What is a hero?
Superman? Batman? A firefighter? A police man? Those are the typical things anyone would say when asked what a hero is. Why not the little old man who makes sure his wife's nails are painted red and her blouse is free of wrinkles before he loads her up in her wheelchair on the way to the beauty salon to get her hair permed? Why not the teacher who stays after school with a kid to make sure he got all of his homework done so his dad didn't get mad at him when he got home. To me, what makes a hero is if they've got that spark inside them. What spark you ask? You know, that spark, that fire in their eyes, the burning in their hearts, the desire to inspire. The spark can be about anything, love, peace, happiness, rock and roll, making someone smile, helping others. A hero doesn't have to achieve something great or save a million people from a burning building. What is 'great' anyways? Who set the standards for such a word? Achieving something great in my eyes is getting a laugh out of my evil old teacher who never even cracks a smile. Achieving something great to someone else may just be getting out of bed that morning and barely making it to work on time. Did you achieve something great today? Of course you did. Think, there's gotta be something, anything! YOU make YOU a hero. It's what you do when no one is looking that makes someone a hero, it's that drive to do good and be good and know good when there is little good left in this dirty world.
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"The future is completely open,
and we are writing it moment to moment." -Pema Chodron Why? Why would you want to know everything, how everything works, the inner details to the secrets of life? Wouldn't that take away from some of life's most beautiful mysteries? Half the time I block out science and it's answers because I like to not know, I like to imagine how it works, the possibilities. Each time I go to the grocery store I walk up and down the produce aisle in awe, look at the colors, they're so vibrant and intense. How in the world did they get that way? How can you see that and tell me there is no God? Or all the intricate details of sea animals, their glowing colors and the way they gracefully move under the sea. I am completely content watching their unending beauty. Just accepting the way that things are, are the way that they should be. Of course, I would love to know some things, how men think, why some people are evil, why disasters occur, and why we can't live on forever. But I'm O.K. with not knowing, I'm O.K. dreaming up crazy answers for all of life's unknowns. Is knowing what's what important to you important? Or do you have the ability to embrace the mysteries of this Earth? I feel that you are either one or the other, neither bad, both good, just with different views. Enlighten me folks. Wow, my birthday week came and went, and will be remembered by many forever. I started off on Tuesday at Puerto's with 20 of my closest friends for dinner and Margaritas. For those of you that don't know, Puerto's is a Mexican Restaurant with the cheapest and fastest service around, where the drinks are strong and the friends are many. Lots of people go there for their birthday, partly because of the Mariachi band that plays on Wednesdays. I sadly missed out on that excitement. After 1 'Jumbo' frozen strawberry margarita the 'over 21's' headed to the Locker Room, a little bar in the village in Muncie. Since it was a Tuesday it wasn't so packed but there seemed to be a bagillion people who were out celebrating their birthdays as well, I didn't mind, the more the merrier. After a drink which consisted of only 151, Johnny Walker, Jack Daniels, and Jim Beam, (RANK!) I was ready to rumble. I took to the karaoke with a friend and we rocked out to 'Twist and Shout' by the ever famous Beatles. With another drink in me (Apple Long Island, delicious by the way) I jumped on stage with a group of guys of which I didn't know any to sing one of my all time favorites 'Bohemian Rhapsody'. The night ended with chocolate cake at home and an early to bed night, not lying, it was only 12:30! I spent most of Wednesday catching up on homework and finally getting to sleep in (10AM woo hoo!). I figured I deserved it after a month of 7AMs. Thursday came swiftly, and we were more than ready. The hype for the party was expected and no one was let down by the turnout. The shots were downed and the dancing had begun, I was having the time of my life. Cupcakes were made, Happy Birthday was sang, can I be 21 forever? With only a few things in the house broken, I woke completely satisfied and only a little hungover the next morning. I could go on and on about the party but I'll just leave it to this quote to sum it up, 'Stories will be told of your 21st forever.' I headed to Greenwood for the day to spend it with friends and family for yet another birthday party, this one a little more low-key. I did however, experience my very first shot with my Uncle/Godfather by my side. Tequila?! NEVER.AGAIN. I don't know why he would ever give me such a thing and stand there and watch me take the shot without stopping me, better yet, he basically forced me to do it. Oh the memories. I shed a tear after that shot, and it wasn't a tear of joy. I headed to Louisville with the girls ultimate frisbee team that night, we had a tournament the next day, the Kentucky Classic. This blog is getting a little lengthy so I'll just
sum up our tournament with the scores. SATURDAY we played 'savage' meaning we had no subs. Lost 13-6 against Purdue Severe storm (including hail) delay for about an hour Won 13-3 against Wright State Won 13-0 against Earlham Won 3-1 against Western Kentucky (one of their girls got hurt and was sent to the hospital, so they forfeited the game) SUNDAY we played with 10 girls one having a rolled ankle and a few of us (including myself) down with a cold-like bug of some sort. Ummm, I honestly don't remember the scores to our games on Sunday. They were both close but we lost. Our girls team ended up in 4th place for the tournament, not too shabby if I say so myself. We look forward to next year for more learning and growing together as a team. Next year you'll know us as the Ball State CARDIGANS. :D How is someone supposed to pick one place?!
If I had to pick a location it would be Haiti, A country full the most beautiful people. Beautiful hearts, beautiful souls, and beautiful physically. I've only been there once and it was only for a short time but I left a big chunk of my heart there. I went to Haiti while I was in a really low point in mu life. I left Haiti feeling so blessed to have met all of the locals as well as the people that I went with. BUT for me a 'place' doesn't necessarily mean a specific 'location'. My favorite place on Earth is anywhere where I am helping someone else. Helping others is my passion in life and I live for the next moment to do a little something for someone. I am so excited for my internship because I will get the chance to change someone's life on a daily basis. The place doesn't have to be beautiful or warm or filled with shopping malls and art museums, it just has to be filled with people. People of any shape and size. People who need help with anything and everything, from cleaning their house to feeding starving children, I'll do it all for the love of love. Ok welllllllllll technically I got fired.
Here is the story: I used to work for this elderly lady, cleaning house, running errands, grocery shopping, the works. She was your typical old lady: mean. I stuck it out and some days she was actually nice to me. I really cared about her since she didn't have any family near by. She started calling me almost every day for errands of various sorts. Now keep in mind that this was a once a week gig. She would call me while I was working at Books-A-Million and tell me to come over after I got off work there (at 10PM!!). I started feeling used and not really appreciated and it was actually taking a toll on my life. I would always be feeling down and not really as happy as I used to be. She is a very negative person and I think it was wearing off on me. Anyways, I had to quit because I am moving back home after this semester to get an internship. I told her 2 months in advance so that she could find another housekeeper. She was upset that I was leaving but she didn't yell or anything. I thought she took it very well. The next day in History class I'm checking my email, I mean, paying attention, and I had an email from her. It was the meanest email I'd ever received from a person. She called me sloppy, sneaky, and offensive. ME?! Whaa?! I've never heard something so mean said about me! At the end of the email she said to never come back to her house and to never contact her again. Needless to say, I'm so glad that job left me. $1,000 a month.
I don't even think I would want it. It would effect me in a pretty negative way I suppose. I would have a lot more shoes that's for sure. What I would like to think would happen is that I would directly put the $1,000 into my savings account for when I graduate. That way I could have a decent amount of money to begin my world traveling. But, if we're trying to keep things real here, that would most likely not happen. Yeah, I might put some of that money into my savings account but the rest I would spend. A big chunk of the money I would end up giving away, and that I know is true. I actually don't spend that much money on myself. Let's just say that my friends/family would all get really nice birthday and Christmas gifts. That's my weakness, giving people gifts. It's one of my most favorite things to do. But back to the real question. I honestly don't think I would take the money. There is too much of a chance that I would do something negative with it and I don't want to risk that. Would you take the money? What would you do with it? p.s. go to Gmail today and check out Gmail Motion, its so awesome! Technology sure has advanced! |
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