This is a quote my dad used in a post earlier today- and I have an entirely different interpretation of it than he did. In my opinion, the world constantly tells us who we are supposed to be. Without the world guiding us, no one would have a true sense of identity... confused? Allow me to explain in a bit more thorough detail.
From the day we are born, our parents start sculpting us to their beliefs and preferences. Who we are depends entirely upon the culture we grow up in and the heritage we are born into... hence the differing of cultures around the world. This being the case, "the world" decides who we are going to be from the day of our birth. When we are born, we're too young to have our own sense of identity, and because of this we are given one by those who raise us. This being the case... the only way we can truly break free from the identity given to us by the world is by changing aspects of our lives as we grow older, and learning things for ourselves. It's not so much remembering who you were before the world took hold of you, but who you become as you break free from the chains the world puts on you. My dad constantly tells me that he wants better for me than he had at my age. He also tells me that he took what he liked from how his parents raised him and used it to raise me, while discarding what he disagreed with. He's told me countless times to do the same when I raise children of my own. This, this is how things progress. How generations move forward, and how things change. Slowly making little changes here and there to find new ways to form better human beings. As for me? I'm trying to become more than what the world gave me. I'm trying to make the best of what I have, even if it's not as much as others have... and I encourage you to do the same. - Maddie
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One day I wanted to help my Dad. I helped him fix the car, I helped him draw, and I helped him set the table. After all of that I helped him get into bed because he was tired. Then we went to the car and drove to a store. I helped him get stuff.
When we got back I helped Daddy get out of the car. I helped him with his blog. Then I helped him make dinner. I helped him get into bed again. Oh, and by the way, this is just a story. Ashleigh “Can you remember who you were, before the world told you who you should be?” That's a quote by Charles Bukowski. I thought of it when I saw the picture of the sculpture that was at one of the Burning Man festivals. Although the quote isn't an exact match for the image, it is what I thought of.
Bukowski, by the way, was an American author and poet. He had a long career, and had a lot of his poetry published during his lifetime. I can't point to any one work that he is best known for. I guess Post Office would be it though. Meanwhile, the sculpture is by Aleksandr Milov from the Ukraine. At least that is what the picture credit says... that might be the photographer for all I know. Either way, I think the sculpture is very expressive. When I was young, I looked at things as a child. All my thoughts and dreams were idylic. I saw the good without the bad, and the how of a matter never entered my mind. Imagining my future as a house with a white picket fence, a beautiful wife greeting me at the door and a huge smile on my face, wasn't too far from how I was picturing my future. As I grew, the picture expanded to include a job I actually enjoyed and a train ride daily that was pleasant and allowed me to look at beautiful scenery. It didn't phase me that the scenery outside the train window was already bleak, and that I would later be riding right by that same scenery. My mind never made the leap. As I got older, the reality of life started to sink in. I had a nice house, but I had to work hard and spend lots to get it how I wanted. I had a beautiful wife, but she had problems that affected our relationship. To say that my life wasn't going exactly as planned was an understatement. I remembered who I was before the world changed me, though, and began to make changes to make myself become whole. We moved to another nice house in a beautiful state. My wife continued to try and battle her demons. When I stepped outside the house, I had the beauty that I always dreamed of. For a few minutes each day, I had the dream! A lot happened in the next eight years that changed my life forever. A divorce, a failed business, and my wife's early demise all hammered at me. Meanwhile, my daughters and I were making do and slowly recovering from the negatives. My life is slowly merging back towards who I was. I now remember who I was, and I am working my way back towards him. My honor is intact, and I am doing my best to be who I need to be. The world will just have to accept me for who I am. So who am I? I am a loving father for my daughters. I am a martial artist. I am a thinker, and a lover of beauty. Time is a precious gift, and I am looking to give my time to my daughters. What I write on this blog is for them. Hopefully, they can learn something from my thoughts, and never forget who they are, or what they want to be. Stay true to yourselves, and you will be happier. Today I read a new book called ''Magic Tree: House Night Of The Ninjas. One day, Jack and Annie went to the tree house. They found a mouse and a new book about Ninjas. They went there and saw two Ninjas. They where nice.
They helped them get acrose cold water. They din't say anything. In a little time, Jack and Annie started to like them.They took them to their hide out.They saw a Ninja master. He said'' Be nature, use nature, and follow nature.'' Then he disappeared into the mist. When they were trying to get home, they saw a Samurai. They dashed to the tree house and went home with the little mouse. Ashleigh "Turn your face toward the sun, and the shadows will fall behind you." This is a Maori proverb about staying optimistic. I think Rihanna may have used it in one of her songs as well, but I think it was a proverb long before she sang about it.
Evil is said to lurk in the shadows, and many people seem to have a superstitious dread of them. As the proverb says, if you are facing the sun, you will never see the shadows. They are still there, you just won't see them. I don't think optimists are not aware of the problems around them. Instead, I think they just choose to focus on the positives that surround them. Oftentimes, by focusing on the positives in any situation, you can sometimes find the solution for the negatives. I guess the easiest way to explain it is thatt if you are constantly looking at why something won't work, you are less likely to see how it can work. For me, I like to look at both. Any time I see something that isn't working for me, I try to look for the solution, instead of complaining about the problem. If the solution I choose doesn't work, I then try to find out if it needs modifying or if I need to scrap it altogether. All said, I think looking towards the sun is a great way to say stay optimistic. Life can be beautiful. If you are always focused on the sad or the bad, it makes it very hard to see the good. Step out into the light and let the shadows fall behind you. When it snows I make snow men. I made one and her name was Lilly. I put leaves for the eyes, mouth, and nose. I made the body, and the head with out the dog destroying it. My Grandma also helped me with the snow men.
The next thing I do is I make snow angels to keep the snow men company. I was then throwing snow bolls at the dog. He was choowing them up. I was having a good time. Then I went in and had hot chocolate. Ashleigh “You are not stuck where you are unless you decide to be.” That's a quote by Dr. Wayne Dyer. I think this self-help guru was absolutely right about this one!
I here so many people say they hate their job or they hate the area where they live. I tell them, "then find a new job." or "Then move!" Well, you wouldn't believe the responses I get to that. Well, I wouldn't make as much money somewhere else... or all of my family is around here. Well, then don't complain! If you are not happy where you are or in what you are doing, then it is up to you to change it. So many people are afraid of moving away from what they know... or move out of their comfort zones. I know, because it happens to me too. We get comfortable, and even though we know in our hearts that there is a better way or a better place for us, we get comfortable with the status quo and get afraid to try. In the past, I have run my own business. I loved being my own boss, but circumstances changed in my life, and I went back to a corporate job to make my life easier and to get a consistent paycheck. Even so, not a day goes by where I don't either look for a new business to start. I know that for me to be happy, I need to be running my life... not just in the hours between 5:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m., but all the time. If you are not happy with something in your life, then you need to make a decision and act on it. Everything does not have to change in a day, but you do need to take at least a small step in that direction each and every day. Life is short. Don't be miserable because you are too afraid to take action. Remember, not taking action is an action in and of itself. It is a negative action, though. Tomorrow, take a step back and look at where you are in your life. Try to find the areas where you are not happy and then take steps to change them. Even little steps involving just looking for alternatives to the things that make you unhappy, will make you feel a bit better. Look for opportunities that will lead to your long-term happiness, and then take actions to make those opportunities a reality. Rome wasn't built in a day! But remember, Rome never would have been built at all if someone hadn't taken those original steps necessary to begin it. Be happy. And take the steps necessary to become happier One night, Maddie was taking me for a walk just before dinner. We were just turning around when I saw a baloon tied to a basket on a tree. I went to get it loose, but I fell into it. Maddie didn't notice. When the sun was just going down, the rope snapped.
Up I went. The baloon went all the way up to the moon! As soon as the baloon popped, I jumped on the moon. I saw a lot of shooting stars. I missed my house, though. I also mised everyone and everything that I knew. I missed my sister, my Grandma and my Dad. I also missed my dog. It was getting dark, so I bounced on the stars until I got back to land, and then I walked home. Ashleigh Today, I heard someone say that they "didn't have the patience" for something. I'm not a fan of people saying that, particularly when they haven't done too much and they're directing the statement at someone who just spent a good portion of their day cleaning a mess that wasn't even theirs- but I digress. I'm not really in the mood to do much writing, so I apologize for the collection of quotes again. I promise, I'll be back to writing full-fledged posts next week. In any case, here are a handful of quotes about patience that I really appreciate, particularly after today.
"Without patience, we will learn less in life. We will see less. We will feel less. We will hear less. Ironically, rush and more usually mean less." "Patience is not the ability to wait, but how you act while you're waiting." "Two things define you: your patience when you have nothing; and your attitude when you have everything." "Patience is a form of wisdom. It demonstrates that we understand and accept the fact that sometimes things must unfold in their own time." "Patience is the calm acceptance that things can happen in a different order than the one you had in mind." Today I read a new book called ''Magic Tree House: Pirates Past Noon.'' One rainy day Jack and Annie were bored.They went to the tree house and found a book about Pirates. They magically travelled to a time when there were pirates and saw a pirate ship. The pirate ship was filled with pirates.
When Jack and Annie got closer to the pirates, the pirates chased them and they started to run. When the pirates had them on the ship, Jack and Annie knew what they wanted. When they told the captain that a treasure was under a rock the pirates went to go get it. When they found it, the sky started to get darker. Two of the pirates ran away because they were afraid. The Captain ran after them, got in the boat and rowed to the ship. When Jack and Annie went home they met the M person. Ashleigh "Wisdom comes from paying attention to wise people." That's a quote by Yamamoto Tsunetomo. Tsunetomo was a samurai in the late 1600's and early 1700's. I somewhat disagree with this statement. To me, wisdom comes from experience. While you can learn a lot from paying attention to wise people, these people also had to learn.
Pay attention to everything, but especially wise people, would seem to be a better quote to me. There is so much you can learn every day, if you just open yourself to it. Everyone has something that they can teach you. Whether it is how to act or how not to act in any given situation, you can definitely learn something. One thing that I like to do, but don't get a chance to do a lot, is to have conversations with older people that I don't know to see what makes them tick. I have learned so many life lessons in that way in the past! You would be amazed at the range of topics that will come up, if you just open yourself to listening to other people and ask open-ended questions. Reading is also a great way to learn and gain wisdom. Take old Yamamoto here, for instance. I originally saw only the one quote by him, but in knowing that he was a samurai, I looked him up and found that he had written an entire book of his thoughts on the warrior code... or bushido as we call it now. His book was: Hagakure: "The Book Of The Samurai" Below are some other quotes from that book. What I learned from looking at that book is that Tsunetomo was likely a bit of a psychopath! Below are some of his wiser sayings... I have left out the ones that lament about how men no longer want to behead prisoners with their hands tied behind their backs! Oy! "There is certainly nothing more important in life than what we do at the present moment. A person’s entire life consists of nothing more than one moment piled on top of another, over and over again. Once enlightened to this, the warrior has nothing else to worry about, because he realizes that he has only to live in the present moment with the utmost intensity." "A man’s life is only a vapor that vanishes in an instant. One should spend his life doing that which he enjoys. As short as life is, it is foolish to spend it doing only the things one hates." "The secret to a happy marriage is this: Treat your spouse all of your life as you did when you first met and there will never be room for discord." All said, I agree with the last two quotes wholeheartedly. For the record, after Tsunetomo actually gave up being a samurai after his original Lord died. He did not like the man who took over, and instead of serving someone he did not agree with, he went into the mountains and became a monk. His book was written by another samurai who went into the mountains to find him and learn from him. Learn wisdom from wise people, but also read and learn from the words of wise people who you have not met. Everyone has something that they can teach you. Just be open to the lessons you can learn. Some things are more precious because they don't last long... this is a quote that some of you may recognize if you read my last blog post. It comes from the book The Picture of Dorian Gray (a great book, if you haven't read it) and I'd like to talk about it for a little bit in this post. My dad commented on how I seldom give my thoughts on quotes anymore- but that in and of itself is a post for another day. Today, I'd rather appease him and give my thoughts on this quote; since it did spark a chain of thoughts in my head.
My response to this quote is- what of the things we think will last? I don't think this quote is incorrect in the message that it is trying to deliver, but I do think that it is lacking. Sometimes, we don't know if something is important until it has happened, or until it is too late. We don't know when things are precious, oftentimes until it's too late and the appreciation is lost in sorrow and regret. I know that the quote doesn't state that the person knows the moment won't last long- but I'm taking it that way because I don't think that looking back on the past... you can make a moment precious. If a moment is precious, it is because it is so in the moment. You can't recreate and redesign moments to your own liking once they've happened, you can only wistfully look back and APPRECIATE what once was. Perhaps that in and of itself is precious... but not the memory itself. A good example of this is my mother. I don't think any of us truly expected her to die at such a young age, despite her illness. Looking back on my memories with her? None of them are any more precious because of her death. If anything, remembering is more painful for me than anything else... what I'm trying to say is that the one way to combat regret for lost time is to live in the moment. Be happy with each day as it comes. Stop regretting what you can't change about the past and worrying about the possibilities that tomorrow holds- it isn't here yet, and you can handle it as it comes. It'll spare you a lot of lost appreciation for life- I promise. - Maddie The first thing I like to do in the morning is eat breafast. Then I like to play for a half hour. Then I do my daily school work Reading, Math, and Printing. I color in my favorite coloring book. Then I do Hidden Pictures in Highlights magazine.
On a Saturday morning I play with my iPad while I eat. Then a little later I go to the movies with my Dad. We get some popcorn and candy on the way. Later on when we come home from the movies I play Dragon City. Oh, I love that game! On Sunday Morning Neema gets me up early and gets me dressed for church. Then I eat breakast. We go to church in Jaffrey. The name of the church is: Saint Patricks. Sometimes in the afternoon I go walking the trails with Daddy, and Maddie. When I get home I am very tired. I like to relax by watching a movie. We have an early dinner. Then I take a shower and go to bed early. Ashleigh Growing up homeschooled, I found myself subjected to plenty of book reports and creative writing assignments from my dad. Of these assignments, one I remember in particular was my assignment for the book The Picture Of Dorian Gray. I had to write a story that reflected it and was similar to it, yet different. It was extremely fun for me and I enjoyed both writing the story and reading the book. If you haven't read the book- I highly recommend it. It's a classic and a great story, if you can find the one lying beneath it.
Hell, even if you have read the book before, now may be a good time to revisit it. I always find that I can pull new things from books each time I read them, so maybe you'll gain a new interpretation in doing so. In any case, here are a few of my favorite quotes from that book. “The books that the world calls immoral are books that show the world its own shame.” “Experience is merely the name men gave to their mistakes.” “Those who find ugly meanings in beautiful things are corrupt without being charming. This is a fault. Those who find beautiful meanings in beautiful things are the cultivated. For these there is hope. They are the elect to whom beautiful things mean only Beauty. There is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book. Books are well written, or badly written. That is all.” “To define is to limit.” “Nowadays people know the price of everything and the value of nothing.” “Behind every exquisite thing that existed, there was something tragic.” “When one is in love, one always begins by deceiving one's self, and one always ends by deceiving others. That is what the world calls a romance.” “Children begin by loving their parents; as they grow older they judge them; sometimes they forgive them.” “Nowadays most people die of a sort of creeping common sense, and discover when it is too late that the only things one never regrets are one's mistakes.” “Nothing can cure the soul but the senses, just as nothing can cure the senses but the soul.” “Some things are more precious because they don't last long.” Dragon city is fun to play. I have 2 Sea Dragons, 3 Flaming Rock Dragons, 1Coral Dragon, 2 Volcano Dragons, 3 Terra Dragons, 2 Storm Dragons, and a lot more.They all come in colers and in eggs.Some times you need to breed with other dragons. Some times you need to buy them.
Those are the only ways to get Dragons. You can also get gold and gems. You need to feed your Dragons a lot. O and by the way, I only have nine kinds of Dragons. I like to play Dragon City. Ashleigh Today I read a new book called ''Magic Tree House The Knight at Dawn.'' One night Jack could not sleep. Annie could not sleep either. They went to the tree house, and brought a flash light. They found a book about castles.
Annie opened it. She wished that she could see a castle. Jack said No! Too late! The tree house already was starting to spin. When they looked out of the tree house window, they saw fog, a knight, and a castle. Annie went down the rope ladder first. Jack didn't want too. Annie went by herself. Finally, jack went down to look for Annie. Inside the castle, he heard music. He saw the knight's black horse outside the castle,, and also Annie. He kept on walking and he bomped right in to Annie. One of the guards saw them. Jack found a secret passage, and it led to a door. They opened it. Jack went first, and it went right to the water. Once they got on land, the knight gave them a ride to the tree house. They travelled home and they went right to bed. Ashleigh "Nobody really cares if you're miserable, so you might as well be happy." That's a quote by Cynthia Nelms. Cynthia is an artist that lives out in Iowa. I checked out her website before writing this, and she had some nice works. Her website asked not to reproduce any of her works unless you get written consent. Since it is well past midnight at the moment, I decided to just not use one of her paintings as my opening pic since I would hate to wake her up.
To get back to her quote, I have mixed feelings about it. I think some people really do care if you are miserable... just not most people. Most people really won't care. They will say, oh, that's too bad, or well I hope you feel better, but that's about it. Those people, who likely make up 99.9% of the entire planet, do not love you. They may like you, or pretend to. Or they may not like or dislike you. They just have no vested interest in you. In other words, they don't love you. To me, that last 0.000000001% of the population are the ones that matter. They are the people who truly love you. It might be your Mom or Dad. It could be your husband or wife. Hell, it might be you brother, sister, son, daughter or just a good friend. THOSE people are the ones who really love you. Now, with that as my qualifying statement. Those other people really don't care if you are miserable. You will see nothing but superficial sympathy from them. Not that it matters. Being happy has nothing to do with other people. It has to do with you. People will be happy to see you happy. You see, people like to be around happy people, because the feeling can be infectuous. I know I seem to smile more when I am around happy people, and I am sure that holds true for others as well. Look for the little things in life to make you happy. I go out of my way to look for things that make me happy. A good cup of coffee. An occasional pizza (can you tell that I am hungry?), a beautiful view. All of these things make me happy. I like to learn new things and see nature in its glory... Or sit with a warm blanket around me on a cold winter's day. Happiness does not have to be a new car or a promotion at work. It can be as simple as a flower in a field. Another way that I like to get happy is to make others happy. The gesture doesn't have to be grand. It just has to be genuine. I like to surprise my mother with a cup of coffee for instance. Every once in a while I will make her a fresh cup and bring it to her. It makes her happy, and thus it makes me a bit happier as well. Same thing with my daughter Maddie. Once a night, around 11:00, we go out for a ride to get coffee at McDonald's. Some days, I don't even get myself a coffee. I just know she likes tyo have one and I usually enjoy our conversations in the car, so off we go! With Ashleigh, I'll watch a movie or play ball or computer games. We have played dolls, built things with legos, and have had tea parties as well. She enjoys it, and so do I. Although we can't always be happy, we can always try to be. I can tell you from experience that being miserable sucks! What do you call a witch that lives on the beach? A sandwitch. How do bears keep cool in the heat of summer? Bear conditioning! What do you call a ghost that picks on other ghosts? A boo-lly. What do you call a bear that cries a lot? Winnie the Boo-hoo. What do ants use for a hula hoop? Fruit Loops.
Which fish goes best with peanut butter? A jellyfish. What did the bee say to the flower? Hellow honey. What did the beach say when the tide finally came in? Long time no sea. Where do fish sleep? In water beds. What do you call a cat that swims in the ocean? An octo-pus. Why did the two fish get married? Because they were hooking on to each other. What do beavers eat for breakfast? Oakmeal! Why did the monster eat a lamp? He wanted a light snack.What do ghosts eat for dinner? Spook-etti.What did one egg say to the other egg? "Better get cracking!'' Ashleigh I was scanning the bookshelves in my library, looking for some inspiration for today's post- and I found some. I spotted a book by Ayn Rand, and it took me back to my day of book report writing for my dad. I remember reading 'Atlas Shrugged' awhile back and while it was not my favorite book, it wa beneficial to my schooling. In honor of that, here are some of the best quotes from Ayn Rand that I've found.
“The question isn't who is going to let me; it's who is going to stop me.” “If you don't know, the thing to do is not to get scared, but to learn.” “Learn to value yourself, which means: fight for your happiness.” “Freedom (n.): To ask nothing. To expect nothing. To depend on nothing.” “A creative man is motivated by the desire to achieve, not by the desire to beat others.” “To say "I love you" one must know first how to say the "I".” “Why do they always teach us that it's easy and evil to do what we want and that we need discipline to restrain ourselves? It's the hardest thing in the world--to do what we want. And it takes the greatest kind of courage. I mean, what we really want.” “The smallest minority on earth is the individual. Those who deny individual rights cannot claim to be defenders of minorities.” “The man who does not value himself, cannot value anything or anyone.” “Have you felt it too? Have you seen how your best friends love everything about you- except the things that count? And your most important is nothing to them; nothing, not even a sound they can recognize.” “Contradictions do not exist. Whenever you think that you are facing a contradiction, check your premises. You will find that one of them is wrong.” “My happiness is not the means to any end. It is the end. It is its own goal. It is its own purpose.” “The truth is not for all men but only for those who seek it.” “Never think of pain or danger or enemies a moment longer than is necessary to fight them.” “I regret nothing. There have been things I missed, but I ask no questions, because I have loved it, such as it has been, even the moments of emptiness, even the unanswered-and that I loved it, that is the unanswered in my life.” I like a lot of animals. I like horses, cats, leopards, dogs, ducks, deer, dolphins, sheep, and bunnies.
I like a lot of foods too. I like fruit, cheese, eggless omlet, gum, lemons, and pasta. My favorite toys are: Rose, Snow, Goggles, Fluffy, Sequin, Pinkie pie, and Princess Minnie. My favorite color is pink. My favorite movie is Tom, and Jerry. Finally my favorite zoo animal is a Zebra. Ashleigh |
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