Lenses

It is an important key of life to understand that there exist countless view points to any topic ever imaginable. The minds of humans are very complex and unique, it is foolish to assume something based off of one lens. When it is time to understand something or to solve a problem, you must become advanced by expanding your mind and consider multiple view points. When you are having an argument you must try to put yourself in the other persons shoes to see how they are viewing things and ask them to do the same. It is insane that many problems arise in politics, religion, and so many other areas because people have adapted to see only through their own lens. I have always tried to be as open minded as possible, but the truth is that there will always be something new to learn and to be exposed to that will always shift your lens just a bit. Entering college, I had no idea what to expect from my classes or professors, but I am so glad that I was able to experience my first semester exactly the way it was and I would not change a single professor. Each teacher allowed me to explore my thoughts and to see things differently, I have gained many new lenses from all my brilliant proffers. 

Distance

I see my brother about once a year, but sometimes it's once every other year or every two years. I miss him so much but I know he is off doing great things and exploring the world. I am happy for him, he followed his dream and joined the Navy. But sometimes the distance is too much for too long, and I cannot help but feel so alone without him, he was the closest person to me and we did everything together. He is so random and crazy, he just cracks me up all the time. I am thankful that we live in the era of technology, as we get to email each other and even video chat when he is at port. I cannot wait to see him and tell him all about college, there are so many amazing things I have learned and so many beautiful people I have met. I cannot wait for him to tell me everything he has seen and learned as well. The distance is sad, but it will not break us apart, as soon enough he will be back and we will reunite. I cannot wait for the distance to be gone.

Help and Understanding

Throughout my life I have always felt like I was on my own when facing challenging problems. I grew up with this idea that your responsibilities are your own and asking for help is looked down upon. And though I do not recommend asking people to do everything for you, I have come to value the help of others when they are willing to offer it. But receiving help from others can be difficult especially if you are the type of person who has a hard time talking about the things going on in your life. But there is no shame in opening up to people, and there is no shame in asking for help every once in a while. There are multiple steps to take and the first is listening to yourself, actually laying out your problems and consider if you are just overwhelmed and need some time to sort it all out. Or is this something that is impacting your life and pushing you back on your progress, is the problem too heavy? Now you have to become comfortable with sharing, be willing to explain things so others can fully understand your situation. Because when people understand, they act. This does not only pertain to asking for help in basic tasks, this is important when it comes to forming relationships with others. Marriages, friendships, jobs, and much more are always at stake of being destroyed because of arguments or lack of involvement. People get angry and point fingers when really they should try to understand the others situation and change their actions and feeling based on this new information.

Time Management

I struggle with time management. When I cannot manage my time efficiently I fall behind in classes and become overwhelmed. I often feel there is not enough time in the day. Time management is a typical problem people might come across in their lives more than once. What are some of the causes of struggling with time management?

One of the causes of struggling with time management can be social media. The whole world is right in your hands on a screen and it can be much more interesting than homework. Spending time looking through the newsfeed on facebook can easily migrate to looking on instagram, then watching your favorite youtubers: before you know it 10 minutes has turned into an hour of time taken away from the day.

Another cause of struggling with time management might be having a flooded to do list. People often become overwhelmed when there are multiple tasks at hand. Even if there is not a physical to do list, being aware of all the tasks that need to be accomplished can be draining. When people become overwhelmed they might give up in a sense, deciding to just relax their minds. Others might spend more time on dwelling about all the things needed to be done instead of actually doing them.

If we began to consider allowing our minds to relax, maybe we could eventually take on our tasks with more ease. Then time management might not be as stressful.

Brilliant People

My mother and father would always warn me to be alert for the world is full of fools. They say be careful, humans have bad intentions. As I grew up and began to make friends they often looked at their appearance and questioned why I would be friends with someone like that. My brain became wired to look at people on the surface and nothing more. 

As we grow older our minds begin to form new thoughts and curiosity new ways of thinking and seeing. As I grew I allowed my mind to expand and eliminate these judging  thoughts. When my mind expanded I began to pay attention to people more closely -- and sure we can all be fools sometimes -- seeing beyond their surface. I realized people can be extraordinarily brilliant. 

I have payed more attention to my friends and started to see how each one of them is brilliant in their own way. In fact every time I think about them and what they are capable of I become shocked and stay in awe. 

Fredy, he loves music, he can make any beat and adjust it to make people feel different moods. He can transfer chords and notes from pianos to ukuleles and play any tune he wants even if he does not know how to play the instrument. He has unique ideas that he expresses in the music he creates and make it a full on experience. He is brilliant.

Osvaldo, he values three things more than anything: reading, meditation, and exercise. He reads all types of books that give you motivation, books that talk about the mind, books about philosophy. He reads and he retains this information, his vocabulary is so wide, his thoughts are so strong and passionate. He can balance his thoughts even when they are too overwhelming. He has trained his body to lift extraordinary amounts of weight and puts so much meaning into it. He is brilliant.

Anissa, she is the master of anything and everything. Anything you teach her that captures her interest for just a second, she will learn it. She will learn it so well and she will become the best at it. Her mind is quick, she understands concepts in a snap. She became a master in gymnastics becoming super flexible in just a few weeks. She took on the gaming world and defeated all her opponents. She does masters tasks with no prior experience making it look like a breeze. She is brilliant. 

These are just a few of my friends that have brilliant aspects to them but I see brilliance in all my friends, they are all just completely amazing.   

Winter is Upon Us

I love the concept of winter -- cold days can become cozy days. Time for hot chocolate and watching movies while sharing the warmth of the fuzziest blanket you own. The snow looks beautiful untouched and pure. The world becomes colorful through lights and decorations as flowers and trees sleep for weeks. But sometimes winter can be gloomy. Sometimes it is too cold and the frustration of walking 15 feet from the house to the car can make the next few hours of the day dreadful. Sometimes staying inside becomes such a habit that the mind begins to get too comfortable. The snow becomes black and grey, a moldy slushy, no longer untouched. No longer pure. The lights begin to flicker and go out as the circuit burns. The decorations fall and shatter. The trees and flowers will not wake up: it is too cold, too dark, and the sun is no where to be found. Every year we look forward to winter but before we know it, it cradles us with its coldness. I love the concept of winter. 

Find Your Form

When I hear "let's work out" I let out a sigh and feel like letting my body collapse to the floor, but this year things took a turn for me. about a month ago I met a new friend who practically lives to build muscle mass and is extremely proud of his personal transformation. I asked him if maybe I could go to the gym with him and learn his powerful ways of lifting weights -- as I am only a small synthesis of five spaghetti strands. He was more than willing to bring me along. I try to go to the gym with him everyday and though they are tiny, I see improvements in my body. 

Going to the gym has benefited me in many ways other than just being healthy and strong, in fact I have realized many philosophy's. One of them is finding your form. My friend trained me beginning with light weights and at first I thought maybe he just did not want to push my limits, but the true reason was that he believed it was important for me to find my form first. Having good form in weight lifting is very important in order to avoid injury of pulling something in your body. I have found a good form for most of the workouts so far bu there are others that I am still working on: it takes time to find and perfect your form.

I began to apply this to a different scenario, education. So far throughout my college experience I came to the conclusion that getting by elementary school through high school should have been fairly easy to accomplish given that most of the resources are provided to be successful. I wondered, why was it so hard for me? I did not have good form. In education it is important to build good study habits, time management skills, ability to focus, and much more. Elementary school through high school is the perfect time for students to find good form in education and for teachers to show students what good form looks like. Once students have found their form they will be prepared to take on the "big boy weights" meaning college and achieving higher education. So always make sure to focus on your form in order to get muscle gains and brain gains c: .