Ever since a little kid I have been ADDICTED to pop. I loved any type of pop. I didn't care what it tasted like, I just wanted carbonation and caffeine. I'm pretty sure that as a young boy I could not have stopped drinking pop if had tried. I was just that in love with it.
I was in this little town of Grinnell, Iowa putting together the state chapter show which I auditioned for last November. We took one week out of July to put this show together. One of the nights when I was there I was talking to another cast member. She let me know (while holding a coke in her hand) that she is basically addicted to pop, too. She proceeded to let me know that she did research and found out that 1 pop a day equals 15 pounds in a year. FIFTEEN POUNDS!
This was the fact that changed my life. As she was telling me all this I thought to myself. I need to change something in my life. I did not want that extra 15 pounds. I already knew that I was a pop addict (meaning I had and average of 2 pops in one day) and I needed to change that. I decided I would drink less pop. I switched to about 1 pop every other day. That was good enough for me. Until I thought to myself that 7.5 pounds in a year is still a lot of weight.
A life altering moment was about to take place. I decided that I would not let this addiction last any longer. I gave up pop. Well, not just pop, I gave up everything carbonated. I could not believe I was about to attempt to give up something that has been so evident in my life for so long.
I called my friend "Jeepers Creepers" and told her I was going to give up pop. She couldn't believe it. She then said that she had to give it up for the sport she's in and we decided to make it a mutual thing. She will help me rid my addiction and I will make sure she doesn't drink pop do she can improve her performance. We are going to give up pop until the end of the year. At the end of the year we are going to decide what we will do from then on.
I haven't drank pop in 54 days and the results are tremendous. Within that time I feel so much better. I no longer crave pop. And I am fortunate to have lost 10 pounds already in this task. Those of you that know who I am, if you ever catch me trying to drink pop, please stop me. It is extremely hard to give up something you love. Something you are addicted to.
Will you break the addiction?
Sunday, September 27, 2009
A Procrastinator's Life
Procrastination is not merely a characteristic of a person. Procrastination is an art of mankind. I am sitting here doing 2 of my blogs for this week. We are assigned at least 3 a week with at least 1200 words. These blogs are due Monday. Today is Sunday. Get the picture? These are EVERY week so you'd think I would have spread these out over the week. Nope! I feel like stressing about them the night before they are due.
When you classify a person that has this so-called art of procrastination, you put them in the class of the ones that don't tend to do well in school or are the slackers. When in turn, this is the complete opposite! Often times when I talk to people they are all in the same boat I am in. I was having a little Twitter conversation with another person in this class and he/she still has 2 posts to go as well.
When you get into the mind of a procrastinator, often times they do not even know they are doing it. They blame it on that they were busy the entire weekend and they just could not get their homework done (that is the excuse I often use), however, they most likely had free time where they chose to watch TV instead.
A huge problem with the procrastinator is that many of them have not developed the skill of "multi-tasking." I have definitely NOT developed this skill. I am attempting to watch NCIS while blogging, but I am failing miserably. I think I just took a 15 minute break from this post just to catch up on what was going on in this episode. I suppose you could call that Attention Deficit Disorder but I call it procrastination.
I have just made the decision to turn OFF the TV. I think that is a nice jump start to finishing this post. I think it has now been about 45 minutes since the time I began writing this post and I have gotten basically nowhere. I will say this, however, I am teaching myself a lesson by writing this post. I am surpassing the stage of denial and I am now moving on to the way to fix this problem of mine.
Here are the steps I am going to take and the steps I think all you procrastinators out there need to take in order to solve this problem.
Step 1: Recognize your problem.
Step 2: Use better time management. This entails deciding when it is appropriate to watch TV and when it is appropriate to do your homework. The proper use of time management would be to do your homework first and do anything else after all is done.
Step 3: Well, I think that step 2 basically wraps everything up. So step 3 would have to be execute step 2 24/7 and you should be okay.
I hope that by writing this post I temporarily prevent my ways of procrastination and I hope that you too can eliminate this burden that is procrastination.
Will you keep procrastinating?
When you classify a person that has this so-called art of procrastination, you put them in the class of the ones that don't tend to do well in school or are the slackers. When in turn, this is the complete opposite! Often times when I talk to people they are all in the same boat I am in. I was having a little Twitter conversation with another person in this class and he/she still has 2 posts to go as well.
When you get into the mind of a procrastinator, often times they do not even know they are doing it. They blame it on that they were busy the entire weekend and they just could not get their homework done (that is the excuse I often use), however, they most likely had free time where they chose to watch TV instead.
A huge problem with the procrastinator is that many of them have not developed the skill of "multi-tasking." I have definitely NOT developed this skill. I am attempting to watch NCIS while blogging, but I am failing miserably. I think I just took a 15 minute break from this post just to catch up on what was going on in this episode. I suppose you could call that Attention Deficit Disorder but I call it procrastination.
I have just made the decision to turn OFF the TV. I think that is a nice jump start to finishing this post. I think it has now been about 45 minutes since the time I began writing this post and I have gotten basically nowhere. I will say this, however, I am teaching myself a lesson by writing this post. I am surpassing the stage of denial and I am now moving on to the way to fix this problem of mine.
Here are the steps I am going to take and the steps I think all you procrastinators out there need to take in order to solve this problem.
Step 1: Recognize your problem.
Step 2: Use better time management. This entails deciding when it is appropriate to watch TV and when it is appropriate to do your homework. The proper use of time management would be to do your homework first and do anything else after all is done.
Step 3: Well, I think that step 2 basically wraps everything up. So step 3 would have to be execute step 2 24/7 and you should be okay.
I hope that by writing this post I temporarily prevent my ways of procrastination and I hope that you too can eliminate this burden that is procrastination.
Will you keep procrastinating?
Saturday, September 26, 2009
"I don't just jump into bed like an acrobat..."
The life of a theatre junkie is incredibly underestimated. People don't go around comparing the lives of jocks to those of the theatre department. Those people that don't DO theatre don't know what putting a show together entails.
For our upcoming show, we have been rehearsing since August 10th (before school started). At the beginning, the practices weren't incredibly long and weren't strenuous. As time goes on, practices get longer, and longer, and longer. Until this past week we had practices from 330 until 9. That is 5 and a half hours of straight practice right there.
Before that practice begins, you go through hours of memorizing and learning all the music. Not to mention getting all your costumes prepared. When it comes to the week before the show, practices are brutal. You spend most of your time running around backstage and figuring out what costume comes next. You are forced to remain quiet through all of this because you could be heard out in the audience. As you are scrambling around backstage you have to be fully conscious of what is going on onstage because god forbid you miss a cue.
Next comes showtime. You have your nerves all built up and your eagerness to get on stage and show everyone what you have put together. You hope and pray that it will be enjoyed. You hear those famous words said by the director, "Enjoy the show!" and you take your place.
What I am trying to say is, the amount of time you put in just for one show is tremendous and can easily be compared to the life of a jock. The only difference is we (thespians) don't practice on a field. The theatre is our dwelling place, our field if you will. We put in just about the same time for one show as the football players do for 4. Next time you think that theatre isn't that hard. You just remember that 2 months of time went in to that show just for your enjoyment.
Will you enjoy the show?
For our upcoming show, we have been rehearsing since August 10th (before school started). At the beginning, the practices weren't incredibly long and weren't strenuous. As time goes on, practices get longer, and longer, and longer. Until this past week we had practices from 330 until 9. That is 5 and a half hours of straight practice right there.
Before that practice begins, you go through hours of memorizing and learning all the music. Not to mention getting all your costumes prepared. When it comes to the week before the show, practices are brutal. You spend most of your time running around backstage and figuring out what costume comes next. You are forced to remain quiet through all of this because you could be heard out in the audience. As you are scrambling around backstage you have to be fully conscious of what is going on onstage because god forbid you miss a cue.
Next comes showtime. You have your nerves all built up and your eagerness to get on stage and show everyone what you have put together. You hope and pray that it will be enjoyed. You hear those famous words said by the director, "Enjoy the show!" and you take your place.
What I am trying to say is, the amount of time you put in just for one show is tremendous and can easily be compared to the life of a jock. The only difference is we (thespians) don't practice on a field. The theatre is our dwelling place, our field if you will. We put in just about the same time for one show as the football players do for 4. Next time you think that theatre isn't that hard. You just remember that 2 months of time went in to that show just for your enjoyment.
Will you enjoy the show?
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Follow-Up
Soooo just letting all you readers know that that last post was NOT a suicide note!! I was just upset because I didn't get to say goodbye to my nephews. Just letting you all know :)
Sunday, September 20, 2009
It's So Hard to Say Goodbye
Saying good-bye could potentially be one of the hardest thing anyone has to do in there life. Whether it be a good-bye until tomorrow, three months from now, a year, many years, death? Good-bye is the hardest thing to say.
Uttering those words, thinking thinking those words, can be powerful enough to bring someone to tears. My sister and nephews from Colorado are in town and will be leaving Tuesday. I am already dreading the fact that I may not be able to say good-bye. I have play practice and show choir immediately after school until nine on Monday, and then they leave Tuesday night before I get home from play practice. What I am saying is that not being able to say good-bye can hurt way worse.
Luckily, I have not had to deal with the death of someone I know extremely well and I fear for when it happens because I am sure it will not be easy to overcome. What I fear more, however, is that I will not be able to say good-bye.
So I hope and pray that those I love will read this and know that if I am not able to see them and tell them good-bye, that I am there. I say good-bye to you in hopes that in the distant future I will get to say this again and that this is not the last.
Will you be able to say good-bye when the time comes?
Uttering those words, thinking thinking those words, can be powerful enough to bring someone to tears. My sister and nephews from Colorado are in town and will be leaving Tuesday. I am already dreading the fact that I may not be able to say good-bye. I have play practice and show choir immediately after school until nine on Monday, and then they leave Tuesday night before I get home from play practice. What I am saying is that not being able to say good-bye can hurt way worse.
Luckily, I have not had to deal with the death of someone I know extremely well and I fear for when it happens because I am sure it will not be easy to overcome. What I fear more, however, is that I will not be able to say good-bye.
So I hope and pray that those I love will read this and know that if I am not able to see them and tell them good-bye, that I am there. I say good-bye to you in hopes that in the distant future I will get to say this again and that this is not the last.
Will you be able to say good-bye when the time comes?
Everybody's Doing It...
So I have noticed to main topic of just about everybody's posts...the VMA's. I am going to tell you exactly what I think and I don't care what whoever is reading this thinks. Kanye was right. Yep, I just said that, Kanye was right. What I need to emphasize, however, is that Kanye was definitely not right in his timing.
To win "Best Female Video," your video has to be memorable and one that captures EVERYBODY's attention. If you ever watched Beyonce's video, whether it be online or on MTV or whatever, you did NOT forget it. The sheer simplicity of it caught everyone's eye. Just dancing, SO SIMPLE! But along with that, even if you didn't see the video, if you just did one of the moves, anyone could identify the song in a heartbeat, it was just that popular. What I mean by "captures everyone's attention" is that it doesn't just feed into type of person's liking. Beyonce's "Single Ladies" song did just that. If you are a lady, you loved the message she was conveying about either marry me or get lost type of feel. And if you are a guy, just look at the video, need I say more? Now don't get me wrong, Taylor Swift's "You Belong With Me" was a fantastic video. But when you compare as to what audience this video appeals to, this video is directed to girl teens who are looking for that fantasy guy. That is a small portion of our country.
Kanye West, however, was completely out of line to say (no matter if right or wrong) the things he did on stage at the VMA's. It is just complete B.S. that Kanye would take Taylor's moment to shine. Poor Taylor had to stand up there wondering what the hell as going on and left the stage crying. Kanye should have complemented Beyonce on her video... but at a complete different time (perhaps AFTER the awards?).
The next topic of discussion for the VMA's would be Lady GaGa's performance. For some people (me) Lady GaGa is this fantastic singer and amazing performer. Sure she has an extremely bizarre performing style, but it gets her known! If you watched the VMA's, or even heard about the VMA's, you would know exactly the moment I am talking about, the part where suddenly she is bloody??? At that moment I'm thinking, "What is going on here?!?" But now I realize that I will never forget who she is and I will never forget that performance.
But to others, Lady GaGa flat out SUCKS. I get where people are coming from, but they are just judging her on her appearance/bizarre techniques. You have to have a complete open mind to see the true artist in her. For all I know she actually sang that entire time at the VMA's and to me that creates an amazing artist. It irritates me when celebrities truly do not have a reason to lip sing but still choose to lip sing. I respected Beyonce when she was doing her performance live and just all together stopped singing and let the stereo take over. She didn't move her lips to make it look like she was singing, she just danced and showed us what she was made of.
All in all, despite the little "Kanye moment," I thought that these VMA's were outstanding. Thank you Beyonce for being the true celebrity you are. And thank you Taylor Swift for putting up with Kanye.
Will you let appearance blind true talent?
To win "Best Female Video," your video has to be memorable and one that captures EVERYBODY's attention. If you ever watched Beyonce's video, whether it be online or on MTV or whatever, you did NOT forget it. The sheer simplicity of it caught everyone's eye. Just dancing, SO SIMPLE! But along with that, even if you didn't see the video, if you just did one of the moves, anyone could identify the song in a heartbeat, it was just that popular. What I mean by "captures everyone's attention" is that it doesn't just feed into type of person's liking. Beyonce's "Single Ladies" song did just that. If you are a lady, you loved the message she was conveying about either marry me or get lost type of feel. And if you are a guy, just look at the video, need I say more? Now don't get me wrong, Taylor Swift's "You Belong With Me" was a fantastic video. But when you compare as to what audience this video appeals to, this video is directed to girl teens who are looking for that fantasy guy. That is a small portion of our country.
Kanye West, however, was completely out of line to say (no matter if right or wrong) the things he did on stage at the VMA's. It is just complete B.S. that Kanye would take Taylor's moment to shine. Poor Taylor had to stand up there wondering what the hell as going on and left the stage crying. Kanye should have complemented Beyonce on her video... but at a complete different time (perhaps AFTER the awards?).
The next topic of discussion for the VMA's would be Lady GaGa's performance. For some people (me) Lady GaGa is this fantastic singer and amazing performer. Sure she has an extremely bizarre performing style, but it gets her known! If you watched the VMA's, or even heard about the VMA's, you would know exactly the moment I am talking about, the part where suddenly she is bloody??? At that moment I'm thinking, "What is going on here?!?" But now I realize that I will never forget who she is and I will never forget that performance.
But to others, Lady GaGa flat out SUCKS. I get where people are coming from, but they are just judging her on her appearance/bizarre techniques. You have to have a complete open mind to see the true artist in her. For all I know she actually sang that entire time at the VMA's and to me that creates an amazing artist. It irritates me when celebrities truly do not have a reason to lip sing but still choose to lip sing. I respected Beyonce when she was doing her performance live and just all together stopped singing and let the stereo take over. She didn't move her lips to make it look like she was singing, she just danced and showed us what she was made of.
All in all, despite the little "Kanye moment," I thought that these VMA's were outstanding. Thank you Beyonce for being the true celebrity you are. And thank you Taylor Swift for putting up with Kanye.
Will you let appearance blind true talent?
Thursday, September 17, 2009
The Secret Lives of Teenagers
If you are a teenager, have you ever thought that parents may know more than you think? And if you are a parent, have you ever thought about what your teen might not be telling you? This is a serious question in today's world. Today's teenagers are becoming more and more sexually active and experimental with illegal substances (i.e. marijuana, alcohol, etc.). This poses a problem for the parents, because what they know about their teen may not be the truth.
Parents nowadays are setting looser reigns on their teens, allowing them to stay out later, nonexistent curfews. This "lack of boundaries" gives the teenager the ability so essentially do whatever they want. Teenagers tend to choose the more "pushing the limits" types of things. Which refers back to the illegal stuff and the sex. Parents put on the appearance that they are oblivious to these actions, when really I think they are afraid to admit what their teenager is doing.
That leads into a whole other subject for discussion. I have had talks with many parents that did crazy things when they were teens. For sake of making this easier to follow, we'll call the person in this certain incident Mrs. G. Mrs. G was a somewhat rebellious teenager. "I had fun in high school..." she told me. Some of her experiences include the whole experimental drinking and your "run of the mill" (that was a complete understatement) scavenger hunts. But when I asked her what she would do if her daughter called her and was completely wasted, she replied, "Well, I don't really know." My first thought was well, if our parents could do all this stuff when they were teens, what's wrong with it now?
However, I am not saying teenagers should do any of the stuff mentioned above, I am just wondering, whats wrong with it? I can honestly say that I have never done anything of the items listed above and I don't plan to. Simply because I know that my parents' reactions would not be good. I be out of show choir, out of everything I love. So I do not even try to push the limit.
For those teenagers that have all ready done those sorts of things. I do not judge you for such activities. Curiosity is built into our systems. Teenagers are expected to bend and brake rules. Trying new things is the "norm."
Will you give in to the norm?
P.S. Mrs. G, I am sorry for revealing a few of your stories. Luckily not in depth :)
Parents nowadays are setting looser reigns on their teens, allowing them to stay out later, nonexistent curfews. This "lack of boundaries" gives the teenager the ability so essentially do whatever they want. Teenagers tend to choose the more "pushing the limits" types of things. Which refers back to the illegal stuff and the sex. Parents put on the appearance that they are oblivious to these actions, when really I think they are afraid to admit what their teenager is doing.
That leads into a whole other subject for discussion. I have had talks with many parents that did crazy things when they were teens. For sake of making this easier to follow, we'll call the person in this certain incident Mrs. G. Mrs. G was a somewhat rebellious teenager. "I had fun in high school..." she told me. Some of her experiences include the whole experimental drinking and your "run of the mill" (that was a complete understatement) scavenger hunts. But when I asked her what she would do if her daughter called her and was completely wasted, she replied, "Well, I don't really know." My first thought was well, if our parents could do all this stuff when they were teens, what's wrong with it now?
However, I am not saying teenagers should do any of the stuff mentioned above, I am just wondering, whats wrong with it? I can honestly say that I have never done anything of the items listed above and I don't plan to. Simply because I know that my parents' reactions would not be good. I be out of show choir, out of everything I love. So I do not even try to push the limit.
For those teenagers that have all ready done those sorts of things. I do not judge you for such activities. Curiosity is built into our systems. Teenagers are expected to bend and brake rules. Trying new things is the "norm."
Will you give in to the norm?
P.S. Mrs. G, I am sorry for revealing a few of your stories. Luckily not in depth :)
Sunday, September 13, 2009
"Excess" School
Now, I know that the title of my blog is "The Eternal Optimist." However, this will be one of those times that I am going to rant and you won't think I am so optimistic. As a student, you are expected to get homework. But when suddenly you are expected to do 3 lengthy assignments only for one class in one weekend, outrageous? I think so. What teachers don't get is that when they give out large assignments, the don't expect other teachers to give out large assignments as well. The outcome is just the opposite. It always seems to be the opposite. When teachers give out large assignments, other teachers feel the need to give out large assignments as well.
Unfortunately, if teachers are to read this post, they will just say, "Just use time management and you will be okay!" While that is true, what teenager isn't going to want a life? It is 10:29 in the evening on a Sunday and I have yet to finish all my homework (which I have worked on since 2). I understand that I may be somewhat of a procrastinator, but it seems to me that if I have been working for 8 hours, school work would be done and I could be in bed right now.
Going along with the theme of school, my mother was at a conference that had a local physician speaking about the amount of sleep that is necessary for teenagers. This physician stated that starting school at 8 o'clock is too early of a starting time. Two states have already switched their high school starting times to about 9 o'clock, simply for the reason that teenagers need their sleep. I have added two links at the end of this post that will provide some info about the necessity of sleep and school start times.
When you factor in the idea of teens being involved in extra curricular activities and school sports, sleep is much needed. Teachers don't realize that sports (such as swimming) begin their practices at 5:45 in the morning and often times with away meets/games may not get home until 11 in the evening. That student is not given any special privileges and is still expected to complete all their work in time for the next day.
I am involved in show choir and drama. Now, although show choir only practices once or twice a week, it still puts a strain on my ability to complete homework. Drama, however, while in the midst of the premier, I have play practice everyday from about 3:30 until close to 9 every day. I would do homework in my free time while practicing, but we are expected to pay attention and be ready to take instruction while offstage.
One final note on the idea of amounts of homework. Wednesdays are intended as "church" days where some people have services and others have youth groups and such. As a Christian, I enjoy going to our youth group and participating in our youth activities. On Wednesdays, teachers are not supposed to give out a ton of homework because kids shouldn't have to give up their Christian life just for schoolwork. So teachers give out a little homework. But when you have 5 challenging academic courses in one day and each teacher gives a "little" amount of homework, that so-called "little" amount becomes a huge load of homework. I have not been able to attend my youth group/church activities in the past month because I have had school homework/activities every night and I have had to take the choice of school because I get a grade for this work.
This leads into the topic of grading homework. If someone is extremely busy and simply does not have the time to do his/her homework, the teacher shouldn't care. Teachers should be more understanding of this circumstance. If you are a teacher reading this, you may think to yourself, I AM understanding of these situations. What you don't realize, however, is that more often than not, you really aren't that lenient. Think to yourself, how many times have you docked points for late work? If a student turns in work late and says they're sorry it's late, they just couldn't get it done on time, do you still dock them points? The most likely answer to that question is yes. In that case, you are less understanding than you think.
I apologize if during this post I offended anyone, and I also apologize for definitely being less than optimistic. I was just trying to get my point across, so one must use the extremities.
Will you let this post affect your outlook on school?
P.S. I didn't highlight a word for this post because I feel that their are too many important words to highlight just one.
Links of Interest:
Unfortunately, if teachers are to read this post, they will just say, "Just use time management and you will be okay!" While that is true, what teenager isn't going to want a life? It is 10:29 in the evening on a Sunday and I have yet to finish all my homework (which I have worked on since 2). I understand that I may be somewhat of a procrastinator, but it seems to me that if I have been working for 8 hours, school work would be done and I could be in bed right now.
Going along with the theme of school, my mother was at a conference that had a local physician speaking about the amount of sleep that is necessary for teenagers. This physician stated that starting school at 8 o'clock is too early of a starting time. Two states have already switched their high school starting times to about 9 o'clock, simply for the reason that teenagers need their sleep. I have added two links at the end of this post that will provide some info about the necessity of sleep and school start times.
When you factor in the idea of teens being involved in extra curricular activities and school sports, sleep is much needed. Teachers don't realize that sports (such as swimming) begin their practices at 5:45 in the morning and often times with away meets/games may not get home until 11 in the evening. That student is not given any special privileges and is still expected to complete all their work in time for the next day.
I am involved in show choir and drama. Now, although show choir only practices once or twice a week, it still puts a strain on my ability to complete homework. Drama, however, while in the midst of the premier, I have play practice everyday from about 3:30 until close to 9 every day. I would do homework in my free time while practicing, but we are expected to pay attention and be ready to take instruction while offstage.
One final note on the idea of amounts of homework. Wednesdays are intended as "church" days where some people have services and others have youth groups and such. As a Christian, I enjoy going to our youth group and participating in our youth activities. On Wednesdays, teachers are not supposed to give out a ton of homework because kids shouldn't have to give up their Christian life just for schoolwork. So teachers give out a little homework. But when you have 5 challenging academic courses in one day and each teacher gives a "little" amount of homework, that so-called "little" amount becomes a huge load of homework. I have not been able to attend my youth group/church activities in the past month because I have had school homework/activities every night and I have had to take the choice of school because I get a grade for this work.
This leads into the topic of grading homework. If someone is extremely busy and simply does not have the time to do his/her homework, the teacher shouldn't care. Teachers should be more understanding of this circumstance. If you are a teacher reading this, you may think to yourself, I AM understanding of these situations. What you don't realize, however, is that more often than not, you really aren't that lenient. Think to yourself, how many times have you docked points for late work? If a student turns in work late and says they're sorry it's late, they just couldn't get it done on time, do you still dock them points? The most likely answer to that question is yes. In that case, you are less understanding than you think.
I apologize if during this post I offended anyone, and I also apologize for definitely being less than optimistic. I was just trying to get my point across, so one must use the extremities.
Will you let this post affect your outlook on school?
P.S. I didn't highlight a word for this post because I feel that their are too many important words to highlight just one.
Links of Interest:
Perfection-ism
Perfection is definitely NOT something I deal with on a daily basis, but have you ever met somebody who perfection is their main academic feature? Those students who have to have EVERYTHING be completely in line, nothing can be out of order. Well recently I realized perfection can be a good (many presume it to be bad) quality.
Perfection can be characterized into two types of people, those that already do everything perfect, and those that have to work to make everything perfect. When you are the person that has to work to make everything perfect, that usually is when perfectionism becomes a bad quality. That person takes a large amount of time getting everything to their quota of perfection.
When a person that has the quality of having everything they do already be perfect, this quality is what I consider to be a "good" quality. They have been blessed with the ability to create everything in their possession close to (if not) perfect. I envy this quality greatly. In my dreams I am able to create everything just perfect, but when I attempt to bring this quality to real life, i cannot seem to do it any justice.
The main point of this blog is that while I was working on a project I tried to to create everything of "perfectionist" quality and I thought "hey...blogging about the idea of perfectionism would be a cool thing." Luckily I had partners in this project who improved the quality greatly.
The idea of perfectionism greatly depends on the person you are talking to. The perfectionist will tell you that they are not perfect and how they wish they were. The person normally accusing the perfectionist is the one who is definitely less than perfect. This so-called less than perfect student will roll their eyes in disbelief that the perfectionist does not recognize their acts of perfectionism.
In conclusion, in my opinion, perfectionism is not in any way a bad quality, to an extent of course. Those that use their ability to their advantage and recognize their strength, it can be all to their advantage.
Will you let yourself realize you are a perfectionist?
Perfection can be characterized into two types of people, those that already do everything perfect, and those that have to work to make everything perfect. When you are the person that has to work to make everything perfect, that usually is when perfectionism becomes a bad quality. That person takes a large amount of time getting everything to their quota of perfection.
When a person that has the quality of having everything they do already be perfect, this quality is what I consider to be a "good" quality. They have been blessed with the ability to create everything in their possession close to (if not) perfect. I envy this quality greatly. In my dreams I am able to create everything just perfect, but when I attempt to bring this quality to real life, i cannot seem to do it any justice.
The main point of this blog is that while I was working on a project I tried to to create everything of "perfectionist" quality and I thought "hey...blogging about the idea of perfectionism would be a cool thing." Luckily I had partners in this project who improved the quality greatly.
The idea of perfectionism greatly depends on the person you are talking to. The perfectionist will tell you that they are not perfect and how they wish they were. The person normally accusing the perfectionist is the one who is definitely less than perfect. This so-called less than perfect student will roll their eyes in disbelief that the perfectionist does not recognize their acts of perfectionism.
In conclusion, in my opinion, perfectionism is not in any way a bad quality, to an extent of course. Those that use their ability to their advantage and recognize their strength, it can be all to their advantage.
Will you let yourself realize you are a perfectionist?
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Happiness
So have you ever just had one of those moments where you're just happy??? I am having one of those moments right NOW! For me, its because I found out I did well on a test, but for anyone who's reading, it may be that you just got a paycheck or you got first in some sort of competition. These moments should be cherished. To remember this amazing feeling of happiness, I am blogging about it.
My focus for this blog however, is actually show choir. Show choir makes me happy. That feeling of total happiness came for me when the show choir I am in received the Grand Champion award for the third year in a row. As you sit there just wondering who the announcer is going to say next and hearing your show choir called out for grand champion could potentially be the best feeling in the world.
Show choir for some could be possibly the worst thing on this planet; those people find it boring and completely pointless. More often than not, those people are the ones forced to watch such an activity at pep assemblies or because a sibling may be in it. However, these people are not on stage, they just don’t know the feeling when the entire crowd stands up and cheers, or the feeling when your name is called out from the audience just before you start. You just get this rush of happiness.
Wikipedia defines show choir as a group of people who combine choral singing with dance movements. For the most part, this statement is true. The problem with this definition, however, is that it doesn’t capture the true essence of show choir. As cheesy at this may sound, you truly become a family. The people you are around are all there for one purpose and one purpose only; they are doing what makes them happy.
One final thing to conclude, true happiness doesn’t come from what others believe or what you are forced into doing. That feeling of total happiness comes from what you want to do, what makes you feel like you are doing the right thing in this world. Happiness is what you want it to be, what you allow it to be.
Will you let the happiness fill you?
Reference:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Showchoir
My focus for this blog however, is actually show choir. Show choir makes me happy. That feeling of total happiness came for me when the show choir I am in received the Grand Champion award for the third year in a row. As you sit there just wondering who the announcer is going to say next and hearing your show choir called out for grand champion could potentially be the best feeling in the world.
Show choir for some could be possibly the worst thing on this planet; those people find it boring and completely pointless. More often than not, those people are the ones forced to watch such an activity at pep assemblies or because a sibling may be in it. However, these people are not on stage, they just don’t know the feeling when the entire crowd stands up and cheers, or the feeling when your name is called out from the audience just before you start. You just get this rush of happiness.
Wikipedia defines show choir as a group of people who combine choral singing with dance movements. For the most part, this statement is true. The problem with this definition, however, is that it doesn’t capture the true essence of show choir. As cheesy at this may sound, you truly become a family. The people you are around are all there for one purpose and one purpose only; they are doing what makes them happy.
One final thing to conclude, true happiness doesn’t come from what others believe or what you are forced into doing. That feeling of total happiness comes from what you want to do, what makes you feel like you are doing the right thing in this world. Happiness is what you want it to be, what you allow it to be.
Will you let the happiness fill you?
Reference:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Showchoir
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