Procrastination

Don't procrastinate! How many of us really know what procrastinate means? To me, it means simply to put off or to forget. Just leave it to the last minute, you have plenty of time. I've heard my parents tell me many times not to procrastinate, yet I continue to put things off until I am stuck in a blind rush to get it finished. So why do we procrastinate? For me it isn't that I don't want to do the work, because I know that it must be done and I have every intention of finishing it, but I get distracted very easily. I do all the planning but spend so much time on the planning, thinking that if the planning is perfect the resulting product will be too, that I procrastinate on making the essay or project into the masterpiece it should be. So how do you stop procrastinating? That's all a matter of perception. When you get a project, don't shove it to the back of your mind, start planning as soon as you get the instructions. If you start working on it right away, your mind will get into that working mode where you try and get things done all in one try. You won't get to that final good copy if you don't start working on it right away, I know from experience. Another tip is to set aside some specific days or times to work on it and remove yourself from distractions. For someone who enjoys networking and surfing Youtube, I know how hard it is to cut off the distractions, but it is possible. If you find yourself on Youtube getting distracted, create a playlist and let it play through while you work, music helps relax and if you are relaxed you may be more likely to do a good job. If music makes you want to dance however, turn all sound off so you don't get that distracting urge to bust out your moves. Is it Facebook that has you distracted? It distracts everyone, but the key is to know your limits. Fifteen to twenty minutes of Facebook time, and than close the browser, re-open it when you are finished with your work. Is is people talking to you through MSN or Yahoo? An easy way to fix that is to not even sign in because once you start talking, you may not want to stop. To effectively stop yourself from procrastinating first find out what is distracting you and work around that, eliminate that distraction from your work time. Another thing, figure out why you leave it to the last minute. Do you like the rush? Were you busy? Put aside time to work on the project and go through with that schedule. Treat it as work, because that's what it is. Would you willingly show up late for work and than not do anything? Probably not because you'd get fired. Well if you don't do any work on your project and throw it all together in a short amount of time, you are likely to get a failing grade. Train yourself to have effective work habits, something I need to work on as well. Just this week i was rushing to finish a twenty-five minute presentation as well as an eight page essay. I had a month to work on it, but I procrastinated until there was only a week left. Don't follow my mistakes, follow my advice. It is advice that I myself have trouble following, but I know it works because there are rare times when I have worked against my not-so-great working habits and those times result in very good grades.

James Wesley - Real

James Wesley is a one of a kind southern man with a voice that leaves you wanting more. Real is not a song about love and heartache, as my grandmother tends to describe the country genre, it is a song about life. It is a song that gives testimony to the hardships that everyday people are faced with, fighting to make a living, raising a child alone, living in fear, where every day is a constant struggle to make a living and to live. This song is not a song about getting drunk or high or having a good time, it is merely giving testimony to how fake the world is becoming. In the beginning stanza, reality shows are mentioned and put down as fake. It is true that many people watch reality shows, and that they are mislead into thinking that the events of the show, the drama and the struggle, are real and the people with their emotions are not acting. This song portrays the truth that the actors on reality shows are not being real, that the real reality show is the life going on around and that the real life struggles are the ones that people are facing each and every day. The song gives a voice to the unnamed farmers and soldiers who live their lives providing for others, whether they provide food or freedom, and get no thanks or recognition. The song portrays real life in an honest and upfront way that makes me rethink many of my actions and how I do overlook a lot of those little things that make reality worth living. The song makes me cry eight times out of ten, because of the message it sends: real is not what you see on TV, real is the life you are misjudging and taking for granted every day. So before I type my favourite part of the song that I believe sends the strongest message I will say this: don't take life for granted, because your life is precious and everybody is faced with struggles and conflict in life, have faith and know that there are people going through similar predicaments and help is always there when you ask for it.
Real, like too much rain fallin' from the sky
Real, like the drought that came around here last July
It's the damn boll weevils and the market and the weeds,
the prayer they're sayin' when they plant the seeds
And the chance they take to bring us our next meal"
- James Wesley, Real.

Four Steps to Gain Peace

Ever get that feeling that people are out to get you? Ever wonder why everybody seems to tick you off on one of those bad days? Are they out to get you? Or is it just your imagination running wild? I'm not here to answer those questions, but I do know some methods to helping calm those angry thoughts of yours on one of those bad days where everything seems to go wrong at the worst possible moments.

The first step: take a long, deep breath. I find that after getting some oxygen to those over-worked arteries, my blood pressure cools a bit. When your blood cools, so do your thoughts. Sometimes, all it takes is one deep breath to turn a bad situation into a good learning experience.

Step number two: talk about it. Ever wonder why your friends are there? It's to listen and advise you. You may even find that after talking about what made you made and why it made you mad your thoughts will simmer down and your anger disappears. That's because after talking about it, you release your feelings and let go of them, if you don't talk about your feelings they remain bottled up and build up even more negativity.

Step three: forget about it. Ever heard that saying "forgive and forget"? Well there is more wisdom in that than you may think. Don't roll your eyes, it is true. Let me put it this way: how can you be angry when you forget why you are angry? If you are angry, forgetting about what made you angry is a good way to get over it. So your sister wore your favourite skirt but did she ruin it? or sell it? Why remain angry when, at the end of the day, you get your skirt back. It sounds cheesy, but releasing your anger creates a peaceful state of mind.

Step four: forgive. This is the last step and by now you must be thinking I should be in the loony bin, but this advice does work. If you are angry at your best friend for kissing your crush, who is the one suffering from it? You are. Those sleepless nights where you seethe in anger at the two of them, you are the one hurting yourself. If you forgive them, than you can set your sights on someone else. If you hold onto your anger, you may do something stupid. By forgiving them, you are helping yourself. If you are brave enough to forgive someone for their wrongs, you end up the better person because you don't hold grudges or act out in a jealous rage. Need more encouragement to forgive? Forgiving your enemies for their misdeeds puts you in a better light.

Revealing Untold Secrets

Clinging to the rock-solid wall of my fantasy
Two hundred feet above an endless pit of doom.
To hold on is to continue with this delusion
But to release is to crumble in self-pity.
Relinquishing that ceaseless grip is the only option,
For though the journey downward will be perilous
The ground will break my fall.
It may very well break my spirit,
But at least reality will surround my soul.

The fluffy clouds appear soft to touch
Reaching out I'm left in despair
The imagination has created a world of wonder,
Perfection was within my grasp
But you wrenched it away with a silent tremor
And my heart prolongs unfastening the chains connecting you to me
My mind fights a battle of logic and wit,
For to believe is to deceive
As to pine for is to die for.

Just as the dog is torn between barking at a squirrel and following the orders of his master,
As a lion decides to attack the weaker calf or the meatier mother,
As the ant chooses to defend his colony or simply his queen,
I remain as indecisive as ever before
Torn between reality and fantasy,
Caught in the middle of a war between emotions and intelligence
Do I choose logic, the reasonable route?
Or desire, the corrupt daydream of the weary?

As sin corrupts the pure-of-heart,
It corrupts my mind.
As a lion mauls the antelope in the smouldering heat of the Savannah,
It mutilates my soul.
As a plane ruptured the peace of a nation one September day,
It pierces my heart.
To the icy frost clouding my vision,
The bitter cold of a Russian winter cannot compare.
As my blood-curdling thoughts of loathing force me to accept reality,
My broken trust and love are in an irreparable state of desolation.

Inner Beauty

I watched the movie Beastly with a friend and I was so drawn into the story that it took me a few days to figure out just why I loved the movie so much. Was it that the actor the movie was centered on was attractive? Or was there something more to my interest? The movie is an excellent example of how biased some people can be. Judging others based on looks alone is easy to do as it is looks that first attract you to another. However, that is no way to start a relationship. Beastly is an excellent example of how outer beauty may be what attracts you at first, but it is the inner beauty of another that should be the basis/foundation of a relationship. A relationship based on looks is shallow and lacking of any emotional connection, it is solely physical attraction that bonds you. Where would physical attraction take your relationship in ten years when your looks begin to change? The relationship would deteriorate and crumble at the slightest touch. A relationship fuelled by inner beauty however is one created on an emotional and intellectual connection, so is therefore stronger. If you are connection emotionally to another based on who they are as a person and not on what they look like, than you will be much happier in your relationship. Where could that take you in ten years? It is impossible to predict the future, but if a relationship is stronger when created on more than appearances than it is possible that the relationship could withstand many hardships and arguments that could arise. For it is not the appearance that connects two people in a relationship, it is a common emotional bond that ties you to another with an indestructible thread.

New Life

There is nothing more wonderful than a new child entering the world. Their first cry is not an annoyance as it may be five months down the road, rather it is a sign that life has been born. What is more natural, or more impressive, than the moment that child opens their eyes for the first time and looks at you with such clarity, as if they can see the inner workings of your mind. To me, nothing scares me more than holding a newborn, for they are so fragile, so delicate that I worry I may break them. Simultaneously, I feel such a warm pride and peace knowing that I am in the presence of pure innocence. Knowing that the grief of the world around has not affected such a beautiful being is surely a relief. For the innocence of children is pure and bright, like the first rays of sun at 5:30am on a cold summer morning. It is unrivaled in its simplicity and its beauty. Just the other day I was able to experience the joy of having a new nephew. He is the sweetest little thing I have ever seen, so breathtaking was the sight of seeing him sleeping that I could have cried. To witness the natural innocence of such a small creature was phenomenal and wildly refreshing. I felt as if the peaceful state in which he lay was contagious, for I felt an instant peace and the countless thoughts racing through my mind settled so that the only thing I could concentrate on was my nephew's sleeping face. When a person is pregnant it is easy not to consider their child as living just yet, but once they are born into the world and are there for all to see in their glorious form, it is impossible to deny them the gift of life. As I sit here in my classroom, I pray that my nephew remains healthy and innocent, and that his big sister (three years old) will welcome him into his new home today with an open heart just as she did the day of his arrival.