Try It Out

Today I really want to keep it short and to the point. However, it is something you I really want all of you to really think about and take into consideration. The lives all of us live are based on these rules and boundaries that our culture creates for us. We are cast into invisible cells and bars and walls that we do not even realize trap us in a life of normalcy. Just one time, some time during the next couple days, I want each one of you to do something completely out of the ordinary. Maybe its something as stupid as not staring at the floor numbers on the elevator, or starting a conversation with the person using the urinal next to you. Just try something that breaks an unwritten rule, and see how shocked everyone around you becomes. Only then will you truly realize how enclosed we really are as people.

Picking Your Battles

Today I really want to focus on the idea of respect for your elders. It is written everywhere, and a rule that we have done our best to follow as people as long as anyone can remember. However, I think there is a time and a place where you have to stand up for yourself, pick your battles, and defend your opinions.
Time and time again I see people back to to adults because they feel that although they are right, the adults are the adults and that gives them a free pass to be right no matter what the circumstance is. Now I am not saying that you should argue a punishment for being out late or something like that. These petty things are so small in perspective that you really need to just let things like that go. In hindsight most likely you will realize that every punishment you have received has been for a good reason and you are a better person because of it.
What I am talking about here is the idea that elders can say what they want about you and you just have to take it. I do not care if it is a family member, or a stranger, or anyone, if you are offended you need to defend yourself. You can't let people walk all over you for the soul reason that they are older. Allow me to explain in further detail.
My family is the typical close knit Italian family that sees each other at least once a week. My mothers entire side of the family lives in the same town, and every Friday and Sunday we have dinner together. Now my grandmother on my mom's side, God bless her, has a very big problem with voicing her opinions. She really just says whatever comes into her head and she does not care who she offends. On top of that she does not ever want to be wrong and will argue to the death. Today I had one of the most frustrating arguments I have ever had with her.
Let me start by saying that I have had a problem with my back for the past few months but was not smart enough to ever see a doctor, recently I suffered an injury that re aggravated the injury. and it has only gotten worse since. I am at risk of losing my summer job that consists of manual labor, and without that money it is gonna be near impossible to pay my rent at my off campus house I live in at school.
So I am already upset to begin with and very distraught over the whole situation, but I still go to my grandmother's house with the family to try and forget about it. I was messing around with my younger cousins who I only really get to see in the summer, only to hear from my grandma that I am faking my injury, making my mom miserable, tearing apart my family, and so on. Now everyone tends to back down from my grandma because we all know her personality, and usually I would be the first one to do the same. However, I am not letting anyone tell me that I am faking an injury that has caused me so much pain and grief.
The result of this argument was my grandma telling me to leave the house and so I did. I do not plan on going there anytime soon.
My point here is this, in your life you are given certain choices. People are always going to try and break you. There is always going to be someone in your life who is trying to put you down no matter how well you are doing. What we have to do is know when to turn our cheek. The problem with us as a society is that people tend to constantly confront or constantly turn the other cheek. Every situation is different, and you can not possibly use the same rules for every individual circumstance. We have to asses each case as it arises in our lives. Then and only then can we truly decide what the right thing to do is. Now I do not know right now if what I did was right or wrong. What I do know is that I stood up for myself and showed my family that I will not be walked all over no matter who it is by, and for that I will never apologize.

Appreciation " How do you remember/keep yourself in check?"

To answer your question, it really is not easy to constantly appreciate what you are given. A lot of times people get caught up in the moment and don't realize what they have until time has already passed them by. When I decided that I wanted to take a greater appreciation for the life I live, I started every night. Every night before I went to bed I would take a few minutes to really think about my day. Once I thought about my day I thought about everything involved that made the day good if it was a good day or kept me going if it was a bad day. Than as days and weeks and months went on, the appreciation became almost habitual. Pretty soon you find yourself appreciating the first snow of the winter only a few hours after it happens.
To truly get it in the moment takes a lot of time but you have to trust me, once you do get there it is the most incredible feeling on earth. Being able to sit out on your porch and look up at the blue sky and really take in how amazing it is that your alive to witness it. Knowing in the moment how special a person could be to you can be more powerful than any memory of them you will ever have. Walks in the park will be the time of your life and food will taste better than it ever has before.
So in conclusion, being able to keep yourself in check is really more of a habit than anything else. I worked myself into it slowly and over time. You can not just decide one day your going to appreciate everything around you, life does not work like that. You have to take things one step at a time and let your memory's and emotions carry you farther than your legs ever could.
I hope this answers your question.

"So why do alot of your articles make it sound like our time is running out?"

This is a very good question for me to start with. As you probably have all noticed, I tend to stress the appreciation of the time we have. There are two main reasons I do this.
The first takes me back to my freshmen year in high school. To make a long and sad story much shorter, I lived next to my grandmother who was getting very old and sick. My parents left me the house for the night and my only responsibility was to check on her. In the heat of the moment, I opted to go out with a bunch of older guys instead for the popularity points, and while I was gone my grandma fell. My family found her the next day and by the time I go to the hospital she was gone. I really never did have a chance to truly say goodbye to her. It is a mistake that I am forced to live with for the rest of my life, and since I can not change the past, I want to use that experience to enlighten the futures of the people around me if possible.
The second reason is also self explanatory. I am currently in a relationship with a girl I care about very much, unfortunately, she attends school 350 miles away from me, and at times it gets very hard. I miss her almost constantly when I am at school and talk to her as much as I can, but nothing beats the feeling of actually being able to hold the person you care about so much. When I am with her I make sure that I appreciate every second of it and truly thank God for every time I get the chance to be with her. To get the most out of relationships, I hope you all do the same.

I hope this answers your question, and I am looking forward to many more in the future.

Trying Something New

I would like to change up the format of my blog a little bit. I would like readers to email me and ask me questions that I will be answering in my posts. I feel like I have a lot to offer and my advice will prove to be helpful in the lives of a lot of people. My email is jbytheday@gmail.com and I am really looking forward to hearing from all of you. Thanks

Making Time On Your Side

Today I would like to talk about time. Although the concept of time is relatively man made, it seems that it really does contol most of our everyday lives. Your either coming in on time, don't have enough time, running out of time, or watching time fly as your having fun. It appears that time is the only thing we need, and yet we have no control as it passes us by.
I am going to be short and sweet with my entry today. Really appreciate the time you are given and the time you have with people. Take full advantage of every second you are given and live every second you have to the fullest. Don't not call a girl back because you want to wait a little so she does not think your desperate. Call her right away if you care about her because if this girl can turn out to be the one you want to spend the rest of your life with you do not want to waste a second of it. Take time out of your day to really appreciate the world around you. Watch the colors change on the leaves in the autumn. Even if your freezing cold in the dead of winter, jump out in the snow just once so you can remember what it was like to be a kid again.
People often waste time doing nonsenical tasks. I can honeslty say that I am not for this particular lifestyle. I have learned at a relatively young age that life comes at you and goes by very quickly. You never know when an event will strike that changes the course of the rest of your days. So take time out, even if its right after you read this article, and really appreciate what you are given, who has been brought into your life, and furthermore, appreciate life itself.

Simple, But Unforgettable

We as people are very social creatures. I think that we all have our wants. Some of these wants can be as small as a new bike, affection from a member of the opposite sex, or even something as simple as one day where everything just goes well. However, I think among everything else the one thing that all people want is to be remembered in some way. To know that their life did not go without purpose, and to feel that that have affected others in some way. In some cases, this want can be the fuel for how we end up living the rest of our lives.
I know I would always like to be remembered. It is a strange thought to think that after my life is over, my name would never be uttered again, my works would be forgotten, and my life would seem almost meaningless. A white dwarf that quickly dissipates into a black whole, never to be seen by the human eye again. I hope that in my life I can have some kind of impact on some kind of person. Now this does not mean that I have to dive across train tracks to save an injured toddler. There are many ways you can impact people and change lives.
I hope to impact each of you with my writing. I hope my words have a lasting impression on you, and although you may not agree, you always will understand that I am able to speak my mind clearly and fluently in a way that makes sense. I hope that teachers remember me as one of the good students who was going places, whether or not I end up actually doing so. Most importantly, I hope that those I care most about remember me as a person who truly cared about them, and that my parents two of those people. I do my best to try and live like if I were to disappear tomorrow and never be heard from again, that my name and more importantly, my character and thoughts, will be echoed for years to come.
So in conclusion I leave you with this. Do not hold grudges to prove a point. Do not use petty jealously and tricks to get what you want. Always try your best be forward and precise with your points. Most of all, always let the people that you will never forget know how important they are. This line is corny and overused, but you never know how many more times your going to have to tell them what they mean to you.

Holding Together While The Household Falls Apart

" I had a rough childhood"
Never has that expression been thrown around as we have seen in recent years. Every murderer, rapist, child pornography, alcohol and drug abuser, they all blame their parents. We as a society are actually started to feel bad for these people, and almost excuse their actions in our minds. I don't think I am the only one who notices that this kind of behavior is morally wrong at best and moronic at worst.
Parents have been parenting the same basic ways for centuries. If a child is bad, they get hit. Hopefully, they never do whatever they did to earn the beating again. If they were dumb enough to try the same stunt again, watch out. I am not saying I am condoning hitting a child who misbehaves, what I am saying is, how come all of a sudden this behavior, that has been seen as effective for years, is considered wrong.
I believe the answers lie in the media. We pay constant attention to these children's shattered lives, sob stories, tears. Never do we bother to ask ourselves what these kids did to deserve the punishment they receive. Everyone tends to assume that it was unprovoked, which I am sure is wrong in most cases.
The fact of the matter is that nobody ever said you had to like your family. I know plenty of people that do not get along with family members and still live very successful lives. I personally have a family that argues with me constantly, and yelling and threats are seen as commonplace in my household. However, I have never even done as much as consider any of these criminal acts that these other people seem to turn to first after family conflicts. I am not alone either. I know people who go through violent divorces, parents in jail, or parents that just ignore them or beat them. These same kids are now college students who have complete control of their lives, from what I can see.
There is so much stress on family now and I personally think its kind of ridiculous. Sure, if you have a family that supports you and treats you like a decent human being you have a great thing going. However, if you do not, its not the end of the world. There are still plenty of things that we can do to have people in our lives that care for us. People can seek comfort in friends, teachers, whoever they feel is close to them. Do not let society dictate how we act and what we become.

Go to who you feel is right, and reach out for those who you feel will always reach back to you.

Fathers Day Thoughts

So as well all know it is father's day and everyone is out celebrating with his or her father. Some people have good relationships with their father, others not so much. I took this time today to write about how I think a father and a dad are two completely different people.
Any guy can be a father. All you have to do is find a girl, conceive a child, and have that child be born. That is what a father is to me. There is a biological reason and purpose that the man has served, making him the father.
A dad however, is completely different from a father. A dad is the guy that helps raise the kid, takes him to baseball games, plays a game of catch in the back yard, helps with homework, and ultimately becomes a substantial part of the child's life. A dad does everything he can to help raise and support the child and no matter what happens, makes every effort to be involved with his child.
In my opinion, a dad also does not have to be biological. When I played basketball for an AAU organization I had a very good relationship with my coach. He taught me lessons about life, girls, drugs, alcohol, and of course basketball. He taught me lessons that went beyond the basketball court, and helped me become the person I am today. I consider him as dad type figure because of this, and although we only talk a few times a year now, he made a great impact on my life.
So for those of you that have lost your fathers, or never really had a good relationship to begin with, you can all still celebrate. For those of you that have lost your fathers, I hope you take this day to appreciate the time you had together. For those of you who never had a really good relationship with your father, that does not mean you don't have a dad in your life. Maybe he is a middle school teacher who taught you valuable lessons, maybe he is a sports coach that still keeps in touch, or maybe he is just a man down the street that every once and a while offered to take you to the movies with him and and his son. We all have one guy in our lives that has shaped the way we live in a positive light, and we must take this day to remember this man. Even if he is not your father, he can still be your dad. For those of you who are fathers, appreciate every second you have with your children, because it will go by fast, and trust me, you won't want to miss it.

Gaining Weight, Losing Time

It is no secret that obesity has become a major problem in the United States. As we go on as a country we get progressively larger, and this really does not show any sign of stopping. People want to blame places such as McDonald's, Burger King, the schools for not offering enough time for recess, and television for making so many programs. The truth of the matter is, none of these places are to blame.
Believe it or not we as humans have the power to choose what we do and where we do it. I know, this is shocking news to a lot of you, but just hear me out. Instead of going to eat fast good, we can always eat something else. Instead of blaming the schools for making our children fat, how about we just put them out in the backyard and let them play outside for a change. Why don't we lock up the X Box and PlayStation's and try tag and catch.
It is proven that children take the habits they learn at an early age and carry them out throughout the majority of their lives. If this is true then having them eat healthy food, or at least food that's less bad for you, will surely lead them down healthier lifestyles.
This is a subject that I can really speak about from in depth personal experience. When I was young I was overweight and this lasted until I was about 11. Now what happened when I was 11 you ask. I joined the basketball team, and I got in shape. I played pick up basketball games outside, and spent a lot less time in the house. I also decided to give up junk food, which is a decision that has lasted me the past 9 years. I got myself into shape and never looked back. By making a few small decisions like less T.V. time, an occasional jog, and food that won't guarantee a heart attack, I was able to completely turn my life around.
My youngest sister is quite the opposite. She is about 9 years old and I honestly cannot remember the last time I saw her outside, and it shows. She indulges in fast food frequently and junk food just as often. She is commonly seen eating out of pure boredom, and a lot of the times it is upsetting to watch.
Although ultimately it is my parents decision on how to raise her, I can not help but think that she will be miserable as soon as she starts getting a hard time from classmates about her weight. The next 5 to 10 years of her life following that will be filled with pointless diets and mindless fasting. Ultimately she will be very upset a good amount of time, and it is a sad thought to think about.
What I am trying to say here is this. I understand that kids will be kids and eat fast food, play video games, and so on. Based on that, we have to try and cut down on how much time they have to do these things. An hour or so of T.V. a day, maybe only some video games, and only a few fast food meals a month. One step at a time we have to develop healthier more physically trying activities for our youth or they will end up living substantially shorter and unhealthier lives. Its a long process, but moving in the right direction slowly is much better than not moving at all, which in case you have not noticed, is what most of the kids these days are doing.

Why Life And Plans Don't Mix

As I get older, I realize that for the most part, people tend to take life too seriously. I think Johnny Depp said it best in the movie Blow when he said, "Life passes most people by while they're making grand plans for it." This is probably my favorite quote of all time because of how true it is. So many people are out planning every little detail of their life that they forget to actually live it.
In my personal opinion, life can be broken down in its smallest form to a series of moments. Most of these moments are small with little meaning no matter what you do in that particular moment, your life will continue to remain on its current course. However, every once and a while you get these large moments that will greatly impact the way you live the rest of your life. Depending on what you do with these moments, you can completely change the course you are going in, and ultimately where you end up.
Basing the way I live my life on that theory, I find it very hard to go about and make these grand plans for myself. Honestly I think that the only thing you can really, truly plan, is to be surprised. These surprises can be good some of the time. This includes getting that promotion you did not expect, finding a fifty dollar bill on the ground, and even something as stupid as going through a day with no problems. However, with every good surprise, there are more than enough bad ones. It is how we handle these bad situations that really define who we are as people. Overcoming adversity, climbing over these walls that others constantly put up to block our aspirations, and pushing yourself to new heights when your at the lowest you can possibly ever be, is what life is all about. Proving to others and more importantly to yourself, that you are capable of taking a turn for the worst and turn it into a lesson that will last a lifetime.
So in conclusion I would like to say this. Life is full of moments, but that does not mean you can pick and choose which ones pass you by. Take full opportunity of everything given to you, big or small, and I am sure that you will end up on the right path, whether it is the one you expected or not.

Close Your Mouths, Open Your Eyes

Guy talk more than likely has the largest effect on how men react in their everyday lives. Everyone is out trying to impress their friends, brag about sexual endeavors, and ultimately prove that they are the most masculine in the group. I am here to tell you now that it is attitudes like this that have lead to such high relationship conflicts and divorce rates in the United States.
There is nothing good that comes out of demeaning and sexually exploiting girls that you have been with, especially if the girl happens to be your girlfriend. Often times I have heard friends of mine go into grotesque detail about how they behave sexually with girls and often times these were girls that they were dating.
Being in a relationship is about having mutual respect for you as well as your partner. If this girl really means something to you, than just being with her and seeing her happy should be more than enough reason for you to be happy. Those who decide to talk about every little detail of their personal lives with every guy around them are those who are so uncomfortable with how people look at them that they are talking up a storm to try and overcompensate.
Now this not to say that talk about personal lives cannot be good. If someone is dealing with a trying issue with a girl than it is completely normal to ask a friend for help or advice. The question is, are these people really looking for help, or just another excuse to brag?
The whole reason to brag has always been beyond my comprehension as well. What are you trying to prove? We are all adults here unless told otherwise, we assume that everyone else has had some kind of a encounter with the opposite sex. So really, are you bragging to prove to others your adequate, or yourself?
I currently have a girlfriend and am involved in a type of long distance relationship. Being that I am in school a majority of the year, it gets hard a lot of time. I will however tell you that at no time did I ever brag to other people about her. As a matter of fact for a long time people did not even know we were together. The reason for this is because just being able to see her and be with her and actually hold her is more than enough to make me happy. I do not need to prove anything to anyone, and even if people were to assume that every time we are together we sit on opposite sides of the room and watch television, so be it. I care about her and respect a great deal, and I would never do something as disrespectful as talking about what goes on with us behind close doors. Why would I risk ruining the relationship with a person that has made me so happy for so long?
My point here is, we get too caught up with our own sexual innuendos that we forget to truly appreciate how blessed we are. Caring is more than just a feeling, it is an ability, and often times I find that people take complete advantage of that. Being that this is my summer vacation, and speaking from experience, I need to stress the idea that we should be appreciating every second we spend with these people we care about most. Close your mouths and open your eyes to how lucky you are. Put aside macho instincts, ignore the guys, lay down with your girl, and just thank God for every second you have with her.

The Drama Of Text Messaging

I love texting. I am a big fan of it and it really is probably one of my favorite recent technological advances. Having said that, people really put too much thought into text messaging. Allow me to explain...
When texting first came out, it was such a great tool for so many people. The working man was able to text measurements to a partner on the job site where it would be hard to find a paper and pen. High school students were able to communicate about the weekends plans in the middle of English class. Yeah, life was great. However, now we have these "texting rules" that have really taken over as our main means of communication.
My friend recently met a girl the other day, who gave him her number. She than told him to call her sometimes. Me and this friend were sitting in his apartment hanging out as he stared at the phone in his hand. When I asked him why he does not just call her his response was that he was going to text her, he just does not know when.
So finally he builds up the courage to text her and she texts back asking him what he is up to. He then proceeds to stare at the phone. Again I asked what he was doing. He told me that he didn't want to text back too fast because he does not want to seem desperate, and he does not want to wait too long or he will seem uninterested. He waited exactly 8 minutes, and sent the text "Nothing, you?".
Oh, it all makes sense now! She texted him as a test to see how long he would respond! Lets ignore the fact that she responded to his original message (which obviously means she is not completely ignoring him and giving him a chance) and jump to the conclusion that she is sitting in her room with a stop watch timing exactly how long he waits to text her. One second under 8 minutes, and he is done for. Please, give me a break. A text message was originally invented for convenience. If your busy when you feel your phone vibrate or hear your favorite N'SYNC ring tone, you can respond when your NOT busy. The beautiful thing about a text message is that its not going anywhere anytime soon. If you are not busy and see that you have a text, respond to it! Why wait? The person would not be texting you if they did not want to talk to you. There is no need to lose hair over it, just text her back.
More problems arise with texting, especially when texting an interest of the opposite sex. Phrases you meant to be sarcastic humor can be taken as a serious statement, and vice versa. My point here is this; if a girl says, "call me" chances are you should probably do what she told you and pick up the phone and call. Even if she says to text her, call her and show a little initiative. This texting drama needs to stop, and you can help! No donations or recycling is needed either. All you have to do is, next time you have nothing to do and you want to see what someone your not with is up to, pick up the phone, and call.

The Gray Area

I think that the worst thing you could ever call someone is a bad person. Forgot all the curse words and "your momma" jokes, calling someone a bad person is one of the most offensive things you could say. It is so simple, and yet incredibly straight forward and to the point. Bad people go to Hell, or at least that is what a good amount of us are tough from a young age. So by saying someone is "bad" your condemning them to hell in your mind.
The question really is, how do we define what a bad person is? I mean there are the obvious morally wrong bad people that everyone knows. If you commit a senseless murder, your probably a pretty bad person. If you commit rape, your most likely a bad person as well. These extremes make it very easy for people to classify others and put them in to specific categories. However, most of us do not fall into either extreme. For us, there is a dark, murky, gray area, the likes of which we continue to wade through in attempts to sort out our lives every day.
Let me give you an example. A man sells marijuana, a very basic drug dealer. Is he a bad man? Yes, the drugs are illegal. However, legality is something that is man made. Who are we to decide if this makes this man a bad person. Furthermore, if marijuana becomes legal, is he relieved of all his wrong doings?
As I recall not so long ago, it was illegal for blacks to sit in the front of the bus. Yet for sitting in the front, Rosa Parks is considered one of the most powerful voices in the civil rights movement, although what she did was not legal. I know that was a bit of an extreme example but it proves the point that these man made laws should not be the deciding factor on if a person is good or bad.
Selling drugs is wrong, but what if you have lost your job in the recession and have no way to feed your children. Stealing is wrong, but what if your starving? Every action that every person will ever commit in his or her entire lifetime is based on set of circumstances and situations, and like snowflakes, no two are alike. I understand that laws are made to keep order, and they do. However, for every petty thief there is a man doing the same actions in an attempt to support his family. I truly believe that there are not as many "bad" people in this world as we place the title on. I am not saying that people who steal don't deserve to be punished, because they do. What I am saying is that although all arrested thieves will be punished, we should really take the time to asses each persons individual situation in our hearts. Really put yourself in someones shoes before you label them as bad. Know what its like to suffer before you condemn the suffering.

Finally, and this is most important, every man on this earth has the ability to change for the better, and we must never forget that.

Organized Chaos

I am sure I am not breaking new ground when I say that money rules everything in our lives. It is something everyone knows, and has known for years. The value of a green piece of paper with a dead president on it has been driving the way we live our lives for a very long time. I am just as much a victim to this as everyone else is. However, I would like to take the time to actually talk about this.
Money, its values, its worth, are all things that are man made. We have given ourselves these monetary obstacles and now we are struggling to climb over them. A lot of the time I hear people say, "Well if we didn't have money there would be chaos." My question is, what do you call this? Friends stabbing each other in the back to try and get that promotion. Jumping over hurdles to please your boss and doing anything he asks in hopes that you will one day be the one that gets to make the soft serve cones instead of scooping the Italian ice. Stealing others ideas and using them as your own, ultimately costing them a job, just so you can get your paycheck. The sad thing is, these are only the acts of the people that have jobs.
To those who are unemployed and close to giving up, robbery and theft are commonplace. Pickpockets walk the street now more than ever, and drug dealing is a resort that people will quickly go to in order to feed families pay rent. All of this sounds pretty chaotic to me.
Now I am not a saint and am not going to pretend that I am. I am just as materialistic as the next man and my wants greatly outweigh the items I can actually afford. However, I am now taking the time to look at the life I live and see that there must be a better way.
We are all struggling right now, and for a lot of us it is a struggle that will follow us through the rest of our lives and be passed on to our children with our debt. I understand that we are all sprinting full speed to chase the American dream, but I feel like at some point we need to stop running. Take a walk through the park, lay on your backyard hammock on a nice or rainy day, and just appreciate the things you have in your daily life that money could never buy. Maybe if we all just slowed down enough, the American dream will come to us.

Family..1st?

We have all heard the expression : Family first, everything else can wait. However, the truth of the matter is that for a lot of people family may not come first. As we progress as a society the divorce rate has seemed to skyrocket, and as a result families are suffering. Now it is more likely a marriage will fail in the United States rather than last. How are we expected to put a family first, if over half the families we have are in pieces?
This is not the only problem. Parents in this generation fall victim to the two extremes. Some are extremely needy. You see these parents time and time again. They are the ones that try to be the "cool" parents. If this means taking the kids out to MacDonald's every other day, so be it. These parents try entirely too hard to be included in their child's lives. The reason for this is that they probably did not receive much attention as a child, and are trying to make up for the lost time in that relationship. As the child gets into his teens, these same parents are the ones that allow the kids to drink in the basement, and sometimes, even have a drink or two with them themselves. Although in the here and now those kids thing the parents are the greatest thing ever, the parents have zero control over the relationship, and that will never end well.
The other type of parents are the extreme hard asses that don't give their kids the time of day. Now by themselves, these parents would not be too bad. Sure having kids work for their own money and cook for themselves and handle themselves from a young age is a great asset to have and will surely help them in the long run. However, with all the neediness displayed by the other parents, the kids are now starving for attention they do not receive at home. This will ultimately lead to acting out and sometimes even seeking negative attention, as long as they are being recognized in some way. Also, this cannot be good.
my point today is the following. Although family is very important to a lot of people, it is not the top of every ones priorities. For a good amount of people, a best friend or a significant other will always be the first one they turn to. This does not make them bad people, it makes them people who understand the people that will help them most in their time of need and be there when nobody else is. Ignore the stupid expressions, do whats best for you.

Lifetime Fitness- When Working Out Is A Trend

Recently, my small town has been "blessed" with the arrival of a new Lifetime Fitness Center. In a time when all we talk about is how little money we have and how much we need to save, I thought to myself that this would not last a day. To my surprise, it Lifetime had over 1000 members before it even opened. Upon opening it received hundreds more. How can people afford 100 dollar a month memberships when they are struggling to put food on the table? Well I will tell you.
In a small town such as the one I live in, everyone here tries so hard to look rich and powerful. Everyone wants to be considered in the upper crust, and will go to great extents just to be a part of the most common trends. For now, Lifetime is that trend. With its sauna, Olympic sized swimming pools, play rooms for children, and gigantic cafeteria, it has become more of a hang out than anything else. This is not to discredit the people who actually work out. To them, this is a great place to work out and then relax after. However, for most people this is a sorry excuse to be a part of a club. People are joining for the soul reason that everyone else is and it is more than pathetic to watch.
Seeing grown men and woman act so childish really makes me think about whats going on in this town. It seems people are growing older, yet maturity stays the same. People trying to fit in to certain social groups, be a popular member, eat at the cafeteria where everyone else is eating, to be brutally honest if Lifetime crowned a Prom King and Queen every year, I would not be surprised in the least.
My point here is to the parents, particularly speaking to parents who are so caught up in their glory days they cannot see how much money they are throwing away. My message to those people is, save 100 dollars a month, an extra 1200 dollars a year. Use that money and put it towards your kids college, or the mortgage, or something less juvenile. As a town, and more importantly as a country, we need to really buckle down, tighten our belts, and focus on whats most important.

What scares me most is that to some people, how they appear in the public eye might be whats most important.

The FIlm Industry: Superheros Rescue Our Spirits

The 2000 decade has provided some of the most successful superhero based movie franchises in history. This includes the year 2000 release of X-Men all the way to the new blockbuster hit that dominated the film industry, The Dark Knight, and all the films in between. With the fall in the economy and spirits of the American people after 9/11 and the war in Iraq, this superhero’s seemed to take new life in “rescuing” ones problems, even if it was only for a few hours. The long and short lasting effects of these films have proven to be a substantial part of the lives of many people in recent years due to the messages they send.
The film industry really did a good job in selecting the best time to release these films. The people in America that used to read these comic books when they were young are now in their 40’s and 50’s. However, they are still young enough at heart and the movie is made in such a way that grabs their interests, as their imaginations that once ran wild while reading these comic books and just imagining what these scenes would look like. Now these characters come to life before their very eyes. For the average male between the ages of 18 and 36, a superhero film also hits the spot. The sex appeal of the beautiful woman as well as the seemingly nonstop action create the ultimate cinematic thrill ride, and the love story makes it so even the females in this age group can enjoy the film with their significant other. Finally, you have to mention the children, which this movie also appeals to. What could be better as a kid than to see a cartoon hero come to life? The violence is not that bad either, so kids can enjoy the movie without being scared and having minimal problems with parents regarding to violence or sexual content. Overall these movies cover such a broad scope of ages and people; it is no surprise why they have become such a big hit.
In conclusion, Superhero’s give people an escape from reality, while at the same time providing plots that will poke and prod at issues that the people are facing today. Between the appeal of the woman, the rough upbringing of the hero, the incredibly godly powers, and the villain out to destroy the hero, these films have all the makings of a successful box office hit. These conventional methods cover all of the necessary categories you need to make a successful film and in the process they teach the audience an important message to never give up and that if you truly believe in yourself you have the ability to overcome the toughest of obstacles.

Here We Go..

This blog was created in an attempt to enlighten people on my thoughts about certain circumstances facing our world today. My main focus will be on suburbia, which I feel is the route of a vast majority of the problems we are facing. I will not be talking about politics or the economy or anything like that. This will simply be about ideas I feel are important in everyday life. Like the title states, I will be taking things "By The Day". My goal is that in the process of writing frequently and talking about my beliefs and opinions I will be able to increase my skills as a writer, enlighten readers on my values and thoughts and hopefully, learn more about myself. This will be the first of many almost daily posts that I hope will receive solid feedback, as I am attempting to establish myself as a solid writer in hopes of a future columnist career. Thank you for your time, and hopefully you will be reading more of my work.