Quotes from friends

"As long as you hold on, I won't let you go..."

R.W.

"Win or lose, I still have you by my side, and that makes me the ultimate winner!"

Tia Alsleben

When all else fails, Hope prevails....

There's an old Greek myth about a little girl named Pandora and a mysterious box she finds. In the story, she opens the box and lets loose all manner of plagues and horrors upon the world. However, once the box's terrible residents fly off to deal out destruction, one last beautiful fairy flies out--a thing called Hope.

The Epitomy of a Simple Four Letter Word...

"Love is always patient and kind,

It is never jealous.

Love is never boastful or conceited,

It is never rude or selfish.

It does not take offense.

It is not resentful."

A Walk to Remember

People will be people...

I attended my college's new student orientation a week or so ago, and I was really excited to meet new people and hang out with my new friends in the dorm that night. I got all signed in and stuff, and the day got rolling.

I realized early on in the day that the people there seemed to be too stuck up or something to say "hey" or "what's your name?" Of course, there were those people who were like me in a way and just said random things to random people in our group, and eventually a good conversation springs off of that, and bam! You have a new friend. However, these people had to be the people I do NOT like to hang around because they don't ever, and I mean ever, shut up. They make a comment about absolutely every little insignificant thing that is humanly possible to make a comment on. Granted, I'm not one to just drop people as soon as they do something that annoys me, so I still responded to every question directed towards me, but I kept my distance so I could cut of the new friendship if I found I really didn't get along well with them. Anyway, as the day went along, I found that people wouldn't really talk to me. It reminded me of the first days of high school as a new kid. No one really cares to talk to you....


I was thinking about how people were getting into their cliques, even at a college orientation, and it made me think. People strive for acceptance. I've mentioned this before, but I see it more and more. Girls see pictures of other "prettier" girls in magazines, online, in the movies. They are constantly bombarded with the crap of being skinny, covering up every blemish with makeup, learning how to flirt online... the list goes on. And guys, they are pressured to "be the man" by becoming the babe magnet, getting a piece of every girl, the guy with the biggest sexual appeal is the one they look up to, right? Or do we?

When we go around acting the part, what are we thinking deep down of ourselves? I mean, really? We are in a society that gets you to tell yourself over and over again that you're too fat, too short, you have too much acne, too many defects, and eventually, what happens? We all start to believe the lie that we aren't as good as the people we put on pedestals. I wasreminded of a man who was born without arms and legs. He's just a torso, but to leave him at that would be to say the sun is a speck of dust in the sky! His name is Nick Vujicic, and if you watch the video on YouTube about his view on life, you might find that his way of looking at life is a pretty good perspective.

I suppose, what I really wish could be true is that we could all just accept each other, no matter what flaws we happen to have. I believe we tend to judge each other far too much, and it's high time to realize that each of us is a human being with just as many problems as the next fella. A good illustration as well as message about this is in a Disney short that I watched the other day. It was the short that accompanied the movie Toy Story 3 in theaters, called "Day and Night". If you ever get the chance to watch the short, it's a really good message to the world about accepting each other (and the movie isn't so shabby either, it's pretty good if I say so myself).

The link to the video on Nick Vujicic is:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gc4HGQHgeFE&feature=player_embedded

Go see Toy Story 3 to see "Day and Night"!!

Oh, just some cute animals to make you smile :)

Relationships and all that great stuff

So, this is a girl thing more than anything, but many girls seems to always be thinking about how they look. They each want to impress those around them, in hopes that a special guy will one day like what he sees on the outside and ask out the girl who's on the inside.

Most of this can easily turn into major girl/guy drama and I know many guys, along with some girls, who like to steer clear of drama queens, myself included. :)

Then, of course, there are those people who stand by and watch the drama central productions and wonder why the heck those people put themselves through all that crap, again, myself included...

Why are they back together?
Those two are together?? Who would have guessed?
Why are they even dating? They hate each other...
He's dating another girl? Doesn't she know he's a player?
Suzie is single, again. She can't stay in any relationship for more than two weeks...
Yeah, you know her, she gets around, if you know what I mean...

All that gossip... yay... I've found myself doing some of those things, and I've caught myself saying such phrases at times. It's tough in this world to wait for the one you were created to be with for all your life, and in today's day and age, it's the "in" thing to have someone by your side. However, what I have found interesting is that there are so many people who aren't really looking for that special infamous "one." Instead they are dating for the heck of it. Why not, right?

Well, I find dating to be a delicate thing. If I like someone, I'd like to date them to find out if I love him, but if I don't, another piece of my heart leaves with him. Should I then be careful who I date? Or just let go and experiment until the right guy happens to ask me out and we fall in love forever?

There are two more obvious alternatives:

1) Date away! Throw caution out the car door window and rock it like there's no tomorrow!! Yeah baby! He-ey!
2) Become a nun. Go into seclusion. Block out all contact from the opposite sex. Don't EVER date it's a SIN!!!

Okay, so maybe they're each a tad extreme... Some more realistic options?

- Wait a couple months, years, etc. There's plenty of time to find love!
- Date here and there, leaving time for recovery in-between.
- Whenever a cute and available member of the opposite sex approaches asking for a date, jump on it! There's no time like the present!
- Give up dating, no need.
- Don't worry about dating, if the right person comes, he/she comes.
- Speed dating!
- Date one right after the other, no need to waste time on heart-recovery; it only makes you depressed anyway...
- Join a dating website!! Yay! I have 19 matches!!
- Picture brides! No drama involved!

I suppose dating isn't a bad thing. However, dating for the wrong reasons can be a problem. In my experience, I have found that every time I leave a relationship, I am left with a hole in my heart. I give it time to heal, but in reality, that little piece, or even a big piece is gone forever, those memories will always be there, and that person will have impacted me and the person I marry someday. Granted, I know that in order to find that person to spend the rest of your life with, you need to date(unless you're into that whole picture bride thing.... but that's not for me haha), but the rough is keeping your heart as in tact as possible for the future permanent love of your life...

So, what am I trying to say?

I don't mean to sound like an advice column or like I am trying to force my opinions on people, but I mention this because I have found myself single for a few months now, and I'm figuring out whether I should move towards the dating scene, or just sit back, relax, and let Prince Charming come to me. I suppose you could call this a way to get things said without really saying them, but I thought that, perhaps, one of you might be having the same issues as I. But then again, perhaps not. ;)

Life, in general...

So, I've graduated from high school. It's actually been a couple of months since that day, but I have found many things to be true about post-high-school life. In general, pretty much all of my high school friends haven't really spoken to me since graduation, in person that is. Yeah, social networking and email help some, but other than that, not really much contact with anyone. My so-called best friends don't talk to me as much as they did while we saw each other at school all the time, but I found recently that, despite the feeling of sadness and the dismal case of abandonment I have, this could be the fresh start I need. Granted I didn't really think I needed a fresh start, but change often comes either when we expect it least or when we don't want it, or when it seems unnecessary.

So, I'm looking to the future I'll have in college, perhaps with too much hope. With all that hope I'm surely destined to be disappointed, but my motto for life has pretty much always been (at least as long as I can remember) "Hope for the best, prepare for the worst!" I love that idea. :)

Disappointment may come, but I am choosing to believe that it won't, just because I have also found that if you believe worst will happen, more often than not, it actually does, and if you believe the worst will become a reality and the best actually comes true, you may actually ruin the good that comes, and besides, why waste time being miserable? Hope can do astounding things for individuals, friends, and families, sometimes even nations. :) That is because, Hope, my friends, is an amazing thing.