The Act of Forgiveness

The act of forgiveness is key

Yet the act is a struggle for me

I am very kind and caring

Although reality is overbearing

Trusting people to do the right thing

Is asking so much of our society

If I give you a dollar will you give it back?

If I fall off will you help me return to the track?

When I am down will you kick me?

Or will you help me?

Will you laugh with others

Will you be an enemy or a brother?

The questions are plenty deep in the mind

If trust should increase over time...

The act of forgiveness is key

But trust must be offered from me

Am I willing to lend you a hand?

Are you responsible to hold such a demand?

We will find out as time goes on

Whether forgiveness is the break of a new dawn. 

LOVE and COMPANIONSHIP

 Love and companionship are two of the most important social/emotional components of human beings. All throughout life people say: Get a good education, get a nice paying job, hang around the right set of friends, and then look into creating a family of their own. Well how else would a person accomplish goals and expectations such as those without being interactive with people (companionship) and trying to create relationships along the way (love) so that a person can be well rounded? It does not happen. That is why when kids are in school its important for them to grasp the concept of dealing with other people outside of their family. If someone only knows how to deal with a select number or group of people, how are they going to fend for themselves out in the world against other people that they are NOT familiar with? This similar problem came about in the novel Frankenstein, because the creature was ill-equipped in dealing with human beings. He was not even quite sure how to deal with his own emotions or even his creator, Victor. 

In life, understanding and being familiar with love and companionship gets a person further in life. If someone does not understand the true meaning of friendship (companionship) then they will hardly come across good people and be able to call themselves a good friend. Same thing with love, if a person has never experience love then they will not be very forthcoming to show the same affection if a person does happen to show it to them. They will be lost and confused and may even lash out in a negative or hurtful manner because of their ignorance. These two essential lessons, love and companionship, can either be good or bad for a person to experience; but if the person is unable to display these then whose to say they know how much they are missing of the human experience.

Rejection

Nobody likes rejection but it happens. Rejection can happen anywhere like in school, at work, or at home.

At School
Ashley: Hey guys how was your weekend?
Sarah: Awesome! Guess who went to Cedar Point?! This girl!
Ashley: Uh oh! Haha! Renee, how was your weekend girl?
Renee:*rolls eyes and walks away*
Ashley: Something I said?
Sarah: Who knows.

At Work
Bob: Hey Steve, how was your vacation?
Steve: Good, Bob and you?
Bob: It was very nice. The Bahamas is beautiful!
Steve: It really is.
*Jeremy walks by*
Bob: Hey Jeremy did you finish that report?
*Jeremy continues with no response*

At home
Mom: Keisha, get down here and do these dishes!
Keisha: Alright!
Mom: NOW!!
*Keisha does the dishes*
Keisha: I finished Mom!
*Keisha is ignored*

Rejection comes in all forms in all places. It leaves an awkward atmosphere when displayed and no one likes it. It can rude and unnecessary. Rejection

Who's responsible????

Sometimes things go wrong in a situation and a person just happens to be there. Are they at fault too? Should they be punished also? Is it rightfully so?
I remember I was babysitting with my friend and we were in charge of her little brother until their mom came home. I went upstairs to my friend's room so that I could get some peace and quiet because I was trying to complete some homework. She stayed downstairs on the couch watching TV while he went outside and played. There were other kids out there and they all were playing kick ball, baseball, tag and other stuff. All of a sudden there was this crash and some loud, hysterical crying. I rushed down the steps and my friend was already at the door. Turns out her little brother had peddled head first into another kid on a bike and he hit his head pretty far. However, his mom was there and she witnessed the whole thing. So my friend and I figured that we were not going to be held responsible for the incident. After all, we were not there to see it or stop it right?
Wrong! We were held responsible because technically the little boy was still under our supervision even though his mother was present during the accident. Had the accident took place after we knew his mother was back and she clarified that we did not need to watch her son, then the accident would not have been on our watch.

Out with the Old and In with the New

I remember the final weeks of eighth grade and I wanted to take the feedback close friends had given me and change the way I looked at myself and their opinions. So I began the biggest project of my life which was, Out with the Old and In with the New. 

My Out with the Old and In with the New project made me spend a great deal of time and effort on it because it was literally taking the person that I was and revamping myself into who I had lost track of. For a better understanding, it's like being inspired by your own painting and then going step by step to recreate your painting even better. It does take a tremendous amount of dedication and work. I started off with writing down a list of characteristics about myself both positive and negative. That was the painful part, because I realized the bad outweighed the good...indefinitely. I had picked up some horrible habits and started hanging out with some people who had me on the road to self-destruction. Once I realized my problems, the BIGGEST and most difficult process was trying to force myself out of my habits. It took me some time but I was eventually able to get myself on point where I wanted to be.

My Out with the Old and In with the New project allowed me to be happier and also taught me many lessons. Lessons like: self appreciation, acceptance of criticism, self evaluation, and reconstruction. All of those lessons helped me in more ways than one with the person I am and love to be today. I am finally happy with my own person and that is all that it important. :)

Why do people explore? What kind of devotion does a person have to explore? What sacrifices does devotion include?

1.      What are some ways in which people throughout the ages have explored the unknown?
When people went about exploring or discovering new things they may have to overcome ridiculed or shunned for wanting to know further. For example, when  Ptolemy went against the Church's belief that the everything in space revolved around Earth. He took a lot of flack for exploring the unknown, fortunately that did not phase Ptolemy enough to stop his discoveries. Same as Isaac Newton who had to research, read, and remember various things in order to make sense of his discoveries: Newton's Laws. New ideas come from those who devote themselves to exploration and discovery.

2.      Why have individuals devoted themselves to a life of exploration and discovery?

Long ago, people hardly knew a thing about anything! There were those who were curious and there were those who were not. The people who were curious either wanted to know at any cost, or they simply just inquired every now and again. It was the individuals who wanted to know at any cost that allowed them to devote their life to exploration and discovery. If a person truly wants to know something, then they will do any and every thing in their power to find out exactly what it is that they want to know. If they have to read extensively then they will choose to read, if they have to ask a boat load of questions then they will write down a list.

3.      What sacrifices does such devotion involve?

     A devotion to exploration and discovery requires quite a bit of inquiry and dedication. For example,  an adult and a five-year old. The five-year old asks the adult a question and after the adult answers the question the first thing the five-year old asks is, "Why?" The persistence that the five-year old possesses will enable them to continue asking why until they have a full understanding or good enough explanation. The same scenario applies to everyone. If there is a desire to know, learn, discover, or better understand something and a person is truly up for the challenge to uncover the answer, then they will do just that.

Truth vs. Lie???

Life always presents a person with two options in a situation: tell the truth or lie. There are pros and cons to each scenario whether they tell the truth or they lie. A constant confusion is displayed when a situation takes place and the million dollar question is: "Should I tell the truth or should I lie?" For some, telling the truth is painful but it is necessary to maintain trust in the relationship. For others, telling the truth is a sign of weakness and defeat. Meaning if someone broke a lamp of their parents' and they had time to replace it, then telling the truth would not replace the lamp or make anyone feel better, so why not take advantage of not telling the truth and replace it if there is enough time? Both points of view are very reasonable to argue, but not everyone sees the bad in telling a lie and vice versa. Not everyone sees the good in telling the truth. I for one see it from all stand points...but there is one way that I would prefer over all.

I would rather someone to tell me the truth over a lie no matter how small or big. I was always taught that you tell the truth regardless of the situation. I decided to do it my way because I was hard headed (surprise, surprise!). I was goofing around with one of my very best friends and her mom had repeatedly told us not to throw rocks because eventually one of us would get hurt. Since we were “invincible” we figured that would never happen. Well as fate would have it one day I threw a rock across the street and she happened to bend down and look up right as the rock hit her by the eye. When her mom asked me what happened I was faced with two decisions: tell the truth or tell a lie. Well I tried to incorporate both, which did not serve me very well. I told some of the truth, but I took out the “I threw the rock” part. I did finally end up telling the whole truth, but her mom explained to me that had I told the truth in the beginning she would have been more accepting. (My friend did heal and she is ok now.) With that I began to understand that the truth was a good thing even when it was covered in bad.

As a person I prefer people to tell me the truth, because if they do not then I instantly lose trust in them and it makes me feel like they are unpredicatable. However, I can relate and understand some of the reasons why a lie would look like a better choice. A pro can be that the other person can still trust them and deem them as someone who owns up to their mistakes. That is a good characteristic to possess. Another pro can be that the weight of the incident is then lifted off of your shoulders. Cons of telling the truth would be hurting a person’s feelings, the person becoming angry, that person may also accuse them of lying, and/or they may not accept them. Even still in the end, I will be 100 times more receptive and understanding when I am approached with the truth. No matter how mean, harsh, cruel, heart breaking, or even outrageous the truth may sound.