Tuesday, January 14, 2014

Changing the World.

As a Senior in High School, I constantly get asked the question: What are you going to do for the rest of your life?
For the past year my answer has been: I have no flipping clue.
Of course that is still true, but I might have come to a sorta answer of these past few months: I want to change the world.
Now don't you dare ask me when. And don't ask me where. And don't even think about asking me how. I still have no clue. Also I would like to clarify, that changing to the world doesn't have to be the same as taking it over. If I can effect just one persons life, that is changing the world. I just want to do something, and do something good.
That is my promise here to you, and to myself.
Heres to a new year, a new goal, and to changing the world.

Monday, January 13, 2014

Let Them Effect You.

Take one look around you.
A laptop, a phone. A fresh glass of Dr. Pepper. A blanket, my window, a bag of finished pretzels.
Now open a new tab and open your favorite news website. What do you see?
Fires, accidents, death, drama. War.
We live in a world where everything, literally everything is at the tip of our fingers. With the swish of a mouse we can thousands of pictures of cats. We can read up on Africa, learn some facts about Koalas, or try to destroy colored bubbles.
The real question that I am getting at here, is with all of that out there what are you spending your time doing? What are you google searching for. If you're not sure, check your history. You can go back, days, months, even years and see every single thing you have searched for. We are living in a world of such great power and knowledge, but what are we doing with it?
What are we doing with it.
How is it that we have come to live in a world where a cat falling can be seen by millions of people, yet none of them could explain to you what is going on in Syria right now.
Of course as I sit here typing this, I am reflecting this upon myself. I only happened upon a video about the strife in Syria on accident literally half an hour ago. It is not that I am blind, because I see plenty of sad stories that float along on the internet. All asking for money to help some trouble in the world. Of course I know I can't help them all, but has it gotten to a point that I don't even seem to care.
'It's just another organization wanting my money.'
But it's more than that. Those organizations are people. People who have given up their lives to spread the word to raise something that rips at their heart. So why can't we take two measly minutes out of our lives to watch there video? I'm not saying this to guilt you into giving money, like so many of them seem to be doing. I am saying this so that you take the minute to glimpse into these peoples lives and see all of the hard work and passion they put into what they are doing and into the issue at hand. I challenge you, and myself to not donate, but to listen. Listen to their story, appreciate it, and remember it.
I find that a lot of times those videos can all become blurred as one in my head. No more. With all those cat videos you have watched and are probably thinking of right now, remember the things in our world that really matter. If you have the funds to help, and are moved to do so then by all means, but there are other ways you can react to these sorts of things without just passing them by.
Let them effect you.