Ten ways to stay positive

Staying positive is something that I personally have an issue with sometimes.  When ever I feel negative thoughts forming in my head, I trying to think of things that are positive.  Hopefully, a few of these points will help you stay positive when the going gets tough.

Ten ways to stay positive: 

1. Take a deep breath and look around .  
2. Don't worry about the things you can't control.
3. If you make a mistake, don't worry; each day is another chance to set things right. 
4. Hangout with people who always have something good to say. 
5. Speak with encouraging words.
6. Surround yourself with positive things. 
7. Tell yourself that you can do it, even if it is physically impossible. 
8. Expect great things to happen each and every day. 
9. Spend time with family members. 
10. Trust in God. 

The power of invisibility

If I had one wish, I would wish for the ability to be invisible. Why choose invisibility? Being invisible means that I can hear what people think about mean behind closed doors.  On the few days I had to take a sick day from school, I always wondered what people were saying about me.  I would ask myself this question because kids would talk about a person if they weren't at school on any given day.  The power of invisibility would allow me to really determine who my real friends are and I would then be able to tell if someone was lying to me if I asked them to give their honest opinion of me.  I guess people are just too polite to say to your face how they really feel about you.           

My experience with a semester blog

At the beginning of the semester, I had to start a blog for my second semester writing class.  At first I was a little unsure of how it would go.  I never blogged before and took to the semester long assignment without much enthusiasm.  As time went by, I would occasionally add to it.  Most of the semester, I would tell myself that I would blog a few times during the week to catch up on the blogs I missed.  As the semester came to a close, I told myself that i would blog and try to find some meaning behind it.  I have been blogging for about 6 straight hours now.  Yes, some of you probably think that I am crazy.  Others may think that I am lazy.  The truth is, I never originally wanted to blog. I asked myself, "What good will my blogs do for someone else who reads them?"  I am a private person and I do not like to put out my personal information for everyone to see.  I struggled coming up with ideas for good blogs worthy to be seen by eyes other than my own.  Today, something changed.  As I began to type up my early blogs today, I couldn't help but notice the excitement that came with telling a story.  I wanted to do nothing else during that moment other than tell my story.  I don't want this feeling of excitement when writing to go away.  It keeps me focused and motivated to get more accomplished.  If only I would have felt this feeling earlier in the semester.  

Ending my first year of college

Well, another year has come and gone.  The only difference is that this year was my first year of college.  A lot has changed in the past year.  For one thing, I have grown more mature in light of having to schedule appointments for myself.  My parents have never met my teachers, so it is up to me to effectively communicate with my teachers if I have any questions or concerns.  Overall, I can say that I am quite satisfied with my first year as a college student.  Yes, there were hard times when I was slammed with school work like I never had been before and yes there were times when I just wanted to give up.  The thing is, that's all part of growing up and becoming an adult member of society.  If things were really easy, then everybody would do it.  College is not for everyone.  Some people would rather begin to work straight out of high school and others, like me, would rather go to college and sacrifice on a few things now and hopefully become successful later on and live a much more comfortable lifestyle according to today's standards.  I look forward to the beginning of my first semester as a college sophomore and cannot wait to see what the future of my college career has in store. 

Still waiting to move

I have been living with my grandparents for about a year and a half.  Although we have gotten along quite well, there are times when I wish I could snap my fingers and make our (my parents and sister) new house ready to move into.  One couldn't imagine the excitement that I feel right now as the final weeks of work approach.  What a great time of the year to move into a new home!

The last few months have been difficult at times.  Trying to balance my home life and college life has been the greatest challenge I have faced yet.  Sometimes I want to stay at school until the house is complete to prevent me from becoming distracted from my studies.  Other times, I wish I could work around the house all day and help out as much as I can.  Unfortunately, life is not that simple and I must suck it up and balance both my personal and academic lives.  It's hard to do this, however.  i don't really know anyone whom I can talk to about my struggle to stay focused when I am around so much chaos.

As I have learned through this journey, patience and perseverance are a must. If you don't have patience, the process will feel like it is going ten times slower.  Without perseverance, nothing will be accomplished.  To close, I want to tell those who may be in my current situation to never give up hope, welcome every new day as one day closer to achieving your goal (which in my case, is moving out of my grandparents), and stick close to your loved ones and encourage one another.        

Time Travel

If time machines existed and you could go anywhere you wanted where would you go?  Would you take a trip to the past and visit your relatives or would you journey into the future and see how your decisions played out? As for myself, I would travel to the past and the future.

I would travel forward in time for the chance to see what my future holds.  While there, I would be able to see myself and determine whether I made good decisions or not.  It's crucial to never rush into anything, especially important life changing decisions.

Travelling back in time would of serve the purpose of seeing what was and what has developed because of something that happened.  In the past, I could see family members that died before I was born. I could also experience life before the use of addicting types of technology such as cell phones or computers.  Life was simple, period.  Travelling to the past would allow me to relax and see real events and talk to real people; not like today where everyone is on their phones, becoming more anti social despite the fact that they are communicating with other people continuously.  If only technology could make time travel possible!

Getting Stronger

I was always a skinny person growing up.  Being a skinny person, I was often and still am embarrassed to go to a pool party or run with my shirt off because of my rather thin-like appearance. In high school, I was an athlete and I took weightlifting classes for gym.  As I began to focus more on weightlifting, I saw my body becoming bigger and stronger in appearance.  After graduating and having no where to go lift, I slowly fell back into my rather skinny and weaker state.  At the beginning of the spring semester of my first year of college, I made the move to get back in shape and become stronger than ever before. In a fourteen week period, I have seen my body become stronger and I feel better about my appearance.  It really does affect me to see people my age who are twice as big as me.  I don't want to be seen as the weak guy or the guy who looks like a stick any longer.  So, this summer, I plan on taking my weightlifting to the next level with the help of supplements that will give my body the nutrients I may not be giving it when I'm working out. With a strong mind and will power, I will enter the new school year feeling like a new improved person. As the saying goes, "Out with the old and in with the new".