I've written previously about relationships between parent and child, but I'd like to re-clarify some of my thoughts again today because of some of what I've been recently experiencing in my life through friends and acquaintances alike. Currently, I'm 16- an age rooted in parental conflict and disrupt for people within my age demographic, so it seems. Personally, I have a stellar relationship with my dad that I discuss frequently on this blog and see no need to delve into again here. The bottom line is that he's one of my best friends and most trusted confidants for anything and everything.
To get to my point, I hear a lot of people walking around complaining about nonsensical and petty issues surrounding them and their parents. In previous posts, I've been quick to say that parent-child relationships are two way streets that need effort from both sides, and I've already touched on parents not having enough time (or enough care) to get to know their child, let alone properly guiding and raising their child(ren). Recently, I've been re-thinking these posts and wondering if I may have been a bit too rash and jaded in my opinions. While I do know quite a few parents who don't fit the bill when it comes to proper childcare, I also know a lot of people who are close to my age who would sooner run away from home than sit down at a table and talk to their parents. I don't understand the grudge that some people show their parents... particularly when they have caring parents who just want to help!!! Everyone has points in their life where they wish their parents would back down and leave them alone, and I understand that... but when I have to consistently hear about issues that border on the line of irrelevant with innocent parents put to blame, I can't help but wonder when those points begin to fade from sight. As someone who lost a parent at a young age, hearing people complain about petty issues really shuts me down. Sometimes, I wish that I had a mom to nag me about not making my bed, or folding my laundry, or washing my dishes... I wish I had a mom to tell me my makeup was a bit too heavy for my age, or that a certain outfit didn't look right on me. When these are the issues you choose to complain about, it's time to re-evaluate. Most of what our parents do for us, they do to guide us. Most parents (or at least, most good parents) want the best for their children- and that means better than they could ever do. In order to help their kids achieve this level of "better", your parents are going to teach you to do chores, and they'll expect to see some sort of output from you. Laundry is a necessary skill to have in life. So is knowing how to cook a proper meal (and clean dishes, for that matter). So is knowing how to keep a house tidy. So is knowing how to maintain personal hygiene. So is knowing how to dress appropriately... both for situations, and your body type. The list goes on, but those are some basic things that I hear many people my age complain about. I'm not saying that I've never grumbled about vacuuming or folding a load of laundry- but I certainly don't do it on a daily basis, and I DEFINITELY would never let anything so pathetically stupid impede on the strong relationship I have with my dad. At the end of the day, everything within your life is a reflection of a choice you made. If you want to see a different result, make a different choice... even if that choice means trying to help out around the house without being told 5 times first, even if that choice is accepting an apology you never received, even if that choice means that you need to stifle your pride, and accept your responsibilities. - Maddie
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Holy crap, guys! When I talk about life speeding up as you get older... I'm not kidding. It's been about two weeks since I've had time to sit and do some writing (possibly more, but let's not discuss that) and life has been keeping me busy as sin. I started driver's ed about a week and a half ago, and the homework, classwork, and driving time from that has been keeping me quite occupied. When I'm not busy with driver's ed, I'm wrestling with my schoolwork and trying to keep all of my instructors satisfied. So far, my lowest grade is a 96 or 97- so I think I'm keeping track of that decently. At this rate, I'm more concerned with speeding up my pace. I'm going to have a very busy December, since everything should slow up a bit then. I'll finish driver's ed, but I'll also earn my Sensei title and won't have to worry about keeping dojo hours up as much.
This week, I'm aiming to catch up on some of my schoolwork that I missed doing last week. There was a power/internet outage due to a heavy rainstorm that took down wires all throughout my town for 3 or 4 days, and that affected my work-flow since my dad and I both had to travel a town over to use library wifi. To my credit, I did write a 3-page essay for my Biology class that I scored a 100% on... so there's something to be said about changing your environment around if you have the opportunity to when you work. I think that if I was less stressed about the internet/power situation, I would've been able to accomplish even more while at the library. It's a comfortable (and mostly quiet) environment that I wouldn't mind working in again. That aside, today I was able to have some much-needed "me time". Funny words from a 16 year old, right? My hair has been needing a trim for awhile now, as the ends were damaged from the bleaching I did last year to achieve my blue and purple hair. Since the girl who does my nails for me is also a hairdresser, I booked the two appointments for the same day and ended up at the salon from 12:00pm until about 2:15. My hair is now trimmed with no more split ends and dead tips, and my nails got patched up and re-done with a beautiful red color (pictured below). While my nails were being painted, Shelby (the nail tech) and I ended up talking about different methods of brow-care- and I found out that she could wax my brows, too. After a 30 minute pep-talk, she was able to convince me and I decided that I'd give waxing a try. Keep in mind, I've been told horror stories about waxing before. Some of my friends have incredibly low pain tolerance, so they had warned me against doing it because it was apparently excruciatingly painful. I tend to have a high pain tolerance, so I didn't think the experience would be unbearable... and it wasn't. I'd compare it to ripping a bandaid off of your arm. The pain was barely there, and a cooling gel got applied after the fact to soothe my skin a little. For the small, tiny amount of pain that there was, my brows are now tidy and look better than they ever have. The small under-hairs have always really bothered me, so looking at myself in the mirror and having them absent is truly refreshing to me. I got home about an hour or so ago, and wound up using one of my charcoal face masks with my little sister to completely freshen my skin up. I don't use them often- maybe once a month, so it was nice to steam my face and then let the mask soften my skin. I use a bubble mask, which puffs up and washes away easily without any pain. My sister likes it because it tickles as it works and doesn't peel off like most of my other masks do. I must say, it does painlessly have the same effect as the masks that cling into your pores. My skin is now baby soft, and an additional bonus is that I got to spend time with my sister making a late lunch and talking while our masks dried. Once everything was washed off and lunch was finished, Ashleigh went back to do her schoolwork and I came upstairs to write this post... and there really isn't much more to this update than that! I'm sure my sister's writing about various subjects has been keeping you at least mildly entertained while my dad and I are caught up with life and absent from the blog. I'm going to be trying for at least 2 posts a week from here on out. Writing on a daily basis is refreshing- but currently hard to maintain for me as I come closer to some large milestones in my life. Thank you for bearing with me during this time. - Maddie P.S. - My nails are done by Shelby Racine at the Added Touch Salon in Rindge, NH. She's one of the nicest and most bubbly people I know, and she does INCREDIBLE nail art. I strongly recommend her if you're in the area :) This quote comes from the poet and author Atticus Finch (who I'd honestly love to do a quote collection post about), and I found it while looking through quotes to post underneath one of my Instagram photos. While the quote seems to be in a descriptive form of someone, I like the metaphor it aims to convey- that metaphor being that while you may have a fear of moving forward in life or making big decisions that can affect your life, it can be just as scary (if not scarier) to perpetually stay still and not move forward in life.
If you've read this blog before, you likely know that life progression is something often discussed by my dad and I. My dad endorses people setting goals and striving to reach them, while I tend to encourage people to never stop learning and choosing to learn. In any case, I like this quote because of its similarity to our own message of not being afraid to make a change in your life to strive for something you've wanted. While I'm still young to make big decisions and take chances that'll drastically affect my future, I can certainly say that I hate "staying still" or not progressing forward in my life. I'm constantly moving and constantly changing- just not in a way that'll change my near future too greatly. Obviously, my choices and changes will amount to who I am in the long run, but it's not necessarily a near-term change. Recent changes I've made to my life include a smaller friend circle, higher work-load, and more time spent volunteering at my karate school. I wasn't happy with the drama and negativity in my life, or really the people I was spending time with... so I made the change and cut back my circle of friends to people who I love and am comfortable being myself with. I'm aiming to achieve an Associate's Degree when I graduate in 2019, so obviously, my workload needed to be raised. This was a necessary change that will end up eventually shaping my future, but I sincerely believe it's for the better. Finally, I'll be testing for my Sensei title in December- a huge step for me in my karate life and something I've wanted for a long time. The extra time spent in the dojo is not only necessary for my title, but also something I love doing- while I still get a little flustered in front of large classes, I love being able to help people one-on-one and I enjoy teaching people new things that'll help their form or technique. These choices and changes are big for me, right now. In 10 years, will it matter if I cut back my friend circle? Well, maybe. Who I choose to associate myself with could have a huge impact on who I become in life. Adding extra time to focus on my education is also vital to where I'll be in 10 years... and finally, acquiring that sensei title is something that will never expire or fade away for me. While the choices I make now may pale in comparison to the choices I might make as an adult, they are in no way any less important because they are stones in the path leading to my adulthood. I am not afraid of heights... and I'm already beginning to fly. It's never too early (or too late) to make a choice, make a change, that can affect your future for the better. - Maddie Surprisingly, I don't think I've covered any quotes by Janis Joplin yet! I say "surprisingly" because she's among one of my favorite older artists to listen to, and in my opinion she was a phenomenal singer who died well before her time. I've decided to post this quote collection to top off my posts for the week- I'm tired and I need sleep, but I'm also dedicating this post to my dad and his recent artwork purchase. I'm sure there will be a proper post showing off the painting when it arrives, but in short, my dad found a talented foreign artist who does psychedelic paintings and he ordered a painting of Janis Joplin (among others). This inspired me to go hunting for quotes, and what follows are the quotes that I found and liked.
"Don't compromise yourself. You're all you've got." "You are what you settle for. You are only as much as you settle for." "You can destroy your now, worrying about tomorrow." "Being an intellectual creates a lot of questions and no answers. You can fill your life up with ideas and still go home lonely. All you really have that really matters are feelings. That's what music is to me.” "We don't forgive people because they deserve it. We forgive them because they need it- because we need it. We all need it." "I always wanted to be an artist, whatever that was. Like other chicks wanted to be stewardesses. I read. I painted. I thought." I was searching for prompts today and I came across an interesting question-based prompt that I'd like to take a moment to address. The question (if you haven't already guessed) is if you could either have a pause or rewind button for your life, which would you choose and why? My choice would be neither, personally- but that's because logical thinking entirely discounts this prompt for me. Instead, I'd like to talk rationally about the two choices offered and why I'd rather just live.
Let's start with rewind. Having a rewind button for your life seems to be the obvious choice of the two, right? You'd be able to go backwards and fix your mistakes, or talk to a loved one who passed away, or better use your time... you may even be able to prevent a crisis from happening! However, when you think about the situation and take a rewind button for what it is, you wouldn't necessarily have memory of using the rewind. Much like rewinding a VHS tape doesn't change the movie it plays, rewinding your life wouldn't grant you the ability to make new decisions. You'd simply be re-living your past choices up until the point you started rewinding, and to me, re-living my life sounds like more of a nightmare than a dream. Even if this button came with the perk of decision-altering, I still wouldn't want to use it. My choices have inevitably made me who I am today, and I'd never want to sacrifice the life I'm living now and all the effort I've put into it for anything else. Now let's visit the pause button. Why anyone would ever want to pause their life is beyond me. You never can know when a precious moment is going to happen until after the fact, so it isn't like you'd be able to pause a good moment and enjoy it forever anyway. That would fall to the rewind button. This button is also vague- when we say "pause life", does that mean the world around us comes to a halt, and we're allowed to keep moving? Or do we simply freeze in age and productivity- or worse yet, freeze altogether? If that's the case, I'd definitely steer clear of this button. Hit it once, and you'll never be able to un-pause yourself! And even if the pause button was referring to life's daily events, I still wouldn't choose this button. Enough people get caught in the loop of their everyday lives without having a button to do it for them. To summarize- I believe this is a foolish prompt, particularly for logical people and experienced writers. It poses a complex question that really has no good answer- and that's why I wanted to give my thoughts on it here. - Maddie It's been awhile since I've posted a collection of quotes on this blog, and I think it's due time for a new set. This collection is actually inspired by a card that was sent to me awhile back by my Aunt Michelle. My aunt will often send cards to me (and my dad and sister) to check in with us, to send us recipes, or other small things. Oftentimes, these cards have cool designs on them or even good quotes. One of the cards I had received last year had a great quote on it, to the point that I actually took the card and pinned it up on a corkboard I have in my room. I recently received a few new posters for my room, and in putting them up, I re-discovered the quote. It was a Helen Keller quote, and it inspired me to go searching for more inspirational quotes. Helen Keller was an incredible woman who did plenty of amazing things throughout her life, despite being deaf, blind, and essentially mute. She graduated college and went on to become a phenomenal author and founded the ACLU. This (among many other accomplishments) earned her many recognition honors. Below is the quote that is in my room, and others that I found and loved. "Walking with a friend in the dark, is better than walking alone in the light."
"The only thing worse than being blind, is having sight without vision." "When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us." "No effort that we make to attain something beautiful is ever lost." "People don't like to think. If one thinks, one must reach a conclusion. Conclusions are not always pleasant." "A bend in the road is not the end of the road- unless you fail to make the turn." "There are no shortcuts to any place worth going." “Believe, when you are most unhappy, that there is something for you to do in the world. So long as you can sweeten another's pain, life is not in vain.” Today we have a guest post from Mountain Rants reader, Ginger, who has responded to Maddie's Letter Challenge. Originally written in the comments section, we have moved it to a guest post because it is a beautiful letter and should be enjoyed by all. A copy of this has also been placed in the "The Letters" section of our blog. Enjoy!
Thanks Ginger! The Mountain Rants Editors ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Your letter inspired me to write my own. Here goes...3 Dear Dreams, Hear me out. I know this may seem a bit long winded and it's stuff you already know, but it wasn't so long ago that I finally figured you out. Dreams, you are like the gilt edged ribbons on the presents we get. The gauzy ones with the edge of gold that make the bow stand up and dazzle—like it’s saying, “Look at what I might be.” In much the same way, Dreams, you are the harbinger of “what might be” in my life. I confess; I am a dreamer—never to be confused with a daydreamer. Daydreaming is the fluff on the periphery of my mind. You, Dreams, start in the center of my brain and lodge in my soul. On the one hand, daydreaming is like a sailboat without a rudder, a vessel aimlessly carried by the wind. You, Dreams, on the other hand, have been greatly responsible for plotting the course of my life. My crazy faith in you, Dreams, is not unfounded. You are the stuff, not fluff, of my reality. As a kid, I dreamed of horses. My earliest recollection is of me at four, the youngest of three children, with a widowed mother and a father I don't remember, riding a radiator in a second floor apartment. Dreams, you were my rudder or, more aptly, my reins, and at seventeen “city kid me” with my newbie driving license bought a horse and drove fifty miles at night to care for it. Thanks to you, Dreams, my passion became a reality. Two more horses to follow, and it has both literally and figuratively been a great ride. Now I'll fill you in on the stuff you'd have no way of knowing. Only recently I've realized not to become complacent about “dreams realized.” Passions realized are not endings but rather the impetus to invite you to coffee, a walk in the woods, or out in a boat on the ocean. When one dream becomes a reality, it's time to start dreaming again. I had a dream of catching a big fish and landed a thirty-five pound striped bass which led to a seventy pound marlin. And because you are such a task master, Dreams, I've started strength training so I can land a tuna. I totally understand; dreams without work are merely daydreams. Yup, you're like the gilt edged ribbon on the present. Sometimes what's under the lid is a disappointment, but, more often than not, it's more than I ever could've dreamed of. Thank you from the depths of my soul, Ginger Lately, I've been dealing with some issues within my personal life that have been dragging me down. Despite my best efforts to ignore the issues that are pressing on my mental state, it's been draining me of both my inspiration and my motivation to write. I promised myself I'd get back to writing consistently, promised myself I'd stick to a schedule- but life happens, and as it does, you tend to get lost in the counterbalance between positive and negative.
This past week has been a tidal wave of negative for me. I've honestly never felt more personally attacked, criticized, and dragged down than I have recently. I've tried working out, hiking, baking, even playing games to take my mind off of the situation- but nothing seems to work. My dad's advice was to "let it go, because what is, is, and there's nothing you can do about it". While that's not always the case for life's many problems, in this scenario, it sadly is. There's nothing to be done about the situation, it just is. I've come to the conclusion that some people are simply put in your life as a test, to see how well you can deal with crushing negativity. While I've been letting it get the best of me recently, I've decided that it's time to stop letting someone irrelevant win over my mind, and put some positive thinking to work. Anyone who actively tries to drag you down is looking to impede on your success, and keep you from reaching your goals in life... by letting negativity halt me in my tracks, I'm doing nothing more than letting this person win. That ends now. From today forward, I'm going to use the negativity as a reason to succeed further. I'll use it as motivation to push me to get ahead of myself, ahead of my schedules- so I have more time for myself, to relax and counteract the negativity in my life. Today, I did some extra studying for work I'll be doing next week, and tonight I plan on treating myself to a long, hot bath. This weekend is going to be dedicated to self-improvement- and also to clearing out some of the mess from around the house. I'll be back at the Rietta flea market with Seth this weekend, and I plan on putting my energy towards making progress around the house and bringing in some additional cash. If any of our readers are in the New England area and would like to visit us, we're there between 8AM and 2PM on Sundays (weather permitting). Just google the Rietta Ranch flea market to get the exact address and directions from your location. I look forward to seeing you. - Maddie This post is going to simply be a recipe- but I'm relatively proud of it, because it's my own spin-off of a recipe I've posted on this blog before! The recipe (for my casual readers) was the BBQ chicken pizza. My original plan, upon creating this recipe, was to make THAT- however, I discovered that I hadn't defrosted my ground chicken and decided to use what I had defrosted instead. The recipe below was what followed.
You will need: 2 lbs ground italian sausage (sweet or hot, up to you) 1 cup, 2tbsp of mozzarella cheese (shredded, plus however much you want to put on your pizza) 1 10 oz. brick of frozen spinach 1/2 - 3/4 cup italian-style tomato sauce (I typically use Prego) 1 tbsp butter 1 tsp garlic powder Prep: Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a large cookie sheet (or pizza pan) with parchment paper, and then grease them. In a large bowl, combine 1 cup of mozzarella and the italian sausage until they're well-combined. Then, spread this mixture out across the greased pan until it fills out the pan and is an even crust. You'll want to cook this crust for about 25 minutes to ensure that it cooks all the way through. Be sure that you have a clean oven, since the sausage is incredibly oily and does sputter as it cooks. You don't want a fire starting. While the crust cooks, put your spinach brick into a bowl and microwave it for 7 minutes. Once it's done, drain your spinach and add the remaining 2 tbsp of mozzarella, butter, and garlic powder. Mix the spinach. This will be the first layer of your pizza. Once your crust is cooked, drain it of oil and then add your spinach layer. I added a layer of mozzarella on top of the spinach, but it's completely optional. Next, spread out your tomato sauce and finally add however much shredded mozzarella you'd like on top of your pizza. I use anywhere from 2-3 cups, but in my opinion you can never have too much cheese, so add as much as you usually enjoy. Finally, broil the pizza until the cheese is melted and then enjoy! This pizza actually got a better review from my family than the BBQ chicken pizza that I altered the recipe from- so please let me know your opinion if you make it! - Maddie This wasn't today's original post, but after my laptop decided to do an update and destroy my original, I decided to say 'screw it' and just write a new post altogether. I'll have some new posts on the Letters next week, anyway. It didn't HAVE to get done today, I just prefer writing letters because of their unique perspective. In any case, I digress. I went onto google to find quotes about self-reflection and improvement, and instead found the above quote... however, it did inspire me and I wanted to share my thoughts on it.
My interpretation of this quote is that you should always be yourself and always seek to make yourself happy and gratified in your own life, because spending time trying to edit yourself to be an image someone else would want is rather pointless. So many of the people in your life are temporary, and even at 15 I'm already seeing this. I've gone through so many friendships that I thought would be unbreakable, and now those same people won't even glance at me when we pass on the street. It's as if we've reverted back to strangers. And in a way, I guess we have. We've both changed and grown into two uniquely different people. I could no longer tell you almost anything about the person I see, and I doubt she could tell you anything about me. That's a moot point, however, and perhaps the subject of another blog post in the future. Imagine, though, if I had centered my entire being and personality around this one friendship... only to lose it. Imagine if I had changed my lifestyle to suit this person, only for them to leave. I would've been a person who wasn't truly me... for someone no longer in my life. Once you alter yourself, it can be very hard to go back to who you were before... or back to yourself, in general. Even when the person leaves your life, the change they inspired remains.... and that change can be seen by anyone who encounters you, aside from one small detail: instead of seeing it as a change, people who didn't know you prior will take it as your true identity, and chances are that it will slowly become that if you don't recognize it in time. Now, I do know that changing for someone and not knowing how to go back to being yourself can be terrifying- you feel as if you've given up a large part of your own identity, and a loss of self-identity is horrible. I look at life through the lens that something once lost can never be re-gained. While that may sound a bit pessimistic, I see it as a chance to start over. Fresh opportunity, if you will. Instead of trying to go back to who you were, look at your lack of identity as a way to become who you were meant to be. Take the lessons you've learned, and build from them. Build, build, and keep on building until you are fully happy with the person you've become. At the end of the day, you will die for your own life. Not for anyone else's. Make sure you've lived a life worth dying for. - Maddie Hello, and apologies for the break I took from writing last week! It was my first week settling in with all of my courses for the first half of my school year, so my schedule was a bit thrown off as I was trying to figure out how I'd set up my schedule for the year. In the first half of the year, I've been saddled with Biology, Algebra II, Intro to Communications, American Politics, English Composition I, and starting in November, Intro to Criminal Justice.
Three of those five courses are college courses, with heavier workloads and a lot more reading than your average high school class. However, I find them to be easier- because even though the work I'm doing is more advanced, there's less of it. An average high school VLACs course has about 60-65 assignments. An average SNHU course has 20-30 assignments. The SNHU courses are shorter, and I appreciate it. My hardest course so far is Algebra II- and not just because I absolutely despise mathematics. There are approximately 130 assignments to complete, and even though they're mostly in the form of quizzes... it's a bit of an overload. So, I spent last week submitting bunches of assignments, PARTICULARLY for Algebra, to try and get ahead of what I know will be a busy schedule. In my first week I've already had a heavy workload, and in a few months I'll be adding another course. I need to be ready for the overlap of work. However, last week was the only exception to my lack of blog posts and I'll be on top of them from here on out. The following few will likely be on the side-blog (The Letters) and will be following the prompt challenge I'm doing. Thanks for the understanding, Maddie "The best thing that a father can give his daughter is his time." For those of you who don't know, my Dad's birthday was yesterday. He turned 51, and my unprepared self had neither card nor gift ready for him... so before I even get into this post a little bit, I'd like to apologize for that because honestly, my Dad deserves a f*cking island and currently I have enough money in my pocket to maybe buy him a coffee... and honestly, nothing is harder than that because I care a LOT about my Dad. He's one of my favorite people of all time and honestly one of the best friends I could ever ask for, and I couldn't even begin to imagine what my life would be like without him in it. To get back to the quote, I fully agree with it- the best thing a Dad can give to his daughter IS indeed, his time... and my Dad does such an amazing job devoting as much time as he can not only to me, but to my sister as well. He always has, honestly. He's raised me essentially single-handed since I was 7, and my sister has always grown up with him. He's managed to raise us both to be respectful and thoughtful young ladies all while keeping a steady job, keeping us in karate, training with us, helping us learn... and that's BEFORE we get into all the times he's taken us out shopping, hiking, to the park, to museums, to tournaments, and all our little outings in between. As I said earlier, my Dad is my best friend. This shouldn't be news to any readers of this blog; as I've written many posts describing the awesome relationship I have with him and all the ways he's such a great Dad. I won't waste my time here and repeat what's already been said- I'll just re-instate that I truly enjoy his company and all of our trips for coffee, concerts, time spent gaming, shared sense of music, shared sense of humor, time spent watching anime, and even his memes. Instead of finishing up this post with more repetition... here is a slideshow to sum things up. This quote is such a honest metaphor for people who refuse to make progress in their life. I see examples of this everywhere in my life... friends claiming they've made progress toward becoming a better and healthier person when they've only taken one step and then stayed in place, people saying they're going to strive towards goals and then refusing to push themselves and progress... everyone says they'll try for something, but then they get comfortable with where they are and stop pushing themselves to go further.
I've always been taught that you are never too old to stop learning new things, and that you're never too old to stop trying. When I say I'm going to change, I throw everything I have into it... and I try to not quit until I've reached my goal. That's why I've climbed Mt. Monadnock 5 times now. That's why my lowest grade is a 95. That's why I'm a second degree black belt. Speaking of karate, karate is a perfect example of this "phenomenon". So many people take karate until they reach black belt... and then feel validated to drop out. They've attained their goal, so it no longer matters or is important to them. They leave and then saunter about for the rest of their days claiming they're a black belt. There are people who have been gone for years who still say they are, though they haven't practiced or came to class in ages... and while this doesn't deprive them of the title they fought to earn, it does deprive them of the application, fitness, and knowledge that they gained from their training. It's so sad to see people's talent go to waste. At the end of the day, this quote is telling you to shoot for your goals and to follow through with them. Don't reach a milestone and get comfortable or quit... because the moment you do, you're giving up on your goal in its entirety. Sure, you may not be as bad as you were before- but you still aren't where you set out to be. It's like climbing a mountain, and then getting halfway up and deciding to build a house and live there instead of actually completing the hike. Shoot for your goals, and finish them. Even the smallest of steps count, so long as they are in the right direction. - Maddie Today, I wanted to share one of my favorite recipes with our readers. I don't know if it's just me, but I really tend to hate boxed mac and cheese. It's overly processed and loaded with chemicals and it doesn't even taste good- hence why I went searching for a recipe that would allow me to make my own cheese sauce (since you know- the pasta in and of itself isn't horrible quality).
In my search, I found a very easy-to-make recipe that actually requires you to use a skillet! It doesn't take long to prepare, nor does it require any gourmet ingredients. Cleanup is kept to a skillet and maybe 2 measuring cups. Recipe below! INGREDIENTS 3 cups whole milk, divided 2 cups uncooked elbow macaroni ½ Tbsp. salt ½ Tbsp. pepper ¾ cup shredded cheddar cheese (I prefer to use a full cup of cheddar and only a 1/2 cup of mozzarella, but to each their own) ¾ cup shredded mozzarella cheese 1 cup seasoned panko bread crumbs Cooking spray PREPARATION 1. Combine 2 cups of milk, macaroni, salt, and pepper in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly to prevent sticking, then turn the heat down to medium-low heat and cook, stirring, until milk has reduced to a thick sauce. Add the remaining 1 cup of milk and cook until pasta is al dente and milk has reduced by about half. Add the cheddar and mozzarella, stirring until cheese is melted and pasta is evenly coated. 2. Sprinkle the bread crumbs evenly across the top of the mac ‘n’ cheese, using your hand to press them down into the crevices. Spray the bread crumbs with cooking spray in a circular motion for about 4 seconds to coat them evenly. 3. Broil on high until bread crumbs are golden brown and toasty, about 5 minutes, watching carefully to make sure the bread crumbs don’t burn. Serve! recipe courtesy of Buzzfeed So this is a bit of a random topic- but it's been on my mind all day and I've wanted to write about it, so I'm going to take the time and lay out my thoughts here. I'm hitting on a kind of rough topic, so bare with me.
In the past, I've used quotes about how you cannot help someone who doesn't want to get better- how you can try and try to save them, but no matter how much effort you put in... they'll still fall into the abyss because they themselves didn't want the help. I think that this particularly rings true for people with therapists. When you see a therapist, it is on you to tell them everything. They're there to help you, it's their profession to handle whatever problems you may throw at them. However, if you aren't telling your therapist everything, they won't be able to fully help you- in fact, by giving them information that you've picked and chosen, they may make your situation worse un-knowingly. I feel like most people go into therapy with the intent of getting better... but also thinking that they know everything about themselves. They think they know their own problems, so instead of telling their therapist everything... they focus only on what they believe to be the problem (even though there may be far more underlying problems). Due to misconstrued information, I strongly believe many people are misdiagnosed. The scary thing about misdiagnosis is that you can be put on some really strong and addicting medications to treat something you may not even have... simply because you didn't tell the trained professional everything. This being said, if you sincerely do not wish to get better, even a psychologist cannot help you. If you don't tell the person everything, chances are you will be misdiagnosed... and that can screw you up for life. Please be honest with your therapist. - Maddie This is one of the quotes from Jim Morrison that I mentioned in yesterday's post. Today, I wanted to go over it in a bit more depth.
I think Morrison was referencing a way of thinking about life, or a certain perception- that your future is never guaranteed, therefore it's always uncertain. However, an end (while still uncertain, yes) can come at any time without warning... so it always seems far nearer than the hypothetical future. It's an interesting quote, if you re-read it a few times and take the time to genuinely think it through. I was taught from a very young age that the future is uncertain. In fact, one of the best lessons my dad has ever taught me is to never go to bed upset with someone, because you never know if either of you (or the world in and of itself) will make it through the night. The end is always near. There's no guarantee that tomorrow will ever come. I've carried this lesson with me through life, and it has led me to how I tend to think today... about not taking moments for granted and living in the moment and accepting life as what it is. If you go back to my post about my 5 life mottos, I actually talked briefly about how worrying about the future is pointless because it's not even guaranteed... and that worry can only result in you overthinking the future situation and making things worse for yourself. That aside, regretting the past is just as pointless because it can't be changed. I really think a lot of people have a hard time accepting that, and it's sad. In any case, I've strewn a bit from the quote I started with... but I think I've made my point. - Maddie I'm not really in a mood to write today- I was up late last night with a friend and a lot has gone on so I'm going to fall back on my old writing habit of posting a collection of quotes. I apologize sincerely for not writing my own thoughts to back them... I promise I'll be back to writing my usual posts tomorrow. In any case, today's quotes come from Jim Morrison, who was the lead singer of The Doors. If you didn't know who he was or if you don't know The Doors, I encourage you to look them up and listen to some of their music. It's really good.
Without further ado, here are some quotes. "The most important kind of freedom is to be what you really are. You trade in your reality for a role. You trade in your sense for an act. You give up your ability to feel, and in exchange, put on a mask. There can't be any large-scale revolution until there's a personal revolution, on an individual level. It's got to happen inside first.” “Expose yourself to your deepest fear; after that, fear has no power, and the fear of freedom shrinks and vanishes. You are free.” “The future is uncertain but the end is always near.” "You feel your strength in the experience of pain." "Whoever controls the media, controls the mind." “I've noticed that when people are joking they're usually dead serious, and when they're serious, they're usually pretty funny.” “People fear death even more than pain. It's strange that they fear death. Life hurts a lot more than death. At the point of death, the pain is over." In honor of New Years being upon us in a few days, I think I'll give you all some quotes about change. New Years seems to mark the time that everyone decides to start changing themselves. Everyone resolves to start a diet, or to stop drinking, or to start exercising, or some such bullshit. Some people even make efforts to change their mindsets- and hey, if you want to try to change and need a set day to do it, more power to you. Good luck and all that. I personally don't believe that change needs a marker- if you're going to change, don't put it off waiting for a set date. Anyway, that's just me. Here are some quotes. Happy New Years folks.
"Be the change you wish to see in the world." "Everyone thinks of changing the world, but nobody thinks of changing himself." “Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself.” “Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don't resist them; that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like.” “They always say time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself.” “Incredible change happens in your life when you decide to take control of what you do have power over instead of craving control over what you don't.” “Stepping onto a brand-new path is difficult, but not more difficult than remaining in a situation, which is not nurturing to the whole woman.” “This is a new year. A new beginning. And things will change.” Today has brought me to the realization that I really hate today's TV shows. Don't get me wrong, I've always been not too keen on the idea of wasting away in front of the idiot box- but as I sit in a hospital waiting room it's being drilled into my head that I really can't take it.
I had to accompany my grandmother to her doctor's appointment and not wanting to follow her in, opted for the waiting room. Had I realized a small child was going to walk in about 45 seconds later, I would've chosen to go in with her. The child's arrival cued the secretary to turn on the television which had previously been off... and thus my torture has begun. I don't understand how so many people enjoy TV. You could just as easily read a book or even play a video game- neither of which have been scientifically proven to drop your IQ and make your attention span shorter. Actually, studies have proven that video games (particularly first person shooters) increase awareness and attention span and even peripheral vision. On top of this, watching the tv show I am currently just shows me why today's children can be such little snots. The TV show seems to be going out of its way to display and even promote bad behavior and throwing in automated laughs every other minute to make it seem amusing. I don't know about you, but I'm not laughing. I've seen the negative effects that too much TV have on younger children and I've made the choice to live without it. - maddie I know that I added this quote to my last post, but I wanted to take this post to say that I disagree with it entirely. Not only do I not see Christmas as a necessity- but I do think that we're here for ourselves! I mean, think about it- the human race has developed into the most advanced (known) race and it's all for the sake of self-preservation and making things easier for ourselves. If it weren't for trying to make our own benefits, we wouldn't have progressed this far at all!
Secondly, if we really want to go with the theory that we need a day to remind us that we're here for "something other than ourselves", then it shouldn't be Christmas! If our moral code is THAT important, then we should be applying it all the time... not just on certain days. On top of this, we shouldn't need to be reminded of something if it's that important. Christmas is not and has never been a necessity for me. I've said it in previous posts, but it's just a source of stress and sadness at this rate. I'd rather just spend the day relaxing with those I love... which hopefully will be a reality this year. Previously, it has only really brought ,me stress. Throughout the rest of the year, I try to live a life of peace and happiness. Christmas is advertised as such- but I feel that people throw themselves too much into things and forget to uphold these "morals" for the rest of the year. I don't know. Maybe I've just over-thought this quote, as well. I'll leave that for you to decide. - Maddie |
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