Friday, August 26, 2011

How do you feel about the holidays?

It’s a haul of a heliday!   What’s better than a bunch of weird people dressing up in silly costumes and then for candy from complete strangers?  As pointless as Halloween is, you gotta admit everyone loves candy.
Sure, sure Halloween used to mean something.  I’ve been told it’s Celtic or Pagan or something, but obviously that meaning has been lost over the centuries.  And you know what? It’s not just Halloween that’s lost it’s meaning.  Consider St. Patrick’s day and Valentine’s day, do either of these holidays have any meaning?

Everyone already knows that the purpose for Valentine’s and Mothers’ day and Fathers’ day is to buy each other hallmark cards. You can tell someone you love them any day, but they’ve set aside a day and jacked up the prices of dollar store quality candy so you don’t forget. Isn’t that nice of them.

Now, I’m sure you’ve figured out where I’m going with this.  If holidays like Halloween and St. Patrick’s have lost their origins to commercialism, what does that say about Christmas and Easter? 

Well I’m taking the easy way out of this one.  I’m already running late, and I haven’t even had breakfast yet.

Thursday, August 25, 2011

Roses

Not all roses are red.  Some are yellow, some are pink . . . in fact, I’ve been told that some roses are black.  Or, at least, appear to be black.  My point is that many, many roses are NOT red. I probably wouldn’t be far off base if I were to say that most roses aren’t red.
The yellow roses are perfectly happy being yellow.  A rose by any other color smells just as sweet.  The world needs the whites and pinks, the yellows and blacks, and even a few roses here and there that have touches of multiple colors.
How boring would this life be if all the roses were red and all the violets were blue?  Each color of rose has a special meaning.  Red is for love.  Pink signifies gratitude.  Show your friends you care with yellow rose.  White roses are the beginning of something wonderful, and black are the end of a tragic life.

If every rose were red confusion would rule.  “Johnny gave Misty a rose, what does that mean?”  “Well I heard roses can sometimes mean ‘Thank You’ or ‘I’m glad we’re friends.’”  “I thought a rose meant he loved her?”  “I thought you sent roses to funerals . . .”

So what am I getting at? What do roses have to do with you?  Here’s the thing, if a rose can be content being white instead of red, why can’t a girl be content with who she is?  A yellow rose bush will never produce a red rose.  But the plant is still beautiful and fragrant.

Not all girls are super models.  In fact, most aren’t.  Some girls feel they are too tall; some too round.  Some believe they have mousy hair; and some thinks they are too skinny.  But they are real girls.  They are girls as much as any super model is.  They are beautiful and talented and their lives have meaning.  Maybe we’re not all actresses, we’re not supposed to be.  We need mothers, doctors, teachers, real women to be a role model for the future women and daughters of the world.

Love who you are.  Begin to love the skin you’re in, because it’s the only skin you’ve got.  Love your life because it is yours alone.  No one can live like you can because no one is exactly like you.  Now doesn’t that make you feel special?  Out of all the billions of people in the world, you are the only you.  You are the only one with your genes combined as they are, the only one that knows what it’s like to be the 5th or 3rd or 8th child of your parents.  No one else can say that.  You are the only person on this entire planet that learns the way you do and can do everything you can do.  Wow!

The world needs you! We need you! I need you!  I need you to let me know that even though I am one-of-a-kind that I am not alone.  I will try to do the same in return.  We all need each other.  Every person in you come in contact with in the course of your live is changed just by knowing you.  People you’ve never seen before and will never see again were affected by you, if only in the smallest, but not insignificant, way.  “Hi, how are you doing?” “You look nice today”  “Is there anything I can help you with today?”   Sure, it’s what I’m required to say when I greet customers, but doesn’t it mean so much more.  “Is there anything I can help you with today?”

Have I done any good in the world today? Have I helped anyone in need? Have I cheered up the sad and made someone feel glad? If not, I have failed, indeed.


We are all beautiful roses growing amongst the thorns of life.  At times it feels like these thorns are choking us out.  But nothing is so dire that we cannot ask for help.  Sometimes we feel like people are pruning us without our permission with their criticisms and chastisements, but then we realize that this pruning has helped us grow back stronger and even more beautiful.

Once you realize that you are beautiful, it will be so much easier to help pull others out from within the midst of weeds.  Help those around you see their divine potential.  As you help others see their beauty, you will only become more beautiful yourself.

Not all roses are red. And some violets are pink.
We’re not all the same. We are truly unique.

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Pick ten people you know and write a one-sentence description for each of them.

Ashley has these caring eyes that always show concern, if not betraying her underlying curiosity to know what’s going on.
His Bieber haircut was NOT what he wanted, but my little brother, Mitch, wears it reluctantly everyday, waiting for the hair in back grow out.

A blonde beauty on a mission, Andrea has learned Spanish and up an moved to Texas to spread the word of the restored gospel on earth.

Jeni always seems to be getting into trouble, but somehow those chocolate brown eyes and her winning smile seem to get her right back out of it.

Tina is a traveler at heart—moving three hours away, then across the country, and then across the world, always wearing her neon running socks.

I hate to admit that I don’t know Candie very well, but her loving charity outshines the stars.

Marty is the classic nerd with his glasses, curly hair, and hi-tech mechanical pencil, and he’s always speaking in mathematical jargon.

Her dark hair that had once been all the way down her back in a long braid had been cut off and dyed red, but I love April just the same.

In Sarah’s profile picture she had a short, blonde pixie cut, and was wearing what appeared to me to be a pillowcase—either this girl was cosplaying as a house-elf, or my new roommate was a theatre major.

I always wanted to be just like her when we were kids, my goofy sister Deanna, with her long blonde hair and bubbly personality, and I loved to stay up late talking about boys and giving them codenames.