Number 25? Choking it down

This last Christmas and New Year's was quite eventful. To start off my family had my grandparents over and my brother's girlfriend. To begin the festivities we ate dinner. After offering prayer we dug in to our this once-a-year family gathering. Things didn't go as planned however, and before long my grandma began choking. Her sckewed logic told her that it was embarrassing to choke and that she should hide the fact that she was choking. It was a bad move on her part. She tried drinking a glass of water hoping to dislodge whatever had gotten stuck. It was to no avail however and she was beginning to think that it wasn't coming out. No one had noticed that anything was wrong until she started tapping my grandpa who thought that she wanted him to stop talking. It was then that my mom realized what was going on. She jumped out of her seat, rand over and quickly executed the hymlic. All I can say is that I'm glad my grandma's life was spared this Christmas. It really makes you appreciate family.

Number 22- That's One Beautiful Brain You Got There!

In choosing a soul mate one has to consider many different aspects of the person that you are considering. Although I don't plan on getting married any time soon, I have done some thinking about what is important to me in the man that I want to spend the rest of my life with. It would be a lie to say that I am not attracted to the outward appearance of guys, but that is not what will determine my relationships with the opposite sex. A good Christian character is the most important thing and the first thing that I am going to look for. Also I would want to consider their personality and if it is compatible with my own. Another important question to answer is whether or not that someone would be able to take care of and sustain me. Is he a hard worker? Does he have a good family life with his sisters and mothers? What does his father treat his wife like? What is his sense of humor? These things will all come before appearance. When I really think about it, there is a lot more then physical beauty that I want in my man. If I met someone who has a wonderful personality and character, an intelligent young man, but he was not attractive physically I think that I would be perfectly content to be with him.

Number 21-

While womens' rights have greatly improved from when women were only allowed to do certain things such as house cleaning and cooking, there are many occupations and positions that we as women do not occupy. As a woman myself, you would assume that I think there should be total equality among men and women in their jobs. Surprisingly enough this is not the case. God has made men and women differently. In the Garden of Eden God created Eve secondly. She was to be Adam's helper and companion. I believe that this principle is something God intends to be carried out in our lives now. We must also realize that our capabilities and purposes are different. Men are better for positions in politics because they do not act on emotion as much as women, therefore can make decisions without as much of a biased way of reasoning. Women are better at jobs that have to deal with people and family. Also, men are built differently and are much more suited for construction work then women. This is not to say that we should outlaw women from holding construction jobs, but simply to say that most of us are not as capable. In the end God knows what is best for our own happiness. It is our place to trust and obey the perimeters He has set up.

Number 20- Thanksgiving break... or borken arm?

You see the person in the white gi? Yeah, well that's me. And the guy in the blue, well that's my cousin Kyle. Yeah, in this picture I'm just about to break his arm. Well... not in reality. But it was something like this over my Thanksgiving break. When I went over to my cousin's house to have a Thanksgiving dinner we decided that it would be fun to have a jiu-jitsu match. We went outside and wrestled on the lawn while the adults watched and cheered. It was great fun! Although I have a bit of a quirky bunch of relatives, I love them very much. I had a great break.

Number 19- Gladiator Days

E. B. White makes an interesting statement when he says, "Television hangs on the questionable theory that whatever happens anywhere should be sensed everywhere. If everyone is going to be able to see everything, in the long run all sights may lose whatever rarity value they once possessed, and it may well turn out that people, being able to see and hear practically everything, will be specially interested in almost nothing."

What strikes me most about this quote is that White says the value of what we see will be lost. I completely agree with this. Even in the last few years of my life I have noticed a remarkable change in the morals of the media. We have gone from a society of God fearing, upright people to a degredated generation who looks to feed their carnal appetite. Although this may seem a bit extreme to some, I wouldn't be suprised if we ended up like the Romans who thirsted so much for more entertainement that they eventually found themsevles forcing men to fight for their lives. Sure, right now we wouldn't think of actually allowing people to get muredered in the name of entertainment, but what happens when the fake murders of TV become boring because we've seen them a million times over. This nation will eventaully want more. Already we see the results of the media on our young people who go to their schools and shoot their fellow students.

This is why I believe TV is destructive and that it is changing America. If you have one (like I do) you should be ashamed.

Number 18- Alone with Yourself

“The worst loneliness is not to be comfortable with oneself.”
- Mark Twain

By this Mr. Twain is saying that without self confidence and peace, you cannot really feel the completeness of companionship. Instead of being able to think of those you are with, you dwell on your own incapabilities in social, mental, or spiritual areas and thereby keep yourself from enjoying others. In this state you are lonely even when surrounded by loved ones and even more lonely when physically withdrawn from family or friends.

This is something I believe that everyone struggles with. We stress about what others are saying about us, or what they might think of us. I myself have have tendencies in this direction, but like my earlier blog said, “the world doesn’t revolve around you.” In other words, people don’t think about us like we think they do so we don’t have to worry about them thinking about us. It is also helpful to know that our Heavenly Father thinks highly of us and His view of us is the only one that counts anyway.

I have come to love my time alone. I enjoy sitting in my room and journaling or reading a good book. I don’t have to feel uncomfortable or lonely with myself because my Heavenly Father is always by my side.

Number 17- Older Students

Adults heading back to school can be good or bad depending on the situation. In some cases it is a very good thing. Perhaps a man or woman has worked at the local breakfast joint for the last ten years. They have enough money to sustain themselves but not enough to have a family, something that they want very badly. In their case it would be good for them to return to college in order to have a better education thereby being able to obtain a better job. On the other hand, if a single mother with three kids was trying to return to school and work two jobs while taking care of her kids, I don’t think college is the answer. While it would eventually get her a better job to provide for her kids, it will take too long and in the mean time her family will suffer for it.
Older students may face certain drawbacks when returning to school. Some of these may be the lack of time because of their job or family, a fear of failure like they may have experienced when they were in college before, or simply a fear of being socially unaccepted because of their age.
I believe that older students would be helpful in the improvement of society because of their experience. The older you are the more experienced you are. An older person may find it much easier to apply the things that they learn to reality and thus become a great asset to the working force of America.