Being this the first day of the seventh month of the year two thousand and fourteen, and as such being a halfway point between the beginning and end of said year, I find it appropriate to give another update on my New Year's Resolutions. I'll just make this a quick post, as I'm just giving updates on them all. I'll say up front that EFY is helping out a ton with many of these.
1. Exercise a little every day, even if it means taking a walk for 30 minutes on a treadmill. I used a pedometer for the first few weeks I was doing EFY and found that I was averaging about 15,000 steps per day. 2,000 is about a mile, and I've heard that a good goal for someone trying to lose weight is to hit at least 10,000, so I feel like I'm doing fairly well with that.
2. Unless I'm specifically out with friends, stop eating so much late at night. Doing well so far! The only real exception to this is pizza night for EFY, but I'm taking care to not splurge... for the most part.
3. Read at least one new book a month. Ehhhhh... could be doing better. I still have the original books I checked out from the library back in January that I need to get through... That time between when EFY finishes and when school starts up is going to be super valuable.
4. Start up a media production of some kind. Working on it. My brother and I have created a company based mostly off of his DJ equipment/experience, but we have plans to expand to much more than just audio production.
5. Do my best to enter into a relationship that is leading towards marriage. Working on it. I'm meeting new people all the time, and while EFY is taking up a lot of time that I would use for social activities I'm definitely keeping my eyes open.
I mean, sometimes I feel like this is how I come off to girls when I'm trying to flirt:
And I'm really hoping that it's not actually that. But I'll save that topic for a future post.
6. Write at least one blog post per week. Working on this still. (Obviously.) Got some ideas of future posts already, so I'll do my best to make some time to get them written.
7. Watch the movies in my library that I haven't seen yet. Again, EFY is kinda in the way of free time, but since I've stopped buying movies for a while I'm slowly catching up.
8. Go to a convention of some sort. Going to be taken care of this week! I just mentioned in resolution #6 that I have plans for future blog posts, and one of them is going to be about FantasyCon, which will be this Thursday through Saturday. Kind of a funny story as to how I'm going, but I'll save that for the post itself.
9. Be more outgoing. EFY is helping in more ways than I can imagine. More so with this than my mission, I feel. I'm thrown every week into a situation where I need to get to know anywhere from 6 to 12 boys who are under my care for the week, then in addition to that I get to know just as many girls (or more, if we were to use last week as an example). I get to know multiple other counselors, and all of us have the responsibility to teach and guide these youth toward gaining a testimony of the Gospel. I don't know how I could do this without being outgoing.
Even if this is all I'm doing to be more outgoing, it's more than what I usually do, and I'm happy about that.
10. Be happy with myself. This is going along with the previous resolution, as well as #1. I can already tell I'm losing some weight, if only a little bit at a time, but I'm already feeling better health-wise. And the fact that I'm helping out dozens of others get closer to Christ... now THAT feeling has no comparison. This is seriously the closest I've felt to being a missionary, and it's similar in many ways. I think the only difference is that my "investigators" are already members of the Church, for the most part, and we're working to solidify the testimonies they already have.
So that's where I'm at so far with my resolutions. I've now got six months to go, and I feel pretty confident with how most of them are going to be able to finish them all by December 31.
So on Facebook, people are prone to post results from various tests and quizzes about a myriad of topics. "What Hogwarts house do you belong in?" "What is your spirit animal?" "Which character from Friends are you?" "How many children should you have?"
This video, I feel, accurately describes how many of us feel about such posts:
Glove and Boots has to be one of my favorite channels on YouTube, and many times they're spot on with their social commentary. (And pretty dang funny with their jokes and timing.) However, there's one point I'd like to make that they kinda touch on in the video, if indirectly: some of them are actually fun to take, if only for the personal amusement factor. They're a lot like those paper fortune tellers that you used to make as a kid.
Bigger, and definitely nicer, than many of the ones I ever made as a kid, but it gets the point across.
We all know they're not real. I know that, you know that, our parents know it… Probably the only people who don't know it are the 4- and 5-year-old kids seeing these fortune tellers (a.k.a. "cootie catchers") for their first time ever. In any case, it's still a fun thing to do every once in a while. So, as to not fill up my feed with even more of the quizzes that we really don't need to see (again, reference the video I put above) I'll just put results of any quizzes I take here. And I'll update it from time to time, if anyone is ever curious about what kind of breakfast cereal I am, or how long I'll live, or when I'll get married, or what superpower I should have. You know, the important things.
Also, I'll try to keep it to quizzes that actually make sense. In the video above, Fafa the Groundhog takes a quiz about what animal he should be, and none of the questions he's asked have anything to do with animals.
Which Pokémon Gym Leader Are You?
This was the first one I noticed, mostly for having a love of the Pokémon franchise. I got Misty, and here's the description:
You are fiercely competitive and energetic. You tend to tackle problems head-on and are always striving to be better. You may have romantic aspirations, but you would never let them get in the way of your training!
All righty then. I don't know if this quiz is limited to just the first generation of games, though… and if you have absolutely no idea what I meant with that last statement, then ask me later.
What Song Should You Actually Sing At Karaoke?
Hopefully this doesn't start a trend… the questions for this one didn't ask anything about what kind of music I like, or anything about music, really. One of my questions was literally "What is your spirit animal?" which I was kind of joking about before, and another one asked me to choose one out of nine movies. I picked Space Jam. My song result is Dolly Parton's "9 to 5."
It’s been a long day at work, but now you are on your own time. Celebrate the working man and woman and bring out that Tennessee Twang, because you’re about to sing “9 to 5.”
I kinda sorta hate country. And Dolly Parton in particular. So I sincerely doubt that this is right. Moving on.
Do You Win At Eating?
First of all, I don't even know if that's a grammatically correct question. I know that it's common in today's vernacular, but… "Do you win at eating?" I doubt I'd ever ask someone that in that way. Anyway, I checked off 8 out of 50 "accomplishments" for eating, and here's what it says:
You’re a champion eater! You’ve got mad eating skillz. And everyone is pretttttty impressed.
…*sigh*
First off, I'd just like to point out that the questions for this one are rather subjective. Example: one of the things to check off was "I have eaten an entire can of Pringles." I have, but not all at the same time – I seriously doubt I could ever do that. Over the course of a week, though, yeah. I have. Others were more specific, such as "I have eaten more than 3 bowls of cereal in one sitting." (Didn't check that one off, by the way.) I just assumed that all the the ambiguous questions meant in one sitting, so I left them blank if I hadn't done that.
Second, how does 8 out of 50 merit "mad eating skills"?! That's a ridiculously low score on ANYONE'S scale! Since this one is easier to see the answers for, since you just check off a certain amount, I found out that just 1 gives you "reasonable eater" and all 50 gives you "Ultimate Eating Champion." Just 6 already puts you at the level that I actually got.
Well done. This is more or less the best thing that has ever happened to you. You are going to get this result tattooed on your forearm, because it is that important.
I didn't think that I answered many of the questions that sarcastically… Although when it gave me six TV show characters to choose from, I went with Dr. House, who is probably one of the most sarcastic characters I can think of.
Which '90s Game Show Are You?
This one I enjoyed, mostly because of the nostalgia factor. My result was Nickelodeon Guts, which I really feel is a show that they could bring back and it would be a total hit. (That and Nick Arcade, but that one would take a little more work in finding appropriate games…)
You represent your city, your nation, yourself in the greatest individual competition known ever to kidkind. You know the Olympic Games would be greatly improved if they were more like this classic competition. Can you climb to the top of the Aggro Crag to claim a piece of it for your own?
Come to think of it, Nickelodeon had a few game shows back in the day that were all REALLY good. Legends of the Hidden Temple, the ones already mentioned, Double Dare (with the spinoffs of Family Double Dare and Double Dare 2000)… good times.
What Disney Movie Hero/Heroine Are You Actually?
Don't know if this one was as fair as some of the others. First question asked me to pick a color, second question asked me to choose a TV – none of which I've watched, and none of which were Disney channel shows. My result was Aladdin, which I'm actually pretty happy with, but again I don't think the question given were actually appropriate for this one.
“Riffraff, street rat. I don’t buy that.” You are the definition of a diamond in the rough. True royalty at heart! I feel sorry for the poor sap who underestimates you. Anyone who risks imprisonment for a small amount of food is a-OK in my book.
Also, one of the questions asked what my chosen method of transportation would be. Out of the choices given, I chose driving (against swimming, walking, swinging, flying, and majestic horseback riding). If that's not enough of a clue that sometimes these quizzes are just a bit far-fetched, then I don't know what is.
Which Soda Are You?
Again, great result this time around (Dr Pepper) but I have no idea why some of the questions for this were in there. "Pick a 90's trend" and "Pick a celeb" (with one of the options for that one being Santa) don't seem to correlate with sodas in my mind.
Actually, picking Santa might have given me Coke, come to think of it.
You’re an enigma, possessing of that ever-elusive “je ne sais quoi.” No one can quite figure you out, which either means someone thinks you’re weird, or you’re incredibly sexy. Either way, you’re fine with it all.
Great description for Dr Pepper. I feel like it's pretty accurate for both the drink and myself.
Which "The Princess Bride" Character Are You?
One of my favorite movies (I think for a lot of people in Mormon culture, it's one of their favorite movies) and they actually had all the questions relate to characters! I ended up getting the Grandfather, who admittedly is only part of the movie and not the book. But he does contribute a fair amount to the movie.
The most important thing to you is family. You’re caring and show your love through action. You adore stories and tell them to anyone who will listen. Even if it’s a kissing story.
You know, I feel like I actually relate a lot to young Fred Savage's character as well. When I was young, I used to absolutely hate watching any kissing scenes in movies. Even in cartoons! But now that I'm older and accept the fact that… yeah, kissing is actually a pretty normal thing, I can watch most kissing scenes just fine. (Except maybe for those couples who wait until the day of their wedding to kiss for the first time… that's jut weird. And I'm not gonna link to any of those, you can find them for yourself.)
Would You Pass Your Harry Potter Charms OWL?
I'm not gonna go ahead and call myself a "Potterhead," but I've read the books a few times each, seen all the movies, and felt pretty confident going into this. Ended up getting 9 out of 10 right, and according to the Hogwarts grading scale I get an O for "Outstanding."
Hermione, is that you? Congratulations! You’re definitely the brightest witch/wizard of your age!
The only one that I missed (because this one actually shows you what you got right and wrong) was "Rictusempra." I said that it would give the target a flesh wound, but I confused that with "Sectumsempra," which was introduced in the sixth book/movie. The actual effect strikes the foe with a feeling of incessant tickling. Besides that, though, I got them all right!
What Should Your Name Actually Be?
There wasn't an option to say if you were a guy or girl for this, and I'm not gonna try to go through this one again to get a guy's name for it. My result? "Kiki." The description?
Your name should have been Kiki.
Right, because that totally makes sense.
WHEN Will You Die?
Apparently I'm going to die on July 1, 2024. Exactly 10 years from now. You have 10 years left. Now is the time to plan out how to really enjoy the time you got! Travel around the world, explore new people, accomplish your dreams and most important of all - BE HAPPY. 10 years is plenty of time.
Umm... no it's not. It really isn't.
Which Transformers Character Are You?www.playbuzz.comFind out which Transformers character you're most like. Ironhide. A brief summary from the Wikipedia page I linked to just now (because the quiz gives no description) is that he's Optimus Prime's oldest friend and the weapons specialist of the team, having sustained many injuries during his time as a soldier. I could live with that.
Admittedly, I actually don't know all that much about each Transformer outside of the recent movies... I think I was just a couple years too late to really know/enjoy the show all that much.
How Would You Die In An Action Movie?
"You tragically die in your lover's arms." The picture associated with this result is from X-Men 3: The Last Stand, after Wolverine kills Jean amidst all the destruction she's causing. You're a lover (and maybe a fighter, too). Your caring nature and irresistible good looks caught the attention of one of the hottest characters in the movie, and their piercing eyes and rippling muscles will be the last thing you see before you go. Don't worry, your untimely death will be avenged by a combination of a sudden adrenaline rush and maybe a machine gun.
I feel like the description is geared more toward a woman... oh well. At least I'll be avenged.
Which Gaming Icon Are You?
I'm already calling BS on this one because the first question asked "If you could have any superpower, what would it be?" and did not list flying as one of the options. That is my go-to superpower, and I'm rather disappointed it wasn't there, especially because it asked any superpower.
It ended up giving me Sonic the Hedgehog. Impatient & Quick-Witted, you are Sega's iconic mascot - Sonic The Hedgehog! Sonic is the title character and protagonist of the Sonic the Hedgehog series released by Sega, as well as numerous spin-off comics, four animated shows, and an animated OVA. He is a 15-year-old blue anthropomorphic hedgehog who has the ability to run at supersonic speeds and the ability to curl into a ball, primarily to attack enemies.
While I'm a little worried as to how the Sonic franchise is going to be dealt with for the new series "Sonic Boom," there are a few games that I've played that I really did enjoy, so this result isn't too bad.
Which Norse God Are You?
This one is about Norse gods... and the third to last question asked me to choose a Greek deity. Then it asked me to choose my favorite of the X-Men Okay. Wise and Timeless, you are the Norse God Odin! Odin is the Allfather of the gods, and the ruler of Asgard. He is flanked by ravens, of which he uses to oversee his lands. His role, like that of many of the Norse gods, is complex. Odin is a principal member of the Æsir (the major group of the Norse pantheon) and is associated with war, battle, victory and death, but also wisdom, Shamanism, magic, poetry, prophecy, and the hunt. Odin has many sons, the most famous of whom is the thunder god Thor.
Odin's a pretty decent result, though, so I can live with that.
A couple weeks ago was one of the most tiring I've had in a long time. And I don't regret it for an instant.
Earlier this year, I had an interview for a job to be a counselor for this summer program put on by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints called Especially For Youth (heretofore referred to as EFY). It was something that I went to for multiple years as a participant and loved every time that I did. Now, having grown a bit in years, I have the opportunity to give the youth who attend the same experiences that I had. Seriously, I absolutely loved it, and from what I was able to see from even just following people around that week, I know that it's going to go incredibly well throughout the rest of the summer.
Here's a basic rundown of how each day goes every week:
MONDAY
- Kids check in around the middle of the day, coming from all over the place. Participants in Provo often come from out of state, just because here is where some of the biggest sessions happen. All participants receive a journal to take notes in throughout the week and a t-shirt specific to that year's theme. This year the theme is "Anxiously Engaged", taken from Doctrine & Covenants 58:27.
- Participants meet their counselors, boys with guy counselors and girls with girl counselors, and then they all come together in groups of 20-30 (trying to keep an even ratio of guys to girls) and form "companies." These companies are all assigned a scripture to focus on throughout the week and choose a name for themselves to be called by everyone else. As an example, the scripture that our company was assigned was Doctrine & Covenants 10:5, so we named ourselves the Conquerers.
- Everyone heads to a meeting with the Session Director, someone who is already married and has a fairly decent amount of wisdom to share with the youth. Some popular directors have been Brad Wilcox, John Bytheway, and others.
- The companies separate and have their own Family Home Evening, with a lesson and games.
TUESDAY
- All participants go to a devotional with the session director, then have a class about how to recognize the Holy Ghost in their lives. Then there's a chance for them to choose some classes to go to, often with some popular Mormon motivational speakers or professors.
- In the evening, everyone meets up and gets ready for a dance. Proper dance etiquette is taught to the guys and girls, so that all are able to have a fun, clean time. The dance goes for a couple hours and depending on where it is and what week of the summer it is, it could have as many as a thousand people there at once. (Sometimes, especially in Provo, there are multiple sessions happening, so for the sake of the dance they combine the sessions together at that time.)
Unfortunately, but understandably, they discourage breakdancing.
WEDNESDAY
- More classes than Tuesday, with some more options of teachers and topics.
- A panel discussion with some of the teachers and the session director is held. Early on in the week the youth have a chance to submit questions about the Gospel that they'd like answered, and while many of the questions are answered the biggest point they try to emphasize is how to find the answers to questions on their own.
- Companies meet up together again to create a company cheer and design a banner relating to the company name they came up with, all in preparation for Games Night.
- Games Night is an opportunity for all the companies in the session to have friendly competition with each other, playing large group games and showing off their cheer for the judges (the session director, his wife, and the head counselors).
- For sessions where the participants stay overnight, the opportunity comes up to have a Pizza Night, where all in the company contribute a bit to buy pizza for themselves and just socialize/bond some more.
THURSDAY Probably the most important day of the week.
- The young men and young women each have their own devotionals and group activities. I know for the young men, it's often related to how mission life is like. Many of the teachings that they've been learning throughout the week are reinforced at this time, helping the youth to understand that the Gospel is influential in every aspect of their lives.
- A game show is held to help break up the tone of the day, with all the participants of the session together. The one that we did this last week was in the style of Jeopardy!, with five categories and team members chosen from each side of the room (only two teams for simplicity's sake). Some of the categories are Church trivia questions, others are physical "feats" (one that I saw was to attach pedometer to one's head and get the number as high as possible within a minute), others are just completely random.
- A musical program, which youth are encouraged to participate in if they feel comfortable singing, is held later in the day to bring the Spirit back. The themes shared are related back to the theme of EFY for that year.
- A fireside is given by the session director, and then all the companies are taken to separate rooms so they can hold their own testimony meetings. It's quite common for everyone to get up and share their testimonies at this time, but no one is forced to, and if there is a break in people getting up then they just let the silence be an opportunity for the Spirit to sink in. This is one of the things I remember most about going to EFY every summer. It's hard to go to one of these testimony meetings and not feel the Spirit. There's also a section in every journal to write down your own testimony, should you choose.
FRIDAY
- Last full day for participants. There's a short devotional in the morning with the counselors to help the youth understand how to best benefit from the week – not just by remembering what they learned, but applying the teachings in their regular lives and sharing with their friends and family.
- An activity based on the LDS missionary manual Preach My Gospel is used to help participants become more familiar with its teachings. In particular, this year they're focusing on how the Book of Mormon helps to answer questions of the soul (about halfway down the page for this link).
- A variety show, which any participant can audition for, is held for about an hour and a half. And by variety show, it can really include anything; the one I got to watch this first week included a few singing acts, a duet on pianos, stand-up comedy, dancing, impressions and movie quotes, juggling… And that was just at one of the shows going on! At Provo there are often multiple sessions happening at once, so there was another variety show happening at the same time as the one I saw.
- A time is given to take pictures with your company and exchange contact information. It's much easier to do so now than when I was a participant; Facebook wasn't a thing, yet, but these days people can add each other and tag photos in seconds. Which is often quite helpful to maintain the friendships past the one week they all get to know each other.
- A final dance is held, followed by a slideshow of pictures taken throughout the whole session. Participants and counselors can contribute to this slideshow, though most of the pictures are taken by counselors whose job it is mostly to focus on that.
- A reminder of how to "take it home" is given with the company. Some companies have their own second testimony meeting, which is helpful if not everyone had the chance earlier that week to share.
SATURDAY
- Participants check out fairly early, which is why time is given on Friday for the contact exchange.
It's important to note that every day there are meals provided for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and times in the morning to have personal Gospel study, some free time every afternoon, and times every night to review things they learned or felt during the day. Lights out every night for participants is 10:30 PM, which is heavily emphasized so that they can actually sleep and enjoy the activities throughout the week. There are also "stay-at-home" sessions, where the participants come only during the day and go back home every night. Most everything still happens, but it's condensed a bit due to the lesser amount of time they have, and they're completely done by Friday night.
So are the things you learn at EFY really that important? All that life-changing?
My company, the last year that I went as a participant.
And these are the journals I had from each year that I was a participant, starting in 2004, and I don't plan on getting rid of them any time soon. So you tell me if they're all that important or life-changing.
Small update: this is the group of kids I have for my first week as an official counselor. I couldn't ask for a better start to this summer.
No specific topic to write about this week. I've kinda been doing the same thing for the last few weeks, just working at Subway most every day. I did get things going for EFY, at least on my end. I'm still not sure where I'll be each week, but I do know that I'll have at least six to nine weeks of work. At least one week will be in Provo, one close to Provo, one traveling, and one stay-at-home session. I'm hoping I'll know more in the coming weeks, since my training week is fast approaching at the end of May.
Yesterday I had a Lord of the Rings marathon as well with a good friend of mine. We started at about noon and got done a little before 10:00. And no, they weren't the extended editions. Those movies are long enough already! They're good, but I really don't know what else should have been put in there to make them any better. (Except maybe this.)
This look is kinda how I felt by the end of the third one. But it was totally worth it.
Speaking of movies, my second blog, Bargain Bin Reviews, should be up and running by the end of this week. The first post on it will just be an introductory post explaining what will be happening on it, and the week after that I'll actually be reviewing movies. For those who actually read this blog on a regular basis, I hope you'll also read this new one and share it with your friends! I'll still be posting on here regularly, but the Bargain Bins blog will definitely be a regular post every week. Unless I'm sick or otherwise occupied.
New DVDs: At Savers, where I also managed to find a working N64 and copy of Pokémon Stadium for pretty cheap, I found Doom, which I felt like I needed to get because it's 1) based on a video game and that usually results in some awfully (emphasis on awful) funny end products, and 2) a movie where it still lists Dwayne Johnson as "The Rock" in the credits. Can't really pass that up. Also, Community. I was a little skeptical about it when I first saw it, because it has pictures of actors from the TV show, and as far as I know there hasn't been a movie of it. However, the disc inside lists the first three episodes of it, so I can only assume that it was a promotional DVD distributed when the show was first coming out.
Deseret Industries, the other thrift shop around here, got me Hitch, Ghost Rider, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, and The Benchwarmers.
Amazon, which I only really get stuff on every once in a while with tip money (Coinstar machines are great!): V for Vendetta, The Prestige, Mars Attacks!, ¡Three Amigos!, Pulp Fiction, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, and Tommy Boy.
Kind of an inside joke… This is a parody of the "Achievement unlocked" window that comes up in certain video games after you accomplish something noteworthy.
Now seems as good a time as ever, then, to get that new blog going.
If you're LDS and have been on any kind of social media in the last week or so, there's a very good chance that you've seen #BecauseofHim. That all was spurred by a video put out by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints a little over a week ago, and if you'd like to watch it (which I highly recommend that you do) then here it is:
Many of my friends on Facebook over the course of the last week have been posting statuses and various things relating to this video. I'm not going to go into detail as to who said what, but here is a great selection of what I've been seeing: Because of Him, I can feel peace every single day of my life. Because of Him, we can change if we need to, we can be helped if we truly want it, we can be made whole, whatever the problems of the past. Because of Him, I know that however much I screw up, nothing is so bad that I can’t be helped. Because of Him, I always have a friend who I can count on to listen to me. Because of Him, my pains are lessened, my burdens are made lighter. Because of Him, I get to see my Dad again. Because of Him, I get to be with my friends again. Because of Him, I know that blessings will come. Maybe not today and maybe not tomorrow but they will come. Because of Him, I know my prayers are answered! Because of Him, there are always second chances. Because of Him, my family has been blessed with a father and a mother who have taught us that, no matter how broken things may seem, there will always be hope for happiness. Because of Him, I can start again and again. Because of Him, I can get answers to prayers. Because of Him, I have a deeper appreciation for my life and my friends! There is no better teacher for unconditional gratitude and love than our brother Jesus Christ.
Because of Him, death is conquered and all humankind will also one day resurrect! And, because of his Atonement, we can be completely forgiven of our sins and imperfections and return to live with Him! It is only because of Him that I am who I am and where I am today. Without Him I wouldn't be anything worthwhile. Because of Him, no goodbye has to last forever. Because of Him, I can always smile, no matter what. Because of Him, I have peace in my life. Because of Him, I can live with them forever! I'm so grateful for my savior who is there for me always and always lifts me up! Because of Him, I do not have to live with my grief forever. Because of Him, I am inspired! Because of Him, we can start again. Because of Him, I can have new beginnings. Because of Him I will always have someone to turn to. Because of Him, I live in this beautiful world. Because of Him, when we fall we can begin again and again! Because of him we have our family, nice bodies, good friends and the most important thing, we have the gospel! Because of Him, I can be better, I find happiness each day. I have my family and friends. I have peace in the future and know that I will live again after death with my family. Because of Him I am who I am today and know I can be better everyday. Because of Him, I am whole again. Because of him I have seen redemption. Because of him I have seen healing. Because of him I can look in the mirror and know without a shadow of a doubt that I am loved. Even in the darkest of times. Because of him I have been forgiven. Because of him you can too. Because of Him, I have hope that my life will be one filled with happiness and true joy.
Considering my birthday was just last week, I thought it an appropriate time to give an update on my resolutions. Full disclaimer: I know I'm not doing perfectly with many of them, but I still keep them in mind, and since I had them posted on here they're not hard to look back at.
1. Exercise a little every day, even if it means taking a walk for 30 minutes on a treadmill. I had started a program with my family called FitBit earlier in the year that keeps track of how well you do in physical activity throughout the day/week, but the model of the little tracker I use was recalled some time ago, so I'm not entirely sure what the update is with that… Having a job at Subway, though, I'm on my feet pretty much the whole time and moving around a lot, so that's definitely helping.
(Disclaimer: not actually me on a treadmill)
2. Unless I'm specifically out with friends, stop eating so much late at night. Getting better at this. Again, the job at Subway kinda helps… everything there is pretty filling, so I feel like I don't need to eat so much later in the day.
I'm sure everyone gets cravings… right?
3. Read at least one new book a month. Not doing as well as I hoped. I have new books and made it about halfway through one, but still need to finish it and the others.
4. Start up a media production of some kind. I have the beginning started of Bargain Bin Reviews! I've been busy with work and Divine Comedy up until now, and since the semester is pretty much over I should be able to use free time to devote it to the beginning of the new blog. So I'll at least manage that and this one, with the Bargain Bin blog eventually being made into video reviews.
5. Do my best to enter into a relationship that is leading towards marriage. Dating around at the moment. Nothing serious going on for now. Though I will be starting a job as an EFY counselor at the end of next month, and the theme for this year is "Anxiously Engaged"… so that might be a sign for something.
6. Write at least one blog post per week. …yeah, definitely need to pick that up. My "excuse" that I tell myself is that I don't have anything interesting to write about. I deserve to be slapped for that kind of thought; it doesn't matter if it's completely interesting or not, the point is that I write something.
7. Watch the movies in my library that I haven't seen yet. Getting through some more of them. However, as my collection grows, the number of movies I have but haven't seen also grows… At the time of writing, I have yet to see 60 of my 287 movies. So if I watch 2 new movies a week every week for the rest of the year… I should be pretty close to caught up. Obviously I can do more than just 2 a week, but at the same time I'll have work and a variety of othermovies to watchthissummer…
8. Go to a convention of some sort. My original hope was to go to RTX, a convention hosted by Rooster Teeth that will happen a little after the 4th of July. However, for financial reasons, I'm not entirely sure that I'll be able to go. That, and the fact that I'll be an EFY counselor (which I haven't talked in depth about yet on this blog and will likely do so in the near future) will mean that most of my summer plans are already made for me.
9. Be more outgoing. Definitely improving, but slowly. I now have a calling in the ward I'm in as the executive secretary, which means that I'm, as my bishop puts it, "the most popular guy in the ward." (Mostly because I'm the guy that people go through in order to set up appointments and such.)
10. Be happy with myself. Getting better with this as well. It's not something that's easily achieved, I feel, so the fact that I'm not 100% there yet doesn't completely bother me. I know that I need to keep working toward it, though, because if I ever stop trying to be happy with who I am and what I'm doing with my life then I'll end up hating myself more and more.
I would just like to point out that that is a lawnmower.
My intent is for this to be a quick post, as I've had a long day and if I keep my train of thought going then it will be a long night as well. So we'll see how this goes.
My life does not currently "suck." I do have some good things going for me. I have a job, I have a great amount of friends, I have an extracurricular activity that keeps me laughing every time I go even just for practice, I have a roof over my head – there are a lot of things around me to keep me rather content. However, there are times when thoughts can creep into my head that can turn any one of those positive influences right back at me and try to make me feel worthless and downright sad.
"Your job is a minimum-wage position at a fast food joint; there's no room for expansion and you won't go anywhere with it."
"Your friends aren't hanging out with you because they're too busy with themselves, ignoring you."
"Practice went so rough today that things can't possibly get better when you perform two days from now."
"Your weight problems aren't going away no matter how hard you try."
"You live in a tiny apartment that hasn't changed in years, and you stay just because you're too lazy to move out."
"You'll never graduate at the rate you're going, with the grades you've been getting."
"You're going to die a single, lonely man."
Thoughts like that. Thoughts that aren't really true, but can definitely feel like it at times. So sometimes my life feels like it "sucks."
Rare moments happen, though, during these times when I'm feeling down. And I cherish these rare moments. These moments are when I remember that I feel sad or depressed for a reason. That reason is so that I can understand exactly how happy I can feel.
For those of you who might read this blog post and not be Mormon, there's this book we read called The Book of Mormon. You've probably heard of it by now; there's a comedy musical with the same name (not produced by members of the church, just to be clear) that has been on Broadway for some time now. The point of the book is that it serves as another testament of Jesus Christ, much like the Bible has the Old and New Testaments in it. And here's a passage from it, kind of early on, that can help explain a bit of what I'm talking about:
For it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things. If not so… righteousness could not be brought to pass, neither wickedness, neither holiness nor misery, neither good nor bad. Wherefore, all things must needs be a compound in one; wherefore, if it should be one body it must needs remain as dead, having no life neither death, nor corruption nor incorruption, happiness nor misery, neither sense nor insensibility.
Wherefore, it must needs have been created for a thing of naught; wherefore there would have been nopurposein the end of its creation. Wherefore, this thing must needs destroy the wisdom of God and his eternal purposes, and also the power, and the mercy, and thejusticeof God.
And if ye shall say there is no law, ye shall also say there is no sin. If ye shall say there is no sin, ye shall also say there is no righteousness. And if there be no righteousness there be no happiness. And if there be no righteousness nor happiness there be no punishment nor misery. And if these things are not there is no God. And if there is no God we are not, neither the earth; for there could have been no creation of things, neither to act nor to be acted upon; wherefore, all things must have vanished away.
And now… I speak unto you these things for your profit and learning; for there is a God, and he hath created all things, both the heavens and the earth, and all things that in them are, both things to act and things to be acted upon.
And to bring about his eternal purposes in the end of man, after he had created our first parents, and the beasts of the field and the fowls of the air, and in fine, all things which are created, it must needs be that there was an opposition; even theforbiddenfruit in opposition to the tree of life; the one being sweet and the other bitter.
So, what does that all mean? Opposition has to exist. Trials and adversity, times when we're feeling bad or when bad things are actually happening – they fulfill a part of this giant plan that we're all a part of. And yes, I sincerely believe that we're all part of a plan. I've seen too much evidence in my own life to prove that that's indeed the case.
Let me make an analogy so that it's easy to understand, because this concept was strange to me at first: if I was to have had nothing but sweet-tasting food all my life (ice cream, candy bars, etc.) then I would never know what "sour" was. Or "salty." Or "bitter." Seriously, if you're trying to describe in words what those are like without giving examples of actual foods, it's pretty hard to do. Heck, even the first definition of "sour" on dictionary.com uses foods as examples!
So now let's bring the analogy back to the topic at hand: if I was a happy person literally 100% of the time, then people would probably notice and say "Boy, he sure is happy!" But they wouldn't know that that's all I knew. And I wouldn't really know what it even meant to be happy, because I wouldn't know any other emotions. "Well, feeling happy is when you feel good." Okay then, what is "good"? I cannot have "good" feelings in my life unless I have "bad" ones to compare them to. And the inverse is also true; I cannot have "bad" feelings in my life unless I have "good" ones to compare them to either. So any time that those negative thoughts manage to break into my thought process, however they get there or whoever might try to put them there, and despite how long they may last for, I can always come back to the thoughts that remind me that eventually I will feel better.
Here's a wrap-up to that part of the passage I quoted from before: Wherefore, the Lord God gave unto man that he should actfor himself. Wherefore, man could not act for himself save it should be that he was enticed by the one or the other.
One of the beauties of life is that I get to choose not only what I do with it, but how I react to it. How I feel about it. Yes, I understand that there are those among us who cannot help how they feel for one reason or another. Some of us feel anxiety, depression, heartbreak, sorrow, sickness, etc. on a regular basis. But that does not mean that it can't be helped at least in some way, and it does not mean that they're alone at all. Or that they're completely powerless to act.
