A PSALM OF LIFE
TELL me not, in mournful numbers,
Life is but an empty dream ! —
For the soul is dead that slumbers,
And things are not what they seem.
Life is real ! Life is earnest!
And the grave is not its goal ;
Dust thou art, to dust returnest,
Was not spoken of the soul.
Not enjoyment, and not sorrow,
Is our destined end or way ;
But to act, that each to-morrow
Find us farther than to-day.
Art is long, and Time is fleeting,
And our hearts, though stout and brave,
Still, like muffled drums, are beating
Funeral marches to the grave.
In the world's broad field of battle,
In the bivouac of Life,
Be not like dumb, driven cattle !
Be a hero in the strife !
Trust no Future, howe'er pleasant !
Let the dead Past bury its dead !
Act,— act in the living Present !
Heart within, and God o'erhead !
Lives of great men all remind us
We can make our lives sublime,
And, departing, leave behind us
Footprints on the sands of time ;
Footprints, that perhaps another,
Sailing o'er life's solemn main,
A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,
Seeing, shall take heart again.
Let us, then, be up and doing,
With a heart for any fate ;
Still achieving, still pursuing,
Learn to labor and to wait.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882)
1/28/2009
Today
1/18/2009
The Little Things
Over the last few weeks I have been thinking about how much I am loved by those in my life. I have also thought about how nice it is to feel the love of those in your life from time to time. We don't have to do anything big to really let others know that we care and that we love them. There are simple things that we can do. Often times the simplest gestures can touch people the most.
I think about the things that others have done for me to remind me that they care. Especially since I just left "home" again to come to school, I have seen some of these little things. A meaningful, heartfelt text message saying how much they enjoyed spending time with me over the last few months. A little note. A special visit to say goodbye. A phone call just to talk. A hug from someone I haven't seen in a few months. A hug from someone who I won't see for a few months. An email. A "Love ya!". A prayer.
I feel so blessed in my life to have such wonderful family and friends. This feeling has prompted me to begin to remind those special friends and loved ones that I care and I love them. The satisfaction that comes by sharing these feelings with others is amazing! A loving Father in Heaven has blessed us with a family. He has also blessed us with friends. Let's love them all! And let's help them feel that love! The world would be a much better place!
1/02/2009
It's so hard to say goodbye!
But I gotta make the first move...
There's never a right time to say goodbye
But we know that we gotta go
Our separate ways
And I know it's hard, but I gotta do it,
And it's killing me
Cause there's never a right time,
Right time to say goodbye
Most TXT conversations have three parts. Let's look at them:
Part I: The beginning
Usually consisting of a greeting, attention-getter, or just a simple sentence or question. CAUTION: Keep the beginning simple and don't get too deep with that first txt! Sometimes the person on the receiving end of the txt can't or doesn't respond right away, so if you put TMI (too much information) in that first txt or you poured your whole soul out in it and don't hear back from them, you might start thinking things like, "OMG, I shouldn't have put that! She thinks I'm stupid!", "He hasn't said anything, yet! He's ignoring me! He hates me!", "I can't believe I sent that; I AM stupid!", etc. You DO NOT want to enter into this state of schizophrenia and you definitely DO NOT want to be the person who actually sends the txt saying, "Are you ignoring me?" or even better, "Um, just ignore that last txt."
Part II: The body
This is the easy part. This is where you talk about all the "important" stuff. If you can carry on a normal conversation, you can't go wrong here!
Part III: The ending
Okay, now this part's possibly the hardest part of learning how to effectively txt and the main reason for me posting this on my blog! The trick is to recognize when the body of the txt conversation is over and to send ONE (1) txt to end the conversation. You can even end it by NOT sending one more txt. For some, there is a built-in txt reflex that makes them feel like they NEED to respond to every single txt sent by the other person. If you fall into this category, I beg you to LET GO! It's fine! Just because they sent you a smiley face DOES NOT mean that you have to respond with one.
One surefire way to recognize the end of the txt conversation is to notice when the other person doesn't send you a question to answer or something to comment on. Another way to notice that the txting should just stop is just that--the other person JUST STOPS txting you. Take a hint, it's over!
Once you've sent a txt to end the conversation, it's over. You aren't allowed to send something after you've already sent a "k ttyl" or "later" or the infamous solitary ":)"
TXTing is hard, I know, but you'll get it! Just stick with it! Oh, and one last thing--just because you type LOL, doesn't mean you have to physically laugh out loud :)
ttyl
Finally, some sleep!
I can't explain how nice it truly feels to know that, when I go to bed at night, I won't have to get up to a phone call. It's a feeling that just keeps on giving! The same feeling came to me last January when I went to BYU-Idaho for a couple semesters. I love it!
Now, if I can just get rid of this cold, I'll really be able to sleep :)
