Anything you can do, I can do better!!

I’m slowly realizing how much of an egotistical world we live in.  People generally want to be the best, and be the center of attention, and doing anything to get there.  From sports, to social groups, to sports, to anything else in the world involving other people, we always strive to be the best, even if it means putting others down in the process.

Though we are naturally competitive people, I feel this is extreme.  Being competitive is one thing, but always wanting to be the “best” takes it too far.  Some people take it to the limit where they would do anything to be considered the best, even emotionally and sometimes physically hurting others- which is not okay. 

Why do people feel the need to be on top, to be the best, and be number one, even at the expense of others?

Honesty is a sturdy foundation, but we build on shakey things

Growing up, we are infused with ideas that are “right” and “wrong”: do as you’re told, listen to your parents, don’t talk back, and always tell the truth.  Though there are different levels of lies, they are all still lies, but some people find them acceptable.  Telling one lie immediately sets you up to have to tell another one, and then it’s a huge chain reaction of lies, and then it gets to a point where you no longer can keep up with the lies- then things crumble down. 

   

The world would be a lot better and easier if everyone simple told the truth, but it’s never that easy.  People are afraid of the truth, by why?  It’s better to be hurt by the truth instead of protected by a lie.

Why do we feel the need to lie?  Why are we afraid of the truth?

I accept Rachel's Challenge

April 20, 1999.
Columbine, Colorado.

History was made.
Two students shot up the high school, killing fellow classmates.

First one to be killed was a girl named Rachel Joy Scott, and she was killed because they asked her if she believed in God; she stood by her faith and replied with a "yes", then was shot.

Many people have heard of and have been touched by an organization called “Rachel’s Challenge” which was put together by her family, and it reminds people of her goals of her life that she wishes everyone else to follow.

 

                “I won’t settle to be average,” – Rachel Joy Scott

The quote above is a quote that she lived daily by, along with 5 other goals that prose as her “challenge”. 

Her challenges are as listed:

1. Eliminate Prejudice

2. Dare to Dream

3. Choose your influences

4. Kind words

5. Starts a Chain Reaction

She also had an idea of chain reactions, a more realistic version of the movie Pay It Forward you could call it.  Rachel thought that if she did one nice thing to a person- could be as simple as a smile- could improve their day, which would make them do something nice to another person, thus causing a chain reaction.

 I accepted Rachel's Challenge my senior year in high school, will you?

you just may cause a chain reaction...

Do you think such lifestyle changes are realistic?  How far will the “chain reaction” exactly go?  Would taking this challenge turn the acts of kindness from an altruistic act into an act of egoism? 

Touchy Topic... Torture

Jenny asked "Is talking about and/or seeing torture difficult for you? Is it to the extreme like me or are you interested as well as disturbed?"

I personally can take watching torture in movies for the most part, because I know it's fake and I just keep telling myself that over and over if I start to tense up.  But personal reasons and such make torture kinda iffy with me.
I hate to say, but I get horrible nightmares where my sister is physically tortured in front of me, and I can't do anything to save her.  My sister is my world, and I always wake up from these crying, shaking, and covered in sweat.  Though all of this is in my mind, I can't help but be extremely upset- I mentally get beat up. 

I can talk about torture for the most part without expressing any emotion, but that's just because I've grown to mask emotions very well.  I've grown to realize that I can talk about anything and make it seem as if I have no emotions towards the topic, and it's something that Ive grown to like.  Though I'm uncomfortable on the inside with most aspects, I can make it so people don't know.


There is also a part of sickening fascination I have.  Not saying I enjoy watching people get tortured, but think back to the Mayans and Aztecs.  Their history is so interesting (or at least it is it me), and these two groups were considered the most violent of the Indians.  They would behead a group of losers in a sporting even, and carry the heads around to prove they were the champions.  Things like that oddly interest me-maybe I'm just weird.

Do you think the movie industry plays with the emotions that people get from torture and other gruesome acts and puts those situations in the movies just for such reactions?

I'll raise them how I want

Julia asked "Do you think that your parents' age had anything to do with how you were parented and how they handled certain situations? How have your parents shaped how you see the world?"

I don't think my parents' ages have much to deal with how I was raised, or anything.  I think it's more-so how their families where growing up, and all the hardships they faced from childhood until now.

For example: my mom was abused growing up by her father and uncle, and she took the hits so her younger siblings wouldn't have to.  When her and my dad were married and had my sister, my mom told him that if he ever laid a hand on any of her kids (other than needed punishment, but even that has a line) that she would either walk out or something even worse.

As for my dad when he was younger- he was the oldest out of five children, in a poor family, and an Air Force brat.  His mother was one out of 23 children, and she came from a very poor family.  Also, my grandfather was a severe alcoholic, and was extremely abusive towards his children.

Then when my parents got married, they were also poor, and had a very hard time getting on their feet.  My mother bounced from job to job, and my dad was always being stationed in different places.  Both of my parents have told me stories from right after they were married sitting in the living room of their new apartment and using boxes as furniture.  Or any of the many times my dad would sell his blood plasma so my parents would be able to eat that week.

But back to the original point, my parents didn't raise me the way they did because of their age or the time they grew up in, it's totally based off of what they endured before I was born.

Looking back on all of this, I'm very thankful that I'm in college and able to eat, because neither of my parents had the chance to go to college.

Why do you think people always take the smallest things for granted?  Even if it is something as simple as food on a plate? 

Forget censorship?

Catherine asked : Do you think the government should have control over what we post on the Internet?

I'm totally split on this question.  There are some things that shouldn't be available to everyone on the internet--things such relating to the safety of our troops and safety of our citizens in general.  Then there are things such as pornography that can be seen by anyone just by a click of a mouse--but if they want to seek it out that badly, why not make it easily obtainable?

There are also things such as anti-troop groups online, which really make me mad.  I'm so pro-military because of my family, and seeing that people don't appreciate the people who are putting their lives on the lines for us just irks me beyond belief.  But with things such as that, you can easily look away, turn the page, and in some cases, block seeing things related to that.

Let's turn back a little bit--the Wiki Leaks.  People publish secret information pertaining to safety, and government tactics, and who knows what else, because they can.  

Again, I'm split in my response.  Some things should be censored and controlled by the government, but also keeping things open to the public helps to lower the amount of people that are ignorant and uniformed to certain topics in the world.

Question:  Why do you feel the people who leaked information (the WikiLeak people) decided to do so?