This I Believe

http://www.thisibelieve.org/
This is an awesome idea Check out the website: no viruses or anything.

This I Believe is an international project engaging people in writing, sharing, and discussing the core values that guide their daily lives. These short statements of belief, written by people from all walks of life, are archived here and featured on public radio in the United States and Canada, as well as in regular broadcasts on NPR. The project is based on the popular 1950s radio series of the same name hosted by Edward R. Murrow.

There are a couple really touching essays on there; check them out!! I like to read about one a day...the essays are only 500 words long so they don't take more than a few minutes to read, yet they are so pointed and touching.

I encourage everyone to write one
I was forced to write one for English, but whatever...Should I post it?

Hmm. Here goes.

Spilled Milk
There is a popular saying that goes, “Don’t cry over spilled milk,” but what does it truly mean? Does this trite expression suggest that we are simply not to mourn our losses and continue as before? Or should we learn from them instead and pull the positive out of the negative, remaining joyful, even when it seems there is nothing to be joyful about? I believe in the latter. The cards we are dealt in life must be played the best we can. Even if it might mean losing a few games, from these losses we can always learn lessons that will ultimately help us in the future.
Click. As I freed my key from the lock, I flung open the door and began to whistle, my chinchilla singing disharmoniously along. It was the beginning of another weekend, and I had no homework! What more could I possibly hope for?
Four hours later. I was sitting at the dinner table, immobile. There could have been a hurricane raging outside and yet I would not have noticed, would not have cared. Although I had been expecting it, the news from my parents shocked me beyond belief. I have to move. I have to switch schools. I have to give Apple and Mocha away. The words pounded in my head over and over again. I have to move. Only half a year before had I begun attending a high school where I knew no one, and now I had to leave it all behind? What kind of cruel joke was this? Not to mention my chinchilla and rabbit – the ones that would normally have consoled me – were not going to be there for me anymore. Just as my life was beginning to settle, it felt as if someone had taken a stirring stick and mixed in everything I didn’t want: loss, confusion, more strangers. I was unjustifiably angry at God, my parents, and most of all – myself. Why me? What had I done wrong that would deserve this?
But now I realize that my anger and frustration was unnecessary. I hadn’t done anything wrong. It was just the way life worked. Inevitably, I would experience loss at some point in my life, but the loss itself wasn’t the important part; what really mattered was how I reacted and what I managed to glean from the experience.
I believe that with loss comes positive change, if one decides to embrace it. I shouldn’t mourn things I can’t change; why not continue with the race of life and persevere? After all, just because an athlete might fall down, he wouldn’t sit there and burst into tears for the loss of a medal. Rather, he would get back up and sprint towards the finish, regardless of what rank he got.
Having to move and give up the foundation I had set up for myself was hard; I won’t lie. But it was from this that I was able to reorganize my priorities and realize that being joyful is a choice, not something that I can’t control. I have no doubt that my life will be shaken many more times in the future, but if I can just move on and strive to think positively, I believe that I will never have to cry over spilt milk again.

Not half bad

I'm thinking I should check out the website...

OMG I ONLY GOT 8.5!?!
>.<
I'm gonna cry.

Calm down Linda. 85% isn't that bad... (well actually, you won't believe that so I'm wasting my time.)

I FAILED!!