I think I may be a bit of a glutton for punishment. Kind of a cliche saying, but it works so well. So much good has been happening lately, and it seems like the only time I write is when I'm unhappy, questioning life, second-guessing myself... Hence I haven't written in a while.
Graduation is within a hairs breadth and it feels so good...assuming I haven't botched it up by putting off taking my chemistry rotation exam or by not turning in my rotation journals. I really hope that doesn't hold me back. And that they let me take that exam. Stupid rotations. But school is not what is worrying me.
I want to fix problems; be entirely non-judgmental towards everyone, make people happy, change lives for the better. But I don't know how. Or if that even fixes anything. How much of an effect can one person have on another? How much does a person need to do on their own, and how much do they need others? What if in trying to help, one actually makes it worse by contributing to actions that encourage future unhappiness, and all for the sake of acceptance? But what if you can't help it because it comes so naturally?
"In this large and fierce world of ours, there are many, many unpleasant places to be. You can be in a river swimming with angry electric eels, or in a supermarket filled with vicious long distance runners...but one of the most unpleasant things that can happen is to find yourself in a quandary." -Lemony Snicket
About Me
- Something McSomethingkins
- I wouldn't go so far as to call myself a misanthrope, but one might think of me as such with my reclusive tendencies towards my homework and the like. Although, on that same subject, I think I am a direct personification of the word "dilatory."
Some food for thought
Tunage
Links
- Reading Brendan's Digest
- Oh Man Ashley
- Janny Chava
- Althea Whitney Harper
- Mody Here Now
- Just the Two of Ryan and Bree
- My Bro in Virginia Ruling the House
- Kim and Troy are Square
- Becca's RAD blog
- Scout's Blahblahblog
- Frayed Filaments of Worm
- Random Musings of someone who kisses frogs
- Again Anymore Today Ugly Duckling
- Squitchy Thoughts By Aaron
- Clarkie says something French
- Nothing ever happens to Pinkie
- Fantastic Funk in the Corner writing Poetry
- Just a Meandering Spongekristen
- Birdie Makes Music while Dreaming
- The Blog I can't even read because of the stupid placement of the music player
- Devin's quarter life crisis, JK:)
- It's a Myth that Bri Bear ever writes on this thing
- Sincerely Serena
- Tisme
4 comments:
All I have to say is...huh? You've really gotta simplify these things running through your mind.
I heard someone say once that when they are faced with a quandary, they think, "How will this affect me in 5 minutes? 5 days? 5 months? 5 years from now?" (or maybe it was 10) Anyway, doing this helped her to sort out what was truly important and within her means to change.
Hope that helps.
You're a good person Birdie. I'm glad you're my friend. It was cryptic on purpose...I needed to vent without actually getting into any gory details.
That is absolutely good advice. I wish I had any idea as to how long term any of my current problems will be lasting. That's what makes it scary to me. But I will keep that in mind and think on it.
You are graduating or I guess by now graduated! HELLO! AMAZING! I can't even wait till I can say that. I think that sometimes life feels overwhelming all at once because we start thinking what now you know. I'm thinking that. What now....I have graduation anxiety for sure. I have been an undergraduate for so long I'm not even sure what to do with myself when I'm not. Anyways I 100% believe that one person can make a difference. It makes me think of that over used story about the star fish...
Think the little things you do don't make a difference? This article will help change your mind.
Two men were walking toward each other on an otherwise deserted beach. One man was in his early 20s, the other obviously much older. The smooth damp sand was littered with starfish, washed onto the land during high tide. They were stranded there when the tide ebbed. Thousands of starfish were doomed to die in the warm morning sun.
The younger man watched the older man pick up starfish one at a time and toss them back into the ocean, giving them a chance to survive. The young man thought, “Why is he doing that? How foolish. He can’t save them all.”
As they came near one another, the younger one felt compelled to point out to the older man the futility in his action. “You know,” he said, “you can’t save them all. Most of them will die here on the sand. What you are doing really won’t make any difference.” The older man studied the young man for a moment. Then he bent down, picked up a starfish and tossed it into the water. He smiled at the young man and said, “It made a difference to that one.” Then he walked on, picking up starfish and tossing them back into the sea.
{Here's the rest of it:}
What we do for others who are less fortunate: the ill, the infirmed, the grieving, the poor probably won’t wipe out poverty, illness, pain or disabilities. Nonetheless it is a mistake not to act because we think that what we can do is insignificant and won’t make a difference. Because it does make a difference—it makes a difference to that person.
A friend, Jerry, is often called by the local blood bank to donate blood. He has a common blood type and there is a consistent need for it. He always says yes to the request. He says it isn’t a big deal to take an hour from his schedule every couple of months to donate a pint of blood. “What difference does it make,” he says. The last time he donated he got an idea of the difference it makes. A nurse looked at his record and commented that he’d donated thirty-four pints of blood—more that four gallons—since he started donating some years ago.
His blood donations have made a difference to more than one hundred people, since each pint of blood is divided into three or four units, and a recipient typically gets one unit at a time. Without question his “no big deal” blood donations have saved accident victims from death, and helped other recover from surgery and even life-threatening illnesses. And that’s a mighty difference.
Wealthy people who donate large sums of money to worthy causes often impress us. And in comparison we see our contributions as minuscule. Our donations are smaller, but they are still important. Small amounts given consistently and combined with hundreds or thousands of other small but regular contributions make a big difference to those in need.
We recently attended the dedication of two Habitat for Humanity homes. Those homes were built through many small donations of money and labor. Any of those donations singularly probably wasn’t especially impressive, but when focused on the goal of building the houses they made a difference.
It’s possible to make a mighty difference in someone’s life and not know it until many years later. A teacher (in a Caribbean country) once had a little girl in her class who had no shoes. One weekend the teacher bought the child a pair of shoes. The next year the teacher moved to a different school and taught there for over 30 years. Shortly after retiring she became ill and was hospitalized. In the hospital she was treated like royalty, and when she recovered she wanted to thank the person responsible for the special care. She was told it was the hospital director who ordered the VIP treatment.
When she went to the director’s office, she was surprised that the director was a young woman in her early forties. When she thanked the doctor, the doctor interrupted her. “I wanted to thank you,” she said. Her words bewildered the teacher. “You don’t remember me, do you?” said the director. “You bought me a pair of shoes many years ago. You cared for me, and you inspired me to want to care for others, so I became a doctor. And finally, I was able to thank you for the shoes.”
The young man was right, of course. We can’t save all the starfish that wash up on the shore, but he was wrong to say that the old man’s efforts made no difference. When there is an obvious need, then doing something is better than doing nothing—and doing something makes a difference.
miss you!
Bree
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