Hurricane's Wrath

It happened so unexpectedly,

Has affected both you and me,

All along the East Coast,

Saving lives is what mattered most,

Forcing people out of their home,

Leaving them no place left to roam.

It is in this time we need,

To help people out and plant a seed,

A seed of hope that won’t ever go,

To the world we can show,

That we can make it through all this,

That all our strength won’t go amiss,

I know that this will be a long road,

Thanks to the rain,

And the rivers that flowed.

Just think of that neighbor,

That gave you something to eat,

That gave you a place,

To rest your tired feet,

Even when disaster may strike,

The human connection,

Will always be there,

There’s more people that will help you,

Than you are aware. 

Now is the time,

To look at what you’ve got,

Deep down inside,

You have a lot,

Even if you lost,

Many a material thing,

You can still be happy,

And your heart can sing.

So don’t let these waters,

Wade you down,

Try to make a smile,

Out of that frown,

Look at the sun shining today,

And just think,

There’s always a way,

Out of the darkness and into the light,

Hurricane Irene won’t win the fight.

We don’t need electrical power,

To be powerful,

We only need each other,

To stay hopeful,

Remember that every,

Day is a gift,

So don’t let your mind,

Get stuck in a rift,

Now it is time,

To stay on the path,

Of optimistic survival,

After the hurricane’s wrath.

Your Choice

Happiness, the act of feeling, showing, or expressing joy, is something that all of us want to have for the rest of our lives.  It comes from many different actions, from doing well in school to hanging out with friends, and is what we revolve our lives around.  We use happiness in our conversations every day, such as when we say “How are you?” or “Are you happy with it?”  But sometimes happiness may be hard to come by when something goes wrong in our life beyond our control or when we start to think about a sad moment.  During those times, we may believe that we can never be happy again; that happiness is not in our control anymore.  Truth be told though, happiness is in our complete control, both physically and mentally.  Happiness, It’s Your Choice.

Psychology can back me up on this statement.  Let me begin by explaining the science behind happiness.  To trigger the feeling of happiness, one must first be in a situation that would normally cause the feeling.  Once in that situation, the limbic system (mostly the emotion center) of the brain creates neurotransmitters (brain chemicals) that cause you to feel good, smile, and be happy.  These two chemicals are called serotonin and dopamine and they really control how happy or sad you are.  You’ve probably felt the effects of dopamine before during exercise; it was that feel-good, loose feeling you got after stretching or running or any other physical exercise.  So what does all this science mean?  It means that in order to be happy it only takes one happy thought or just simply going to a place that makes you happy.  Just doing that puts the events in motion in your brain to bring about happiness.  On the other hand, thinking sad thoughts or being in a sad place will of course bring about sadness.  So, as you can see, Happiness, It’s Your Choice.

If all of that science did not convince you, then let me give you some more evidence.  All that you need is a simple, 5-letter word, Smile.  We smile every single day of our life, sometimes controllably and sometimes unconsciously.  We smile when we laugh at a good joke, when we say hello to our friends, and even when we just walk into a room full of people.  Smiling can show people that we are not hostile and we are good people.  It really is the simplest thing in the world to do, considering that it takes more muscles to frown.  So how can this help you?  When you are feeling sad and down in the dumps, just smiling can bring you happiness.  When you are happy you smile, that’s pretty obvious.  What’s not as obvious is that smiling can trick your brain and body into being happy since it also releases serotonin and dopamine, which as I said before are the “happiness chemicals.”  So that means, when you smile you can be happy.  Once again, Happiness, It’s Your Choice.

Let me end with a short poem that I found from an anonymous writer that wraps all of this up:

Smiling is contagious,

you catch it like the flu,

When someone smiled at

me today, I started smiling too.

I passed around the corner,

and someone saw my grin -

When he smiled I

realized, I’d passed it on to him.

I thought about that smile,

then I realized its worth,

A single smile, just like mine,

could travel round the earth.

So, if you feel a smile begin,

don’t leave it undetected -

Let’s start an epidemic quick

and get the world infected!!!

Humble Pie

Some are in it for the money or fame,

They make it seem that life is a game,

That you can’t do something,

For nothing,

That everything they do,

Comes down to a price,

You shouldn’t need anything,

To do something nice.

What did we learn,

When we were young?

Before we could talk,

Before we could run,

There’s some things out there,

That should be done,

With no whining, no crying,

No wishing it done.

What am I really,

Trying to say?

The nice things you do,

At night, in the day,

Should not always be,

Along with the pay,

Sometimes its time,

To be humble today.

Although it may,

Feel good to brag,

When life is a bore,

When life is a drag,

But all of that glory,

Has a price tag,

Where in the future,

You’ll pay a price,

With the friends that you lost,

For not being nice.

To do great things,

For nothing in return,

You’ll have a great life,

With all the things that you learn,

And when in time,

The tide does turn,

Finding a person who’ll help you,

Won’t be a concern.

Strength of Compassion

Because a strong man, who has known power all his life, will lose respect for that power.  But a weak man knows the value of strength.  And knows compassion.

Those are the inspiring words that I heard when I went to go see Captain America at the movies yesterday.  I can really relate to the quote, and I believe many of you can too.  We’ve all seen someone that supposedly has everything and we’ve wanted what they have.  But then if we look deeper into their life, we realize they are very arrogant and take what they have for granted.  Celebrities have thrown their life away to drug use and criminal actions.  They have become full of themselves and have begun to believe that they are the center of attention at all times.  I don’t think anyone wants to become like that.  Here’s to the weak men and women out there that society has looked past, the men and women I believe to be the strongest of all, in their heart.
 
I am physically a weak man with my ever-weakening muscles.  I’ve had time to look at the world in a unique way.  I’ve been through many situations where I cannot do what other people can; situations where I had to realize that I physically could not do something, when mentally I believed I could do it.  It is very hard to make that realization without looking down on yourself, which is what I struggled with.  I saw others doing, what I had struggled to do, rather easily.  This, in the end, made me have a stronger compassion and more gratitude for what I could do.

I may not be able to run a mile, but I can be the mental force behind someone running in a marathon.  I may not be able to drive a car, but I can help give driving directions.  I may not be able to play a sport, but I can still watch them with my friends.  Taking gratitude for these things I could do made me stronger in my heart.  Arrogance comes from not being grateful for what you have, so I was able to avoid it as much as I could.  But really, is there anyone out there that is truly weak or truly strong?

We each have things that we are stronger at along with things that we are weaker at.  By finding the middle ground between our strengths and weaknesses, we can be grateful for our life and give compassion to others that may share our weaknesses.  There are some weaknesses we can never truly get rid of, but those are the weaknesses that teach us lessons and make us better people.  No one is perfectly strong either; we all have something inside of us holding us back and slowly pulling us down.  Life is dependent on a balancing act, where we use our strengths to counteract our weaknesses and use our weaknesses to counteract our strengths.  Too much weakness is a bad thing and too much strength is also a bad thing, so try hard to find that equilibrium.

Blank Paper

A blank paper before you,

What should you write?

A story, a novel, a mystery, a plight,

A story of a friend you hold dear,

Or one about a thought so near,

You have all the room you ever could want,

So, go ahead, write, take this as a taunt,

I know this is something you want,

If the paper stays blank,

There is no one to thank,

You have an idea,

Just spread it around,

Maybe about living deep underground,

If the paper stays blank,

You are not alive,

Because all humans have stories,

They hold deep inside,

So let it out,

Write about it,

And you will see,

That the paper isn’t blank,

And there is you to thank.

Accepted

How it feels to be accepted,
Is something I cannot explain,
But it feels like the storm has ended,
And I’m out of the rain,
I cannot thank you enough,
For making my life less tough.

But don’t cry because of me,
My life is great as you can see,
If one day you’re feeling down,
I’ll make a smile out of that frown,
You are the first to hear the words I say,
And make me not want to go away.

If only everyone could be like you,
It would make those like me,
Want to live life through,
Don’t change,
You’re already who you should be,
Don’t change,
You already hold the key,
To a perfect life.

I hope my words make,
You think about every breath you take,
Because there are people out there,
Who have one more breath as their only care,
So I’m asking you to live,
Giving all that you can give.

Thank you for taking the time,
With all my words that rhyme,
To sit and listen to me,
You’ve changed my life, you’ll soon see,
This is only just the start,
Thank you from the bottom of my heart.