“Growing apart doesn't change the fact that for a long time we grew side by side; our roots will always be tangled. I'm glad for that.” I came across the above quote while reading online, and I figured I'd write about it today because it set off a lot of thoughts in my mind. First, I'd like to go over my interpretation of the quote. I read it as a metaphor for friendship, and how it can change over time... how you may drift from someone, but it doesn't change the past or the memories you've already made with them. In a way, the quote is trying to say that this ties you to that person forever... but I disagree.
Maybe I'm just disagreeing because the prospect of being tied to someone forever is terrifying... albeit through memories. But while that is the case, there are a few other things I'd like to bring up. Having memories with someone doesn't tie you to them forever. It just means that they were a part of your life at some point, and while yes; you can't change that- it doesn't mean that you have to be tied to them forever. I certainly know that I have memories with people who I'd never wish to be tied to ever again. Unlike the quote, I can safely say that the people who have drifted from me have drifted for a reason- and I'm glad that I'm NOT tied to them anymore. If people are in my past, they are there for a reason. Had I wanted any ties to them, I either wouldn't have cut communications or I would've made an effort to keep them in my life. If you are no longer in my life, it is because I do not want you here. In the end, I think this quote was entirely wrong- both in saying that you're glad to have ties with people who are no longer in your life, and in saying that memories tie you together forever. The only thing that can tie two people together is the desire to have a bond- nothing else. Friendship is a two way street, my friends- make sure you keep your end of the street clean.
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Today's post is going to be less quote interpreting and more opinionated. I'm sorry if you came here looking for quotes- I'm sure if you scroll back, you can find a few of my older posts and certainly some of my Dad's to entertain you.
In any case, today's matter is that of religion. Don't worry, I won't start picking out details and going to town on them. My issue today is church, and personally- attending it. For those who don't know, I consider myself to be a spiritual agnostic. If you don't know what that is, I urge you to look it up- I could do an entirely separate post on my beliefs, honestly. Since I was about 8, I've been going to church. It used to be an easy hour of visitation for my mom and I was, at one point, involved with my church's choir. It was a good way to get out for me and I was actually taking singing lessons at the point- it just seemed to make sense. I'll admit, I've always had my questions about religion in general... and I haven't always agreed with the morals and guidelines of the ones I was raised in. At about 12, I started addressing these questions and researching online as much as I could. I studied different religions, trying to see what each was composed of- and none seemed to fit me. I consider myself to be a spiritual agnostic because I don't lack a belief in god or the afterlife, I'm just not certain what they are. In any case. I'm now 15 and I've had this beliefs for about 3 years now. I've continued going to church with my family, but I have since stopped singing in the choir. At this point, I no longer get anything from church. It wakes me up early for no reason and wastes an hour of my time. I've tried listening to what's being said, but it never really benefits me. I feel like it's the same thing week after week. I've participated for 7 years. I'm ready to stop. I've never made an issue about going, but at this rate I do think it's fair that I have slightly more choice. My dad has even said himself that if it weren't for my grandma, he wouldn't be going. So let me ask you: when not even the adult TRULY sees a point in going, why should that same adult force someone who they know has very different beliefs to waste an hour of their time each weekend? I just don't see the point. But hey, that's just my opinion. I doubt I'll see a change any time soon. Even despite this. - maddie 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 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.” 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 just read my dad's most recent post, and as they often do, it inspired me to go digging for quotes about a certain topic. In his post, he spoke of how he gets lost during conversations at times, and that he misses having Mom to validate that he "isn't the crazy one". I feel this, I really do- because I'm the same way with my close friends. We'll be standing in the same circle of friends listening to the same speech, but we can both tell that we aren't fully paying attention. All it takes is a quick glance when a controversial topic comes about and we already know the other's opinion. Having a connection like that with people is great (and I am in no way comparing that to the relationship between my Mom and Dad).
In any case, it got me thinking about validation- how some of us only need small amounts of it (such as a shared glance in a boring conversation) and how some of us... some of us thrive off of the opinions of others. Sadly, I have friends who dwell only on what others think of them and it's quite depressing. Their own self-worth has declined so greatly because they only care what others think, and it is my lack of approval for this behavior that inspired me (along with my dad's post, of course) to find quotes about validation. Enjoy. “What the superior man seeks is in himself; what the small man seeks is in others.” ― Confucius “Do not wait for someone else to validate your existence; it is your own responsibility.” ― Jasz Gill “The one person you'll be spending the rest of your life with is you. Treat yourself with love and respect.” ― Elle Sommer “The only permission, the only validation, and the only opinion that matters in our quest for greatness is our own.” ― Steve Maraboli "If you live for people's acceptance, you will die from their rejection." "If you persistently seek validation from others, you will inadvertently invalidate your own self worth." "You're only invisible to those who don't deserve to see you." "Beware of those who seek constant crowds; they are nothing alone." I don't think I have much explaining to do on this topic. I apologize if it hits close to home for some people; but my mom was an alcoholic and she passed away 3 years ago after many complications from her illness. With Christmas on the rise, I've been thinking about her more and more... so here are some quotes about alcoholism that I find to be incredibly true.
"Alcoholism: the disease that makes you too selfish to see the havoc you created and care about the people you shattered." "You cannot save everyone. Some people are going to destroy themselves no matter how much you try to help them." “A man who drinks too much on occasion is still the same man as he was sober. An alcoholic, a real alcoholic, is not the same man at all. You can't predict anything about him for sure except that he will be someone you never met before.” "Alcohol is basically for those who wish to be dead, yet lack the courage to kill themselves." "When you have a choice to make and don't make it, that is in itself a choice." "Sorry is not enough. Sometimes, you have to actually change." "Everyone tells you that the alcoholic will hit bottom. What they fail to tell you is that 'bottom' could be the bottom of a grave." "A mistake repeated more than once is a decision." Today is a very gray and rainy day where I live. I've been up in my room all day, both sleeping and writing and honestly, I lack motivation. I haven't done a post about happiness in a while, and I think it's long overdue. Everyone could use some motivation and good vibes for a rainy and dreary day. This being said, I've dug up some quotes about happiness from the corners of the internet that you've hopefully never heard before. Enjoy.
“For every minute you are angry you lose sixty seconds of happiness.” ― Ralph Waldo Emerson “It's so hard to forget pain, but it's even harder to remember sweetness. We have no scar to show for happiness. We learn so little from peace.” ― Chuck Palahniuk “You will never be happy if you continue to search for what happiness consists of. You will never live if you are looking for the meaning of life.” ― Albert Camus “It's been my experience that you can nearly always enjoy things if you make up your mind firmly that you will.” ― L.M. Montgomery “Now and then it's good to pause in our pursuit of happiness and just be happy.” ― Guillaume Apollinaire “Generally speaking, the most miserable people I know are those who are obsessed with themselves; the happiest people I know are those who lose themselves in the service of others...By and large, I have come to see that if we complain about life, it is because we are thinking only of ourselves.” ― Gordon B. Hinckley “I, not events, have the power to make me happy or unhappy today. I can choose which it shall be. Yesterday is dead, tomorrow hasn't arrived yet. I have just one day, today, and I'm going to be happy in it.” ― Groucho Marx “Happiness is not a goal...it's a by-product of a life well lived.” ― Eleanor Roosevelt Last week, my Dad wrote a post based around a quote from Helen Keller. If you don't know who she is... go look her up. She's an incredible woman who became deaf and blind soon after birth, and who learned to speak, read using braille, and attained a bachelor's degree. This aside, she was also an activist for the disabled like herself and a phenomenal lecturer. Reading the quote my dad used inspired me to go find more quotes from her- and they truly inspired me. I wish to share this inspiration with you as well- so below are some of my favorite quotes that I found.
“Although the world is full of suffering, it is full also of the overcoming of it.” “Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, vision cleared, ambition inspired, and success achieved.” “Keep your face to the sun and you will never see the shadows.” “Be of good cheer. Do not think of today's failures, but of the success that may come tomorrow. You have set yourselves a difficult task, but you will succeed if you persevere; and you will find a joy in overcoming obstacles. Remember, no effort that we make to attain something beautiful is ever lost.” “The most pathetic person in the world is some one who has sight but no vision.” “The highest result of education is tolerance” “A bend in the road is not the end of the road…Unless you fail to make the turn.” “No pessimist ever discovered the secret of the stars or sailed an uncharted land, or opened a new doorway for the human spirit.” “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.” While everyone pushed each other about for the best deals this Black Friday, I ended up at a concert with my Dad and boyfriend. AS Lions, Sixx AM, Shinedown, and FFDP were playing at the DCU Center in Worcester.
I won't include pictures in my post- I'll let my Dad have them for his. It's not like they'd be much different anyway, since I only got a couple of each group. I'd rather take a little time and give you a review of each of the bands. AS Lions is a small band from the UK that's just starting out, and it was easy to see. They were the first group of the night that played and they were HORRIBLE. I have never had such bad second-hand embarrassment for someone. The group tried too hard, and failed to get the crowd moving well- and I'm pretty sure everyone wanted the lead singer to fall off of the stage more than they wanted to hear the next song. All in all? A horrible band who managed to dampen the atmosphere of what could've been a great start to a night. Thankfully, Sixx AM came on directly after and put on an amazing show. While they didn't get as much applause as they should've for their first few songs due to the audience still being in a sour mood from the last band, by the end of their set they had everyone livened up and ready for Shinedown. Sixx AM is a great band in my opinion and I'd recommend them to any rock/metal fan. After that, Shinedown came out and performed and really got the crowd moving. While a good portion of their performance did happen to be talking, the songs they did do were full of emotion and coupled with amazing pyrotechnics. My favorite song done by them was Cut The Cord, followed closely by Simple Man. In both of these songs, the lead singer turned the mic to the audience and had the whole arena singing the chorus in unison. It was truly something to experience. I had heard plenty of good things about Shinedown's live performances prior to seeing them; and I must say that they blew away all expectations I had, surpassing them in a heartbeat. They were the best show of the night and I'd recommend seeing them to anyone, honestly. Finally, Five Finger Death Punch came out... but unfortunately, could not perform much. I don't hold it against the band at all- the lead singer's mother had just passed and the singer had only just found out. He was waiting to catch a plane home and after telling the audience this, the whole arena told him to go home. To his credit, he came out and performed a few songs and then let his drummer finish off with a solo. Having seen FFDP before, I can tell you that they put on an amazing show so despite the misfortune, I would recommend seeing them as well. - maddie With Thanksgiving just tomorrow, there is a good amount of stress surging through my house. Even though there is literally no one coming over, the house is abuzz with cleaning, baking, and unfortunately, arguments. These arguments are getting started over the stupidest shit, too- such as windows being cleaned or how many apples are going into a pie. It's ridiculous and I'm getting quite tired of it. In honor of this- here are some quotes about stress (and why you should avoid it, particularly over small things.)
“You must learn to let go. Release the stress. You were never in control anyway.” “I promise you nothing is as chaotic as it seems. Nothing is worth diminishing your health. Nothing is worth poisoning yourself into stress, anxiety, and fear.” “In times of stress, the best thing we can do for each other is to listen with our ears and our hearts and to be assured that our questions are just as important as our answers.” “Pain is a relatively objective, physical phenomenon; suffering is our psychological resistance to what happens. Events may create physical pain, but they do not in themselves create suffering. Resistance creates suffering. Stress happens when your mind resists what is... The only problem in your life is your mind's resistance to life as it unfolds. ” “If you really want to escape the things that harass you, what you’re needing is not to be in a different place but to be a different person.” “Stress is the trash of modern life-we all generate it but if you don't dispose of it properly, it will pile up and overtake your life.” "You cannot free someone who is caged in their own self." "In order for you to live life like it is golden, you must love the life you are living." I was actually introduced to Wordsworth in my English 1 class. I had to do an analysis of his poem 'I Wandered Lonely As A Cloud', which I found to be strange yet quite enjoyable. I do love metaphors; and the poem contained a bunch of them. Analyzing it was fun for me and it opened up my curiosity to a new poet who I hadn't heard of before. I recommend reading at LEAST 'I Wandered Lonely As A Cloud', just to see what you make of it. In fact, if you do read it, please leave me a comment giving me your interpretation of it! I'd be curious to see if anyone else saw it the way I did.
In any case, on to some quotes! "Life is divided into three terms- that which was, which is, and which will be. Let us learn from the past to profit by the present, and from the present to live better in the future." "Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart." "With an eye made quiet by the power of harmony, and the deep power of joy, we see into the life of things." "Suffering is permanent, obscure and dark, and shares the nature of infinity." "That best portion of a man's life, his little, nameless, unremembered acts of kindness and love." "Your mind is a garden, your thoughts are the seeds, the harvest can either be flowers or weeds." "The human mind is capable of excitement without the application of gross and violent stimulants; and he must have a very faint perception of its beauty and dignity who does not know this." "We will grieve not, rather find strength in what remains behind." "Wisdom is oftentimes nearer when we stoop than when we soar." I've only read a few poems from Edgar Allen Poe- but what I did read, I recall enjoying. I believe he's another poet who I analyzed in a school assignment for my dad. Regardless, I think that reading some of his poetry is a good idea for anyone who's looking to broaden their horizons a little. He's a classic poet whose work is still appreciated to this day- and that has to stand for something, doesn't it? In any case, this post isn't meant to focus on his poetry so I'll move off of it. Let's get into some quotes!
"The scariest monsters are the ones that lurk within our souls." "There is no exquisite beauty without some strangeness in the proportion." "I do not suffer from insanity; I enjoy every minute of it." "Years of love have been forgot, in the hatred of a minute." "I was never insane except upon occasions when my heart was touched." "Words have no power to impress the mind without the exquisite horror of their reality." "The boundaries which divide life from death are at best shadowy and vague. Who shall say where the one ends, and where the other begins?" "All I loved, I loved alone." One poet who I haven't written about on this blog is Robert Frost- and it's long over-due. Frost is one of the first poets I ever read at my dad's request and he's the poet who truly got me into reading poetry and not just writing it. 'The Road Not Taken' is the first poem I read and to this day I believe it to be one of the best poems I've read. I highly recommend giving Frost a read, and if not hi other work; at least The Road Not Taken.
In any case, I'll leave you some quotes now. "In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life- it goes on." "How many things would you attempt, if you knew you could not fail?" "Half the world is composed of people who have something to say and can't, and the other half who have nothing to say and keep on saying it." "Don't ever take a fence down until you know why it was put up." "A diplomat is a man who always remembers a woman's birthday; but never her age." "Accept no one's definition of your life; define yourself." "Happiness makes up in height for what it lacks in length." "Freedom lies in being bold." "The best way out it always through." "Never cut what you can untie." "I am not a teacher, but an awakener." "You're searching for things that don't exist: ends and beginnings. There are no such things- there are only middles." "I write to find out what I didn't know I knew." "Two paths diverged in a wood and I- I took the one less traveled by; and that has made all the difference." Bronte is both a poet and an author! In fact, I've read one of her books before for schooling- Jane Eyre. It wasn't one of my favorites and I must say that I've found her poetry much more likable. She comes from a family of writers, with her sister Emily Bronte being renowned for the book Wuthering Heights. I believe I've also read that, and didn't enjoy that any much more that Jane Eyre. Ah well. At least her poetry is good. While I don't appreciate it as much as I do Shakespeare or Dickinson, I'd still recommend giving her a read just for the exposure. But this blog post isn't about poetry- it's about quotes and unearthing the wisdom behind poets/authors.
"Crying does not indicate that you are weak. Since birth, it has always been a sign that you are alive." "If we would build on a sure foundation in friendship, we must love friends for their sake rather than our own." "Life is so constructed that an event does not, cannot, will not, match the expectation." "Life appears to me too short to be spent on nursing animosity, or registering wrongs." "I believe in some blending of sunshine and hope sweetening the worst lots. I believe that this life is not all; neither the beginning nor the end. I believe while I tremble; I trust while I weep." "Conventionality is not morality. Self-righteousness is not religion." "I would always rather be happy than dignified." "I feel monotony and death to be almost the same." "Cheerfulness, it would appear, is a matter which depends fully as much on the state of things within, as on the state of things without and around us." Carrying on my theme from last week, I think I'm going to write a few more posts exhibiting the quotes of poets this week! So often I think good quotes go overlooked because these people are known only for their beautiful poetry, and not for the wisdom they also possessed. Don't get me wrong- their wisdom shows through in their poetry as well. You know what I mean. There were more layers to who they were than what most people choose to appreciate. Since that's the case; I've decided to go and dig through the quotes of Emily Dickinson first.
I remember reading some of Dickinson's poetry a couple of years ago and analyzing it as a school project for my dad- I also remember deeply enjoying it. She's a wonderful poet who I strongly recommend to anyone taking the time to read this post. Enough rambling, though- let's get into some quotes! "If I can stop one heart from breaking, I shall not live in vain." "Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul and sings the tune without the words and never stops at all." "Saying nothing, sometimes says the most." "Pardon my sanity in a world insane." "Truth is so rare, it is delightful to tell it." "I dwell in possibility." "They might not need me; but they might. I'll let my head be just in sight; a smile as small as mine might be precisely their necessity." "That it will never come again is what makes life so sweet." Shockingly, I don't think I've written a post about this yet! I loved reading Shakespeare's sonnets when I was younger, and I particularly enjoyed analyzing them. While I have no clue where the files are now, I did want to re-visit Shakespeare a bit and take my readers with me. I already let out my long rant for the day- it's titled 'The Election' if you care to read it. Nothing too offensive, don't worry! That being said, here are some Shakespeare quotes for you to think about throughout your day.
"Have more than you show, speak less than you know." "The earth has music for those who listen." "We know what we are, but know not what we may be." "Give every man thy ear, but few thy voice." "It is always the wrong person who gives you the right lesson in life." "Love me or hate me, both are in my favor- If you love me, I'll always be in your heart; if you hate me, I'll always be in your mind." "Let no one who loves be unhappy... even love unreturned has its rainbow." "Suspicion always haunts the guilty mind." "It's not enough to speak, but to speak true." "Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind." I could honestly go on forever with these quotes. They're quite wonderful, in my opinion. If you've never read Shakespeare, particularly his sonnets, I'd recommend that you do so. It seems they're slightly under-rated in this generation and I don't think that anyone should miss out on reading anything from this wonderful poet and playwright. - Maddie " I'm not one for politics, so I'll keep this post short. I just figured I'd throw my two cents in on everything that has happened in the past few days.
I'll admit, I haven't been paying much attention to the stuff leading up to the election this year. I knew that like almost every year, both candidates were crummy and didn't offer much to our country that we don't already have. Lies and corruption that I have no control over? No thanks, pass. I had better things to spend my time worrying about- such as homework assignments and keeping up with my grades. But now that we have President Trump... the country seems to have gone beserk! Rioting and highways being closed off, cars being crashed, buildings being torched down in protest... that's no longer protest folks, that's straight up illegal. While none of this is amusing in any way, I do find it funny that these "protests" are being instigated by the very same group of people who love to call out Trump supporters for being hateful and bigoted. The same people who were so scared of a Trump presidency because of the hate crimes they thought would ensue.... The only hate crimes I'm seeing are against Trump and anyone who voted for him. I see my friends getting into full-blown arguments on Facebook because of their views and such things as "If you voted for anyone but Hillary, please explain to your female, LGBT, Muslim, etc. etc. friends why you don't care about their rights" and nothing pisses me off more. For God's sake, who you vote for does not define you as a person! Everyone has flown off the hook and forgotten that the same kindhearted person they are friends with is still that same person, no matter which way they voted. I think that's the bottom line here- people need to remember that elections don't define people. The way you react to things not going your way, however... that WILL define you, and your maturity level. Please keep that in mind before ripping shit all over my newsfeed for no reason. - Maddie A smile can go a long way- I think I've realized that today. Today is a stressful day for people- it's Election Day and all of my friends are on edge even though they have no say in what happens. My personal opinion on the elections is that at this rate; our country has already been in the toilet and this election won't change that one way or another. If anything, things will get worse. In any case, that's not what this post is about.
I'm writing this as I sit in the car on the way home from the grocery store. The grocery store was pretty packed today and almost everyone looked like they were upset- workers included. This struck me as unusual; since most of the time the workers at this particular store have a cheery disposition. After about 5 minutes of walking through the clusters of people in the aisles, I decided to make it my mission to smile at anyone who looked particularly unhappy and see if I could make a difference. I tried this for the rest of the time at the store and actually succeeded in making a few people smile back at me. I just can't believe we've gotten to a time where people won't reciprocate smiles. If a random stranger is taking time out of their day to smile at you- you could at least somewhat acknowledge their effort. That being said, I do recommend smiling at strangers. You never know the impact something so small could have on someone's outlook for the day. An example of this? I had mild anxiety in the store due to the amount of people, so in the beginning I imagine i didn't look too happy myself. However, 3 people complimented my hair and it really made me smile- particularly since I put a lot of effort into making my hair look nice. It's the little things, folks. - maddie I just finished reading a post my dad recently wrote about teaching your children- while also teaching yourself. I liked it a lot because he's absolutely right- a lot of who I am is based off of who he is since he's the most influential person in my life. In fact, most of my personality surrounds how I've been raised and I wanted to take this post to bullet point the things that make me who I am- that I've inherited from my dad.
* My sense of humor. While my dad does tend to lean more on puns and movie lines than I do, the distorted reflection has left me with quoting Internet memes to amuse my friends and dry sarcasm paired with strong opinions. * Logic. Oh god, logic. Something I didn't fully grasp and still wouldn't say I've entirely grasped until recently, but a vital piece of my personality that my dad taught me. However, I am more emotional than my dad since if someone fails to see logic the first time; I get annoyed. * Peace over power. While primarily taught by karate, my dad has really instilled this little saying into me so that it is a part of who I am. As a martial artist you are taught to never start fights, only finish them- and I try to apply this mantra wherever I can in my life. * It is rain that grows flowers, not thunder... essentially, raise your words and not your voice. Volume will not win you any arguments, so it's better to avoid yelling altogether. While I'm still struggling a little with this; for the most part I'm level headed when it comes to arguing. * It's the little things that count. This needs no elaboration really... it is what it is. My dad has given me a deep appreciation for the small things in life, particularly in nature. * Noticing everything. I'm extremely observant, something I've learned from my dad over time. Going back to humor, most of my dad's revolves around noticing things going on around him and turning them into jokes. To understand his humor, I learned to be observant and it now aids me in my humor as well. * "Colorful" language... my dad mentioned this in his post, but my language is also inherited from him. Can't be from anywhere else really; everyone else in my family is against it! While I know there are far more ways I'm similar to my dad; these are some of the main ones. I've also inherited an awesome taste in music from my dad- something that didn't need to be on the bullet list, but that I definitely appreciate! It's nice to have a dad who enjoys heavy metal concerts as much as I do. Thank you dad- for everything. - maddie |
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