Mr. Hetrick, my 9th grade history teacher, let my class in on secret to how he kept happiness in his life for 40 years.
He told us every once in a while to lay back on a soft patch of grass and look up at the sky.
He said that the world is bigger than our current problems and being humbled by the the overbearing clouds or stars remind us that we are specs in this universe.
Mr. Hetrick followed up his seemingly trivial suggestion to happiness by reminding us that the sky will always stay the same but our lives will change. Some will change for the worse, some for the better, but each day as the clouds pass by is a day we should feel lucky to live and breathe.
On a bad day, I find myself looking up at the sky and taking a deep breath.
Maybe that is all we need, something to remind us that we are not limited to our current state, that we are lucky, and that we are alive.
On a good day, I'm lucky to find this video:
happy living, happy breathing, happy gazing.
Monday, February 27, 2012
Monday, February 13, 2012
VDAY HOLLA
So distracted lately. Must be because love is in the air and cupid is shooting his arrows errrrr'where!
As I watch episodes of "Angry Boys" (watch the show, I have been laughing non-stop) while multitasking with 19 internet pages open, I've stumbled on the BEST Valentine's Day rhymes/cards of ALL TIME!
The following cards were the reason why I loved 2nd grade on February 14th!
Another thing I stumbled upon was a list of the top 5 rejected Vday rhymes. they are so witty.. yet so wrong!
As I watch episodes of "Angry Boys" (watch the show, I have been laughing non-stop) while multitasking with 19 internet pages open, I've stumbled on the BEST Valentine's Day rhymes/cards of ALL TIME!
The following cards were the reason why I loved 2nd grade on February 14th!
Another thing I stumbled upon was a list of the top 5 rejected Vday rhymes. they are so witty.. yet so wrong!
5. I admire your strength, I admire your spunk
But the thing I like best, is getting you drunk
But the thing I like best, is getting you drunk
4. This feels so good, it feels so right
I just wish it wasn't $250 a night.
I just wish it wasn't $250 a night.
3. Before I met you, my heart was so famished
But now I'm fulfilled. . . SO MAKE ME A SAMICH!!!
But now I'm fulfilled. . . SO MAKE ME A SAMICH!!!
2. Through all the things that came to pass
Our love has grown. . . but so's your ass.
Our love has grown. . . but so's your ass.
1. If you think that hickey looks like a blister
You should check out the one that I gave to your sister!
You should check out the one that I gave to your sister!
Now quit reading this crap, and go fall in love or something!
Thursday, February 9, 2012
THON
In elementary school, my grandfather flew from China over to America for a year's visit. The first few months of his visit were fantastic. He practiced tai-chi in our front yard while the skittish neighbors in our white suburban town were convinced he was practicing voodoo. He planted vegetables in our garden, he learned some broken English, and he helped us with our math homework. Our neighbors, not prone to change, still reluctantly peeped outside of their blinds to make sure he wasn't putting a curse on our entire neighborhood.
They didn't know him like we knew him--
He loved one woman, passionately and unwaveringly, for 58 years of his life.
He was the best man I knew.
And he taught me the most important life lessons anyone could learn: he taught me how to love, how to forgive, how to be patient, how to grow, how to empathize, how to trust, how to be selfless, and how to see the best in every awful situation. My mother learned that from him, she taught that to us, and he reinforced it through example.
After 6 months in America, he started feeling weak. He had no appetite, but he convinced all of us that it wasn't anything big. My grandfather hated when people worried about him. When he left America, he lost over 100 pounds. He was physically and emotionally a skeleton of what he was when he first arrived.
It wasn't until he landed in China that he finally went to the hospital. He had late stage terminal cancer; it started from his lungs, spread to his colon, to his kidneys, to his blood stream. He didn't want anyone to worry, so he kept silent about all the pain he was going through. My grandfather passed away when I was 11.
At that point, I wasn't sure what it meant to have cancer. All I knew was the inconsolable regret and sadness my mother, grandmother, and aunts and uncle felt years after his passing.
Over the years, I've realized that cancer doesn't care. It doesn't matter what kind of person you are. It doesn't matter how many people love you. It doesn't matter if you're 70 or 7. It just shows up and takes over.
Cancer:
I'm hoping that one day my future grandchildren won't know what the word means.
One day, families don't have to see a loved ones suffer through chemotherapy and its after effects.
One day, children won't lose their parents, grandparents, siblings, best friends, cousins, teachers, neighbors, etc. to an illness that has no definitive cure.
This time next week, I'll participate in my last Penn State Dance MaraTHON as a student. There will be families in the Bryce Jordan Center that are going through or have gone through situations a million times worse than what my family had to go through.
My grandfather had his entire life to live; he had his entire life to love. These families have to see their siblings/children/grandchildren battle for their lives at such a young age. This is why I THON- everyone deserves a full, happy life. To be completely robbed of an opportunity to do so just isn't fair.
Still don't understand what THON is? The following video is THON; it is one of the proudest organizations I've been a part of so far in my life.
Donate for a cure. Donate for the kids.
Dance on!
They didn't know him like we knew him--
He loved one woman, passionately and unwaveringly, for 58 years of his life.
He was the best man I knew.
And he taught me the most important life lessons anyone could learn: he taught me how to love, how to forgive, how to be patient, how to grow, how to empathize, how to trust, how to be selfless, and how to see the best in every awful situation. My mother learned that from him, she taught that to us, and he reinforced it through example.
After 6 months in America, he started feeling weak. He had no appetite, but he convinced all of us that it wasn't anything big. My grandfather hated when people worried about him. When he left America, he lost over 100 pounds. He was physically and emotionally a skeleton of what he was when he first arrived.
It wasn't until he landed in China that he finally went to the hospital. He had late stage terminal cancer; it started from his lungs, spread to his colon, to his kidneys, to his blood stream. He didn't want anyone to worry, so he kept silent about all the pain he was going through. My grandfather passed away when I was 11.
At that point, I wasn't sure what it meant to have cancer. All I knew was the inconsolable regret and sadness my mother, grandmother, and aunts and uncle felt years after his passing.
Over the years, I've realized that cancer doesn't care. It doesn't matter what kind of person you are. It doesn't matter how many people love you. It doesn't matter if you're 70 or 7. It just shows up and takes over.
Cancer:
I'm hoping that one day my future grandchildren won't know what the word means.
One day, families don't have to see a loved ones suffer through chemotherapy and its after effects.
One day, children won't lose their parents, grandparents, siblings, best friends, cousins, teachers, neighbors, etc. to an illness that has no definitive cure.
This time next week, I'll participate in my last Penn State Dance MaraTHON as a student. There will be families in the Bryce Jordan Center that are going through or have gone through situations a million times worse than what my family had to go through.
My grandfather had his entire life to live; he had his entire life to love. These families have to see their siblings/children/grandchildren battle for their lives at such a young age. This is why I THON- everyone deserves a full, happy life. To be completely robbed of an opportunity to do so just isn't fair.
Still don't understand what THON is? The following video is THON; it is one of the proudest organizations I've been a part of so far in my life.
Donate for a cure. Donate for the kids.
Dance on!
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