Winning can mean many different things. For some, winning is recieving a gold medal, a trophy, or maybe even money. For others, winning means knowing that were the best at whatever type of competetion they were in. And for some, winning means knowing they did the best they could.
Although I love having a tangible award after winning, the most important kind of winning to me is the third kind, knowing you did your best. If a person has the outlook of winning as just being the best at everything all the time, they will be highly disappointed when the time comes around when they tried their hardest, but someone was still better. If someone has the outlook of winning by trying their best, even whenever that other person may do better than them, they can still be proud of themself.
Monday, March 8, 2010
Commitment
Just like the people competing in the Olympics, I would make such a commitment to marriage. Marriage is something that many people struggle to keep together today. Over half of marriages fail in the United States. Some marriages fall apart over reasonable situations, but some are ended over small fights. People everyday are beginning and ending marriages and either agreeing to the commitment it will take or giving up on that commitment they've already made.
Just like training for the Olympics, marriage takes a lot of patience. Olympians did not get to the Olympics by going out one day, failing at the sport, and then not practicing anymore because they gave up. The Olympians trained long hours and had patience with themselves to be as good as they are. Two people who are married must have patience to have a successful marriage. If they disagree on something, they can't get mad and start a fight or they would constantly be fight. Both the husband and wife have to talk it out.
If a marriage is not working out, determination to keep the marriage together is needed. Olympians must have determination also to succeed. If a couple is about to get divorced, one, or maybe neither, people are willing to try to make it work. If a couple is struggling, determination from both people could help the marriage work.
Just like training for the Olympics, marriage takes a lot of patience. Olympians did not get to the Olympics by going out one day, failing at the sport, and then not practicing anymore because they gave up. The Olympians trained long hours and had patience with themselves to be as good as they are. Two people who are married must have patience to have a successful marriage. If they disagree on something, they can't get mad and start a fight or they would constantly be fight. Both the husband and wife have to talk it out.
If a marriage is not working out, determination to keep the marriage together is needed. Olympians must have determination also to succeed. If a couple is about to get divorced, one, or maybe neither, people are willing to try to make it work. If a couple is struggling, determination from both people could help the marriage work.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
The Truth About Forever
Dessen's The Truth About Forever showed me the many things one girl can go through and how she deals with each problem.
One theme of The Truth About Forever is to never be afraid to express your opinion about something. Macy's, the main character, main goal is to satisfy her mother and Jason, her boyfriend. She must make perfect grades and keep all her focus on academics throughout her senior year, so she can get into one of the top colleges. Although Macy does not enjoy trying to fit her life around the word "perfect", she seems to do it anyway, just to keep the others satisfied. Towards the middle of the book, Macy has some chaos involved in her life, something that is the farthest thing for normal for her. While involved, she realizes she likes a little bit of disorganization in her life. This small realization begins affecting her life in big, some bad and some good, ways. If Macy would have never expressed her opinion about the way she wanted to life her life, she would still be trying to achieve perfect, which she, along with the others, understand.
The characters are very important. Macy is a high school student, a senior to be exact, who is preparing to graduate the following year. Her mother is a very organized, hard working real-estate agent who is always on-the-go and hardly ever has time for her daughters, Macy and Caroline. The reason she is so busy could be a result of her husband and Macy's father's death only months ago. Jason is Macy's boyfriend. The summer in the setting of the book, Jason is gone to what Macy calls Brain Camp. Jason is very smart and has high expectations for himself and also for Macy. Delia is the head of Wish Catering, the catering company at Macy's house when she is exposed to disorganization. Wes is Delia's nephew and soon to be Macy's new best friend. Wes is the main person that helps Macy realize she'll never be perfect and also help her find out who she is.
I highly recommend this book. I've read it twice and I'm sure if I read it a third time it wouldn't get old. It's a very good book for young girls and has a good message.
374 pages
One theme of The Truth About Forever is to never be afraid to express your opinion about something. Macy's, the main character, main goal is to satisfy her mother and Jason, her boyfriend. She must make perfect grades and keep all her focus on academics throughout her senior year, so she can get into one of the top colleges. Although Macy does not enjoy trying to fit her life around the word "perfect", she seems to do it anyway, just to keep the others satisfied. Towards the middle of the book, Macy has some chaos involved in her life, something that is the farthest thing for normal for her. While involved, she realizes she likes a little bit of disorganization in her life. This small realization begins affecting her life in big, some bad and some good, ways. If Macy would have never expressed her opinion about the way she wanted to life her life, she would still be trying to achieve perfect, which she, along with the others, understand.
The characters are very important. Macy is a high school student, a senior to be exact, who is preparing to graduate the following year. Her mother is a very organized, hard working real-estate agent who is always on-the-go and hardly ever has time for her daughters, Macy and Caroline. The reason she is so busy could be a result of her husband and Macy's father's death only months ago. Jason is Macy's boyfriend. The summer in the setting of the book, Jason is gone to what Macy calls Brain Camp. Jason is very smart and has high expectations for himself and also for Macy. Delia is the head of Wish Catering, the catering company at Macy's house when she is exposed to disorganization. Wes is Delia's nephew and soon to be Macy's new best friend. Wes is the main person that helps Macy realize she'll never be perfect and also help her find out who she is.
I highly recommend this book. I've read it twice and I'm sure if I read it a third time it wouldn't get old. It's a very good book for young girls and has a good message.
374 pages
Friday, February 5, 2010
Twisted Book Review
Anderson's Twisted entertained me with it's "twisted" story about a high school student and the trouble he got into.
One theme of the book is to never judge a book by it's cover. After Tyler got into trouble with the law, everyone judged him and assumed he was an awful person to be around. Another theme would be to always be yourself, no matter what others may think or say. Tyler always saw himself as the nerd boy and it caused him to do something rebellious to get noticed. The consequences to his actions were not worth just getting noticed, and having other people's view of him changed.
Tyler is a high school student starting his senior year. He has always been very smart and thought of very highly by the people around him. In his mind, he was a wimpy nerd boy that was known as a loser. He wanted to change that. He spray painted part of the school and got caught so he had to do community service and was on probation. Throughout the book, Tyler sees the consequences to his decisions and how they have affected the new person he is. For example, he is framed for a few incidents t he wasn't involved in because of his past.
The main character in this book, Tyler, could very easily be related to students in high schools today. Everyone wants to fit in because it seems like it's the "cool" thing to do, but most of the time people are better off just being their self. I recommend this book very much. It's short and easy to read. Also, it's easy to get into so you're not bored halfway through the book.
One theme of the book is to never judge a book by it's cover. After Tyler got into trouble with the law, everyone judged him and assumed he was an awful person to be around. Another theme would be to always be yourself, no matter what others may think or say. Tyler always saw himself as the nerd boy and it caused him to do something rebellious to get noticed. The consequences to his actions were not worth just getting noticed, and having other people's view of him changed.
Tyler is a high school student starting his senior year. He has always been very smart and thought of very highly by the people around him. In his mind, he was a wimpy nerd boy that was known as a loser. He wanted to change that. He spray painted part of the school and got caught so he had to do community service and was on probation. Throughout the book, Tyler sees the consequences to his decisions and how they have affected the new person he is. For example, he is framed for a few incidents t he wasn't involved in because of his past.
The main character in this book, Tyler, could very easily be related to students in high schools today. Everyone wants to fit in because it seems like it's the "cool" thing to do, but most of the time people are better off just being their self. I recommend this book very much. It's short and easy to read. Also, it's easy to get into so you're not bored halfway through the book.
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Pro life VS Pro choice
A woman having an abortion is choosing to have the fetus inside of her removed and killed. Some people are very strong opinionated on the subject of abortion. They may be very strong pro life, meaning against abortion, or pro choice, not necessarily meaning for it but also not against it. For me, I am for the most part pro life. I do not believe abortions are right for the situations most people consider it.
I don't know whether the fetus has thoughts or feelings while in the womb, but I do know that the woman and the people around her have feelings and memories. Not only is an abortion the killing of a baby, but the woman also has to live with it after. This could greatly affect not only the physical part of a woman but also the mental and emotional part.
The majority of people that are pro life are Christians. They believe, along with myself, that every child, starting the minute the egg is fertilized, has a soul and is a gift from God. One of the main verses that makes me believe abortion is wrong is found in Job 10: 8-12 which says "Your hands shaped me and made me. Will you now turn and destroy me? Remember that you molded me like clay. Will you now turn me to dust again? Did you not pour me out like milk... and knit me together with bones and sinews? You gave me life and showed me kindness, and in your providence watched over my spirit." In our world, there are many who are not Christians so it is hard to use the Bible to try to convince others to agree, but I do think it is a very good argument towards other Christians.
Another big part of my opinion on abortion is the methods they use. From the methods I have heard of and read, none of them in my opinion seem "not that bad" or "OK." To view some of the methods and facts and opinions about abortion go to http://www.buzzle.com/articles/facts-about-abortion.html.
Although I agree that women should have the choice of what is done with their own body, I do not believe that a baby inside of them is enough of their body for them to decide whether it lives or it dies.
I don't know whether the fetus has thoughts or feelings while in the womb, but I do know that the woman and the people around her have feelings and memories. Not only is an abortion the killing of a baby, but the woman also has to live with it after. This could greatly affect not only the physical part of a woman but also the mental and emotional part.
The majority of people that are pro life are Christians. They believe, along with myself, that every child, starting the minute the egg is fertilized, has a soul and is a gift from God. One of the main verses that makes me believe abortion is wrong is found in Job 10: 8-12 which says "Your hands shaped me and made me. Will you now turn and destroy me? Remember that you molded me like clay. Will you now turn me to dust again? Did you not pour me out like milk... and knit me together with bones and sinews? You gave me life and showed me kindness, and in your providence watched over my spirit." In our world, there are many who are not Christians so it is hard to use the Bible to try to convince others to agree, but I do think it is a very good argument towards other Christians.
Another big part of my opinion on abortion is the methods they use. From the methods I have heard of and read, none of them in my opinion seem "not that bad" or "OK." To view some of the methods and facts and opinions about abortion go to http://www.buzzle.com/articles/facts-about-abortion.html.
Although I agree that women should have the choice of what is done with their own body, I do not believe that a baby inside of them is enough of their body for them to decide whether it lives or it dies.
Monday, January 18, 2010
Taking A Stand
In my opinion, taking a stand takes very much courage so I have a lot of respect for people who take a stand on important topics. Most people think of taking a stand as someone taking a stand against something they disagree with. I think taking a stand could also be standing up or standing for something you think is correct or good.
A senior that is in my youth group recently took a stand on something she thought was very beneficial to the people of Africa and for teens in America. From what I gathered, she has always had a desire to be a missionary in Africa, so she asked one of her friends to help her put together a benefit concert that was going to be called Scarfest. This concert would help raise money to donate to an AIDS mission in Africa and to an organization called To Write Love on Her Arms, a nonprofit organization to give hope to those who struggle with depression, suicide, addictions, etc.
Not only was this stand for those organizations, but it was also christian based. She was also standing up for her belief in God. By taking a stand on this large of a subject and still being young, she displayed how courageous and how much faith she had in herself to make something like this be successful, which it was. I also believe she gained respect from the people around her and also gained faith from them. This act encouraged me to not be afraid to stand up for something I either agree or disagree about. It also helped me realize how much of an affect I can have on others by doing this.
A senior that is in my youth group recently took a stand on something she thought was very beneficial to the people of Africa and for teens in America. From what I gathered, she has always had a desire to be a missionary in Africa, so she asked one of her friends to help her put together a benefit concert that was going to be called Scarfest. This concert would help raise money to donate to an AIDS mission in Africa and to an organization called To Write Love on Her Arms, a nonprofit organization to give hope to those who struggle with depression, suicide, addictions, etc.
Not only was this stand for those organizations, but it was also christian based. She was also standing up for her belief in God. By taking a stand on this large of a subject and still being young, she displayed how courageous and how much faith she had in herself to make something like this be successful, which it was. I also believe she gained respect from the people around her and also gained faith from them. This act encouraged me to not be afraid to stand up for something I either agree or disagree about. It also helped me realize how much of an affect I can have on others by doing this.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Speak
Laurie Halse Anderson's Speak reminded me to never be afraid to share with others what I'm feeling.
Melinda is a high school student at Merryweather high, an everyday high school. The cliques are in their places and aren't welcoming any newcomers. Melinda use to be in a clique, the clique that was everyone's dream to be a part of, the popular group. Now, she is at the bottom of her school. Everyone knows her name, but only because she was the girl that called the cops at the biggest party of the summer. With no friends and no encouragement from her family, Melinda must find the courage from herself to finally admit what happened at the party.
The characters are very real to me. I can see Melinda being the girl that everyone is scared to be friends with because they know the reputation she has and what rumors will go around about them. I could feel the tension and nerves the first day back to school when she had to walk by all the cliques, every staring and disgusted. The author did a great job describing the clans and the members of those clans. For example, the Marthas were the goodie-two-shoes. She described how they were always doing volunteer projects and acting sweet, but how fake everyone knew they really were.
Connections were very easily made for me while reading Speak. Although I do not know how it feeling to be competely disowned by every student but one at school, I could relate to not knowing whether to speak up on some subjects and get the courage to. The theme of this was taking a stand. Many students change themselves to fit in with a group at school just so they can have friends. Melinda did not change herself at all and was satisfied with herself, even if it was with no friends. Also, she told someone about the problem that occured at the party and took a stand by calling the police.
I highly recommend this book to anyone. It is a good reminder that even very soft subjects that you may feel should just be left alone can really effect someone until they decide to get it out.
Melinda is a high school student at Merryweather high, an everyday high school. The cliques are in their places and aren't welcoming any newcomers. Melinda use to be in a clique, the clique that was everyone's dream to be a part of, the popular group. Now, she is at the bottom of her school. Everyone knows her name, but only because she was the girl that called the cops at the biggest party of the summer. With no friends and no encouragement from her family, Melinda must find the courage from herself to finally admit what happened at the party.
The characters are very real to me. I can see Melinda being the girl that everyone is scared to be friends with because they know the reputation she has and what rumors will go around about them. I could feel the tension and nerves the first day back to school when she had to walk by all the cliques, every staring and disgusted. The author did a great job describing the clans and the members of those clans. For example, the Marthas were the goodie-two-shoes. She described how they were always doing volunteer projects and acting sweet, but how fake everyone knew they really were.
Connections were very easily made for me while reading Speak. Although I do not know how it feeling to be competely disowned by every student but one at school, I could relate to not knowing whether to speak up on some subjects and get the courage to. The theme of this was taking a stand. Many students change themselves to fit in with a group at school just so they can have friends. Melinda did not change herself at all and was satisfied with herself, even if it was with no friends. Also, she told someone about the problem that occured at the party and took a stand by calling the police.
I highly recommend this book to anyone. It is a good reminder that even very soft subjects that you may feel should just be left alone can really effect someone until they decide to get it out.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)