Category Archives: Passion

There is always people around you giving you different opinions on what you should do and who you should be. Everyone thinks they know what is best for you or are just trying to tell you that your goals are not worth chasing. I found this that explains what you should actually do when you start to realize this is happening in your life. The quote says, ” Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be  trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking.  Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most  important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.” This quote comes from the genius mind of Steve Jobs.

Steve Jobs was an American entrepreneur, marketer, inventor, and was the co-founder and CEO of Apple Inc. Through Apple, he was widely recognized as a charismatic pioneer of the personal computer generation and for his influential career in the computer and consumer electronics fields, transforming “one industry after another, from computers and smartphones to music and movies”. Jobs also co-founded and served as chief executive of Pixar Animation Studios; he became a member of the board of directors of The Walt Disney Company in 2006, when Disney acquired Pixar. Sadly Jobs died in 2011 but he will never be forgotten.

Lets get back to the inspirational quote. The quote doesn’t sugar coat what you should do. It tells one that they must we only have a short time on this earth and you cannot spend it listening to what other people say and actually do things based on what they say. One must have the strength to do what’s best for them because in the end you are the only one that you can depend on to accomplish your goals and do what you really want to do in life. I have seen so many examples of people not chasing their goals because someone said they weren’t good enough and should just give up. Do you think Michael Jordan would have been the best basketball player if he listened to people when he was young and was not as good as he is now? No, he probably would be working in a regular job regretting what could of been.  The point I’m trying to make is that you have to follow your heart and mind and not other peoples negative thoughts. I almost guarantee your life will be better of for it.

The craziness of life might get to you and you might forget to stay on track. One way to fix this is to just get away to a peaceful place or just anywhere where you feel comfortable and just reflect on your life , what is truly important, and what truly makes you happy. In all honesty if I listened to what other people thought or their opinions I wouldn’t have gone to Penn State and I wouldn’t have achieved so much in my life. All I can say is just to follow your own heart and mind and things will work out.

This past break was excellent I got to relax and I also had a lot of time to think. The quote that I have for my readers today comes from the great Bob Marley. I don’t really think he needs an introduction most people know him as the best reggae artist of all time. He is Jamaican born and bread and always had the philosophy of leading out a hand to help other and the idea of peace through all nations that he put in every word of his music. The quote that I picked from his was, ” Life is one big road with lots of signs. So when you riding through the ruts,  don’t complicate your mind. Flee from hate, mischief and jealousy. Don’t bury  your thoughts, put your vision to reality. Wake Up and Live!” The easiest way I can explain what he was trying to say was that one needs to clear your mind of all negative things and look at the positive things in your life and only think of uplifting things that will encourage you and allow you to encourage others.  Bob Marley understands that life comes with its ups and downs and not all things will work out in your favor even if you try your best. One must brush themselves of and try their best to do better and find things that will make YOU happy. Do you agree with his idea? I know I do. First of all if you are only expecting bad things to happen to you then only bad things will happen….that kind of seems obvious. But if you free your mind of hatred , jealousy,  and negatives your chances of good outcomes infinitely increase 200%.  Even though I am still young I understand that it is easier to love then hate. So why hate. If this was my perfect world, everyday  you would have to do at least one good deed or even just to think about something positive for an hour. It is so simple. I you were around me you would see that I follow Bob Marley’s Philosophy. He found his inner peace and peace with everyone else just because he believed in the good of everyone and the good in his heart. He gave everything he had to the people around him just because he had the concept that, ” If you can give you should give and if you can give more than the only option is to give more.” This probably explains why not one single person can say a bad thing about the man. He used this quote of emptying you mind of hat, jealousy, and mischief to open his eyes to what is really out there and the beauty of the world around him. Just think about it how much better would your life be if you only looked at positives and only aimed to better in life while still letting out your hand to help your fellow man. If everyone followed this quote and Bob Marley, racism , hate, and hunger would not exist. One would also have a better outlook on life. Maybe we all should take a page out the Bob Marley handbook and become better human beings in our future actions.

The quote for this week comes from Jiddu Krishnamurti. He is a famous Indian philosopher that was born on May 12,1895 and died February 17, 1986. He thought about the way people thought of goals and why certain ideas were pointless because it didn’t have a meaning. His quote was, “We all want to be famous people, and the moment we want to be something we are  no longer free.” There are so many different way you can explain this quote. In my opinion Jiddu was trying to say that once we aspire to become someone or achieve something we are not free to do anything else but chase that goal. Everything you do or think about all goes back to becoming that someone you desire to become. If you look at my explanation, one would most likely agree with me. I say this because we all aspire to be someone if its a famous soccer player or pianist. We try to do things to reach that expectation of ourselves. Every single human can attest to that ideal. I mostly agree with this quote because I agree with him. I wanted to be a famous or at least well known soccer playing in my life since I was able to pass a ball. Since I was 5, I did everything I could to make that happen.  I practiced everyday , went to camps , and even joined a club team that travels around the country and internationally. This goal took over my life. Everything I did was for the aspiration of becoming well known as a soccer player. Any athlete would say the same thing. I received verification that this dream was attainable when I found myself on YouTube with over 500 views. This might sound superficial but the satisfaction of seeing myself on the internet was incomparable. College coaches emailed me with interest , I couldn’t believe it. The fact that I have not stopped talking about soccer since I began my rant proves that this quote is spot on. You get so involved in your dream/aspiration that nothing else matter…. not even the main point of my passion blog. You become “trapped” in your desires and ambitions.

Lets look at the other side of the quote. What if didn’t agree with Jiddu on this topic? What if you thought that you are always free to change you mind on your dream. The people that would go against this quote the most would probably college students… go figure. We change our minds on our future every day. One day we want to be big shot corporate lawyers and fire fighters the next. We have the biggest egos. I mean we believe we can be anything and do anything whenever we want because in college we are “free.” There are no chains holding us back from doing anything or becoming anyone. But in all honesty we still have the same dreams as we did when we were little, they are just a little bit more precise or realistic.  Till this day and probably for the rest of my life I will always want to be a famous soccer player and that will never change no matter how old I get. So I am not “free” of my desire and I’m perfectly okay with that.

This past weekend was probably one of the best experiences of my life. Can anyone guess why? It was because I participated in the biggest event at the BJC. If you don’t know by now it was Thon this weekend. During Thon the whole school and all of its organizations come together to raise money for pediatric cancer. I couldn’t tell you how excited I was to be apart of something so big. Since I am part of a fraternity my pledge class and I had to do a lot to prepare for Thon. We went on canning trips , wrote thonvelopes and sent out emails to raise money for our Thon family and for the event. We also had to wait in line from 11 o’clock until the BJC opened which was at 4 in the afternoon. The crazy thing by the time we entered the line it had already stretched all around the football stadium. This is when I first realized the enormity of this event. When we got into the stadium and set up our section I looked at my brothers and my sister Thon sorority and said I will stay for as long as I possibly can to support our dancers and the kids of Thon, which were three of our senior brothers. Every second of the event was amazing. I have never felt so much love, compassion, and energy in one place. When it got towards the end of the 46 hours dance for pediatric cancer I could barely feel my feet or even stay awake but I kept thinking to myself, this is nothing compared to what these kids have to go through every day and they still manage to have a smile on their face and enjoy life. The last part of Thon was worth all the 40 hours that I managed to be there. It was so inspirational and I was taken back by how much that came out of me. I actually started to cry and I never cry. When the event came to a close we managed to raise over $13 million dollars!!!! It was the most amazing thing that I have ever been apart of while being at PSU. The quote that I have for you today that showed the will of everyone in that stadium and for all the kids that are still fighting pediatric cancer is simple, ” Redefining the Possibilities.” This quote was said multiple times throughout the event and shows how one college can come together to keep raising more money each year. This quote is also for the kids that keep beating the odds for which I am so proud of them for staying strong. I wouldn’t know what I do if I was in their situation and the fact that I can help them in anyway means the world to me. I don’t help to satisfy my needs I do it for them and I hope everyone feels the same way.  Even though THON is one of the best experiences /events at Penn State University it should still be taken seriously and you should always remember what it is really all about.

Over the past week I’ve looked at how people view character and the world around them. I look at the world different then most people I love to see the good out of everything and not the bad. I also love the how beautiful our natural world is unlike most people who are to busy with the hustle and bustle of life. Taking a moment to notice the beauty of nature and the beauty of people is what I’m all about. The quote that I found for this week that embodies this idea states , ” The charm of ones character and love for universal life is the path to true life.” This quote was written by Epictetus. Epictetus is a philosopher from the ancient Greece age who believed in open thinking and the power of thought. I completely believe in his ideas and the quote. He tells us that we must open our minds and our hearts to the people we meet to truly experience life. We must take advantage of everything and explore the awesomeness of nature to love life and yourself.

This past week was very stressful for me. I had to study for exams and my schedule was packed with various appointments. The whole time I was thinking of how I  was ever going to complete all these assignments and do well on each task. My confidence was at an all time low and if you saw me or talked to me, you would assume that I was going crazy or stressed out. I had a talk with my older fraternity brothers about how to handle all this stress and what is the best way to attack school and not feel so overwhelmed. I went to them because they have already been through it all and I felt that they would give the best advice on the subject. They told me to basically just have confidence and just believe in yourself. This gave me the idea to find a quote that would help me feel better about my situation and improve my confidence level. It also gave me a perfect idea for this weeks passion blog. After sifting through the internet I uncovered a quote that changed my whole attitude. The quote was derived from the talented and infamous Muhammad Ali. He stated that, ” I am the greatest, I said that even before I knew I was.” This helped me so much and I honestly didn’t know why. The quote just gave me a feeling of confidence and made me reassure myself that I can do anything. Even though I might not be the best I will still strive for excellence and accomplish my goal no matter how much work or how hard it will have to be to finish. After reading the statement, made by the famous Muhammad Ali , I attacked every obstacle like I was the best and by the end of the week I managed to get everything done with accuracy. My question to you is , what can you take from this? What do you do or think about when you feel stressed and need a pick me up?

After  going through my first semester of real college , I have been through a lot of experiences. By being at Penn State I had to be very independent. I am basically on my own for the most part. I sat down and thought about what I’ve seen and done. Then I realized something important and probably something that I should have figured out a long time ago. I figured out that we make choices every single moment of every single day and these choices determine future outcomes and have so many different ways of turning out. For my blog entry today I found a perfect quote that inhabits this idea. The quote says, “You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer  yourself in any direction you choose. You’re on your own, and you know what you  know. And you are the guy who’ll decide where to go.” This is quote written by the famous Dr. Seuss. If you don’t know who Dr. Seuss you definitely didn’t have a childhood. For the people who don’t know who he is , Dr. Seuss was an American writer, poet, and cartoonist in the 1900’s.His actual name is Theodor Seuss Geisel and he was widely know for the children’s books written and illustrated as Dr. Seuss. He published about 46 books. The most well known of his work and  probably the defining book of Ted’s career is ” The Cat In the Hat”. He wrote for the children and talked in rhyme, but he had a meaning to everything he wrote. The quote that I took from him gives the reader the concept that you’re your own person and you must decide what you will do for your life. No one else has that power other than you. He’s telling you that you should use your brain and attributes to decide your future. I completely agree with his quote. As children we depended on our parents for everything and they made all the decisions for you for the most part. But now we are on our own and must think for ourselves.

For my first entry to passion blog I would first like to establish what the concept of each one will be about from now until the end of the semester. I will be using the idea of having a special or famous quote a week from a famous person or anyone that gives a quote that will make you think about the world around as well as yourself. The first quote for my passion blog will be derived from the great mind of Thomas A. Edison. If you did not know before , Thomas A. Edison was the creator of the light bulb and many other revolutionary inventions such as the phonograph and motion picture camera.He developed many devices that greatly influenced life around the world. With his innovative mind he came up with a quote that said, “Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is  always to try just one more time.” This quote tells us that you can never give up on anything that inspires you or forces you to work hard because that little extra push will make one become successful. I always think that the moment you give up, is the moment you realize how close you really were to becoming great and achieving your goals. So basically the phrase, “giving up” should never be in ones vocabulary. It also gives us insight to the way people think. People always try to find the easy way out or cut corners and when they can’t do this, the easiest solution is to just quit or give up on whatever it is they are doing. In most cases we as humans call these obstacles. One must learn to be a strong individual that has the will to surpass the hardest parts of life and to keep moving forward no matter how hard the obstacles may be. I almost forgot how to be a strong person with all this peer pressure that I come across at college. I don’t even want to go into detail about the things that I’ve seen. Thankfully I was strong without even knowing it. Every time I think about giving up and letting the negative side win I go to what my mom and dad say about sticking to your roots and remember the lessons that they had taught me all my life since I was little. My mom use to say “remember where you come from and never forgot there is always a way to succeed.” I use her words every single day when I feel like I’m about to give up and I thank her for teaching me that lesson. In most cases the people who never give up always achieving their goals and never end up regretting their decisions unlike those who give and wonder “what could have of been.” You don’t ever want to look back and wonder. Do you have ever look back and wonder about what could have been????? I can tell you from experience that it’s a bad feeling. The good thing is that you can always change your situation and improve. Not trying to be redundant but all I have say is don’t ever give up.