Philosophy
-
Here’s To You
The dreamer. The optimist. The believer. Don’t stop thinking that way. Here’s to you. The one who is comfortable in their own skin, but doesn’t always know what that even looks like. Keep learning about yourself, your likes, your dislikes, your personality. Here’s to you. The one questioning where they’re supposed to be but still going at life with their all. Here’s to you. The one who is stuck in a predicament they don’t have control over. Keep doing what you can to make your circumstances work out. Make today, and ever day, great.
-
Learn From People Whom You Disagree With and Those You Don’t Get Along With
You don’t have to take on their views or opinion, or their attitude, character or peresonality for that matter, but often you can even learn about yourself and your own views through others. Just don’t let them affect you for the worst. Everyone has acquaintances and perhaps friends that they disagree with. What’s interesting is the common ground you can find, especially if both parties cooperate, and try to find common ground. You see I’ve learned a lot from people I don’t agree with much on. I’ve learned even more from those I don’t get along with, I’ve learned about how I don’t want to come across and how can…
-
Choose Carefully
I need to choose joy more often, I need to see the good in more. I also need to celebrate the good more, from the big to the small. I need to share in the joy of others more, especially friend’s and family member’s. There are always times when you need other emotions but I think it’s easier to choose negative ones more than we should.
-
A Physicist and An Athlete
I watched The Theory of Everything last night with a friend of mine, it was available on Netflix, and looked interesting. Stephen Hawking was a very good physicist, but the movie left me feeling uninspired, but reminded me of someone who leaves me feeling inspired. If you’ve been reading my blog for a long time, you would’ve read about my grandparents, who are all amazing people. My Grandpa Glader has been confined to a wheelchair for about 10 years, but the number of people he has inspired through his life, and his continual trust of God even while sitting in a wheelchair is amazing and inspiring. You see, we may…
-
Everyone is Weird Until You Get to Know Them
You’ve heard the phrase: “Everyone is normal until you get to know them” Well even though it’s somewhat true, I’d like to turn this phrase on its head quick. I’ve met diverse groups of people throughout my life. Many people have surprised me on just how much they are like everyone else. This isn’t to say they aren’t weird exactly, or that they don’t have their own personality, or they’re not unique in their own right. What I mean here is that I met individuals in my life that I thought were somehow more impressive, or “special”, or “different” in some way. People are just that, people. We’re all created…
-
Talk To Others How You Want to Be Spoken To
You’ve heard treat others how you want to be treated, and that is still as true as ever but today I want to add another layer. You see more recently I’ve spent a lot of time talking with those much younger and much older than me. I volunteer in youth group with high school and middle schoolers, but I also worked at a school staffed mostly by adults over 30 for a half year, and I enjoy meeting and talking with others from every generation in general. The thing is I kept my speech pretty consistent, I do my best to respect every person I spoke with. I’ll admit my…
-
Hello, My Name Is ___
Names are powerful. ‘To any person, their name is the most beautiful world in the English language.’ (paraphrased, Dale Carnegie). I try my best to learn and use people’s names as I hear and read them. I’ll admit that names also make it way easier to connect with people. If you know their name people are more likely to turn to you, it’s just human nature. You’ll draw more people in if you mention them by name. Don’t believe me, think about how frustrating it is to hear your name pronounced wrong or see it spelled wrong, or have someone not remember your name that you thought you knew! It’s…
-
Left Out
Unless you’re ridiculously popular we’ve all been left out of something, whether intentionally or unintentionally. It’s hard. If you want to be a part of something and didn’t even get the chance to be. Social media makes this harder, I would argue. We are able to see every update that anyone we follow posts, whether it’s their lunch, homework, or a fabulous party, or a group of friends they had over for game night. I can’t imagine having social media any earlier in life. I would’ve been so frustrated with every other kid’s fun posts that I didn’t get to be a part of. Though honestly, it can be hard…
-
Adopt Don’t Shop
My family has had a cat, five hamsters, a fish, a dog, and now, drumroll please: two guinea pigs. We’ve enjoyed having pets, and although we bought the hamsters and fish at a pet store, we’re definitely of the adopt don’t shop mindset. Our cat, Tiger, was a stray we adopted. While having a family garage sale, he was meandering around the neighborhood. It was raining and we left a little makeshift bed out in the garage. We took him in and enjoyed having him as a pet, he definitely was fun to have around, and we enjoyed having him as part of our family. We had him until we…
-
Checking My List, Twice
Some people are arguing for not buying as much at Christmas, saying there’s a lot of gifts that go without much use after the holiday. I get this but here’s my solution, go a little more practical with your requests so family will at least have an idea of what to buy if they insist, or encourage kids (of any age) to be thinking about what they may want for a little larger portion of the year. Lately I’ve been asking for home items, and add-ons/accessories for items I already own. Then there’s the giving side of things. I always ask my family what they want and if its specific,…
