The Road Not Taken

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
-Robert Frost

―

The Power of Language

I've noticed a deterioration in the quality of our language as a society today. It seems like a lot of us use profanity, showing a lack of self-discipline and control.
It makes me sad to hear people using profanity and tarnishing their character. Sometimes people think that language doesn't matter; after all, it's only words. They don't have any effect on our character. But it does have effect on us, on our souls, characters, and reputations. When you repeat something, some vulgar curse, it forms our characters to match them. We become twisted.
Also, if our character is bad, we sometimes use language to match it.
Please, try to keep your language pure, like how you would like to be. If you'd like to become sweet, pure, gentle, loving, use sweet, pure, gentle, loving language.

Why Do You Need to be Polite?

Here is a persuasive essay I wrote:
Why are manners important? Because it is being kind, having love and goodwill to men. Everybody should have good manners, and bad manners cause friction between people, resulting in arguments and hurt feelings, even when people don't mean to be rude. I am aware that things can happen without meaning too, such as things that you say not coming out right. That happens to me quite often, especially when I'm talking with my sister.

Sometimes people don't know how to use etiquette, but as long as you truly love others, it will show through how you act. Emily Post, who wrote about etiquette, said:
“Manners are a sensitive awareness of the feelings of others. If you have that awareness, you have good manners, no matter what fork you use.”

Although it may seem alright if you just act nice to people when they're around, gossiping is one of the worst forms of bad manners. If you complain about somebody's house being messy, their kids being loud, dogs getting hair all over your clothes, etc., it's still better than gossiping about a person.

Robert A Heinlein, a science fiction writer, said this:


“A dying culture invariably exhibits personal rudeness. Bad manners. Lack of consideration for others in minor matters. A loss of politeness, of gentle manners, is more significant than is a riot...” This illustrates the importance of being polite very well. Although sometimes people might think that being polite is old-fashioned and unnecessary, courtesy, respect, and love are necessary for a functioning society. It is true, however, that some things would be a little odd today, such as dressing like Elizabeth Bennet everyday, even though that would be awesome.

Again, people need to have manners. And we can start, by doing the little things, like holding doors open, respecting others, and smiling.

And to end, here's a poem by Shel Silverstein:

“I'm making a list
I'm making a list of things I must say
For politeness,
And goodness and kindness and gentleness
Sweetness and rightness:
Hello
Pardon me
How are you?
Excuse me
Bless you
May I?
Thank you
Goodbye
If you know some that I've forgot,
Please stick them in your eye!”

Jean Valjean's Tombstone

"He is asleep. Though his mettle was sorely tried,
He lived, and when he lost his angel, died.
It happened calmly, on its own,
The way night comes when day is done."
- Victor Hugo
This is beautiful. <3

To Thine Own Self be True...

“This above all: to thine own self be true,
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man.”
―William Shakespeare
I love this quote from Shakespeare. It makes sense, and, because it's from Shakespeare, it's written in such a beautiful way.
Everything has to work from the inside out, from the bottom up. If you were building a house, you wouldn't start from the top. It wouldn't work, because what you were building would fall down. Just like gravity doesn't let you work from the top down, virtue is impossible to have only when in front of people.
How can you be truer to yourself?

How Great Thou Art

"O Lord my God,

When I in awesome wonder

Consider all

The worlds thy hands hath made,

I see the stars,

I hear the rolling thunder,

Thy pow'r throughout

The universe displayed;

Then sings my soul,

My Saviour God, to thee,

How great thou art!

How great thou art!

Then sings my soul,

My Saviour God, to thee,

How great thou art!

How great thou art!

When through the woods

And forest glades I wander

I hear the birds

Sing sweetly in the trees;

When I look down

From lofty mountain grandeur

And hear the brook

And feel the gentle breeze;

Then sings my soul,

My Saviour God, to thee,

How great thou art!

How great thou art!

Then sings my soul,

My Saviour God, to thee,

How great thou art!

How great thou art!

And when I think,

That God, His Son not sparing;

Sent Him to die,

I scarce can take it in;

That on the Cross,

My burden gladly bearing,

He bled and died

To take away my sin.

Then sings my soul,

My Saviour God, to thee,

How great thou art!

How great thou art!

Then sings my soul,

My Saviour God, to thee,

How great thou art!

How great thou art!

When Christ shall come,

With shouts of acclamation,

And take me home,

What joy shall fill my heart!

Then I shall bow

In humble adoration

And there proclaim,

"My God, how great Thou art!"

Then sings my soul,

My Saviour God, to thee,

How great thou art!

How great thou art!

Then sings my soul,

My Saviour God, to thee,

How great thou art!

How great thou art!"

This is how I feel today. I feel God's greatness and love for me in everything. <3

Snow Picture

This is a picture I took a few days ago. I love pictures with snow and treses and sunsets. <3

Kindness

“Let no one ever come to you without leaving better and happier. Be the living expression of God's kindness: kindness in your face, kindness in your eyes, kindness in your smile.”
― Mother Teresa

Today I'm trying to make an effort to be kind and loving.

What can you do today to be the expression of God's kindness?

Poem

Hello! I can't think of anything very good to post today, so I guess I'll post a poem I wrote for one of my classes about the United States of America.
"America is special,
For being for the free.
America is special,
And it is part of me.
America is special,
For blood and sweat and tears.
America is special,
The land of pioneers.
America is beautiful, glorious and bright,
America is special, let us keep it a light."

You are Meant to Change the World

Everybody was born to do something that nobody else can do as well as him/her. We all have unique talents that God gave us, which we need to develop in order to change the world for the better.
So, we all need to list the talents we have and how we can develop them. Small talents, such as seeing the cheerful side of things, can change the world, even if only for a few people.


Here's a video called Be Remarkable:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F76jr0tJemE

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

"The Lord bless thee, and keep thee:

The Lord make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee:

The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace." -Numbers 6:24-26

Today is St. Patrick's Day, so I thought I'd share a scripture. I didn't notice this scripture really until today, but now it is one of my favorite scriptures.

What are some of your favorite scriptures?