Last But Not Least, life in general

        August 21, 1994 a day that will live in infamy. No, not really but it was the day I first entered this big world. My older sister's 6th birthday as well as my aunt's. My sister still holds a grudge that I ruined her party that year. Every year since I have been old enough I've had a party during the day and then she's had her slumber party. I guess you can't always get what you want.
        Ever since I was old enough to listen I've been taking mental notes on things I want and don't want in my life. A few experiences were worth the time of personally witnessing but others were just too harsh to even want to know of people going through such trials. I have always been taught to choose the high road, be a good example to others, be brave, follow the golden rule as well as other sayings and little lessons we all have to learn at one point in our lives. But until you actually understand the meaning of such things you won't personally be effected by them. You have to actually have a change happen from inside to want to be a different person.

         You can't expect to just wake up one day and be a whole new person living a better life. It doesn't work like that. Though there have been a few exceptions to this rule of life. For instance I heard one that there was a man getting a few drinks with his buddies when he out of nowhere or perhaps being under the influence decided that he was sick of the life he was living and the shape he was in so he got up from his bar stool and literally started running. Now he runs marathons all the time. But don't get any ideas. Especially if you're a 99 year old man who's had a couple dozen open heart surgeries. We cant all have the instant determination as the ''marathon man'' so we have to rely on the slow process of change. Hopefully we always change for the better. This isn't the case all the time because there is opposition in all things.

        Being the youngest of six I have been able to see 5 different ways to go through each part of my life with at the least a three year head start. But people have been doubting me before I was even born. The doctors thought I'd have problems because my mom was an older woman when she was pregnant with me. But even since then I have been proving people wrong. Another situation of which I am grateful to prove wrong is the fact that I am taller than my father. I have always been afraid of never making it past five foot six but all is well. Not that there's anything wrong with being short I just didn't want to have to have good comebacks for all those stupid tall people jokes. They just get really annoying so I've just wanted to be ''normal'' height, as if normal even exists. Life is all about proving limits wrong, exceeding maximums.
          Without change and uniqueness life would be boring. I recall watching a spongebob squarepants episode once where spongebob's neighbor moves to a community where ever one is the same type of sea creature as him, they all play the clarinet just like him, they all get the same food at the grocery store, they all ride their bikes to work. Everything is the exact same! At first he thinks it's the coolest thing ever and that he's living in paradise. But slowly, over time, he realizes that he misses his old life where he was constantly annoyed and he was his own person. This is a perfect example of why uniqueness is so key for life to be interesting.

          Another type of uniqueness is wealth. The truth about money is this aphorism from Ben Franklin's Poor Richard's Almanack, "The poor have little, beggars none; the rich too much, enough not one." If everyone in the entire world had the same amount of money, food, water or basically all the necessities of life then they'd just constantly want more anyway. There would be no need for service or charities or governments really. Basically it would be communism. The problem is that people wouldn't reap the benefits from their labors if this was the case. And if we aren't learning from our mistakes or not even making mistakes in the first place, what's the point of life? This being said, though at times it seems life is unfair or just horrible, there is no other way and we will be rewarded in the end.
       In school, students often times asks themselves the question "how does this effect my life whatsoever?" or "when will I ever need to know this in the future?". These questions are normal since we are so tunnel visioned that our minds often only think of hours or days ahead of time. But there are reasons for each thing we learn not just in school , but in every day life. History class, the main reason students have this class is to learn from mistakes. Math class, the reasons for this subject are countless, but seriously, who cares about all the endless digits in pi?! English class, also self explanatory. Although, spell check kind of defeats the purpose of trusting your own spelling and grammar. But science is the touchy subject to try and explain.

      Science classes study the actual reasons for why things happen while at the same time leaving out any connection to religion. But what about the students that don't believe in science as much as religion? Did the schools ever think about that? I guess not cause my choir class cant even sing about turning stone to bread in our upcoming concert so we find ourselves "ooh" and "aah"- ing rather than singing the lyrics. But I'd like to hear science class explain stone to bread or water to wine for me. What's the difference about talking about how we all need to make a difference in others lives and love one another and talking about the definition of charity? So how can a school say they don't talk about religion yet they bring it up everyday? I guess I'll find out one day.
      The best class is definitely any music or fine arts class. There's never very much homework, you get to freely express yourself, and you always have fun doing it whether you want to or not. It's also been proven that kids that are involved with music, performing not listening, have increased learning capabilities. Music welcomes joy. I can't explain it any simpler than that. Without music, life is boring. So in a way music is the equivalent of uniqueness or a form of it anyway. It doesn't matter how well someone is at playing an instrument or singing it's the fact that they try their best. People should always try there best at everything they do, not just when it's required for a grade but for EVERYTHING!  

     Besides classes, school is good for other things. Sports for instance. Not everyone is fit for sports but that doesn't mean they shouldn't exercise. The things you do in high school can and will change the way you live your life. So don't slack off now and expect to change later in life. We aren't all the ''marathon man"! It's so important to develop healthy and worthy habits while you're young so that you can enjoy being old. Who wants to be coughing up a lung when they're fifty nine, not me. Friends play a huge role in our habits as well. So every now and then, stop and think about where your life is headed. If you don't like what you picture, change it, fix it, do what is necessary to correct yourself. The best time to think about things is walking before sunrise when it's still peace and quiet. Or maybe it's in the woods somewhere. Wherever your secret quiet place is. Maybe it's just in your heart rather than a physical place.
      What happens after schooling I haven't lived through yet so I don't feel worthy of talking about it, yet! Remember, it's not what happens, it's what you do about it. Stop and think about what you're doing. Ask yourself, "what would that kid whose blog I read do if he were in my situation?" Thanks for reading this if you did.
     P.S. Don't forget, actions speak louder than words so SMILE!!!!