Quotes & Notes

This is one of the greatest combinations of words. “Stand up for the stupid and the crazy” Of course I’m an advocate for this because what fun is life if you stand up for the smart and sensible? “Have patience and indulgence toward people” This is always a challenge of course, because people are inevitably frustrating at some time or another. Although, I think that the most frustrating people are people that will be important to us (if they aren’t already) because only they can really get under your skin. “Love the earth and the sun and the animals.” I wish more people would think to themselves, I love the world, I love animals and I love people and the whole entire entity, because this thinking helps to get some perspective. We are just people, just one species, on one planet, in a speck in the universe and we should consider how big everything else is when we’re caught up in our small, tiny problems in this one college, in this country, in this world, in this speck in the universe. Just stop and think how amazing it is that life is possible at all, let alone all the details and complexities of it. My favorite part is to “re-examine all you have been told… dismiss whatever insults your soul. With this miracle of our world, and our life, it’s a disgrace to allow poisonous words, thoughts or ideas to even touch your soul. “Life’s too short” is an understatement. Life’s too valuable, our lives specifically, but also the very idea and possibility of life itself. He says if you manage to do all these things that “your very flesh shall be a great poem.” Absolutely brilliant.

This is so true. It’s impossible to make any sort of change outside of yourself, without first making a change in your mind. You have to figure out how it is you’re going to change your mind, but I really think that changing your mind, or the way you think about something is the hardest part. It’s like a mountain you have to keep climbing to figure out what it is that you have to think, or how you have to approach a situation to be able to get to the top of the mountain. After that, it’s all downhill, you still have to work for it, and you might hit some bumps along the way, but your changed mind is stronger than anything you’ll encounter. The expression “mind over matter” really is true, but sometimes we think we have changed our minds, we have altered our thought so that mind will conquer, and then you realize, you have another hill to climb, because your mind has not gotten to the change it needs to cause the progress. It’s a long, difficult process but once you realize that you’ve changed your mind, the possibility of reaching your goals fuels the motivation, and then you eventually you realize that reaching your goal is inevitable. And then you do.  I really believe that so much of what we want to change about ourselves, about our lives, about our relationships and our attitudes or personality, begins with a process of convincing your mind to change first. Your mind is your leader, so if your mind says so, then that’s what goes. Maybe I’m biased to this because I’m a Psych major, but the mind is the ultimate control panel; it governs every aspect of you, and of your role and path in the world. Your mind has the power to change more than just you or your part, if you really let it, it could change the whole world, it could change life. It’s almost scary to think of what your individual brain is capable of, but if you do think about it, if you do change your mindset and allow yourself to believe in the change, to believe in the success, that is the first and most crucial step in the process of progress. All progress starts with your mind. Change your mind, and you can change anything.

Aw I really love this. If anything it provides hope for those who have already hit rock bottom. But it also seems to be a safety net of sorts, reassuring you that it’s okay to do something that may make you fall apart. What if there’s something you really want to do, but you’re absolutely terrified of the repercussions, of falling apart, don’t worry because you just have to look at it a little differently. If you break down, there’s really no other option but to put yourself back together, and isn’t it kind of awesome to think of what you could make if you got the chance to remake yourself? It’s amazing because it’s still you, it’s still the product of what you’ve done and experienced. I have concerns though, because this shouldn’t serve as an excuse to fall apart either. You know how you always see in movies or shows when a character is going downhill and its like there’s some unspoken rule that he or she must hit absolute rock bottom, alienate everyone, ruin everything, go through a lull period of nothingness or depression or something evil and then gradually start making amends until they rebuild themselves. It’s a beautiful process, but I mean why can’t the characters realize they need to make a change before their lives turn to absolute shit. Obviously for the sake of the show, it’s all about drama and entertainment, but we shouldn’t hold our actual lives to the same standards because no one is watching, the only person that will truly know how dramatic your life is, is you.

I like this quote, because it’s hopeful for those who feel they’ve fallen apart and it puts a positive spin on an otherwise dark situation. But this hope shouldn’t be something people fall back on. It’s a lot more amazing to say to yourself, I saw the problem, and little by little I adjusted  until I had rebuilt myself into something more amazing, I did it with my strength and determination, I didn’t do it because of my weakness. It’s like choosing to make renovations on a building rather than tear the entire thing down and rebuild it. Don’t fear falling apart, because it provides an opportunity to rebuild yourself, but if you can, choose to renovate instead.

I’ve just experienced this.  A lot of people are in college and still don’t know what they want to do with their future, and that used to be me. It’s impossible to strive for your goals when you really don’t have clear cut plans or ideas. I know my interests, I know my passions, I know what I don’t like, but one of my biggest fears is having a job for most of my life that I hate. It can make for bitter people and spoil other aspects of life. We’ve been hearing the phrase “career path” since sixth grade, or at least I have, and I never really knew what I actually wanted to have a career in. I battled with so many uncertainties and so many changes and now I really think that I have found my niche. I have a goal, I have a hope and a dream that is practical and could support me well and I feel more excited rather than terrified about the future. I finally have an answer to those stupid small-talk questions that my parents friends and family friends ask me. “What’s your major?” “Well what are you thinking you want to do with that?” etc. etc. I can honestly sit in an interview with someone and tell them “Where I [hope] to see myself in five years.” And i can speak with confidence and excitement about those five years to come. It’s also a huge weight off my shoulders because when choosing classes or a major or applying to internships or whatever it is, it can feel really overwhelming when you feel like you don’t even have the first step figured out and then you have to sort of stumble your way through the rest of college. Some people can do it, and some people are great at it, but I’m just not one of those people. I also think when you finally figure out this meeting place of your career and your passion, this “beautiful thing,” it comes in exactly the right way, at exactly the right time and in exactly the right place that fits you and your life. I’m just saying when it happens, it truly is a wonderful thing.

This quote is by John Green. I’m reading the Fault in Our Stars (and they made it into a movie) right now, and I was planning to do a quote from it, because it’s such an amazing book. But John Green is an awesome writer and I found this quote from his book Paper Towns (which I intend to read) instead, and this quote really struck me.

We all know these types of relationships. It’s impossible to get out of it for reasons specific to each person and which all make sense. But something else is constantly causing pain or suffering and it becomes just this roller coaster of days that go jerk back and forth between good and catastrophic. Some days there’s courage, but no one acts on it, or they do but then it’s quickly deemed pointless as they relapse back in to the relationship. It’s the thought of the aftermath of leaving, that causes all this stalling and uncertainty. It’s the worrying of the future, of moving on, or of being moved on from. But then, what if it’s not? What if really, the hardest part is just ignoring all that worry and scrounging up all the courage that is manageable, and then after it’s done, after you’ve left…you realize it was the easiest thing in the world? I wish and hope this is the case. My best friend who I have known forever and who has time and time again been in this situation is who I think of. I just want to be able to tell her this, in a way that she’ll actually believe. But of course it’s not my place. I have to be the supportive friend; I have to be consoling when it’s a bad day, and then feign excitement when something good happens, because that’s what best friends are supposed to do. These situations are delicate, because you can’t overstep; you can barely make the suggestion because if you push too hard, you may be shut out completely and then they don’t have the support. I worry about her every single day. I worry about him too, honestly, because neither of them are bad people, they just are bad together. I’d like to believe her when she says things get better, but I know she’s trying to put my mind at ease, and maybe even she’s trying to convince herself. It’s so hard to leave, until you leave. And then, it’s the easiest thing in the world. I hope it’s true.

I think that everyone can understand this, being that this passed weekend, we endured a 46 hour test of our patience. During THON I kept thinking about this quote that inspired me not to just keep standing, and keep moving my feet, but to keep dancing with enthusiasm, and to keep smiling, FOR THE KIDS. I have to say, by eliminating the verbalization of my discomfort and exhaustion, I was able to sort of put it out of my mind, and the time passed much faster, and when it was all over, I felt even more accomplished and proud of what we had all just done. During the middle few hours, there were times when I was literally convinced I wasn’t going to win the battle with my incessantly drooping eyelids. A few times I felt myself giving up, but of course it’s not difficult to bring yourself back to staying strong when all this amazing stuff is going on around you. They did a good job of spacing out the entertainment so that just when you were about to give up completely, a new band came out on to the stage and demanded that you dance or fist pump or sing at the top of your lungs, thereby instilling a second, third, fourth, fifth wind..I can’t even keep track anymore.

So my dad is probably one of the most patient people I know. Sometimes he reminds me of Mike, the PI from Breaking Bad, you know the one that just sits in the car, just waiting. Anyway I think that my Dad is a lot like that, he could just sit in his car four hours, enduring frustrating traffic and rude drivers, just listening to music or some comedian and humming to himself. It could be that since he has an hour commute, bumper to bumper traffic is the norm to him so he spends a lot of time just being patient. Anyway, whenever he senses me getting worked up with impatience, he turns to me and calmly tells me “Patience, child,” as he motions his flat hands toward the ground slightly. I always think of him doing this whenever I get worked up, even if he’s not with me, because something about the way he says it or the way he gestures with his hands reminds me that patience is not about enduring the wait, but keeping hold of yourself and your attitude while doing so. He has given me a sort of anchor, that helps me to pull myself back when I start getting frantic. I really like this quote and since my patience has been tested a lot lately in several different aspects of my life, I find it very cathartic and calming to remember to wait patiently, because there is really no point at all in waiting in any other manner.

Not a movie quote, but it should be in a movie, on billboards, on commercials, in songs, and EVERYWHERE because some people need this. Arrogance only attracts more arrogant people, which makes the rest of life a constant competition of superiority. Sometimes I feel people trying to compete with me, and I just want to hand them a gold medal and tell them, “alright you’ve won. And since I’m not playing, you’ve won a competition with yourself.” That’s all I really feel it is, a one-man competition, where you are the referee, the audience, and the players on all sides, because no one cares. In the attempt to gear this away from just a full blown rant, I just want to admire the way the quote is put, in reference to the manner in which an person grins. The grin can either be a true, genuine smile, or an arrogant smirk, and that which makes the grin genuine is the presence of humility. The humbleness behind the smile is more powerful than the conceit behind the smirk could ever be. The world can’t be filled with important people, or else no one would be important. Also, there are plenty of people who are quite important, yet who maintain a relationship with their humility and with their grasp on reality, never adhering to arrogance. Then I am curious what the train or collection of thought is, or if there is one at all, that results in a person truly believing they are superior to another person.  I want to listen in to that thought process because it truly fascinates me, what a person must have gone through in their life to have replaced a healthy sense of confidence, with a  façade of arrogance. Yes, I do mean replaced, because I don’t really see how someone can be both confident and arrogant. I think a lot of the time arrogance stands in place of confidence because of the severe depletion of confidence, but then I wonder what makes people become arrogant rather than reserved or shy when their confidence goes missing.  I wonder about these things, and what specifically goes on in a person’s mind that causes these types of behaviors. I suppose everyone has their own unique collection of experiences and predispositions that shape exactly who they are, but I just have to wonder how this arrogance comes about and why it’s so often a replacement to confidence. And how on earth, people prefer arrogance to confidence. So…smile, don’t smirk.

I love meeting new people, and I think that’s my favorite part about college; literally every single day I’m meeting at least one new person. Back home, that wasn’t really the case because I went to the same high school every day with the same people and came home every day to my same family. Occasionally I would meet new people but they always were fleeting meetings and I never really saw them again. But here you go to lecture halls full of hundreds of people, so many that in one semester you can’t even meet them all, but likely you sit next to a new person every day, and that’s 30 to 45 new people every semester, per class, depending on the size of the class. You meet people when you go to clubs or club events, and you actually interact with them and get to know them, rather than just learning their name. You meet people in your dorm or on your floor. You meet people at events and parties; you meet people through friends of friends and friends of friends of friends and the list goes on and on. There’s so many people to meet, and its often that you never see them again, but there’s always that moment with certain individuals when you know that you will see them again and you know that you have a lot in common or had just bonded over something significant and you think to yourself, “I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.” Usually this spark of insight comes after discovering a commonality or experiencing something significant together. It’s exciting and it pushes you to keep constantly meeting new people and feeling this joy again. It’s a wonderful feeling because your mind explodes with possibilities of the companionship. How much will you learn from them? How much will you teach them? What memories will you make together? Will they mean even more to you than you could have possibly expected? Your minds goes crazed with wonder, but it’s a good thing, because it opens eyes to the possibilities of people, of connections, of numerous relationships that will all play their role in shaping who you are, in helping you become exactly the best version of yourself. And you know if you were wrong, and it’s completely not a beautiful friendship, you’ve already met a bunch of people since that person that have just as much potential. It used to intimidate me, that I didn’t know anyone in such a big school with so many people and I didn’t have established social networks like back home, but it has come to be my favorite thing about college. There’s always an interesting person to encounter that will challenge you; maybe they will provoke changes in you or maybe they will confirm the way you already are, either way, new people and new friendships are such an important part of life.

Do you ever have those wonderful moments where you wonder what it will be like to tell the story? I feel like that’s sort of how you tell sometimes, when the moment is going to mean something, because sometimes you have no idea how important the moment is going to be until after the fact. This is one of my favorite movies, and this is  only one of many very inspiring quotes. This year feels like it will someday be a collection of stories that I’m always going to tell, because it’s been such an important time, and I know it will only become even more important. Just think of the important people in your life, for example. Do you remember the moment you met those people? Do you remember the meeting as being powerful while it was happening? I feel like a lot of significant memories stem from the moments that we had at the time, considered fleeting. I try to commit the details to memory, to remember moments, that have any shred of potential at being significant, but then I think, what’s the point? More energy should be focused on absorbing the details in the instant that it’s happening, not trying to remember the story. The most significant moments are the ones happening now, the new ones that are born every instant, over and over, that eventually make up a life. It should be a goal not to dwell on old moments, not to dwell on the stories and the old pictures, but to make every current moment as significant as possible, now. It’s better to absorb the moment as much as possible, and remember the feeling, than to remember the story. I think this is how we have a fulfilled life, by striving to make every moment mean something. If you’re going to be a wallflower, don’t be reminiscing on old significant moments, instead, stand apart from the crowd and absorb every detail possible, giving the now its deserved importance. The story will never be as good as the moment itself, no matter how you tell it, no matter how much you remember; the moment is the original; so don’t miss it. This is happening.

I am most thankful for our ability to laugh. Laughter is a cure, laughter is a sickness, laughter can create relationships, laughter can strengthen a relationship, laughter makes memories, laughter heals hurt, laughter is meant for every single type of soul in the universe, laughter is everything and anything that anyone needs it to be.

It’s really the best feeling when your stomach hurts because you’ve been laughing so hard or when you laugh at the same thing as someone you just met or when you reflect on a memory of laughter with an old friend. Laughter is  crucial to ANY relationship. Laughter is a huge relief in an awkward or uncomfortable situation, laughter is a spark and laughter brings people together. This makes me thankful also for those who cause laughter, and I don’t just mean the people who tell jokes or make sarcastic comments that make us laugh, I’m also thankful for the very people who make us laugh because they are so goofy and peculiar. There is always a kid that is constantly being awkward or saying the wrong thing but they make people laugh, they give people something to laugh about, and as long as its friendly and harmless and not mean or insulting, I am proudly thankful for those people that I laugh at. I’m sure anyone can think of someone that fits the criteria I’m talking about, so take a moment, and silently thank this person for giving you and your friends a good laugh or for being so quirky and strange that you couldn’t help but giggle. We all do it. We should own it and then be thankful for these people.

A day without laughter really does suck, in fact I try not to let a single day pass without laughter, there’s enough funny out there to be laughing every second of every day, but to go a whole 24 hours without a single snicker is preposterous. I appreciate all kinds of humor: baby humor, old people humor, innuendo humor, sarcastic humor, embarrassing humor, awkward humor, bonding-with-people humor, dry humor, laugh-at-your-life humor, clever humor, immature humor, wipe-out humor, even laughing at other people’s laughs humor. Laughter makes the day come full circle; laughter makes life well-rounded. Laughter is an explosion of joy, whether or not we share this explosion with others or have a random outburst to ourselves, laughter has no purpose but to bring sudden and brief highs of happiness. Laughter is wonderful.