Obsession.

Please

to

appease.

Retry

to 

satisfy. 

Assent

until

content.

I cannot help it. I know you can never make everyone happy, but I find myself attempting to do so again and again. I blame it on the atmosphere that high school presents. It would be much easier to not care about everyone's opinion if people did not plaster it on Twitter, subtweeting and gaining all these like from individuals that agree with them. From an adults perspective, the itty-bitty number next to a little star on a screen might seem menial, but to teenagers it is a big deal. The only solution in my mind is to just please everyone. Makes perfect sense right? Then no one would subtweet or speak ill of you and high school would not be so bad. It sounds wonderful, if only it actually happened.

It has been proven to me time and time again that you cannot please everyone, yet I cannot find any other solution to this problem. I could not care, which is what many people say they do, but as much as I try, I am unable to remove that part of my brain. The part of my brain that cares too much about what others think has grown into many other parts of my brain. It has intertwined itself into the part that lets me laugh, reminding me that someone will not be happy when j think something is funny. It has engulfed the part of my brain that allows me to speak my mind on issues, holding my tounge for me. 

However, I do think this obsession with pleasing people has gotten better the more I advance in high school. The more awful experiences happen the more I understand why it does not matter. I hope senior year I will finally be able to understand.

Try not to care. 

JSL

 

    

Meaning.

If you are not actively trying to be the best person you can be, what are you doing? 

The "meaning of life" can be interpreted in many, many ways, but this is mine. 

My good friend and I have different opinions on a lot of things. You name it, we probably have argued about it: politics, religion, sports, everything. Do not get me wrong we are still great friends, and we have many intellectual conversations, which is why I think we are such good friends. But anyways, I asked him what he thought about this subject, or rather placed my opinion on the table and let him set his down next to it. He is living and making decisions that make him happy. Which is one perspective. And I do not believe that he is the only one with that mindset. However, that way of thinking just does not make sense in my mind. We are faced with so many opportunities to make a difference if we pay attention. Plus I feel as if we continue to be the best we can be, that would in turn make us happy as well. He does not see that as being happy but rather setting yourself up for disappointment. Which also makes sense because if you are actively trying to better yourself you might never be satisfied. Our arguments never seem to have any closure, based on the fact that we are both very stubborn people, but I cannot help but thinking that I would always be left wondering if I did not at least try to better myself. I do not think I would be any happier otherwise. But maybe that's just me. 

JSL 

Talent.

"Hard work beats talent when talent does not work."
When one is talented, it is easy to obtain the expectation that things will come easily for them, because they always have. The wins blur together, the straight A's on tests look normal, so when they do not come out on top, or get that first F, one may not know what to do. It can be very frustrating when someone you have beat all season all of a sudden beats you. 

It was obviously a fluke.

It's never their fault.

So they do not make any changes, and still question when it happens again. 

I am not trying to say that all talented people are lazy bums, but the ones that are just grind my gears. The incredibly talented people that do not have to work are some of the most valuable people on a team, do not get me wrong, maybe the little green monster just comes out in me. It's when their talent falters that makes me the most upset, which makes me wonder if talent does not always benefit people. 

Studying hard is no fun, trust me I understand. Unfortunately I was not blessed with the knack of photographic memory. Life is not fair I know, but when I am stuck studying all night long and then hear someone who usually gets A's complain about their score on the same test that they did not loose any sleep over, I get a little salty. Sometimes you have to put in hard work even if you are blessed with being talented. 

Imagine the potential of people that worked hard even if they already are winning everything or getting straight A's. I know that our school would then be number one in everything. That sounds pretty fantastic to me. 

Work hard, a little elbow grease never killed anyone. 

JSL

Currency.

Would you waste someone's money? I am not talking about your parents who give you money and you "forget" to give back the change, I am referring to people that give you money for a specific job, or a task. An intelligent individual would be responsible with that money and do with it what was intended.
Would you waste something when there was a shortage of it? There is a major drought and water is limited. A considerate person would know the value of the water they have and use it sparingly. If someone allows you to drink their water, you would only drink as much as you need.
In both of these situations I am assuming that you are an intelligent and considerate person, which is a lot to ask for I know, but I have a lot of faith in people.

We "spend" time on things, and they all I've an opportunity cost. We are able to choose how we spend our own time, but in some instances we are given the responsibility of determining how we spend other's time. 

Would an intelligent and considerate person then waste other's time? 

If we spend money, and we spend time on things, then we consider them both valuable. 

So then why would we waste time of we don't waste money?

Sometimes there are instances where we do not know that we are wasting other's time, or even our own. It is easy to see when we are wasting money because it is a physical thing we can see. You see your bank account draining or feel the  weightlessness of your wallet. Time is an ongoing thing that we often times forget. Its ticking as you read this. Hopefully you do not find reading this as a waste of time, but when you should be doing something else, maybe it is. It is hard to be conscious of using our own time, so think of how difficult it is when you have to be considerate of others time as well. And because topically we do not always necessarily know what else others could be using their time on, and the importance of what it would be, we need to always be on top of things when we involve others. 

Spend time on important things, do not waste it.

JSL

Grades.

Little letters that seem to determine everything. If you are an average student at my high school, A's seem to be the only acceptable grade, and anything less than perfection will ruin your precious GPA. If you do not get that perfect 4.0 (or higher) you will not get scholarships.
You will not go to a good college.
You will not get a good job.
You will ruin your chance at a happy life; or so it seems, because that is how much grades are stressed. In high school, we are being prepped for examination, building our resume to stand out compared to all others. Due to this, I feel as though many individuals' reasoning for getting involved and doing well in school is purely for college purposes.
Because all this hard work is leading up to so much of our future.
As a student, I believe I am able to make the claim that learning is now only considered how much a student can memorize before a test. And when you are only able to recall four of the six, you fall short of perfection and your percentage drops a few places. In hindsight, going from an 92%  to a 90% does not seem like a big deal, but when you put it one the scale, an A- looks a lot worse than an A. The margin of error is so incredibly small in the grading system, the idea of perfection should be every one's dream goal, but maybe not their realistic one. However, is it decided for us that it is our expectation to be A students, because there is no chance for us to succeed in the real life if we do not succeed now.
We most likely will not all become analytical critics of literature, or the next person to discover the 119th element. I am in no means trying to say that we should not be given the opportunities to be that if we want to be, but I feel as if we should not be judged based on our overall abilities in all subjects, when we should be judged on what we advance on.  

Ticking.

Seven.
Six.
Five.
Four.
Three.
Two.
We are almost
Done.
The countdowns on people's phones show insignificant numbers. The number of opportunities we have to make a difference in our high school is slowly diminishing. Our term limit of incarceration is almost up. Graduation is one year away.
Some may view this is as a terrifying occurrence, hearing the ticking of the clock and envisioning it counting down to when we are thrown unknown territory. From the viewpoint of a junior, some may say I have not experienced the full extent of "senior-itus". However, I know that I have been counting down the days since my awful freshmen year to walk across that stage and get out of that place.
High school is safe. The halls we walk and the faces we see everyday never change. We know what we are expected of and have found every loophole in our 13 year old contract. Now presented with the responsibility of being on top, we now are presented the ability to make a difference in what happens to us every day. Student body presidents are typically seniors, and upperclassmen are usually the ones to question whether something is unjust, but that window of  time is shrinking. In terms of sports, two or three years of hard work has now gotten us to the top, and we are all fighting for that last title. We cannot take losses lightly, because this may be our last time competing. We want to make an impression, but we do not have much time left.
On the other hand, some feel the countdown seems to linger after every tick. With each day comes unbearable difficulties that we are tired of putting up with. These same faces in the hall all have awful memories associated with them and we long for a different view from these halls. Some see no use is changing the system because through our years we have figured out how stubborn it is. We find encouragement when we see the days slip away, and cannot help but smiling when our government teacher says, "you guys have done 11 years you can do the next one standing in your head." That diploma is the ticket to a bright new future for us.
No matter the emotion we feel, the ticking is not slowing, and the end is inevitable.
JSL

Valentine.

As stated in my post PDA, I am not appalled by two people together that make each other happy, and all the posts today of couples celebrating does not bother me. Seeing them all cute, and lovey-dovey, happy, is just fantastic. No really, I am fine, truly. Anyways, while seeing all of this I wonder how they are all able to get gifts for one another and have it still be meaningful when everyone else is getting the same thing? Getting a necklace would be nice, or jewelry of any sort because you will think of the one whom you have received it from every time you wear it. I have also always been a huge fan of flowers, they are a sweet gesture in my opinion. ROSES ARE ALWAYS A GOOD OPTION. I guess every gift is something special, no matter how big or small.
When I was a freshmen, Valentine's Day was made up to be a huge deal. As a yougin, I gaped at the amount of flowers that were being sold, the arrangement of cookies in the foyer, and the number of baskets in the office waiting to be delivered. It was fantastic. As time went on Valentine's Day has begun to be less and less of a celebrated holiday, in my opinion because of the lack of tolerance people have had for couples, but I still reminisce of what it once was.
You may think Valentine's day is a superficial holiday but it does aid to justify why gift giving is an important thing. When you want someone to know how much you care about them, there is a never ending list of things you can do to show them. Some of the thing on that list include telling them, doing something for them, many others, and also, gift giving! Gifts in no way are necessarily elaborate or expensive. As cliche as it sounds, it really is the thought that counts. So, when pondering what gift to give someone, try and not stress about it too much. And keep on giving, it makes the world  a better place.

Being Direct.

I have found that in high school, some of our comrades have decided that the best way to handle certain situations is avoiding the matter at hand. They think that skirting around the edges of an important topic of discussion may avoid offending others and is therefore the right path to choose when commenting on touchy subjects. This often leads to instances where there is no closure.
My advice? Do not beat around the bush.
However, I may be impartial to that side of the argument due to my personality. Whenever someone is very direct with me on a subject, I find it refreshing. That may be the case due to the quantity of times I have had conversations where individuals beat around the bush when there is no need to. This may also be the result of my personal opinion on the overwhelming sensitivity of our high school population. I would rather have someone hurt my feelings with the truth than attempt to preserve them with sugar-coated comments. But is that my personal belief.
I do understand that there are sensitive people and also sensitive topics that should be allowed sugar-coating when necessary. Sometimes direct comments can be viewed as mean, rude, or inconsiderate, even if that was not the intention of the one being direct. Accusations like these are what makes people fear their involvement of direct conversations.
My solution for this discrepancy between when one should be direct and where they should be indirect is difficult to teach due to the fact of the matter being that each situation you are presented with needs to be individually assessed. One must consider a number of variables such as: whom you are talking to, what mood this person is in, whether or not you are able to be direct and considerate at the same time, and how sensitive the topic of discussion is. With all those accounted for, one may be able to handle the situation properly. Before commencing, ALWAYS ASK, "Is this really worth discussion?", because letting certain subjects is more often the best case scenario than most people believe,
Another handicap of why individuals are not able to decide when and when not to be direct is the use of cell phones. You cannot asses properly when you and whom you are speaking to are hiding behind screens nowhere near each other. This prevents one from hearing the tone of the other person and can change the outcome of many conversations, therefore giving many individuals the wrong impression of when and when they cannot be direct.
Best of luck, when in doubt, just try and make them start laughing.
JSL

All By Myself.

One of the best things that I have heard from a teacher was from my choir instructor. He acknowledged that while observing us throughout the year that he could see it was difficult for some people to just get through the day. Everyone has there bad days, they happen, but what is so surprising to me is that when we are in the midst of having those bad days, we feel very alone. Walking around a school with close to 1500 kids in it, how is it possible to feel all by ourselves on those days? A comment like that should not be as surprising as it was to me, but when we are in that mindset ourselves it is hard to believe that anyone would notice us moping around.
One of the reasons for this is that we ourselves shut people out on those days. We plug our headphones in, listen to sad music, and refuse to be consoled. We blame the feeling of isolation on everyone else when, in reality, it is only the fault of ourselves. The only reason I can examine this phenomenon is because I am not particularly sad today, however I am as stressed at normal. The thing we forget about when we climb into our igloo by ourselves is that the people around you are not always ignoring you on purpose. In that igloo, yes we are surrounded by snowflakes, but the reason we may still feel cold is because we fail to realize that each snowflake has their own responsibility and worries, yet we are the ones having a pity party for ourselves.
I have heard this quote, "Sometimes you have to be your own hero."
Do you know how inaccurate this is? We by no means have to be our own hero, we just have to stop being our own villain. We are being the bad guy of our own story if we go through days where we shut people out. The main reason why we would feel alone in a high school setting is because we surround ourselves with the wrong people or we sing our mopey sad songs and retweet sad sayings. Which are both things we can blame ourselves for. So, in conclusion, if you start to isolate yourself, (because it is you're doing) don't. Just start laughing and go join a circle of friends, or just people for that matter, because everyone has problems. We are all in this together so you should not place your problems above everyone else's.
JSL

Bottles.

Delicate things are stored in bottles. Tiny replicas of boats and messages. When you walk through the halls at school to you stop to think of what is in the hidden bottles of your peers?


She is about to explode because her friend told someone a secret.
But she put that in a bottle on the bottom shelf.

One of his grandparents just passed away, he is on the verge of tears.
But he puts them in a bottle and hides it on the back of the shelf that football games cover up.

She is standing there laughing with a group of people, but she just bombed a test and is trying not to freak out about it.
She bottles that all up inside to save for later.

We bottle emotions and store them away because we feel as if that is the best way to handle them. We choose to believe that no one would care and letting them spill would be pointless. Plus, if we collect as many as we can. they make a beautiful light show when the right light shines in. When we meet those shiny people in our life, we are able to let down our walls and show them our emotions, and the bottles light up like the stained glass windows in an old church. At first, the shiny people create a whole new experience within our emotions, but the longer you are with them, the more bottles they take down. When those people are gone, we start our collection again, having no one to share our feelings with. 
I have always been scared of the wine sections of stores, because with that many bottles stacked on the shelves, it doesn't take much to have them all crash down. Without that relief of a shiny person, the constant bottling up of our emotions is only going to lead to a break down. Especially considering all the pressure we are put under as teenagers in high school. Stress and glass bottles do not work well FYI. Thankfully, there maybe a number of solutions with our hoarding problem, unfortunately, they all involve emptying out those dusty bottles. 
Some of these may seem cheesy and lame, but do you know what else is lame? Hiding your emotions inside and tweeting about them late at night.
Look for shiny people to hang around. Find the people you can sympathize with and be yourself around.
Talk to your parents. As old school as this sounds, they are people who you can always count on to want the best for you.
Journal about it. "Dear Diary...", lame I know, but sometimes just unfiltered ranting helps.
Just start laughing. This is the best advice I can give anyone when it comes to being a happier person. 
JSL

Temporary.

This is not necessarily a problem in high school, but I feel as if a lot of people who have this problem started when they were young too. I will never know or ever be able to understand what it feels like to be depressed. I do not believe that personally I will ever have to resort to any action that would temporarily relieve me of my thoughts. Sadly, there are many people these days that do not believe in themselves or have faith in the strength they have.
For some, recreational drinking or smoking is something they just do with their friends in high school to have fun. For others, it's their escape, which is terrifying. Just like any made up movie or story, there is an end. What do you suppose will happen when you reach the last page or see the rolling credits? Temporary relief by no means relieves you. It delays the inevitable. Not only will everything you wanted to disappear come crashing down, but now you have a new problem to deal with.
I have written a blog about consequences in the past, things happen due to the choices we make. If on person allows themselves to stoop to that level to find relief, they now have to endure the consequences of stooping to that level. In my blog about consequences, I mentioned the fact that owning up to the choices you make is the best way to deal with consequences. However, the consequences that occur when you allow yourself to depend on alcohol or drugs for temporary relief, does not just include the people who will be disappointed in you. You might not be religious, but God has given you the strength you need. You must look for that strength to be able to pull yourself out of the dark place you are hiding. Maybe if you just start laughing you will be able to see some of the strength you have been given by Him. You as an individual are the only one that can decide how things influence you. You are the only person that decides whether you have to be sad. Try and keep in mind that being sad can be only temporary.

Gossip.

"Oh it's just something girls are gunna do."

That's like saying,"Oh, that dog bit you? Yea that's just what dogs are going to do."
If we generalize things into categories like that, then I would never want a dog. Or, for that matter, ever want to know a girl, and I am one.Gossiping is something that happens way more than it should in huh school, and nothing is going to change that for a while. However, a little bit of it can change if whoever reads this blog believes that I am telling you the truth. Do not let yourself be a generalization. Be the person that sticks up for people and stops rumors in their tracks. Sometimes you will not get the juiciest gossip because everyone will know that you do not involve yourself in that, but you will be the better person.I do not want to be a hypocrite. I have gossiped, and I in no way am claiming that I excessive the suggestion I stated above. Although that would be the ideal person, to not gossip at all, I know it does happen. While speaking about someone else, make the conscious decision to not say anything that you would have a problem saying to their face. Social media has blinded us to an extent of how real words can hurt people, we tend to forget that through the screen there is in fact another human. However, if we constantly remind ourselves that what you are saying or typing could (and most likely will) get back to that person, why would we not just stay if the safe side and be honest with what you say about that person. Whether they are your friend or not you should not speak ill of someone behind their back if you can not do it to their face.I do not believe you can prevent gossip about you from happening, so far I try to be an open book and not have secrets so no one can make things up about me, that is my theory so far. It is not 100% effective.It is still being tested.I also have tried to just start laughing when I do hear about things being said.That theory is still being tested too.All I can do is give you advice, the choice is yours when it comes with what you are going to do with it.