ponder this:

YOU CANNOT

FIND YOURSELF

UNTIL YOU LOSE

YOURSELF.

Optimist vs. Pessimist

The world is divided into two types of people- the optimist and the pessimist. they don't get along very well together, because they simply don't understand each other.
when things are gong great, the optimist says something like, "I'm sure things will continue like this for a long time to come!" The pessimist, on the other hand, says something along the lines of, "Things can't go perfectly forever. something bad is coming- I know it!"
When something terrible is coming, the optimist usually exclaims cheerily, "Look on the bright side! Things really could be a lot worse." While the pessimist sighs and says, "I knew it."
The optimist enjoys being an optimist because his upbeat and cheerful attitude can triumph over anything life throws at him.
The pessimist enjoys being a pessimist because usually he's right, and sometimes he's pleasantly surprised.
The optimist can't understand the pessimist. to him, the pessimist is the eternal grouch. he's like the cantankerous old man who lives all alone and yells at little kids when they go onto his lawn to retrieve a ball. to the optimist, pessimists are infuriating, because they absolutely refuse to cheer up or shed their attitude of "the world is going to end today, and we're all going to die."
The pessimist is equally frustrated with the optimist. he doesn't understand why the optimist would want to live a lie, pretending that the world is all rainbows and ice cream and fuzzy kittens, while closing his eyes to the truth- the war and the hate and the pain. to the pessimist, the optimist is the short, plump, lady with a hat brimming with flowers, with a smile permanently etched onto her face as if it was glued there- the sort of lady who's always smiling and laughing when you feel like screaming in frustration, always trying to plant a sticky kiss n your cheek, and you sometimes wish you could punch her, just to wipe that infuriating smile off her face, if even for just a moment.
i think it's time for this age-old feud to come to an end. the optimists and pessimists should learn to understand each other. true, their views on the world might be complete opposites, but we can all still get along, can't we? with time and patience, perhaps sometime in the future, the optimist and the pessimist can learn to let go of their differences and join together.

...or maybe that's just wistful thinking.

A strange thought that just occured to me

According to the Bible, the first person ever to die was murdered. By his own brother. I wonder if there's any symbolism in that? Does it have anything to do with the way the world is now?

In Between

in myths and legends, "In-Between" places are special. crossroads are known for having a lot of supernatural activity. the crossing between two places- not quite here, not quite there. having one foot on land and one foot in the ocean is also said to bring out magic.
for some reason, i like in-between things.
i think really good music is an in-between thing. it's not really physical. but then again, it's not completely spiritual, either. that's what makes music so beautiful. not totally physical, not totally spiritual, but something in between.
sunrise and sunset are my favorite parts of the day. they are beautiful, and there's a certain magic about it. you can never really be sure if it's day or night. perhaps it's neither. it's something in between.
those hazy few minutes between sleeping and waking- that's an in-between time, too. dreams and reality merge, blend. it's weird.
this is one of the reasons why i love spring so much. it's bursting with magic. not only the magic of rebirth, but that magical feeling that only in-between things can bring. for spring is not as harsh as winter, yet not as blazing as summer. it's something in between.
teenage years are special. I'm not quite an adult, yet i am no longer a child. I'm old enough to start feeling certain emotions and thinking certain things I've never thought before, but I'm not yet old enough to understand all of my thoughts and feelings, or to even know what to do with them . I'm eager to prove that i can be mature and trusted, yet I'm still a bit immature at times, and scared of growing up. not quite adult, not quite child. something in between.

this planet

to continue from yesterday's post, i was given this great article. i think it was originally an email. here we go:

THIS PLANET:
if we could shrink the earth's population to a village of precisely 100 people, with all existing human ratios remaining the same, it would look something like this. there would be:
57 Asians.
21 Europeans.
14 from the western hemisphere, both north and south.
8 Africans.

52 would be female, 48 would be male.
70 would be non-white, 30 would be white.
70 would be non-christian, 30 would be christian.

6 people would posses 59% of the entire world's wealth, and all 6 would be from the United States.
80 would live in substandard housing.
70 would be unable to read.
50 would suffer from malnutrition.
1 would be near death; one would be near birth.
1 would have a college education.
1 would own a computer.

the following is also something to ponder:
if you woke up this morning with more health than illness, you are more blessed than the million who will not survive this week.

if you have never experienced the danger of battle, the loneliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture, or the pangs of starvation, you are ahead of 500 million people in the world.

if you can attend a religious gathering without fear of harassment, torture, arrest, or death, you are more fortunate than 3 billion people in the world.

if you have food in the fridge, clothes on your back, a roof over your head, and a place to sleep, you are richer than 75% of the world.

if you have money in the bank, in your wallet, and spare change in a dish someplace, you are among the top 8% of the world's wealthy.

if you can read this message, then you are more blessed than over 2 billion people in the world who cannot read at all.

taken for granted

did you ever realize how much we take for granted?
did you ever think about how incredibly fortunate we are?
i don't know most of the people who read this, i don't know your specific life circumstances, but the fact that you're reading this shows how incredibly lucky you are- you can read, and you have a computer. did you know that only 1% of the world's population owns a computer?
i have so much. a home, a family, a great school, great friends, food, a computer, a blog, a religion, a culture. you know, i was just thinking the other day about how many people suffered to get me where i am now. people DIED for my religion, for my culture. i don't know if you all can say that, but i can. people gave up their lives for my religion. and sometimes i take it for granted. it's always been there, so i tend to not take it too seriously at times. i don't always realize how much has been given up for it.
and then there's my friends. friends are fickle things sometimes. a few years ago, i had a best friend, we were inseparable . and i assumed that that was the way it would always be. except... one day, for various reasons, she decided not to be friends with me. at the time, it really, really hurt. and it scared me, because i had taken for granted that she was there for me. i never even took the time to thank her for all she had done for me, and i guess she got sick of it.
family. my family is one of my greatest gifts. i take that for granted all the time. but think about it- there are many people out there who don't have a family at all. they are alone. i had never even thought about that until i had a dream recently. I'm not going to go into detail, because it was incredibly disturbing, but I'll say this much: i woke up crying. literally. and i try not to take my parents for granted anymore.
everybody, look around you! realize what a beautiful world, what a beautiful life you have been given. realize how much you have, how you are so rich, in so many ways! and take the time to stop for a second, and thank those who helped make your life what it is, who helped make you who you are.
because life is a gift. embrace it, cherish it, love it, and don't take it for granted.

some random quotes

for a bit of a change, today i decided to post a few of my favorite quotes. if anyone else has any good one's, please share them! tell me which ones you like best:

"who in the world am i? ah, that's the great puzzle!"
-Lewis Carrol

"All that we see or seem
Is but a dream within a dream."
-Edgar Allen Poe

"Time's fun when you're having flies."
-Kermit the Frog

"of course this is all in your head, but why on earth should that mean that it's not real?"
-J.K. Rowling

"the only two infinite things are space and human stupidity. and I'm not sure about the former."
-Albert Einstein

"i can't go back to yesterday- i was a different person then."
-Lewis Carrol

"it takes a smart man to know when he's stupid."
-Barney Rubble

"why stand if you can sit?"
-Winston Churchill

"Masquerade! Paper faces on parade. Masquerade! Hide your face so the world will never find you..."
-The Phantom of the Opera

"curiouser and curiouser."
-Lewis Carrol

"how does soldiers killing each other solve the world's problems?"
-Bill Watterson

"Step follows step, hope follows courage. set your face towards danger, set your heart on victory."
-Gail Carson Levine

"The world is quiet here."
-Lemony Snicket

"because i want to see how far i can go before i have to stop."
-Libba Bray

"and the worst part was, they were only at the beginning."
-Tony DeTerlizzi and Holly Black