Cats are very cuddly. Dogs are too.That is why we are going to talk about both of these animals. Cats are very play full.The bad thing about them is that my dad is allergic to them.
Dad is not allergic to dogs that is why we have one. His name is Lucky. He is a very good dog. He stays away from porcupines but not from other animals. He loves to eat. Ashleigh
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Today I read a new book called ''Magic Tree House Viking Ships at Sunrise.'' One day Jack and Annie went to the tree house. There friend Morgan was waiting for them. She had a place for them to go.The name of the cover on their book was ''serpens Magna.''
So they went there and saw a sea serpent, Viking ship's, monk's and Viking men.When one of the monk's should Jack and Annie there home he opened the gate to let them go to the tree house. One of the monk's had what they where looking for and gave it to them then they went to the tree house.Befor they could go home they saw Viking ships. They told the monk's and they led them to there steps. Once they got all the way down they saw the Viking men. But they got back to the tree house and went home. Ashleigh This will be the last depressing quote for this week- I promise. I just wanted to write about it because it's something I contemplate a lot and I don't think I've ever actually written about... it's almost a passing thought that I've never bothered to write down before it escapes. Well, no more! I have an accurate quote to ground me, so here are my thoughts.
I definitely agree with this quote- people definitely take more pity on you or at least treat you more accordingly when they can see visually that you are in pain. It is obvious that you wouldn't hit a person with a broken arm in the arm... because you would be able to clearly see that they were hurt. Knowing this, you wouldn't want to put them in any more pain than they already are in. The same logic can apply to those who are sick- usually it's quite easy to tell if someone is sick by how they look. With mental illness, however- visual aids are often not offered. In extreme cases, yes- you may be able to tell if someone is struggling with an eating disorder, or even self harm... but the mind is not visible and the place where the suffering is most endured is invisible to everyone else but the person suffering. 350,000,000 people worldwide suffer from depression... and yet some people can try to reach out for help and be ignored. Often-times, those who suffer are belittled or labeled as "attention-seeking" when they try to reach out. Simply because there is no physical evidence of damage, mental illness is easily over-looked and under-estimated. Suicide is the 10th leading cause of death in the US currently... with over 44,000 lives per year being claimed by it. For every suicide, there are 25 people who have attempted. It's terrifying that even with the advances in medicine, technology, and psychiatric studies depression and so many other illnesses are over-looked or ignored. Don't let a lack of physical evidence stop you from making sure people are okay. Because by the time there IS physical evidence... it may be too late. - Maddie Cats are one of my favorite animles. My Dad is allergic that is why we have a dog. One time on hallowen I saw a black cat. Today I was watching some funny cat videos. They where so Funny.
Some of them where so tinny. One of them was playing with a parot. It was so funny. It went under the birds wing. I like looking at cats dogs too. Ashleigh Today I read a new book called ''Magic Tree House Day Of The Dragon King.'' One day Jack and Annie where going to the tree house. They where just starting to clim up the ladder when Morgan peeked out the window. Jack and Annie came up and Morgan had a book about China. She also gave Jack the next riddle.
Then they went to China. There they saw that a Dragon King was brning books. Jack and Annie only saved one book thouth. That is when the trubble began. But they found a toom with lots of statuesgot lost and found there way out. They Just got past the gates that where closing.They went back to the tree house went home and that was that. Ashleigh I found the above quote on tumblr, and it really resonated with me. Before I launch into my analysis of the quote, I wanted to apologize for my lack of blog posts last week. I'll try to catch up this week and not let it happen again- I just had a stressful and busy week with a lot of things going on and I didn't have the time for consistent quote-finding and writing. In any case, on to my post!
I think that everyone appreciates things they've worked hard to earn more than they appreciate things that are handed to them. For a small example, I know well that the food I buy myself when out tastes a hell of a lot better than the food I'm bought- even if it's the exact same thing. I guess you could call it the taste of independence- I know I actually did something for myself so it makes me feel better than if the exact same thing had just been handed over to me. Some people may be lazy enough to call me crazy, but I'm an advocate of hard work and earning things for yourself. In any case, I certainly think that this carries over onto a much more personal level. For those of you who don't know, I struggled with depression a year and a half ago. For about 3-4 years now, I've also been handling anxiety and learning to cope with it. I know everyone loves to say "New Year, New Me"- I am not one of those people. I have been making progress all of last year and I fully plan on continuing this progress into this year. I don't need a date to tell me it's time to change, or to tell me how far I've come. That being aside- I have fought a great deal to get to where I am today. If you've never struggled with depression, you wouldn't understand how hard it is to wake up every day and go to war with your mind... because that's essentially what you're doing. It seems impossible and even hopeless to start trying to get better. Your mind will tell you that it isn't worth it and that you'll just slide back into the abyss anyway.... but I promise you, once you make the small efforts, it makes all the difference. One person, when asked to describe depression, said the following: "You asked me how depression felt, and this is all I could come up with. It feels like I'm walking upstream through a current strong enough to pull me under four times over. There are others with me, but they are walking along the banks telling me to "just get out of the water". But instead of extending a hand in help, they just move on and leave me behind. Every once in awhile I find a rock that is strong enough for me to lean on, and I can rest for a bit. But the rocks always get tired of holding me up, and when they let go, I'm left drowning, thrown 50 ft. back again. And nothing is harder than standing up in that current when everything in you is telling you how much easier things would be if you just let yourself get dragged under." There are countless other quotes about depression that could give you accurate insight into what it's like, but it truly is a horrible thing. Recovery, for me, began in realizing that I was responsible for my own happiness. Nothing else in this world can make me happy but myself. I realized that the most dangerous thing that anyone could do was make someone or something else their happiness... because in doing so, you're giving that person/thing control over you. No one should control how you feel aside from you. Yes, others can do things to make you happy- I'm not saying that you can't derive happiness from other things. All I'm saying is that at the end of the day, when all of those superficial things fall away... you should still be able to find happiness within yourself and within the little things in life. I started taking walks outside more frequently. I started appreciating nature more. I started erasing those who caused me stress and drama from my life. I started to not care what others thought of me. I made improvements to my lifestyle that made me feel good about myself... when you first start making progress, you won't be conscious of it. It may seem like a lost cause, but when you finally start to notice the change in yourself... it makes life so much more worth it. I can soundly say that I love the person I've become. Everyone has their low days, but for the most part... I am happy. And best of all, I am happy for myself. And no one else. I have control over my happiness and I am so glad I've learned to see the brighter side of life. My best advice is to start taking time for yourself.... don't give pieces of yourself away to those who wouldn't stand by you and help you build yourself back up. "I understood myself only after I destroyed myself. And only in the process of fixing myself, did I know who I really was." - Maddie "Happiness comes from your own actions." That is a quote inspired by the Dalai Lama. I say inspired because the original quote was a bit longer. I shortened it a bit to say what I wanted it to say. The actual quote was, "Happiness is not something ready made. It comes from your own actions." I guess you can say that it made me happy to cut it down a little bit!
All kidding aside, I think you can tell which people make their own happiness, and which ones wait fro others to make them happy. It comes out in their attitudes. I know one lady who meets everyone with a smile and is constantly doing things. She doesn't wait for people to come over and make her happy. She goes out and meets them! I will not say who this woman is, but since I have known her she has been continuously involved with at least three to four social activities that I know of, and has travelled regularly. Not just in the states either. In sum, she knows what makes her happy and she pursues it! Meanwhile, I have met others who do nothing but create drama and make others miserable in their own unique way. Let me ask you, "Who would you rather be around? The person that is happy and does things to make themself happy, or someone that makes others miserable?" Hands down, I know my answer! So, how do you make yourself happy? That is totally up to you. Avoiding stress and being around other people that are happy are good starts. For me, I like to look for the little things that make me happy each day and pile them up one after the other. Morning hugs from my daughters, coffee, eggs, a good workout, the beautiful scenery in my area, joking with friends, and doing fun things with my daughters are ways that I stay happy each day. Hikes, canoe trips, and picture-taking trips are also high on my list. In the end, don't rely on your friends to make you happy. Instead, set up each day so that the only one responsible for making you happy is you. I do a lot of cool tricks with my Skateboard. I already know how to move except for on wood. That, I am still working on. I know how to turn as well. Sometimes I do it wrong, and the board flies away from me when I jump off.
My skateboard is blue and has a starry pattern on it. It is blue and black and looks like the universe. The wheels are blue also. I love playing with my skateboard. Ashleigh Today I read a new book called ''Polar Bears Past Bed Time.'' One night an owl kept hooting and waking Jack up. He told Annie about the owl and once she saw it, the owl flew away. They followed it to the tree house because they thought that Morgan was there. They were right! Morgan showed them a book about the Arctic.
She sent them there to answer a riddle. It said ''I cover what's real and hide what's true But somtimes I bring out the courage in you. What am I? They went to the artic, and saw a seal hunter, a bear, a scientific station, and a dog sled. The seal hunter let Jack and Annie ride his sled to an igloo. Annie found bear cubs, and before they knew it they were playing. They played until they got on thin ice and that is where they met the mother bear. She came to get her babies and she made a crack in the ice. She lay on her belly, and slid to get her babies. It worked! Jack and Annie tried it. It worked as well. When they got back on the snow the seal hunter found them and before they asked him to take them back to the tree house they found out the riddle was a mask.Then the seal hunter took them back to the tree house. When they got there they climbed the ladder and went home. Ashleigh "You must be the change that you wish to see in the world." That is a quote by Mahatma Gandhi. It's a nice thought, but not really realistic. For example, I would like the world to change so that there are no wars. All of my life, I have not become a soldier, have not supported any of the war efforts and certainly haven't clamored for war, and yet, there is war, In fact, the only thing that has kept me from getting caught up in a war is the luck of having been born in North America, which has basically been war free over the past 100 years or so. In fact, to get to a war zone, I would actually have to travel to another continent.
On a very personal level, I guess his phrase could be true in some instances. Dieting comes to mind. Looking for a new job... that sort of thing. But certainly not anything that involves the world at large. So how do we affect change in the world around us? I think it is by realizing that nothing happens on a worldwide scale instantaneously. Little by little, things can change. It may take decades, however! Think, if each person who truly wants peace teaches their children that peace does not mean war elsewhere, and encourages them to not choose the military as an option, at some point the idea may gain traction. Instead of glorifying war through movies and books and dehumanizing our political enemies, we should show our children the true costs of war. Show them the children who have lost their fathers. The men and women who have lost limbs or their mental stability. Introduce them to people who are different than they are. Allow them to experience new cultures by meeting recent immigrants. Change on a global scale is slow, but it can be accomplished And, in the end, it does really start with the individual. So, was Gandhi wrong when he said that you must be the change you want to see in the world? No, he was correct. He just failed to mention that the change you want to see just may not happen during your lifetime. Today was not a good day. I only got two-and-a-half math sections done. After dinner, I had to do my reading and writing as well. Nothing else. This happens to me sometimes. One time, I played too much Dragon City, and did not get my work done. Daddy took it away for a week.
But I have it back now, and I am very happy. After that, Daddy told me that I have to go to bed at 10:00PM and wake up at 8:30AM, so that I get my work done earlier in the day. I'm really going to try. It did not work so well today, though! Ashleigh "Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance." That's a quote by George Bernard Shaw. I have written about George before, so I won't bore you with a paragraph about who he is. If you don't know who he is, a quick google of his name will give you more info on him than I would have wrote here anyway.
I have thought about this quote for quite a bit, and all I will say is that it is correct more than its wrong. If you don't know something, it can hurt you. You may not know that it is hurting you, but it ultimately can. Even so, false knowledge is worse because you fully believe that it is correct and actively work towards using that knowledge for your own benefit. That is where the problem lies. Because the knowledge is false, you do not realize that you are working your way closer and closer to a fall, and putting more and more of your time and effort into a losing proposition. I find that when I am uncertain about something, I go more slowly and look for pitfalls. Meanwhile, when I believe I know how to do something correctly, I work more quickly and more or less just look for the positive outcome. This is probably a poor example, but think about driving your car down the roadway. The road may be wet, but has not turned icy where you are, so you expect that it will also not be icy ahead. The air just isn't cold enough to make or icy spots, you believe. Meanwhile, up ahead, the road goes up in elevation and the roadway crosses a short bridge over a small stream or river. The wind has been blowing water up onto the roadway slowly and the wind is passing both over and under the roadway. Black ice develops, and all of a sudden your knowledge of a wet but not icy road is incorrect. Your speed, which was fine on the wet but warm roadway is now much too fast to be safe. With any luck, you will make it over the black ice without losing control. Unfortunately, not everyone knows how to react to a slippery roadway. Think about the massive pile ups you see on TV about the people who live in the south when it gets below freezing down there. It doesn't happen often, so they are not used to driving in slippery conditions. Then bang! All of a sudden they are seeing thirty-car pile ups. Their lack of experience on an icy roadway leads to property damage and injuries. Now that I think of it, this is likely an example of both false knowledge and ignorance! A better example might be when a boy who gets an "A" on a test in an earlier class, gives his answer to his friend who is taking the class later in the day. Since he has what he believes are the right answers, he doesn't bother to do any last minute studying. Meanwhile, the teacher has also changed the order of the questions on the test so that the boys answers are no longer valid. Without the friends help, the boy might have passed the test. Instead, he relies on his friend's answers and fails the test. His false knowledge of his friend's good result, and list of correct answers ended up being worse for him, than if he jut relied on his own answers. His ignorance may have been enough to get him a passing grade. Meanwhile, his false knowledge led to his failure. At any rate, I guess the moral of this story is to always do your best to verify the knowledge you are given, and always be open to learning. Ignorance is not bliss, and knowledge that is assumed rather than investigated can be dangerous. Use your brains and do your best to verify the knowledge you are given. |
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