Flightless Bird, American Mouth

Thank you Sarah for showing me this. Absolutely love it.

Cool Poster at Jimmy Johns

             The other day I went to Jimmy Johns for lunch. If you don't already know, Jimmy John's is a sandwich shop. Sooooo flippin' good.... if you haven't been there before, you have to make it a priority. It beats Subway any day. Anyways, in Jimmy Johns they have posters, cool sayings, and all sorts of sweet stuff tacked up on the walls. I was looking around when I discoverd this awesome poster.....

....Its kind of hard to read on the picture so here it is typed up.....

I BELIEVE poster in Jimmy Johns

I Believe-
that sometimes when I’m angry I have the right to be angry but that doesn’t give me the right to be cruel.

I Believe-
that just because someone doesn’t love you the way you want them to doesn’t mean they don’t love you with all they have.

I Believe-
that maturity has more to do with what types of experiences you’ve had and what you’ve learned from them and less to do with how many birthdays you’ve celebrated.

I Believe-
that it isn’t always enough to be forgiven by others. Sometimes you have to learn to forgive yourself.

I Believe-
that no matter how bad your heart is broken, that the world doesn’t stop for your grief.

I Believe-
that our background and circumstances may have influenced who we are, but we are responsible for who we become.

I Believe-
that just because two people argue, it doesn’t mean they don’t love each other. And just because they don’t argue, it doesn’t mean they do.

I Believe-
that you shouldn’t be eager to find out a secret. It could change your life forever.

I Believe-
that it’s taking me a long time to become the person I want to be.

I Believe-
that you should always leave loved ones with loving well wishes. It may be the last time you see them.

I Believe-
that you can keep going long after you can’t.

I Believe-
that we are responsible for what we do, no matter how we feel.

I Believe-
that we don’t have to change friends, if we understand that friends change.

I Believe-
that no matter how good a friend is, they’re going to hurt you once in a while and you must forgive them for that.

I Believe-
that true friendship continues to grow, even over the longest distance. Same goes for true love.

I Believe-
that you either control your attitude or it controls you.

I Believe-
that regardless of how hot and steamy a relationship is at first, that passion fades and there had better be something else to take its place.

I Believe-
that heroes are the people who do what has to be done when it needs to be done, regardless of the consequences.

I Believe-
that money is a lousy way of keeping score.

I Believe-
that my best friend and I can do anything or nothing and have the best time.

I Believe-
that sometimes the people you expect to kick you when you’re down, will be the ones who help you get back up.

I Believe-
that two people can look at the exact same thing and see something totally different.

I Believe-
that your life can be changed in a matter of hours by people who don’t even know you.

I Believe-
that even when you think you have no more to give, when a friend cries out to you, you will find the strength to help.

I Believe-
that credentials on the wall do not make you a decent human being.

I Believe-
that the people you care about most in life are taken from you too soon.

        Kind of long, I know, but it is chalk full of gold. I absolutely love this poster.... It has so many "I believe's" that stick out to me, and remind me of  experiences I've gone through. There is a lot of good advice that can be taken from this.... I would love to go through here and write down all of the things that really connect with me, but i'll save you a novel.

            Anyways, I think this is amazing and I hope there are sayings that stick out to you in here. Hopefully it will give you some good advice and help you out if you need it. It did for me.

-LB

If-by Rudyard Kipling

If—

BY RUDYARD KIPLING

If you can keep your head when all about you   

    Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,   

If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,

    But make allowance for their doubting too;   

If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,

    Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,

Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,

    And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;   

    If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim;   

If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster

    And treat those two impostors just the same;   

If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken

    Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,

Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,

    And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings

    And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,

And lose, and start again at your beginnings

    And never breathe a word about your loss;

If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew

    To serve your turn long after they are gone,   

And so hold on when there is nothing in you

    Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,   

    Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch,

If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,

    If all men count with you, but none too much;

If you can fill the unforgiving minute

    With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,   

Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,   

    And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!

                     I first read this poem in my 10th grade Honors English class. Every class we would read something and then respond to it. Usually it was something lame or boring so I normally  didn't care too much about the assignment and would never put much heart into it. But one ordinary day it just so happened that this was our reading prompt. I remember how hard this poem first hit me, partially having to do with that fact that i was not suspecting to learn something meaningful from our boring daily assignment. 

                     In ways I could never hope to fully describe, this poem means so much to me. The way Kipling words and phrases everything in this poem takes my breath away and every line just hits home. I feel so strongly about this poem because it describes in so many ways who I want to be. To be everything in this poem is near impossible. I fall so short to the standards in this poem that it's pretty embarrassing, but I look to this poem as a challenge and will strive to develop these characteristics. 

 

                     When I read this poem It becomes so visual for me.... I can see these characteristics in action. I love this and seeing this poem in my head helps me to more clearly visualize my goal. I have this poem taped up by my bead and I read it every morning. This poem has meant so much to me and I hope in heaven one day I can thank Mr. Kipling for the gift of his words.

Lines that mean the most to me:

"And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise."

 

"If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster 

And treat those two impostors just the same."

"If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you."

"Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,

    And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools"

-LB

What I learned from.......Trees?

           I live in Centerville, Utah......... yeah I'm not surprised you haven't heard of it. Well recently we had a pretty big windstorm here, with winds gusting on the upwards of 100 mph....... pretty intense right? It was a lot of fun to run around in and jump up and down in and see how far back you flew. It was also pretty sweet because we missed 2 days of school! Yeahahahah....... but even though it was a lot of fun, it did a lot of damage. 8 million dollars worth! Even though it was very destructive, it was breathtaking to see how powerful the forces of nature are, in a way it was.......beautiful? I don't know, seems weird to say about the wind....... It's funny to me that we all think we are all so powerful and untouchable with our advanced technology, but something as simple as wind can still cripple us and bring us to our knees. Anyways, the past four days I have spent cleaning up from this event. It has been A LOT of work...... While working I have had a lot of time to think about things and have noticed learned some valuable lessons from the storm....

                 During the storm, quite a few trees fell down.... there were sooooo many of them. Most of the cleanup work involved cutting up these fallen trees, loading trailers with the branches and dumping them off at dumping sites. It took a long time to get all of this done. Anyways, I noticed that like 90 percent of the trees that fell were pine trees. This seemed kind of strange to me...... but then I figured out the reason why most of these fallen trees were pine trees. Pine trees roots do not grow very deep! Pine trees roots are much shallower than other trees, therefore when the big gusts of wind blew these trees, they did not have deep enough roots to keep them anchored so they were uprooted, unlike other trees that had deep roots.

                As I thought about it more, I realized that the concept of having "deep roots," applies to more than just trees, it applied to us to. We have to deepen our "roots" in all areas of life, so that when we are faced with trials or problems, we can stay strong and not be uprooted by the "winds." We deepen our roots when we learn new things, develop our skills, grow spiritually, strengthen our weaknesses or just improve in any area of our life. One of my favorite scriptures relates to this idea:

Helaman 5:12

 12 And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the ^arock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your ^bfoundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty ^cstorm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall.

I love this scripture because it tells us that if we have a strong foundation we cannot fall. So if we are well prepared with a strong foundation, and deep roots, we'll make it through the storm.

                  "Act, and not be acted upon." This is one of my favorite sayings, and it definately applied to the cleanup after the storm. After the storm was over, most of the men and young men that were home, and not at work, started the daunting task of cleaning up. For the next four days we would spend a good deal of time outside cleaning everything up. In a way it was kind of fun because we were out working with what seemed to be our entire community. It was hard work, but at the end of each day I was left with a sense of fullfilment. I felt like I actually "did" something that day and  it felt good. Anyways, back to my earlier quote, "Act, and not be acted upon." After the storm and during the cleanup, most of the people from my community were out helping. They were "Acting." They didn't wait for someone to come help them or to come do the work for them, they got right to work and took things into their own hands. This was pretty inspiring to see and testified to the resilience of the people that live in my area. I also noticed that people didn't complain or get to mad about their situations, they just dealt with things and didn't spend time being angry.

            Contrary to this, there were people who "Were acted upon." These were the people that waited for others to come help them, and just let "someone else do it." I'm not talking about the elderly, or other people that actually couldn't do anything and had to wait for someone else to help them. There were people that could easily have stepped outside and helped clean up. They just decided not to "Act." This was sad to see and was kind of disheartening.

           Be the person who Acts. Don't wait for someone else to do what you could. Growing up I have always been taught how important it is to be self-relient and to not rely on others. Because you can't trust that someone will always be their to help you.

          Well I think that's enough for right now...... I sure did learn a lot more from a windstorm than I thought I would...... it was fun for a couple of days but I sure don't hope we have another one for a while.

       -LB

So good it hurts

Who Am I?

               Recently I read a book called "Inheritance". It's the last book in the Eragon series, I think the whole series is called the Inheritance cycle or something like that. Anyways, in the book the main character, Eragon, is trying to figure out his true name. He needs to figure out his true name so that he can open the Rock of Kuthian and enter the Vault of Souls. I know, sounds kind of nerdy huh.... but it's a great book, I highly recommend the series if you have'nt read it. Eragon's true name is a string of about 7 or 8 words in the "ancient language". This true name of his encompasses everything that makes him who he is. The good things and the bad. The process for Eragon to discover his true name is quite a struggle, because to find his true name he has to completely understand who he is and what makes him different and unique. The problem for Eragon, is that he doesn't really know exactly who he is. After a lot of thought he eventually discovers his true name..... yay!

After reading this, it got me thinking....... do I know who I am?

              After seriously considering this question, I have realized that I probably don't know myself as well as I would like to think I do. I do know the big important things that make me, me, but I think there are a lot of things that I still do not know about myself and fail to see in myself. A large part of this is probably due to the fact that I am still a teenager and am still trying to become who I want to be. As I get older and go through different experiences I think I will learn a lot more about myself and what sets me apart from others. I think it is sometimes much easier to see the defining characteristics and traits in others, than it is to see them in ourselves. I think this especially applies to me, because I have always been interested in people in general, and have always spent time trying to see past the walls they put up in order to find out who they truly are and to see what makes them special and unique. I probably should spend less time figuring out others, and should spend more figuring out myself.  I think I do this because I have watched my dad do this for almost 17 years......That is one thing that makes my dad who he is. He is always genuinely interested in others and is always trying to understand others and help them in whatever way he can. I have always loved this about my dad and have spent a lot of time trying to develop it in myself.

               Anyways, its just been on my mind recently about how important it is to "Know Thyself". Search to find your "True Name". Know what makes you you and be happy with who you are. Don't compare yourself to others and know that your special and wonderful in your own ways.

        -LB