agree with one part of your creed, and disagree with another. Think before you speak ought to be the first, and last thing taught in every school across the nation. Because there is nothing as simultaneously aggravating and hilarious as a person who has no filter (excluding those who actually have tourette syndrome, man that must suck) but allows whatever obscenities that pop into their head to be released into local airspace, regardless of where they are. Never waste time does not sit so well with me, though, because while I would agree that it's important to make effective use of time (although you'd never know from my habits) I feel that it's important to waste time sometimes, sometimes it's exactly what I need, just to wile away a few hours and then move on with life.
ReplyDeleteMatt- I can always count on you to say what I'm thinking in a way that is exponentially more eloquent, of course having read the second part of your creed, I now know not to compare myself to you, as it does no good for either of us. Although I can't help but feel that some of the thoughts behind, “stay youthful” are not just objections to the change that age brings, but the youthful fear of aging. I think it's important to embrace the ways that we change, as long as there are concrete instances in our lives that cause us to change that way.
Amber- “Change for you” is probably one of the most universally applicable statements I've ever heard, because there are so many people who live life trying to be something that others project onto them. Shape yourself, be who you want to be, project the version of yourself that you want to be projected, not what others want. There's a song by one of my favorite bands, LCD Soundsystem called “I Can Change,” and the chorus goes “I can change, if it makes you fall in love.” I think that's just about the saddest thing someone can possibly do (and I suspect James Mercer of LCD Soundsystem feels this way too, he likes irony and stuff). Love should be based on truths, not lies.
Tames Jownley: I have more than once slammed my knee on the table that it is life. Also, your point about making informed decisions reminds me of the Shawshank Redemption where the guy kills his wife... or does he?
ReplyDeletePat: I liked your point about treating successes as failures. However, I believe that successes must often be appreciated for what they are. Give praise where praise is due without going overboard.
Mimi: I love, "Get over it," seriously. Possibly the most admirable trait in a person is the ability to brush off adversity. It shows true strength.
Dan: I love how you mentioned open-mindedness...Because i'd have to say that is something a lot of people lack. Not even just being open-minded about people's convictions, but about people in general; their actions, personalities, etc. Thanks :)
ReplyDeletePatrick: Your fifth one was interesting.."Do not hide things that can't be hid." I feel like you're speaking directly to every adolescent who ever felt like the real them wasn't good enough. You're basically telling them not to hide and to just be who they are because that beats faking it any day. You're great for saying that!
Bobby: I'm not sure if i'd consider elderly respect a creed but hey, if that's what is important to you then who am i to criticize? And now that I think about it, I know it's easy to overlook the wisdom of older people. We're constantly looking for guidance as teenagers and the very people who have "been there" are the ones least likely sought out for advice..hmm..
Matt Again: It's funny that you should mention Shawshank Redemption, as I just recently watched it, it's almost as if you could have known that somehow...
ReplyDelete1. Don’t take life too seriously, just laugh at it.
ReplyDelete2. See everything there is to see
3. Live every second like your last
4. Never regret anything
5. Make mistakes
6. Just keep swimming
7. Lead a selfless life
1. Don’t take life too seriously, just laugh at it.
Everyone should lead a life full of laughter and without stress. Why stress, when you can laugh? Life will never ever go the way you expect it to, but you shouldn’t cry about that. Just simply, laugh. Being upset will not help you one bit, but laughing will make you feel happier. Too many people spend their lives in constant stress, which prevents them from just living their lives! Just step back and giggle a little. You never know, you could even make someone else smile. Laughing is contagious, pass it around.
2. See everything there is too see.
Because people are so comfortable with their surrounding, I feel like no one really gets out there and sees anything. There are so many magical and beautiful sights in this world that no one ever notices. We are born and raised and even die in the same city, state, and country unaware of these majestic places around us. I personally do not want this to happen to me. For my 25th birthday, I am going to go backpacking around the world. I do not want to be on my death bed and realize that I never got a chance to see what life was like outside of Mays Landing.
3. Live every second like your last
I understand that is this is the most cliché saying ever, but I truly live by these words. I only have ONE life, ONE chance to do everything that I want to do and see everything that I want to see. Which is why I do not want to waste any time at all. I don’t want to put anything off and then never get around to it. I feel like too many people do that, they say they want to do things but never end up doing them. I want to live every moment with a bang and not spend time crying or being upset. I want to have a great and happy and fulfilled life. I do not want to live a life full of regrets.
After a couple days thought, this is what I have come up with for my seven point creed. I tried to incorporate the guidelines on how I live my life as well as how I wish to live my life, so here goes:
ReplyDelete1-Forgive but don’t forget
Forgiveness can be one of the hardest things we ever do in life. I think it is important that we try to forgive as often as possible. Why dwell on something that is only going to make you upset? Accept the fact that people aren’t perfect and they are going to screw up. Grudges are a waste of time, so don’t hold on to them. At the same time, I think it is important to keep in mind whatever it is that happened. Don’t bring it up, or hold it over the person for as long as you feel is necessary, but don’t keep forgiving someone for something they do over and over. Fool me once and all that.
2-Take chances
Life’s only regrets are chances we don’t take. Don’t go through life standing idly by on the sidelines. Don’t be afraid of what may happen, if you mess up than learn from the experience-that’s life. To not take chances is to lead a boring life that you’ll most likely look back on in disappointment. What’s the worst thing that can happen? Don’t be reckless, but push yourself and never stop yourself from doing something because you are afraid of what may happen. You’ll never know unless you try.
3-Think often
I think thinking is important. Some people equate thinking with school, but that isn’t necessarily true. Ask questions; take the time to think about things that give you pause. It doesn’t have to be something earth-shatteringly important, just something, anything, that makes you think. It could be anything from a concept in a show or movie to a line in a song, but if it catches your interest, there’s probably a reason for it.
4-Choose to be the better person
There are going to be times in life where you are stuck in a crappy situation. If that situation involves another person, as it usually will, I think that it’s important that you take the initiative. If you can fix it, do it. Don’t let something stupid destroy something important. If you have to shove aside your emotions to get to the desired end result, and it’s worth it, then that’s what you should do. Be the one to walk away, be the person who plays fair while others cheat. It is never the easy way to do things, but it is usually the right way. When it’s all said and done, you are the one who is going to have to live with the outcome.
To Juliana: Shred the Gnar is such a cool way of saying that! It makes me sad that someone had to go in order for it to be heard :(.
ReplyDelete5-Help those who help themselves
ReplyDeleteI believe in lending a helping hand. However, nothing is free. If I am going to help someone, I expect them to take that help and add it to their own strength. There is a definite difference between helping a man off the street who is attempting to get up, and helping a man who just lays in wait for the cavalry to come and save him. They have to be willing to put forth the effort and try, otherwise there isn’t a point in helping them. Eventually they’ll end up exactly where they started; in need of someone’s help but unwilling to try and make their situation better for themselves first.
6-Know yourself
You have to know yourself if you want to get anywhere in life. Know your limitations, your strengths, your weaknesses, your fears. Trust your gut and have confidence in yourself. If you take a moment to reflect in on yourself, and you don’t like what you see, make the effort to change it. You have to know yourself to be able to connect with others. It is the same as with love-you have to know yourself, because if you don’t how do you expect others to? Know yourself, and trust in that knowledge. Embrace what makes you different, because what makes you different makes you interesting.
7-Laugh
Laugh often, laugh it off, learn to laugh at yourself. Just laugh. A lot in life can be made better by laughing. It is scientifically proven to reduce stress and improve your overall mood. Sometimes all it takes is a little laughter to turn your whole day around. Don’t take everything so seriously, because really what’s the point? If you can choose laughter or anger, choose laughter. It will make you and those around you feel better.
BOBBY:
“Treat everyone well, but treat yourself better.”
I really like this, if only because I don’t usually follow it. I have a problem with putting myself first sometimes, although a lot of times I’d like to. I agreed with a lot of your points and explanations actually, but this one popped out at me. Honestly, I’m kind of surprised at how much I’m finding we have in common!
Matt:
“Be your own God”
I really liked this, and I agreed with pretty much everything you put in your explanation. In the end, none of us really knows what happens after death, but it’s yourself that you’ll have to answer to as your end of days nears and you reflect back on your life. Your post was really interesting and thoughtful, and very you. Great post, as always!
Amanda:
I really liked your first point! That was on my list before I cut it down to seven. I definitely agree about the whole comfort zone thing. I have people that I consider my comfort zone too, where I can be around them and do or say whatever comes naturally and I don’t worry or care about their reactions. Sometimes I have moods where I just act however I feel like acting, without caring who is watching. It doesn’t happen often, and I often regret that I don’t act like that more of the time.
After mulling it over periodically since Tuesday night, I finally came to the conclusion that this Seven-Point Creed isn’t going to magically come to me, so I’m really going to have to dig down deep. After another hour or two more of mulling, I have decided that my Creed, as clichéd as it may be, goes a little like this:
ReplyDelete1. Focus on the positives, don’t dwell on the negatives.
2. Keep an open mind.
3. Always wear a smile.
4. Be conscious of others’ feelings.
5. Don’t compromise your beliefs for another’s.
6. Stimulate the mind.
7. Never let your emotions take control, but never let your logic hold you back.
Yes, I know that some of these may be seen as synonymous, but I assure you that each has a subtle quirk that differentiates it from another. These words all have a very personal and deep meaning to me and while I don’t always follow them, I try to; and I feel like if I followed them religiously, I’d be far happier than I am.
1. Focus on the positives, don’t dwell on the negatives.
In every situation that I’m in, I find myself picking every little detail apart. I pay too much attention to little details and let them bug me so much that they end up driving me to the brink of insanity. It’s an irritating trait that I have recently sought to overcome. I have fervently been looking on the brighter side and picking out the silver lining no matter how crappy things may be. By dwelling on the stupid little negative details, I gradually made myself into a miserable pessimist which is admittedly not the optimal way to go through life. I feel if everyone tried to find at least one good thing about any given event and focus on that, then we’d all be much happier people overall because positive thoughts would infest our minds, not negative ones.
2. Keep an open mind.
I HATE people who are so stubborn, they’re completely closed off to anyone’s opinion but their own. True, you should stick to your guns, but when I’m trying to get a point across to someone and they’re sitting there with their fingers in their ears singing “LA LA LA” at the top of their lungs, it’s probably one of the most frustrating things in the world. Everyone is entitled to their opinion and everyone is entitled to be able to express it, no matter who agrees or disagrees with it. With that in mind, if I’m conveying an opinion to someone that they may not agree with, all I ask is that they listen and comprehend my points without making such quick judgments.
3. Always wear a smile.
This may go hand in hand with my first creed, but the difference here isn’t just looking on the bright side of things. It’s finding that bright side, and making the best of it. When I say “always wear a smile,” I mean it both literally and figuratively. By physically wearing a smile, you’ll instantly feel better. Guaranteed. I don’t know what it is, but just acting happy, even if you’re not, raises your spirits just the littlest bit. By figuratively wearing a smile – making light of something that could be dreadfully serious – is also an effective pick-me-up. Taking something that’s outright horrible and turning it around to make the best of it, makes you feel a million times better one hundred percent of the time.
4. Be conscious of others’ feelings.
ReplyDeleteI may not be the biggest advocate of this creed, but I still find it to be insanely important. It also could be the most clichéd creed of them all, but its importance is none the lesser. I guess another way to phrase this is, “treat others the way you want to be treated.” Told you it was cliché. But I feel like the only way to gain any respect in this world is to respect others. For all those kids out there who don’t care about what they say to other people and how it may hurt them, it’s only going to come back and bite them in the ass later. They could be what’s standing between you and your dream sometime down the road, so it’s important that we learn to bite our tongues and be aware that hurtful words have hurtful results.
5. Don’t compromise your beliefs for another’s.
Okay yes, this kind of contradicts “keep an open mind,” but only if you confuse keeping an open mind with being wishy-washy and unconfident. This creed I have a real hard time following because I find myself molding my opinions to incorporate others’ because after I hear theirs’, I think to myself, “hey, they have a good point, I agree with that.” This is one of my biggest downfalls because while sometimes I feel like my opinion is strong and I support it to the end of the Earth, I also have my moments where I completely cave and abandon my original opinion. I want to be able to change this about myself so I can be more independent, but the temptation of surrendering is ubiquitous and powerful, it’s hard to overcome.
6. Stimulate the mind.
I found over the summer that while doing nothing and sleeping all day are great and right now sound completely incredible, they’re so unrewarding. I hate feeling so useless and lazy for such a long period of time, as I did over the summer. Without any summer work to occupy myself, my brain started to fizzle. Because of this, I invested in an Amazon Kindle and instead of watching TV, surfing Tumblr, or remaining unconscious from dawn ‘til dusk, I read. I let my mind wander instead of rot. So, even though doing nothing sounds ideal at times, it gets old so any form of stimulation for the mind – whether it be reading, writing, solving equations, coming up with recipes, drawing, painting, anything that makes you think – is invaluable.
7. Never let your emotions take control, but never let your logic hold you back.
This creed is probably my favorite, simply because I think it’s more than applicable in every person’s life. Personally, I’ve always been more logical and analytical. But I’ve found that without a little bit of emotion, my life is empty. It doesn’t always hurt to feel, just like it doesn’t always hurt to think; the biggest problem is that the heart and the mind must be balanced in order to achieve full happiness. The creed reads clear and simple: don’t let your emotions dictate what you do, don’t follow your heart off a cliff; but don’t let your logic get in the way of your emotions. In perfect harmony, heart and mind create a beautiful thing.
At first I took this blog much more seriously than I did in the end.
ReplyDeleteI sat around and mulled over values and ethics and legacies and so on and so forth until the cows came home, so they say.
But then I thought, ‘The problem of ethics, and creeds, and how people should live their lives is one of the oldest problems in existence. Everyone from Socrates to modern day man has set forth upon this journey of self-discovery. It is a problem that spans generations, a problem that spans civilizations.
In short, a problem I am not going to be able to solve in 5 days via some dumb blog post.’
So I sat down instead, and put down some things I think people should take into consideration when living their life. And they are here. Do I follow them all? No, of course not. But I think they’re useful, and that’s enough.
1. Don’t do something solely because someone else did it or advised it.
I think it might have been Thoreau who said something about this, something along the lines of ‘Just because my grandparents did it doesn’t mean it’s of any use to me’. I feel like too many people neglect to try to figure things out for themselves and instead focus too much on emulating people before them, which can be a good thing, but not if taken to the extreme. Surely you have something of your own to bring to the table?
2. Do things just because, sometimes.
I feel like the spirit of experiment and spontaneity is missing from a lot of people these days. How do you think humankind has progressed forward, if not through the spirit of innovation and the willingness to put themselves out on a limb and do things just to see what would happen? This ties into my other point, that people should try their own thing more often.
3. … But use your experiences to better yourself.
Keep in mind, I’m not asking you to be insane here. I don’t want anyone basing their actions off of something an asylum patient would do. After you’ve played around, or screwed around, use whatever you’ve learned to your advantage. Look back on all your experiences and work those lessons into your present and your future. Those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it, after all.
4. If you have questions and don’t know the answer, find answers.
Complacency is something I despise. And yet I find that people, for some inexplicable reason, are content to sit back, when they find something they don’t understand, and put it out of their minds, condemning it as something they just don’t know the answer to, or something they just won’t bother to figure out, assuming brighter or more active minds will solve the problem, I suppose. Perhaps this attitude is the reason I find it hard to put much stock in religion, for example. God created the universe? Okay then, what’s his deal? Where’s he come from? How does he WORK? You can’t just say ‘cause’, there or anywhere else. No exceptions. Even I struggled to do well on this blog; even considering my views on the vastness of ethics and how to live life, it doesn’t mean I’ll stop looking for answers.
5. Find some way to do what you enjoy doing.
I guess this one’s pretty simple and self explanatory. And yet there are so many people who still wind up doing something they hate, and in turn being miserable. Don’t let that happen. Fight to the end of the Earth, if not for happiness, then at least for comfort.
6. Try to be nice, but don’t let it consume you.
Find some room for your own needs, I say. Put people in your radar, treat them with dignity and kindness, but don’t forget to put yourself in there as well. You’re a person too. Do unto others, and all that, but don’t forget to do unto yourself as well.
7. Don’t take everything too seriously.
I must admit this one was kind of an afterthought, but I find myself telling people this perhaps more often than I should. You have 80 years to live, more or less. If you screw up once you’re probably not screwed up yourself. Learn and move on, I guess. What else is there to do?
Ashley: I was contemplating putting your first creed into mine (before I read yours, of course)! I think forgetting about something someone did to wrong you is wrong in itself because while you shouldn't dwell, I agree, completely forgetting the whole thing ever happened is pointless because no matter how hard you try, you'll never really forget.
ReplyDeleteConnie: I love your creed on love and fight with the same intensity. If you don't love someone the same way you would hate someone else, it just makes using those words meaningless.
Juliana: Your second creed about not taking life so seriously, relates to two of mine and I feel like the sentiment of making the best of things and looking on the bright side always makes things better. It's upsetting to see those people who always say how much they hate their lives (even if they don't have a good reason to). I feel like if everyone laughed a little harder and smiled more often, EVERYONE'S life would be better, because who wouldn't benefit from an air of cheer?
1: Treat others the way you would like to be treated.
ReplyDelete2: Whatever you do, do it with good intentions.
3: Learn something new every day.
4: Believe in that which can be proven and understood.
Corollary to 4: Don’t believe in anything which transcends proof and understanding.
5: Stand up for yourself and for others who cannot stand up for themselves.
6: Emulate, but don’t plagiarize.
7: Smile. Frequently!
If there’s one thing I value above anything else, it’s the power of human interaction. We influence each other’s lives in a much bigger way than we care to realize, and this seven-point creed helps to keep that special power in check. I value respectfulness. My morals revolve around mutual understanding. I want to be perceived by others as insightful, amicable, and learned. I want my legacy to be one of honor and friendliness, and to be looked back upon with inspiration. In my life, I’ve learned that what you accomplish revolves around your motivation to succeed and the support of those around you. I want to learn how to help people, and not just with homework and other high school problems: I want to help those who are in need and oppressed. I want to learn, but before I do the world has to realize that we, as human beings, are nothing without each other.
There was one more question you asked us to this degree. I’m not sure many people noticed it, but I certainly did and I’d like to answer it. You asked: “After all, who is more important than you?”
From my perspective, everyone is more important than me. I view myself not as a member of the student body, but as something different. That’s not to say I’m a pretty unique little snowflake either, only that I feel that my motivation in life differs from others. I’m forced to give myself an inferiority complex because, as a human, I’m determined to make every other human’s life on earth as enjoyable as possible. Everyone is important to me; I put the interests of others before the interests of myself. Every single wonderful member of this wonderful planet - THAT is who is more important that I.
4. Never regret anything.
ReplyDeleteLive a complete and fulfilled life. Don’t look back with any regrets from past decisions. At the time you made that choice, it was what you wanted. Which means at one point you were pleased with the choice that you made. Why regret something that you wanted? When I am 100 years old (lets pray I actually get to be 100!) I want to look back at my life and know that I did everything I wanted to do. That I didn’t do something that I didn’t like. I want to make happy with every choice I have ever made. I just want to be happy with my life as a whole.
5. Make your own mistakes
We are all human, we make mistakes. It is completely natural to do so. In fact I think it is also healthy to make mistakes. How else are you supposed to learn, if you do not make mistakes? Just be sure to make your own, don’t live someone else life and don’t make anyone else’s mistake. Also do not be afraid to make some! GO for it, Do something stupid or reckless but do it for yourself it is apart of life and apart of you. Mistakes are what shape you into who you are.
6. Just keep swimming.
Usually when mistakes are made people have a tendency of giving up. Don’t ever do that! No matter how hard life may get, or how stupid of a mistake you may have committed, don’t give in. Its okay to mess up sometimes just don’t let it hold you back. If you get knocked down, just get back up. (I know cliché, right? But I do think this.) I have been told I will fail at things all the time, but I ignore it. The only way to live out your life fully is to not care and keep going. Don’t let anything EVER hold you back and just keep swimming.
7. Lead a selfless life
Very often people tend to live very selfish lives, which is not bad. But I think that along with caring about yourself, you should also care for others. Don’t live a life that is all about you; take some time out to think about others. After I have lived my life, I want to know that I helped people. Even if it is as simple as making someone smile. I want to know that I affected at least one person’s life. Yes your happiness matters, but sometimes the happiness of others is more important.
This is the most original 7-Point Creed EVER!!
ReplyDelete-Be who YOU want to be….. Barbie girl
-Fish are friends, not food
-Never give up
-Don't judge a book by its cover
-If you shoot for the stars and hit the moon, it's OK. But you've got to shoot for something. A lot of people don't even shoot. (Confucius)
-You only get to live once
-Don't live your life in clichés
I don’t live by this creed currently. I find myself trying to be something I’m not for others, I have enemies, I give up on things A LOT, I tend to judge people on their looks sometimes, and I waste a lot of time doing nothing. Yeah… now that I think about it I don’t live by this at all right now. These are just morals and quotes that everyone should live by. It seems very cliché… ;-) I want to be able to live by this cliché 7-Point Creed eventually. Explanation time!!
Be who YOU want to be. Don’t let anyone else affect the way you live your life. Be yourself. Your life is yours, not anybody else’s. You control it, not them. I believe this is something very important to live by because you aren’t unique if you weren’t yourself. Don’t change yourself for others. I do it all the time and I want to fix that. People should like you for who you are, not who you are trying to be.
Second, fish are friends, not food. You never want to make enemies. You always want to make friends. Enemies are pointless. The only reason you are enemies with someone is because you have different opinions or one thinks they are better than the other. Everybody has their own opinions and you have to respect that. There is no need to fight about it. There is also no need to make enemies because you think you are better than that person. You can think that all you want, but you shouldn’t tell the person. They would get offended, and then you would start to fight. You could have avoided the conflict all together by keeping your opinion to yourself. Friends are more important that enemies obviously. They help shape your life. Without them you wouldn’t survive. Imagine having 0 friends on Facebook. :O Friends help you out when you are in need. They also help you have fun and can make you very successful by just knowing them. Having connections is a key factor in being successful. I hope to become successful. To do that, I need to make more friends and fewer enemies.
Third, never give up. I have always followed this to a point. There are some things that I would never give up on. AP classes are an example. My grandma wanted me to take all “regular” classes. I found them too easy and boring. I wanted a challenge. I argued and argued to the point where she didn’t care what classes I took. Now that I’m in them, there is no way I’m backing out. If I gave up, I’d be a quitter, and nobody likes quitters. If I were to quit my AP classes tomorrow, it would just prove to my grandma that I couldn’t handle it. It would also show that I can’t handle college. I would never give up on success. I give up on homework if I don’t understand it, relationships, and things that don’t really matter. When someone believes I can’t succeed at something, I would never give up on proving them wrong. I am not a quitter.
ReplyDeleteNext, don’t judge a book by its cover. You don’t want to choose the books you read that way nor do you want to choose your friends that way. You should never judge a person based on their looks. I tend to do this a lot with adults; especially teachers. I used to think a teacher was mean just because they looked mean. It turns out they aren’t once I got to know them. The opposite also occurred. You can’t judge until you know more than just the looks of a person. Racism also ties in with this. You should never judge someone based on their race. I guess this wouldn’t exactly be comparable to books. A fiction book will be a fiction book on the inside. A cook book will be a cook book on the inside. You can’t decide if you like someone or not based on their looks.
Fifth, if you shoot for the stars and hit the moon, it's OK. But you've got to shoot for something. A lot of people don't even shoot. This means to set your goals higher than your expectations. If you do, you will get better results than if you don’t set any goal. Here is an example. Let’s say you are taking the AP Language exam. You are expecting to get a 3. Instead of your goal being to pass with a 3, make it to get a 5. You are shooting for something higher than you are probably going to get. By setting this goal, you could potentially get a score better than a 3. If you don’t set a goal, it would be less likely of getting a score higher than a 3; you may even get lower.
Sixth, you only get to live once. You live on Earth for a very short time. For most, it’s less than 100 years. Make use of your life. Have fun. Don’t let it waste away. Live like there isn’t going to be a tomorrow. Never waste time doing anything. Also, don’t procrastinate. Get things done. I REALLY need to work on that. If you get things done, you have more free time and don’t have to worry about things. You could have more fun. I’m tired of wasting time; I want to put an end to it as soon as possible.
Last, don’t live your life in clichés. That’s ironic. The other points are all cliché. Waaaaaaiiiiittt… Haha so I decided to make my 7-Point Creed very cliché. Something is cliché when it is overused. When is something overused? Good things are overused. It’s because something is popular. So my points are not cliché in a bad way. They are just popular beliefs that a lot of people should follow to the point where it is overused. Anyways… Don’t live your life totally in clichés. Don’t follow popular beliefs constantly. Have your own beliefs. Be unique. My whole 7-Point Creed revolves around the idea of uniqueness. Don’t follow the bandwagon. Be you.
Connie: “love and fight with the same intensity” I really love that. I was reading your blog and when I saw that, I don’t know why, but it caught my eye. I believe in that and think that everyone should too!
ReplyDeleteJames: I love playing with paperclips! They are so entertaining, you can do so much with just such a little amount of them! But I really like that about you James, you do find the joy in little things.
Nyamekaye: “get over it” Love it. I kind of knew you were going to say that. You say it so much to everyone else haha. It’s so true though, it is really annoying when people fight and hold grudges. It is really a waste of time, people could spend their time doing something so much better.
ReplyDeleteBunje, I love that you love John Wooden, I do too, I've always been a fan of UCLA basketball.
ReplyDeleteMy Seven Point Creed would go as follows:
1. Live life to the fullest.
2. Just do it.
3. Live stress-free.
4. High risk, high reward.
5. Be yourself.
6. Live for you.
7. See the world.
I decided I would do my seven creeds without looking at anybody else's comments, so I wouldn't be influenced by other people's answers. With that being said, I chose these seven creeds in no particular order.
My first creed, live life to the fullest, is somewhat overused maybe, cliché maybe, and even unrealistic some might say. Although one could argue that "live life to the fullest" is any of those things, I believe you still should go through life with an attitude that reflects this creed. Life is too short to not live life for every second that you're here. Too many people lose their lives too young, and for this reason alone, everyone should live their life to the fullest. Plus, you'll never miss out on anything if you live life to the fullest.
My second creed is just do it. Hopefully Nike doesn't mind if I step on their toes on this one, but I really like this one. In my circle of friends you'll recognize that you could hear me say five of the seven creeds I listed, at any point during my day. This is one of them, it actually happened to be my summer motto with my group of friends, weird I know. Sometimes if you don't think about things, and if you just do it, life will be so much more fun! It's like jumping in the pool before first feeling it with your toes, just do it! Although this is a bit of a risky way to live life, it runs in line with another one of my creeds later on.
My third creed is to live "stress-free". Just in the past month, I have coined the phrase, "stress-free day" about a thousand times I'm sure. It's all about living on the edge a little bit and just letting things go. Even if it isn't necessarily the best decision, less stress is always a good thing. If we all had a little bit less of things to worry about, I think we'd all live a little better.
My fourth creed of which to live by is "high-risk, high-reward". There are many people in this world that would probably beg to differ with me, and would actually choose to live complete opposite lives. I like the idea of living with the notion that what I'm doing could either end up really great, or it could really backfire. When you think about it though, you wouldn't really have anything great in life, if there wasn't a bit of risk behind it. If you knew that you would 100% survive jumping out of a plan 20,000 feet up in the hair, thrill-seekers wouldn't do it, they'd find something else to do. There is risk behind every reward.
ReplyDeleteMy fifth creed is probably the most like every other person's and the least like my other six creeds, but still this is just as important to me as the others. In life, you shouldn't have to prance around trying to impress everyone else, you should live life to be yourself and not anybody else. If people don't like you for who you are, then maybe you need to be surrounding yourself around people who like the you that YOU like the most.
My sixth creed is by far the most controversial and probably most arguable and disagreed upon of them all. In life, you need to live for you. You need to do ALMOST whatever you need to, to get ahead in life. While in life though, you need to help people up with you. You have to bring only who you want to be with along on the journey with you, but this is all a part of living for you. You need to choose who to bring with you, because everyone needs to remember, you are the most important person in your life, because without you, there'd be no you. Confusing?
My last creed can actually be interpreted in a couple ways, which at first, I didn't plan on, but looking at it now, I agree with both aspects of it. First, I believe you should literally, actually go and see the world. This huge planet is filled with so much beauty, wonder, and majesty and nobody ever gets to see it all, but we all need to see as much of it as we can! Everybody needs to travel the world and see all the little wonders that this planet encompasses. Also though I mean seeing the world in the sense that you need to see the world in more than one way. You need to view every situation and every opportunity in more than one way. So many people live narrow-mindedly and it's a horrible way to live. We can't live our lives with tunnel vision, we need to expand and explore all our options, because that's what life is about, options. Explore them.
To Rachel: Asparagus.
ReplyDeleteMikey Black, I think you just won at the internet.
ReplyDeleteGeorge- I did control F on the blog and typed in the word risk, and out of the entire class, you were the only one who even mentioned risk, along with myself. I absolutely 100% agree with your creed about risk.
ReplyDeleteBobby- I was with you for that experience, of course. When don't we do something dumb without the other one being there. I'm really glad you related that event with your creeds, because it made it so easy for me to relate to it, that's for sure...
Matt- As I said, I chose not to read everybody else's blog posts until mine was done, so I'd have no outside influence, but you're second creed is amazing. I'd put it in my own if I could start over. Even though I love that one so much, I really wish I lived my life that way, because I don't but, I need to start.
Becca: You didn’t seem to care about others feelings last year!! :P You’re a lot nicer now though. I agree with point 6. I HATE when I’m wasting time doing nothing. I did it a lot during the summer. I solved my problem by unplugging my TV. OK? Random smiley face.
ReplyDeleteSchuyler: For point 1, I realized that I always rely on the opinions of others and need to do that less. I really like all of your points. Especially 7. People always tell me to be more serious. Why should I? I want to be able to live the short time I have on Earth.
Hira: Your post is split up. :P I used to regret everything I did. I learned to just live with it. There’s no way I can ever change the past; except for maybe a time machine. I also learned to make mistakes. I would not turn in homework in the past because of mistakes I knew I made. It hurt my grade a lot. Now I learned to make the mistakes and let everyone know that I tried even though I didn’t succeed.
George: I found myself pretty surprised by how much I agree with you, especially the things about reading and spontaneity. But eh, I wouldn't be quite as quick to condemn television or video games so harshly. I've learned something from each.
ReplyDeleteTed: I read ignorancr id repulsive, and I just kind of nodded solemnly. That's what I was trying to encapsulate with my own points, I reckon.
Cole: I liked the thing about thinking when angry. Especially coming from you, I liked it. I kind of wouldn't expect it, but I totally agree.
Only do what makes you happy
ReplyDeleteI don’t like the phrase “life is short”, so I’m going to say that there isn’t enough time to waste not being happy. Every one goes through millions of emotions a day, but life is so much more worthwhile when they are variants of happiness. I believe too many people burden themselves with tasks that they don’t find worthwhile and therefore are throwing away an opportunity to live their life to the fullest.
Put feeling into everything
Building off of the last one, you should only do what makes you happy, and therefore you need to put yourself into whatever you do 100%. You need to feel the action, the experience. By putting feeling into whatever you do, you are putting yourself into it, and that is exactly how you will succeed. Those who have gone down in history loved what they were doing, and made their own mark simply by inserting themselves
Love, it is the most rewarding
Ask anyone with a child about the joy they get whenever they see that little bundle of energy running at them screaming “Mom!” (or “Dad!”) That feeling is one of unbreakable, true love and it is the greatest feeling in the world. Jobs and money aren’t worth anything once you have someone to love. Love is what makes life worthwhile. It establishes dedication, loyalty, and also creates a sense of want. What everyone wants is to be wanted, and that is a product of love. It’s a difficult feeling to explain, but once you experience it, you’ll know.
Read a poem a day
There’s mystery in poetry. The lines and words and meaning are all expertly crafted by the author, and it always feels like mind game trying to figure out exactly what they mean. I think by reading and understanding poetry, it’s like getting into the mind of the author. In theory, I feel that this will allow people to start to better understand others in daily interactions, and not just in reading.
No resource is completely renewable
In this period of time, it appears to me that the population as a whole does not fully grasp the concept that what we have done, and are doing, to our environment is extremely detrimental. We need to realize that budgeting everything we use is extremely important in every aspect of life. Resource can mean anything : oil, water, even friends. Just because there’s a ton of oil out there, doesn’t mean we can use it forever. Just because you have a lot of friends doesn’t mean you can be a jerk, because soon you’re going to run out.
Don’t just listen, but hear
The majority of the conversations I have feel very one sided. They usually go like this Me: “So, I jammed my finger two times today practicing rifle.”
Other Person:
Me:”...so yeah”
Other Person:
Me: “Did you hear me?”
Other Person: “Yeah” Me: “What did I say?”
Other Person: “You jammed your finger”
How annoying is that? Do you get my point? They didn’t hear anything I said, they were listening, but didn’t react or respond or even interpret. Every conversation should be a constant match of reactions and responses and thoughts going back and forth. It makes communication and relationships much stronger, which is something our society definitely needs.
You can be respectful without having to respect somebody
I will admit, the amount of people I fully respect I could probably count on both of my hands. However, I try to be respectful to everybody. I truly believe that everyone is equal, despite differences of opinions and beliefs and actions. The world would be a much better place if everybody respected other’s opinions (you don’t have to accept it) beliefs (you don’t have to practice it) and actions (you aren’t the one doing it.) Live your life! You don’t want anyone telling you what to do, so don’t think you have the authority to pass judgement either.
Dominique: I really liked yours “love as if you’ve never been hurt”. I know I’m guilty pf harboring resentment, and it really affects the relationships I have with everyone, not just the people who have hurt me. I guess it goes along with the letting go of things that have past and moving on. I’m always scared of the “history repeats itself” thing, but I guess I just have to accept that people are different, and some better than others.
ReplyDeleteCole: Kind of referencing to what I said to Dominique, a lot of the resentment I do hold is towards my parents. However, I know it is important that I recognize them as decent people and not as idiots or poopfaces. I can learn from them, not only from mistakes, but by looking for the good they created.
George: You said at one point “most people with money die alone” and I can’t help but find that statement to be incredibly sad. I know I’ve heard it before, but I wonder how true it is. I wonder if it has to do with who the person is, and maybe only the people who can handle all that money can’t handle people? And is it the money who made them that way, or is that just how they are as people?
1. Procrastination hurts.
ReplyDelete2. Be respectful to everyone, stranger or not.
3. Reading is power.
4. Treat others the way you want to be treated.
5. Surround yourself with friends who make you laugh.
6. Don't overwork yourself.
7. Stay in shape (Kinda dumb)
1. Procrastination controls my life. It reflects my grades and it has for several years now.
2. Mr. Olivo is constantly telling my class to be respectful to anyone we ever talk to in life. One day, that person can end up being your boss, or could get you a job. Favors are huge.
3. I've learned that the more you read, the smarter you become. I was an avid reader up until 8th grade. Every other day I'd have a new book in my hand; the upgrades in technology have changed that.
4. I first learned about this one in kindergarten when I was mean to a classmate. The teacher had said it and it didn't actually click until a few years ago. The phrase "karma" comes from this.
5. If you can make me laugh, I'll probably end up being your friend. It's not hard to make me laugh, either.
6. Taking three AP classes creates a lot of work. It takes up a large part of my day, and socialization in life is huge.
7. I'm always eating junk food, I know that one day, it's all going to catch up. So, staying and shape and playing sports is a necessity.
George: We both agree on the reading aspect of our lives. I only stick to sports articles now a days, but regardless, it helps gain knowledge.
Emily: Confidence plays a big part in our everyday lives. If we want something accomplished, confidence has to be there.
Dominique: Your 6th one was spot on for the classes we take. Not everything comes easy (though I wish it did sometimes). Work is required in our lives.
I'm sorry this is absolutely terrible. At around 7, I had started this and had finished 6/7 completed. At 11:50 I was writing my 7th one, and hit backspace and everything was gone, I was just rushing to get something down. Can't make up an excuse because I should have written it in word to start.