Did you hold the door open for anyone today? Did you let anyone step in front of you on your way into school, the cafeteria, a classroom? Lend anyone a pencil, pick up a fallen book or paper? For most of you, the answer is probably yes, you did in fact do one or more of those things. All of you are well-mannered, considerate and generally just a nice bunch of kids. So, for today, or the next 4 days as it were, let's take that one step further. This will require a bit of imagination, introspection and innovation, so again, don't sit down to this blog on Wednesday night at 11pm and think you can do a respectable job on it.
Ok, so imagine, one morning, after a kindly old wizard--who bears a striking resemblance to Albus Dumbledore--visits you, you awaken with the power to give one person anything in the entire universe. What would it be and why?
Now, that question, while startling limited in word content, is not as simple or straighforward as it seems.
I am not actually asking you to go ask someone what wish they would like to have granted (which seems like the obvious assumption given that I started off talking about wizards and magic),I am asking you what YOU want to give someone if you had the power to give them anything, and I am asking you to explain that choice. Additionally, because there is always an "additionally," I would also like to know what advice you would give this person after you have bestowed this "gift" upon him or her.
(500 words/75pts)
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115 comments:
This question would be so much easier to answer if I was a heartless b*tch...
Why Fi?
Fiona, first-of-all, you're not heartless by along shot.
Second, grrr at this question. I have many ideas, some of which try to bend the rule of only ONE person or ONE thing, i am always trying to find a loop-hole, however, many times I have considered this question and every time i seem to find something that could be be good, I also seem to find ten ways it could go wrong or be interpreted the wrong way; curse my pessimism! Well, complaining about it won't help, I'll find something or just use the "gift/power" with the most pros.
BTW, harry potter is the best thing ever and Dumbledore is just as awesome if not more. that really has nothing to do with this blog and everybody already knows that but it needs to be stated anyway :)
Repost, too many errors. I hope i got them all :)
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“Anything”, such a vague word, literally being able to describe everything; yet, it holds so much mystery, temptation, such an allure that we see past the murky water of its surface and dive deep down and see what we want in the cool, crystal clear water below. Everybody’s “anything” is different from each other and sometimes varies yearly, monthly, daily, or even hourly within themselves. However, “anything” always seems so far away, so distant and cold, can you even imagine what it would be like to be able to reach out and grab your own, personal “anything” or even experience someone else doing it? It is just as good, if not better, than achieving your life-long dream.
Personally, the joy of others is much more satisfying to me than my own, which is why I frequently put others before me and I am often ready to lend a hand. But even after having this type of personality all my life, I can only imagine the joy it would bring me and someone else if I could grant them their heart’s desire, their “anything”. But this blog isn’t asking that question at all. It is not asking for a specific person nor is it asking for me to ask the person their deepest desires, not at all. Instead, I am to choose a “universal” gift and choose it of my own accord. This is where I become lost in the huge ocean that is “anything”. It is so hard to find a “one gift, fits all” wish/power (magic or non) that my head is reeling and brain is working overtime in order to come up with one respectable, thought-out, not-going-to-bite-me-in-the-butt answer.
There are so many things that I could give/grant: wealth, fame, magical powers, power in general…the list is truly endless. However, I am suspicious to think that money or fame grant happiness; in my experience, that type of happiness is only fleeting and rarely does it last that long. I feel if I am granted with this great responsibly and duty that I should try to make the most out of it, make its effects last as long as possible while not having a negative effect in the process. This is why I am at such a standstill. This question would be much easier if we could ask or even if it was aimed at someone in particular but the ambiguity combined with “anything’s” infinite bounds makes it so much more challenging yet, at the same time, so much more rewarding when finally complete.
Now, that I have rambled on for a little bit and have given my mind time to adjust and start working, I think I am almost ready to answer the actual question…okay, here goes “nothing”. My gift would not be tangible, corporeal, or something that is easily comprehended. It isn’t stately, flashy, jingly or jangly. It is humble, meek, and somewhat subservient. It is kind and compassionate, but powerful, nonetheless. Of course, the previous characteristics don’t really describe the gift but are more along the lines of what the gift does to the bearer. What is this enigmatic power? Well, one word doesn’t do it justice nor is there just “one” word to describe it. The mysterious “it” is the power to see the strong and weak points in others and apply/defeat them in your every day life, however (because there is always a “however”), should you seek to harm someone or refuse to help them in a effort to better yourself you will quickly find your power stricken from you and everything good that came about as a result effaced.
Now, that may not sound like a worthy gift but, as I will explain, it has much hidden potential….
As I mentioned earlier, I have a predisposition to go out of my way to help others, while some may think of it as a downfall, I feel it should be glorified on a pedestal. I have learned so much just from being open and willing to help with whatever. I am who am today because of this and I feel that I learned so much from everyone that it would only seem right to share this gift with others.
The first part of the power is fairly straightforward and self-explanatory, what may not be is why it is so a good ability to have. When you see the strengthens and weaknesses of others not only do you know how to help them maximize their potential and your own through their example but you also know where to begin if they ask for help in an area they struggle in. It is so easy to become lost in something you don’t know or even become confused and upset because you thought you knew something and it seemed as though you were a complete neophyte. But anyone with this gift could help the person see the light and maybe make them realize they were just having a off day or show them a different, more effective path for their abilities while at the same time learning from whomever they are help and discovering their own strengths and weaknesses. It is a multi-faceted gift that could vary in effectiveness and use from person to person but nevertheless, it is something that can benefit anyone who posses it.
The first piece of advice would be: "heed the warning." It is so easy to get caught by temptation and with this type of power; the bearer has a huge plate of temptations with which to contend. If manipulated correctly, this power could very easily cause someone immediate downfall, unfortunately there always seems to be a “bad side”. Don’t lose yourself to temptation or fall under the hypnotic spell of wealth, fame, or envy.
Second would use the ability to the best of your advantage. For just as much damage it can cause, the gift can cause twice as much happiness and success. Be the good Samaritan and go the extra mile for someone because so great is the emotional reward that nothing compares, nothing. (Wow, that sounded kind of preachy but it is true whether or not you believe in God, Jesus, Buddha, Shangdi, Ishvara, Ek Onkar, Allah, Ra, Zeus, or any other type of deity).
Third, never forget what you have learned from everyone else. So often when we are met with success we don’t think of the others who made it possible for us to go ahead or helped in the process. That awareness is one I hope this gift will elicit because it is so important to remember those who helped, even if they only play a little, somewhat insignificant part. They still helped form you into who you’ve become.
Fourth, there’s a lot of advice don’t forget it because their will be a test on this all later…just kidding :) Moving on…
Finally, remember to have fun and treat yourself once in while. While this power is meant to make people more self-aware and kind, it should not consume their entire lives. It is important to forget work once in while and just go play. Life is all about balance and making sure to keep the balance throughout everyday workings. *
Side Note: *This gift is an enlightening one and will most likely take time, possibly years, to appreciate fully. It doesn’t have instant gratification like magic, money, or monkeys. It doesn’t make life that much easier, well it could…It does, however, allow you to see yourself, flaws and strengthens, in others, something that is so very hard to do but can be so rewarding.
I don’t really know how to explain the value that I see in this power but truly I do which is why I would wish upon others.
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Looking back, i don't think it would require magic to grant my gift so i hope it fits the requirements, i'll fix it if not.
Also, first actually post second week in a row, whoop whoop...I really have no life, do I? :)
BTW, Jon S I think i am now star-line crazed, which is totally uncool.
No offense.....
I was never a Harry Potter fan. Something about the seventh book totally ruined it for me. I can't really remember what it wa-
Oh wait. Too bad she spent 6 years of my life and 90% of the last book building up this giant showdown between Harry and Voldemort and then the actual confrontation took place/happened/ ended within the span of 2 paragraphs. Why, JK Rowling? Why?
There could be so many answers to this blog. There are many times during the day where I am talking to my friends, listening to their problems, and I just wish I could fix them all. One of my best friends texted me today, and we were talking, and she said, “I wish I could just make him proud and show this ‘potential.’” And for that one second, I wanted to give her everything; I wanted her to believe in herself, because everyone else does. Throughout the day, we see people hurting, and we get that ping in our heart, wanted to take away that pain. We see kids having to provide for their family, their own childhood being taken away from them. We see teenagers throwing their life away with the stupid decisions that they make. But sadly we can’t grant most the wishes we want for others.
My answer may not be one that others agree with, but to me, it makes perfect sense. First, let me tell you who I want to give this gift to: my mom. I know so cliché. But in my life, my mom does everything for me. There are days where I am overwhelmed, with everything that has been building up, and I just need my mom. I need someone to talk to; someone to tell me that it will be okay, even if it doesn’t look that way. I was watching television last night, in my parent’s room, minding my own business, and my mom walks in. She said, “What am I going to do when you are gone?” She was referring to college, and I assured her that she would have plenty of time with me before I go. But I realized that I will miss her more than anything when I go. She is the one person that comforts me, the one person that can cure my heart with a hug, and when I am stuck alone in a city I have never lived in before, it scares me to think that I won’t have her there with me.
My mom works like a maniac, both because she wants to and because she has to. I know that she has lost tens of thousands of dollars in the stock market, and it scares me to think all that she has worked for is slipping away. She revolves her schedule around me: my doctor’s appointments, my swim practices, basically my every need. Rarely do I see her take some time and treat her to something special.
So for my gift, I want to give my mom one million dollars. Oh gosh, I just started laughing when I typed that. It sounds so Austin Powers-ish. But seriously, I want to give my mom one million dollars. I want her to have financial stability for the rest of her life. I want her to know that she can stop working so much, and take some time to relax on the warm beaches of the Caribbean, not having a care in the world. I want her to pay off all of her bills, and to never have to worry about money ever again. There definitely some restrictions on this gift.
1. She must spend at least 100,000 dollars on herself. Whether it is a new wardrobe, new furniture, or an abundance of spas, she needs to take the time and money to pamper her.
2. She must spend the money however she wants. There may be times were others my come and ask her for things, but she can’t allow them to rule how she spends the money.
3. She must pay off all her bills. I want her to never have to pay a dime for one bill again.
4. She must spend some of the money to travel the world, with whomever she wants, a lifelong dream of hers.
I am sure there are more restrictions that I have, but they aren’t popping up right now. I don’t need to place restrictions on how not to spend the money, because my mom isn’t a dumb woman, she knows what the right decisions are. I want my mom to enjoy her life. Money can corrupt people, as we all know. But in a person that is as warm hearted as my mom, I know she will use it for the best. Although she may think using for the best is spending it on others, I want her to know that it is okay to pamper herself as well.
I don't think I am done, I might add on later!
Oh my god! How could you people write so much without frying your brains!
I don’t have the perfect answer to this question but really who does. I mean you could give so much to someone but it could all backfire on you in the long run. The question reminds me of those classical movies where the main character is granted this one wish that will change his or her life. At first it’s awesome. Something different, something new. But as time passes they realize that something’s missing. That’s why I don’t think I could really grant anyone endless happiness. True happiness doesn’t come until times of trials have set and you realize how lucky you are to be in the position you are in. That said the greatest happiness is the one you can find on your own. Someone can influence your happiness but in the end you are the one who decides to stay happy or not. I don’t think I could give someone my organs either. I’m too selfish for that. I believe I still have life to live and even though my body could help seven innocent people I don’t want to die. There’s so much I haven’t seen in this world to die now. It would be a waste of my existence.
Now you are probably thinking come on get to the point. What the heck are you going to give someone? My gift is not one of those you can wrap in a pretty little bow and be like "Here I got this for you I hope you like it." It’s more I guess you could say metaphysical. It’s the gift of strength and perseverance to go through life even at its lowest points or nadirs. Everybody at a certain point of their life needs that little push so that they don’t breakdown with all the stress and or pain life throws at them. I don’t have a specific person to give this to but you never said specify so this is as detailed as it’s going to get. Anyways as I was saying before everyone needs that one person or in this case that one gift that makes him or her look at things in a different light. The light within the darkness. I can’t always be there to lend a hand or ear so this little gift will make sure that this person will always be okay. They might not always be happy but this will make sure that they always have that pillow to hide behind when they are watching a horror movie. If you are a big horror film fanatic then oh well you know what I mean.
Advice. What kind of advice shall I give this person? Hmmm.. Use it well! HaHa! Well there really isn’t any sort of advice I can give. It’s kind of like pixie dust that you sprinkle on yourself to fly. You just got to believe then you are cool. Believe in what? Believe that this gift will always be in your back pocket whenever you need it. Just close your eyes. Make your wish. And everything will be all right.
Jesus Matt! Your enlarged boy brain must be working overtime or something. I'm commenting yours because I never really have and I decided to test how long my attention really is. I usually can't pay attention long enough to read a blog this long so good job. You pretty much said it all in 1,296 words. Your blog was very detailed which made your gift very clear to me. I found the little ironies for example “nothing” to mean “something”, funny. And oh yeah thank you for helping in Biology. HaHa! Bye!
Ummm the comment was for Matt W. Yup. Tootles!
To give one person anything in the world is not something we can decide as we step onto the school bus in the morning or during homeroom as Flacon TV is on. “Anything” can imply materialistic objects, mental abilities, emotional feelings, imaginary creatures, super human strength, x- ray vision, who knows? My power has the ability to change a single person’s life.
But why just change one life? Why not change the world? That is why if I had the ability to give one person anything in the entire universe, I would give them something that would change their lives and in turn would teach them compassion. Along with this, is the very same ability I have- to give someone anything in the entire universe. I know that may sound a little confusing. But let me provide an example. If I decide to help out a homeless person, I would give them a place to live and money. With this, they will receive the ability to give any three people anything in the world.
It’s almost like a “Pay It Forward” ordeal. If none of you have seen the movie Pay It Forward, I recommend that you do. This brilliant little kid devises a plan to change the world. He helps three individuals and all that he asks is for those three individuals to “pay it forward.” Each of them has to help three other individuals, but ask nothing in return. And the cycle continues. This was such a moving motion picture that brought faith and hope back to mankind. Most of you might be skeptical that this would actually work. I think it would.
In my previous blog, I mentioned that I believed we are all here to make each other’s life a little bit easier. By bestowing my gift on to others, they will have the opportunity to do so. And in the process, I am confident that the world will learn to have compassion and heart because this is calling for humans to become completely altruistic, selfless. Even though many people believe that that is quite impossible, we must try to truly know. If my plan fails, at least I am reassured that I did all that I could to change the world and all that it has become.
My only advice for this gift would be to observe mankind. Look at the people around you and see who needs help the most. And not only that, but I would tell them to help other individuals not because I tell them to, but because they want to out of the unselfishness of their hearts. I would advise that they do this because the purpose of “pay it forward” is not to just find three random individuals and help them out so you can get them out of the way as quickly as possible. The purpose is to learn. It is to feel. And of course, there would be explicit instructions. You must help three other individuals in such a way that would change their life, but ask nothing in return. After doing so, give them our “gift.” Just be sure that this generosity will continue.
There are so many deserving people in the world. People who work so hard to better their lives and the lives of their families and friends. People who are down on their luck and don’t really know where their life is heading, and those who can’t seem to find joy. Watching others who come to help out those people who are not in the easiest or best of times is really a touching thing that restores my faith in humanity. After seeing someone assist another stranger or friend, it is irrelevant, I always feel an overwhelming sense of respect and amiability towards that kind individual. When I help out a person in need, it puts me in a pretty happy mood for the rest of the day. That is why I have confused myself in who I picked to “give” something to, but she was the first person who came to mind when I read the blog for the first of many times. My cousin Danielle is a twenty two year old young woman who lives down in North Carolina. In my eyes she is the person who is most deserving of a helping hand.
Danielle, to some of her high school and middle school friends she was seen as a victorious soccer athlete, determined, driven, and yearning to win. She was an all star, and even got a really nice scholarship to NCU for soccer. I remember hearing stories of all the boyfriends she had and how she was so popular. My grandparents bragged about her ability to succeed, not only with soccer but her school work. She was a thriving, vivacious girl full of life and had such a brilliant future awaiting her. To me, Danielle was my idol. She is older than me by five years, so as I was growing up I was that annoying little cousin. I followed her everywhere and mimicked her every word, every action. I wanted to be Danielle. I wanted to have it all. She never treated me like that annoying little kid though; she always cared about me and made me feel like one of her best friends. She painted my nails, coated me in make up, and did my hair in funky little do’s that I probably only loved because she did them. It was always so exciting when she and her brother, Travis, were visiting though I never got along with Travis until about three years ago and he is my age. I remember bragging to my friends about how cool Danielle was, I was probably sounding so ridiculous!
Well, we were all growing up, me, my sister, Travis, and Danielle. It was inevitable. Danielle’s driven, rebellious attitude was the first factor in her downfall. She began smoking cigarettes, well that is only what I saw her smoking. Her mom ignored that because she thought it would help relieve Dan’s “anxiety and depression”. She was always sneaking out of her house and hanging out with the wrong crowd starting in her sophomore year in high school. She started meddling in the drug world. Danielle started with weed but her Do Anything spirit and no fear she tried anything that came her way. Since I was still young when this was all transpiring I was kept out of the loop on what she was doing, but I now know that she has done drugs ranging from hallucinogens, prescription drugs, and that kind of stuff all the way to heroin. Heroin viciously ravaged my cousin that I had looked up to. She became a shell of a person. She was no longer Danielle, but a person strung out and infected with addiction. She stole from everyone to get that drug, even from me. I was hurt so I had stopped talking to her for about two or three years. I wanted to disown her from my family because she had caused me so much disappointment. My family blamed the heroin for stealing her soul, but I just blamed Danielle.
Recently after a few stints in jail and about four years later, Danielle has been improving. I saw her in the summer and she was clean with a clean boyfriend and adorable puppy, which I wanted to kidnap so badly!! I was so hopeful at the idea that my cousin was back, and I knew for that one weekend I saw her it was like old times though it was evident that she had changed. It was a relieving sight, knowing that she was finally above the influence. It was kind of like a burden had been lifted. Now every time my aunt calls the house I don’t hold my breath to make sure Danielle is still alive. Despite that good news, Danielle had relapsed about two months ago. She was caught trying to order prescription drugs and thrown into jail as a second offense. She is out again, but I hate that she is still fighting a war with her addiction.
These drugs have such a hold on her that she is unable to shake it off. If I could give her a gift, it would be the gift of perseverance and the ability to overcome the temptation which has pulled her under in the past. I want her to live her life to the fullest that she possibly can. I know that deep down she can uncover her past self, the one that was determined to succeed. She just needs that extra push and something to restore her back to her former self. My advice to her would be to use this wisely. I would want her to accept it and welcome my gift without resistance. I would not want her to fall back into the dark abyss the drugs had previously held her in. I would tell her to recognize that athlete within and bring back her drive to win. I would assure my cousin she can make it, the world is open to change, but it is your job to make it happen. She is the only one who can put her life on the right track, even though her family will always be there behind her we can’t make those decisions for her. This gift is the only thing I could bestow upon her to help her in the time where she needs a miracle most.
Before I go on I talked to this person about writing this and he was totally ok with it.
This person is someone very special to me, and someone who I can honestly say has been with me through some of my toughest moments and some of my best days. He’s been with me on this roller coaster I constantly decide to ride, which is so funny because I hate roller coasters. This person has put up with more than I can imagine because sometimes I have mood swings but he can’t say I haven’t put up with just the same. I’ve talked to him for countless hours about life and high school crushes. He has come to me in hard times and in good and I would love to give him a gift. This person is in our class and you walk among him every day. Some call him genius I just call him my best friend. His name is Jordan Colbert and I would love to give him a little faith.
He seems so confident on the outside, and no doubt we all know he is going places. Yet, not everyone knows the person that I honestly see as so much more than just the smart kid trying to make it. Aren’t we all just smart kids trying to make it? When he talks to me sometimes he isn’t that confident kid that has it all figured out, he isn’t always the sports star, and he isn’t always that calm even keeled person that we see every day. When he opens up to me I see a person that I have come to know and love. He is a complicated person who always seems to get the rough end of the stick. When he talks to me he’s not a different Jordan, but just tells me things I know he wouldn’t tell everyone.
I want to give him a little faith because sometimes I know it isn’t easy for him to find it. By faith I mean hope in the world and that everything is going to work out. He doesn’t need confidence but more so just a good feeling that in the world there are people that love him and that are constantly looking out for him. I feel like sometimes he loses sight of that fact that he is this amazing person and friend t hat people do cherish. I want to give him all the hope in the world so that way he never loses faith in the people that love him, or that things will work out the way they should. He always thinks that when things don’t go perfectly it is the end of the world. I just want in my heart for him to know that it’s not the end of the world and I want him to have hope in the future because I know it brings so many good things for him, even if he isn’t always so sure of that. When you meet some people you can just tell certain things about them, when I first met Jordan I knew he was destine for greatness. When I talk to him I notice sometimes he gets down and is incredibly hard on himself. I know for a fact he doesn’t deserve that from himself nor from anyone else. He needs a little faith to get by, and I know we all do but I want this for him more than anything. Good people deserve good things, it is something I tell him often when I try and help him keep the faith. It isn’t always the easiest thing to do, and he knows exactly what I’m talking about. Yet, because I can’t give him all the faith and hope in the world I will try to continue to give him faith and hope myself. No matter how small my contribution is I just hope that helps, everything is going to work out for him and I know that. I am not a very sure person, thus me saying I know something with such strong conviction means I would bet my world on it.
My advice to when he has all this faith and hope is to spread it unto others. It’s the gift that can keep on giving if you let it. You deserve only the best in the world and you will get the best in the world thus never lose the faith. It is too precious a gift to ever let go of. And if things don’t work out the way you want them to then know it isn’t the end, as cliché as that sounds.
So to my best friend Jordan, I love you and wish you all the hope and faith in the world.
I don't know if I did mine right.. am I supposed to pick a person to give something to?
yeah i'm a litte confused too jen because I didn't pick a specific person either.
Earlier today, I found myself experiencing first hand just how rude the world and its people can be. I had just collected my belongings from my locker and was headed down the stairs into the lower 300 wing when two black girls turned the corner, approaching the steps that I was already on. I said a polite “excuse me” as I attempted to squeeze my way between them. But since they were both texting and disregarding the world around them, neither of them heeded my words. I bumped into both of them even as I tried to press myself up against the wall to give them more room. But here’s the best part. After we knocked into each other, both of them looked up at me as if I had just disrespected them in the worst way. One of them even had the nerve to say, “Don’t you see me fucking walking here, bitch?” I was completely stunned at that comment. I ignored them and continued to walk down the hallway. It’s disgraceful how ignorant people can be. It really gives me an appreciation for those people around me, though, and I’m extremely thankful for them.
Anyhow, if Dumbledore (or a look-a-like) appeared in my room, I would probably die of pure excitement. But when asked what I would wish to give someone, I can honestly say that I would need a while to think of something I know would be appreciated. After contemplating all day, however, I think I found something anyone would value. My gift would be to have the ability, will, passion, and courage to experience life at its fullest.
Throughout the day, I found myself coming back to this question, completely stumped. I had thought of many possible choices, but not one that just fully stuck out to me. But on the drive home after lip sync practice, my mother began to explain my grandpa’s condition to me. It isn’t looking too well for him, as I’ve been aware of for the past few months. His heart has stopped beating several times. Each time this occurs several shocks from his implanted defibrillator are delivered to his heart. Since this has happened numerous times over the past few months, his lungs have begun to fill with fluid. As tears rolled down my mother’s face, I realized several things. All my grandpa wants is to enjoy his remaining time alive, but my grandma refuses to let him go. She constantly has him at the hospital, getting checked on, receiving more medicine. I can’t help but pity her. No one wants to be alone.
But after my mother and I discussed my grandpa’s state, I found that I wished I could give him the ability to experience his remaining days in happiness and tranquility. But with my grandma’s never ending fuss over him, it’s pretty much impossible. I would bestow upon my grandfather the ability to live the rest of his days with a smile on his face and a warmth in his heart. But if I was able to, I would bequeath this gift to everyone who is need of a second to breathe.
The advice I would give to my grandpa and whoever else is to not be afraid to make mistakes. Everyone does, and there’s no shame in trying something new even if you don’t succeed at first. I also implore you to have common sense when using this gift, however. Think things through thoroughly before acting. Make smart decisions, but still take a breather every once in a while. Life goes by too fast. Enjoy it while you can.
Morgan--
Your cousin, Danielle, seems like a really sweet person who just lost herself along the way. She just needs a helping hand and with your wish, hopefully she'll be able to find herself again. That's a pretty sad story though. :/ I hope all the best for her, you, and your family. <3
OK--first thing-most of you are not answering the question fully; that is, you are talking about the thing you would give, but not talking about the advice you would also give along with the thing. Which brings me to the second point--yes Jen and Nyge, you DO need to pick a person to give something to. My example when people have asked me about this question is this: Imagine you had a friend, or even just knew someone who had really low self-esteem which in turn caused him or her to make really poor decisions resulting in a troublesome life. You could perhaps choose to give that person the gift of self-confidence, and then along with that, the advice you may bestow would be something about not letting confidence turn to arrogance.
I hope that clarifies a bit...let me know if it doesn't.
Bunje-
I read your post and realized i did pretty much the opposite of what you wanted-i didn't chose anybody and specifically chose a gift that was universal not for one specific person. Should I start over and write a completely new post?
Molly-
I think it is awesome that you would want to treat our mom like that. I think it is interesting that you chose restrictions but not normal ones, instead the are compulsory ones, telling her how at least some has to be spent, making it so she does actually help herself. That's really smart!
Kelly-
I like how your gift really never ends. I thought about making my power like that but I thought it was breaking the rules. I guess not. Either way, I liked your power and thought it was insightful and a great power.
Fiona-
I just realized i read your initial post wrong which is why i was so confused at what followed. Just FYI :)
MOLLY:
"One of my best friends texted me today, and we were talking, and she said, “I wish I could just make him proud and show this ‘potential.’” And for that one second, I wanted to give her everything; I wanted her to believe in herself, because everyone else does. Throughout the day, we see people hurting, and we get that ping in our heart, wanted to take away that pain. We see kids having to provide for their family, their own childhood being taken away from them. We see teenagers throwing their life away with the stupid decisions that they make. But sadly we can’t grant most the wishes we want for others. "
-> Very true Molls. One of the unique characteristics of most humans is that we feel pain when others that we are close to or associated with are hurt physically or if it's on the inside. We can't help it, the people who carry that trait. I think that it's easier to feel ourselves in pain instead of others, because often it is those people who you go to for help or admire as an idol figure, so seeing them at their worst allows fear into our minds. We want to help them as much as we can to make them better and make us feel like everything can eventually be resolved.
Oh… Crap!
I seem to start a large amount of my blogs with those words. They seem to describe my hesitance to respond to this blog rather well.
But to give one gift to someone… I think I’ve got this one down.
I would want to give hope to someone who doesn’t have any left.
Now let me explain. I do have some kind of reason for this besides the fact that it would seem nice. I know what it is like to believe that no matter what you do, it won’t make the slightest bit of difference. I can’t stand the idea of feeling so lost and hopeless. It can crush a person’s dreams, their aspirations, even their lives. I have had several people that I had once been able to call friends throw their lives away quite literally due to the fact that they simply could not stand the idea of being nothing and doing nothing but they had been so beaten down by others that they could no longer see the good they were doing. They simply gave up because they believed that their futures were hopeless. They believed that they could do nothing; they thought that they were nothing, and so they became nothing.
If I could give one person back their ability to hope, I feel as though I would be able to prove to them that this life is not without meaning even if I was the only witness to it. I would know that I had been able to help just one person choose to keep going on in life, to keep striving forward. I would be happy to know that I could give one person back their hope since I couldn’t do that for my friends.
I don’t know what I would say to this person, what advice I could choose to give. Maybe I could tell them about my friends, what happened to them; maybe why I chose to change their life for the better. Maybe I could say something short though, like: Here’s your life, don’t waste it. Or maybe: This is really important to me, don’t lose it. But maybe I don’t need to say anything. Perhaps the best thing to do would be to give it anomalously, not let them know it was me. I’ve always enjoyed the idea of doing things in secret; it makes life that much more enjoyable I think. But hey, to each his/her own!
On a lighter note: I find it kind of odd that I’m saying all of this great stuff on hope while looking at the new Megatron toy I got one Tuesday/ yesterday. Megatron, as all Transformers Fans know, believes in destroying the ability to hope and thinks that the old ways of the world and those who live by them deserve to be killed. His motto: Peace through tyranny. I don’t think he really should be the inspiration for a gift of hope, but he is/was.
I <3 Megatron!
Oh! Just as an FYI, if I could give a second gift, it would be to my brother john. To him, I would bestow the gift of making Cybertron a real place and he would be best friends with Optimus Prime!
If I could give a third gift, that would go to my other brother, Charles. He wants the end of the world to somehow involve zombies so I would give him some zombies. I would say to him: Charles, I bestow upon you an evil horde of the undead. I trust that you know how to use them.
Charles: Oh yes, yes I do.
ME: Good. Use them well.
Charles: YESSSSS!!!!!one11!!
For we would be safe on Cybertron with the Autobots…
For mine is an evil laugh...
“The advice I would give to my grandpa and whoever else is to not be afraid to make mistakes.”
Hayley-
I really think this sentence is really inspiring; so many of us, especially at this age, are afraid to fail. We think so much about what we do, afraid of what may happen. I think we all need to relax more, and realize that we can’t live life on edge. But your story was so heartfelt, and the gift that you are giving is really wonderful.
When I first read this blog, I immediately thought of the (somewhat sappy) answer: give peace to the entire world. I don't know how that could happen, because someone is always disappointed with something. I cannot imagine a time without war, without famine, without despair. The thought of complete and utter peace is mind boggling.
Then, in class today, I was informed that "anybody" applies to one person, not the entire planet. Darn. :P
Thinking of a gift to give ONE person was really difficult, because I have so many amazing and influential people in my life that I love and care about. So, I thought of the people who love me unconditionally no matter what, my parents. Then, a thought came to me of a really interesting gift that I would love to give my dad. He deserves it. He is my favorite dad in the world. ;) Ha ha.
I first thought to give him a gift that had to do with baseball... something to go back in time to sign him to a major league professional team, something to prevent him from hurting his arm that previously stopped him from making it.
But, then I thought I should give him something that corresponds to his "other" love... his love of music.
My dad first picked up a guitar when he was a freshman down at Pfieffer College (I honestly have no idea how to spell that ha ha) and hasn't stopped playing every single day of his life. Whether it is performing in church for the Christmas concert, or tinkering with it every (I'm not exaggerating) night, his pursuit in music has never stopped.
Unfortunately for me, he first learned how to play the guitar in SOUTH CAROLINA... meaning he is dominantly a BLUEGRASS listener and player. Yes, bluegrass. The music everyone has made fun of some point in their life, including myself. When I was younger, he was in a band called "The Bog Iron Boys" (geez, I wish I was making this up) and I could identify the "Black Mountain Rag" or "Dueling Banjos" at age five. Once again, I wish I were kidding.
Growing up, I made fun of my dad for liking bluegrass so much. It sounded so hillbilly and goofy. However, these past couple of years, I've learned to appreciate this music. Most of the lyrics are beautiful and purely from the heart, much unlike the dumb everything-sounds-the-same music of today. The harmonies of four or more voices blend into one perfectly balanced sound.
What I am getting at here... if I had any gift to give to anyone, I would give my dad ridiculous skills at playing the guitar. This sounds like I am totally bashing him at a musician; I am not. I simply wish to give him the ability to play things that he can't. There are some things you achieve from hard work and perseverance, and there are some musical abilities that are given by God.
My dad's favorite musician of all time is Clarence White. Clarence is an out-of-this-world guitarist, who plays mostly bluegrass, folk, and rock and roll. Of course, Clarence White's entire LIFE was the guitar... he ate, breathed, and played. My dad doesn't have the time to commit his entire life to musical advances. He has work, a family that needs and him; he's an excellent coach, etc. He plays for however long his hectic life allows, which is not very much.
We could be listening to Clarence in the car driving to softball practice or wherever, and out of the corner of my eye, I catch my dad shaking his head. "What's up, Dad?" I ask, a little confused. "He's just so good..." His voice trails off in a sense of awe with a loss of words. I want to give my dad THAT. Musical talents that boggles the mind, sends chills down the spine, and makes it hard to remember to breathe.
The advice I would give to my dad (who now has new Hendrix-like powers) is that he should remember to eat everyday, because he would spend every second shredding the guitar. Ha ha. I wouldn't have to worry that he would become too arrogant or self righteous with his new gift because he is one of the most down to earth and humble people I know. In all seriousness, I would tell him to cherish it and play as much as, or more than he does now. Even if it is bluegrass. :)
Hayley,
Thank you so much, and I really do wish that there was some way these gifts could be bestowed on the people mentioned in everyone’s blogs.
I am very sorry about your grandfather. I understand what your grandmother is going through. It is so difficult to let someone you love so much go and you just want to try and help them in whatever way possible. I hope things get better for him and your family. Your gift was so compassionate and I hope that your grandfather is granted your wish to him.
<3
“Anyhow, if Dumbledore (or a look-a-like) appeared in my room, I would probably die of pure excitement.”
oh and this pretty much made my day :)
Hilaryyyyy<3!
When I read your blog I was touched by the gift you wanted to give Coach. From knowing your dad I am sure that he would be the happiest man on the planet, but while reading this I couldn’t help crack up because of all the Bluegrass talk! Hahaha the funny thing is my grandfather had heard of the “Bog Iron Boys” and wanted to meet your papa so they could talk about it. AND I remember talking to you on the phone all those countless times while you cursed your dad and his Bluegrass music :)
Anyways, your blog as always was so good and fun to read!
I love you and your Bluegrass playing daddy<3
Morgan Lynn Cullers...
My goodness. That was a beautiful gift that you gave Danielle. I've never met her, I've only heard about her from you, but I bet she would be unbelievably appreciative. I know it's been hard for you, but she seems like the person that will overcome it. Your gift will come true.
<3
OH MY GOSH MORGAN. WE COMMENTED EACH OTHER'S BLOGS AT THE SAME TIME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :):):)
JEN:
"So what would I give her? There are a few things I can think of: a long vacation, enough money so she never has to work a day in her life again, a singing contract. But if you knew my sister, you'd know that she doesn't like things handed to her. She loves working, she loves making an effort, she loves the end result. So the best thing I can think of is giving her immorality. I want her to be able to have the chance to do whatever it is she wants to do. But since there are so many things she wishes to do, she needs more than a lifetime to have such opportunities."
-> I thought your blog was the sweetest thing. First, I remember your sister singing at Mullica and she was awesome. Specifically I remember her singing that Christmas song with the "Chestnuts roasting on an open fire" that one! It was brilliant. Your gift would allow her to accomplish many things, and allowing someone to acheive their dreams is very inspiring. I agreed with you when you said that giving someone horrible already, a gift isn't something you would do because they usually don't deserve such a blessing. However, the people who want something so badly, but are overwhelmed by the many things in life they simply can't acheive them, are the ones who deserve the most precious gifts.
Leonor:
" Well there really isn’t any sort of advice I can give. It’s kind of like pixie dust that you sprinkle on yourself to fly. You just got to believe then you are cool. Believe in what? Believe that this gift will always be in your back pocket whenever you need it. Just close your eyes. Make your wish. And everything will be all right."
-> That was one of the cutest extended metaphors I've ever heard and it reminded me of Peter Pan.
Kelly:
I remember seeing the movie 'Pay It Forward' a long time ago and specifically remember it being very sad. However, if I saw it again I think I would gain a lot more from the movie then I did when I was younger. Your gift although targeted towards one person in the beginning could possibly end up helping a nation of people who are looking for that little bit of inspiration from others to continue pursuing their dreams and living life. I also liked what you said about how you believe we are all here to make each other's lives a little easier. And thinking about it, I realize how much the people I've met have affected my life and the decisions I've made and will continue to make.
Morgan:
I really liked your gift to your cousin. Once drugs enter a life, it's almost impossible to kick them out, even for the strongest people, so the gift could allow someone to win the battle and achieve sucess in their life.
awwww Hil:)
<3
If I had the power to bestow a gift onto one person, I would pick my uncle. My uncle’s name is Tony, but I think it’s weird calling him “Tony”, people in my family just call him Pingolo (peen-go-low) [you have to say it in a Spanish accent like my grandma though!]. I think my grandma went through this phase of naming people from her novellas or something…I don’t really know where Pingolo came from. Oh, ps… Pingolo isn’t really my uncle, he’s my great-uncle (my great-grandmother’s- who is still living by the way- son).. So back to the point, Pingolo is a big user, dealer, and he pimps under-aged girls out (not that being 18 makes it legal).
Pingolo has been in prison for many, MANY years. I’d never even met the guy until I was 13- kinda ironic in my situation…. When Pingolo got out of prison, I saw him often, as he lived over my great-grandma’s house (his mother). After you get over the fact that he looks a tad creepy, you will notice that he really is a nice guy. Showed compassion for animals and people alike, he was just scarred. He came to visit me in the hospital quite often and was a strong source of support for me when I came back.
Pingolo pledged that his past was behind him and that, for the sake of his terminally ill mother, he would not revert to his old ways. It all went well until after I came back. He started doing drugs, selling them, selling women, lying, and stealing. It didn’t take long before he was back in jail. I can’t say that I miss him whenever his name comes up in conversation, but I pity him. I honestly believe that under all the battle scars and facades is my caring, well-intentioned uncle. The prized son; a loving father; a long-lost brother.
It is so that I award Antonio Marcos Pratts the gift of “strong will”. He can start life over and do it right this time. I would advise Tony to stay strong, for his mother and grandchildren. They need him and it’s not fair that drugs dragged him on this path. I would say, “Tony, don’t take the easy way out anymore. Be a father, be a grandfather, be Antonio again- not Pingolo the scum bag.”
Jen P-
I think its soo sweet of you to offer that gift to your sister. After reading that, I can’t help to wish my sisters and I were that close. I don’t know either of my sisters the way you know yours.
“There’s no one here for me.”
Don’t say that! Just get out there! I’m sure people will love you!
“I’m sad.”
Now, now, being sad isn’t good. You’re always prettier when you smile!
“I miss you guys… It’s so lonely. No one likes me.”
Don’t think like that! There are people who like you; you just have to find them!
“I thought I found someone for me, but it didn’t work… as always.”
That guy was just a jerk! Don’t think too much of it! You’re such a wonderful person! I know everything will work out for you!
“What does it take to have someone there for me, and only me?”
All I can do is listen. My best friend, Nicole, moved about two years ago to Las Vegas. At the same time, I moved to Mays Landing. The only one of the original “Three Musketeers” who still lives in Galloway is Jacob and he is doing well. While I have been able to become friends with people in Oakcrest, she hasn’t had the same kind of luck. There have been many problems in her life and she has plummeted into depression several times. After a certain “incident”, I am always afraid that I might lose her one day. I won’t say out loud what it is; it scared me because death became a viable option. While death is inevitable for everyone, I would rather keep her alive past the age of 50 at least, thank you very much. She is still a dear friend of mine and I don’t want to lose her, but I don’t want her to rely solely on me for escape from her reality. You all understand the time restraints of an AP student, I’m sure. I don’t want to not be able to comfort her when she really needs me because I have a lot of homework. Also, since we live in different time zones (three hours apart!!!) it makes it harder to call at the right time. While we still write letters to each other, it takes too long to reply because of busy schedules and soon enough, we will stop. With all of these problems, I constantly worry about her.
But to be blessed with the power to give one person anything in the entire universe, I can finally solve this problem. I would definitely use it for her. Now what gift would I give? There are so many choices! The ability to travel at the speed of light helps. The ability to teleport anywhere she likes also works. The gift of acceptance by her peers is a biggie too. However, if I had to choose what gift to give, I would give her that someone she always dreams of being with. I would give her that someone who will always care, always be there for her, and always hold her close. I would give her that someone who shares her interest, looks at her as the most beautiful girl in the world, and never wants to let her go. This gift is what I think would be best for her. She would never be sad and lonely again because that person will always take care of her. While I will most likely feel sad about being replaced by this person, I am too far away anyways. This will happen anyways, so why not sooner then later?
Before she goes away with this “gift”, I would give her some advice.
“While he will take my place in your heart, please don’t forget.
Don’t forget the happy memories you’ve made with Jacob, and I.
Don’t forget the plans we’ve made for the future about traveling the world together.
Don’t forget the dreams we’ve shared back in the old days.
However, being the weirdo I am, I also have to say:
Don’t remember.
Don’t remember the bad things that have happened in your life.
Don’t remember the times you’ve been let down and kicked around.
Don’t remember the hopes that were crushed by strangers…
Because this gift will take all that away.
Also, do not solely rely on him for everything for you are a strong girl.
You’re a great person, independent and self-sufficient.
You will always walk a road full of opportunities and the great wonders of life.
You will always be ‘someone’ to me.
Now, before I give him to you, I have one thing left to say…
Perhaps you will laugh because you know me so well.
Perhaps you will cry because it will feel like goodbye.
Perhaps you will smile because it’s the same for you too.
But please…
Please don’t forget me.”
With those words, I will hold her close to me one last time before I return home.
In the end, this gift still seems logical to me. No matter how hurt I will be, I’m sure I will always be somewhere in the back of her mind, right? She’s such a dear friend of mine. I hope she would appreciate the gift and realize that friendships last forever when people truly care for each other.
Now you guys are probably wondering, what about Jacob? Of course I care about him too, but for him, as well as me, we don’t need someone there to be happy, nor do we feel the same pain as Nicole right now. I think he would agree with my choice. While we might feel out of place because things have changed, we have been able to deal with it in our own way. Plus, we’ll be able to find our own happiness one day, I’m sure. It’s nothing. I'm sure you all understand.
I dreamed I was missing
You were so scared.
But no one would listen
Cuz' no one else cared.
After my dreaming
I woke with this fear.
What am I leaveing,
When I am done here?
So if you're asking me I want you to know...
When my time comes
Forget the wrong that I've done
Help me leave behind some
Reasons to be missed.
And don't resent me
And when you're feeling empty
Keep me in your memory
Leave out all the rest,
Leave out all the rest.
Alright, so this doesn't really apply to a specific person, because I would bestow this gift upon ANYONE if given the chance.
The way I see it, EVERYONE has a question in life. Now, I don't mean those silly, everyday questions that people ask, questions that pertain to a single event or a certain situation or a concept they don't understand. I'm talking about the kind of life question that follows you wherever you go, and whatever you do, it is always there. My question happens to be "What's the point?", meaning that in the grand scheme of things, what implications does my (or anyone's, for that matter) existence have? I know that most people want to know "What's the meaning of life?", but I suspect that, in most cases, people have a general and specific question about their life or existence for which there seems to be no answer. And thats what it's all about, is it not? The answer. We WANT to know, it is our human instinct. Having no idea, and no means of finding an answer, is often times too much for us to handle. I know that my question haunts my every action, and the thought of dying without discovering some sort of answer or explanation is a terrifying thought.
So, my gift would be the answer. If given the chance, I'd bestow upon my peers the answer to whatever life question they happen to have. And when I say answer, I mean either a concrete, tangible answer, or a series of abstract, somewhat vague ideas (because I do realize that not knowing is half the fun... just having a set of guidelines can make things a little more tolerable, I think). It's up to you.
Now, I know this sounds extremely silly and stupid, but I think it'd be quite useful to have the answer to my specific life question. Knowing the point of it all would motivate (or demotivate) me to complete certain tasks, or to focus on certain aspects of my life.
A word of caution to all those who recieve this gift...
Sometimes the answer can be more terrifying and awful than not knowing at all. Before you ask the question you wish to know the answer to, make sure that you can handle the answer. Otherwise, it will surely destroy you.
Molly: I love how you're so nice to your mom. Giving her a million dollars is so sweet! If it were up to me, MY mom would get a new haircut and a pair of jeans that actually falls below her belly button.
I kid, I kid. I love my mom.
Anyways, your blog was adorable. Kudos.
Matty!!!
"The mysterious “it” is the power to see the strong and weak points in others and apply/defeat them in your every day life, however (because there is always a “however”), should you seek to harm someone or refuse to help them in a effort to better yourself you will quickly find your power stricken from you and everything good that came about as a result effaced."
I LOVE YOUR IDEAS!!! WHERE THE HECK DO YOU COME UP WITH THIS?!?!
Ehem, that aside, I believe that your blog deserves a standing ovation as always. *applause, applause* One thing though...
HOW COULD YOU POSSIBLY THINK THAT THERE IS A BEAST HIDDEN INSIDE YOU?! YOU'RE WAY TOO NICE!!! >////< YOU ARE MATT! AND MATT IS COOL! NOT A BEAST! (unless using beast as a compliment then yes, you are a beast! lol XD)
Plus, that was some good advice. You're right though, we are prone to all the evils of life. I like how the one with this gift loses the gift if they don't use it correctly and end up doing it to hurt the other person. That kind of takes away the whole hurting peoples thing. Very smart!
P.S. Haha, you used vocab words! Nice!!!
Three Christmases, eight Birthdays, three of his, three of mine, one of my brothers and one of my mothers, four band concerts, two father’s days, one mother’s day, and within the past six months every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday night. What we have here is a list of all the things my dad has missed over the years. While this used to annoy I’ve pretty much grown used to it by now. While it may seem on paper like this makes him a bad father but it is quite the opposite. My father was unlucky enough to have inherited bad genes. When he was in grade school he lost the ability to hear out of his left ear. When he was in his twenties he was diagnosed with Type I diabetes. About six years ago he had his first heart attack, he recovered somewhat. A few years later he had his first stroke and then a few months later another heart attack. To add to this list he has high blood pressure, kidneys that hardly work, and take somewhere from twenty to thirty pills a day.
Throughout my entire life my father has been in and out of hospitals almost every year. Sometimes it was for a few days, the longest was about a month. My dad isn’t over weight, he hasn’t drank since before he was diagnosed with diabetes, and he hasn’t smoked since before his first heart attack. He was going to be put on the transplant list and await a new heart but due to all of the other problems he faces they determined that the procedure would be too risky. So what does this mean exactly? It means that he is basically a ticking time bomb. There is nothing they can do but prolong the inevitable.
Before his first heart attack my dad was a carpenter, and a damn good one at that. But since then he has been unable to work. Unfortunately for himself he was never college material and therefore never went. So without a degree and him not being able to do what he does best he can’t work .When he found this out this was one of the biggest blows of all. My dad is the kind of person that always has to be doing something. He was never one to merely sit around and do nothing. This can be proven by the fact that half of the furniture in our house he built himself.
Nowadays he cannot walk for extended periods of time, he can’t do anything too physically demanding, he can’t go camping for the weekend like he used to, we can’t even go on extended vacations because he has to go to dialysis every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 2:30-8:00. When I read this blog I instantly knew this would be the easiest one I have ever written. I would give all the money in the world so my dad could have his health back.
The only rule I would give him would be to take good care of himself to prevent further complications. There really are no further instructions to give due to the fact that it was never his fault he ended up the way he did. The main reason is genetics, heart disease, diabetes, and high blood pressure run in his side of the family and it is likely that I will inherit at least one of these poor fates. His mother died when he was eighteen and his father died only three months later. If I had the ability to give anybody one gift, I would give my father the gift of health to ensure that he lives to be an old man.
Well, I think it's rather obvious. If I could bestow any one gift upon any one person, I would bestow upon myself the powers of God.
Of course, if I were to write my blog on that, I might become the first person to get points off for a completed blog, so I think I'll change it a bit.
If I could give a gift of any sort to someone, I would probably give...
Gah. My mind is set up to exploit the system. All I can think of is to give someone godlike creation powers.
Alright. I've got it. If I could give anyone a gift of any sort, I would give Rush Limbaugh my rather liberal opinion on politics. That would certainly be entertaining. There are people all over the nation who listen to Rush Limbaugh, many of which are devoted fans, and take his word as law. Maybe there's a better way of converting people to my way of thinking, but this is the best I can think of without gifting someone with similar ideals to me the ability to convert the world to have the same opinion as me. Egotistical, I know, but I'm not going to try to spread opinions that contradict my own.
Actually, I do have something better, but I'll leave what I said up for the sake of exposing my complete stream of consciousness. Stream of consciousness writing always appealed to me. Most of my political opinions are actually simply religious opinions. I apologize to any religious individuals who read this, but I have made clear my opposition to all organized religion already. If I could, I would bestow upon The Pope the knowledge of all widespread religious misconceptions and lies, as well as knowledge of their origins and how they were spread through time. This would, rather than permeating my personal opinions, allow truth to spread, which is a good deal better, I think. Hopefully, the pope could clear up some of the more damaging nontruths.
I'm sure the Pope, being (presumably) a wise man, would be able to make better use of these truths than I would be able to advise him on, but that's not enough reason to keep me from making my opinions known. I would advise the Pope to tell the people he has heard the word of god. If the truth is that religion itself is a fallacy, I would advise him to take that secret to the grave to improve the credibility of his more important revalations.
Of course, this is all my own speculation. My advice would be of no use, should the newfound knowledge simply reaffirm his faith in Catholicism and all he already believed in. It would be rather entertaining if it moved him to another religion, such as Mormonism. It may even cause him to form his own new religion. In cases such as these, I would advise him to not act rashly on his newfound knowledge. He would need to be patient and clever. Hopefully, that would be able to bring the maximum number of people to the truth.
I've read many responses and heard many different inspirational and selfless ideas from everyone. Still, I'm having trouble thinking of one person whose life I could change with an extraordinary gift.
There are so many people who I'd love to give this unnamed gift too, but I can't decide one person who I think deserves it more than the other. There are many people who have passed that I would wish to give the gift of life to, so they can revisit the ones they love, and relive the experiences they realized are too precious to put behind them. However, I know that death is inevitable and will happen at a chose time, so you must make the most of your life before it ends.
However, I have decided that there is one person who I feel will use a particular gift to its fullest. My grandfather (poppop) is a very interesting person who loves learning new things, visiting different places, and understanding cultures. Therefore I would give him the ability of transportation. I know that it's a little unrealistic and superhero-like, I feel that this gift would complete my grandfather's life. He could take my grandmom anywhere in the world at any time, no cost, and experience the things that they have been longing to see. My poppop would be like a little kid at family dinners, telling everyone his stories while traveling and constantly filling conversations with "Did you knows" about everything from ancient Egyptians to African tribes. He would gain not only knowledge throughout his journies but a futher and undying love for his family and what he has in life. I know this because he doesn't take anything for granted and is an exceptional listener who wants to know about the different things in everyone that make them unique. This gift would complete my poppop's life because they experiences he will encounter will be among what he could have only dreamed of.
With this gift, my poppop would also able to share exciting and intriging things with others. His knowledge and passion for understanding history would flow between his friends and family and possibly other unknown people through random conversations. Although this gift will not boost anyone's confidence or allow them to accomplish their athletic dreams, still as Cervi always said, "You can't know yourself until you've learned about your past." My grandfather would encourage others to discover their ancestors and understand history at its worst and finest moments. He could possibly take up teaching a history class to younger or older students who simply desire to know about the world, something he would be estatic to share with them.
The only advice I would give with this gift would be to share with others. Share the knowledge and experiences you've gained with the people around you so they too can be enlightened. Also don't use this gift for anything in the continental U.S. because that's like cheating. Don't abuse the power and all that nonsense. I'm positive my poppop would not abuse the power to transport anywhere because he is a wise person who understands the troubles in life and would find this power so incredibly advanced, I'm not sure he would know how to corrupt it.
“I don’t really care about everyone else” was the first thought that went through my head as I read the blog question. But even as I thought it I knew that wasn’t true. I like to think of myself as emotionless, someone who doesn’t let feelings affect the practical decisions in life. I expected myself to make the most practical decision, at least by my reasoning. I thought I would be able to do what many other posters did not and that is look past the hurt of the people they see every day. I trusted myself to ignore personal feelings and make a decision that benefited everyone, not just the people who I have to see every day. Unfortunately I couldn’t do what I expected of myself, at the time at least.
My wall of emotional defense was shot down in seconds as I thought of the people close to me. A girl who has to chose between surgery and losing her favorite sport. A friend whose mother is missing out on this friend’s senior year because she must cater to their grandmother plagued with dementia. And another close friend whose parents are out of work and struggling to put a son through college. I thought of my mom who has to watch a business that she built for 5 years come crashing to the ground. And I thought of my grandma fighting a losing war against cancer in her painful final days. 5 times I started writing my blog for each of these 5 people but in the end I was able to keep my thoughts together and ignore them. That’s what I had to do, that’s the practical thing to do.
I’m not the only one who knows stories like these. One thousand other kids in a hundred different cities in fifty different states all know these stories. They all feel the same pain we all do when they seem a loved one hurting. So to me it’s unimaginably selfish to sit here and soothe the pain of someone I know just so I don’t have to see them hurt anymore. Is that fair to everyone else in the world? Even when I say this many people will not understand the depth of my statement. Think of it this way, you’re walking down a city street and see a face you’ve never seen before and never will see for the rest of your life. Now think of your life and in the short 16 years everything that you’ve felt and experienced. Now superimpose those feelings on that other person. They have a life just as loving and hating and happy and painful as yours. Now that you’ve realized this you must also realize that there are currently 6.5 billion of these lives currently at large in the world. Your troubles, your pain and your agony, it’s all nothing, nothing at all. So I’ll ask again, what difference does the gift you gave make? Is it fair to only help one of those 6.5 billion?
My gift then is not one that will go to a personal figure in my life. It’s one that I think will help billions. My gift will go to the man who has everything a man could want. He has money, fame, power, popularity and carries the attention of the entire world, president Elect Barrack Obama.
Four years. What is this measure of time? It’s a high school education. The next Olympic games. Four super bowls. Too many years of working at a job you hate. Enough time for George bush to ruin the world. Hopefully, enough time for Obama to fix it. The gift I would give the soon to be president would be the political expertise and experience to guide the united states safely through the next four years. By giving him this gift he would undoubtedly be able to help millions of people by getting them through the economic depression. I find this to be a much better alternative than helping one person through their difficult times.
In retrospect I have just given the most powerful man in the world total and complete mastery of his position. So before he becomes a tyrannical fascist leader I’d need to do some control on the ideologies behind his leadership. I would remind him that he is the servant of the people. He was elected because the people believed in what he was capable of and too betray them would tarnish the position he holds. “Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely” right? I would also advise him about the nature of choice and the implications of right and wrong. A good leader will know what is right for his people, even when his people do not agree with what is best for them. They will also be willing to take the heat for unfavorable decisions they make as long as they stick by what they have said and it is in the people’s best interest. Hopefully this gift would not be wasted, but I believe Obama would use it to resurrect the nation from its fallen state and help many of the families that were harmed by Bush’s reign.
In response to Brendan:
I lied in my blog. The first thing I thought was “I’m giving myself super powers”. I mean that is the expected response from any teenage guy when posed with the same question we were given. Then I thought about the complication that you can’t give yourself something so my idea was to give one of my friends an automatic superpower generator that they could only use on me. But alas I had to write something that was socially acceptable….bleh. Besides the similarities in our thought process I thought your blog was refreshing because it didn’t take too serious a note at the beginning. I mean with Limbaugh and the pope I was more relaxed then when hearing about people giving their parents something they’d always wanted. As always your blog was “droll” and had me laughing at the more subtle jokes. But for me as opposed to making the pope speak religious truth I’d go with the government having to reveal the truth about aliens!!! ALIENS!!!!! …….. Yeah. Aliens.
Before I write my blog I would like to say a pox on the international house of pancakes and a pox on spawn. These two delicious necessities for my life have left me vomiting all over the place. Once again. Damn it all to hell
Okay, so thinking about who I actually care enough about in this world to give that single person anything imaginable… not so easy. Those deserving enough to receive such a gift would have to appreciate it to the fullest extent, but not take advantage of it. I don't know many people who fit that criterion. Most people I know are greedy and undeserving, and most of my friends are ungrateful. Sounds mean, but it's true. I don't want to turn a horrible person into a better one; I want to help a person who wants something so badly, but just hasn't had a break.
My older sister Tori always dreamed big. She was going to be a singer, a model, a billionaire. During her younger years, despite her lack of book smarts, the potential she had to pursue those dreams made it seem like she was destined for big things. She is an incredible singer, she definitely could have carried on with her modeling, and making tons of money would have surely come along with either path she took. But she was always too hard on herself. While every one else told her how amazing she was at singing, she never thought she was good enough. She tried out for American Idol and made it past 2 rounds, but since she didn't go all the way, she figured she sucked. She went to singing lessons, but when the guy began criticizing her, it was too overwhelming for her and, again, she figured she sucked. Days on end she would be singing throughout the house, in the car, wherever she went. It was her passion.
But Tori grew up too fast. She was always trying to protect my younger sister and me from our screwed up family. Always trying to make sure we didn't find out certain things. Always trying to make sure we were happy. But because of this, she forgot the most important thing: to care about herself first. What she loved the most began slipping out of sight when she had to start working and proving to others that she could care for herself. Despite her efforts of protecting my sister and me, it all backfired and the stress was placed on all of us, but she felt her own pressure had increased. Anything that went wrong, she felt the need to take the blame or get involved because she always wanted to help. All these demands piled up and her dreams soon looked near impossible. I won't lie, she's made many mistakes that worsened her situation, but that was because of her growing up too fast.
So what would I give her? There are a few things I can think of: a long vacation, enough money so she never has to work a day in her life again, a singing contract. But if you knew my sister, you'd know that she doesn't like things handed to her. She loves working, she loves making an effort, she loves the end result. So the best thing I can think of is giving her immorality. I want her to be able to have the chance to do whatever it is she wants to do. But since there are so many things she wishes to do, she needs more than a lifetime to have such opportunities.
Immortality would grant her so many things. She'd be able to live her life to the fullest extent. There would be no regrets, no "coulda woulda shoulda"'s, no demands. It offers unlimited chances. It gives her the time needed to complete all it is she wants to do and more. It gives her all the time needed to get better at what she loves. She can sing, work, play softball, tan, vacation, and repeat every day of her endless life. Most importantly, she'll stay young forever. She never had the chance to be young. Age only grants someone wisdom and experience, and with age comes deterioration and weakness. For her, the youth of her body will thrive endlessly, and her wisdom will grow even more with her experiences. She's a person who thinks she knows it all, but being immortal would give her the chance to prove those who doubted her wrong. She will succeed, be great, be prosperous, be happy.
The advice with this is quite selfish for my part. She can't curse me for giving her immortality. At first she may be quite thankful, but I know her. Soon when she realizes people around her get older and older, and begin to die off, she's going to hate the fact that I gave her such a torturous gift. She's a very sentimental person, so seeing so many people she loves die, while she remains constant, that'll be really hard on her. But my advice goes further. She has to think about her self first. She can't let those around her, those doubting her, and those pressurizing her affect her in any way. She has to prove every one wrong. She must take what she wants and not let go. Once she reaches the point that she has everything she's ever dreamed of, she must dream more. Her opportunities are endless, and I challenge her to take every and any one offered her way. She can't live with regrets. Even with an endless life, there's not enough time in the world to be bothered with worries.
Changed my mind. I gave a penguin the gift of escaping a gruesome death by orca. Here’s the proof!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBwqbqZ3L60
Thanx for the comment carly =)
Your blog was cute too. Your grandparents would look adorable transporting themselves everywhere. Lol.
I've thought long and hard about this question, coming up with many different options, and this is probably my 5th time starting this blog. I've contemplated bringing people back from the dead, granting some people their health, and bestowing specific personality traits to certain individuals. So maybe what I've come up with might sound a littly phony. But my mind just keeps coming back to the idea.
My dad is a hard worker, and he has been his whole life. He is the second in a family of 4 boys. His older brother Joe, was spoiled. He always got what he wanted from his parents, yet he never appreciated it. His younger brother, Jeff, was mentally challenged, which left my father to take care of himself most of the time. Unfortunately, Jeff passed away at the young age of 10. I can only imagine how devastating this must have been on the family. So my dad has another brother, Chris, who's ten years younger. When Jeff died, Chris was still a baby, and so he was raised with special care and attention. It was like they got to raise Jeff again, you know? So needless to say, my father had a rough childhood. His father, my grandfather, when through a spell of heavy drinking and depression when his son died. My grandmother is from the deep south and her main concerns were simply did the kids eat? Are they clean? Okay, my job is done. She's a very practical person, and never shows her love for anything. So my father had minimal attention. His older brother ignored him, his younger brother was too young to really connect to, and his parents just weren't there like they should have been. My dad turned to sports and friends to ease his stresses at home. He was a popular, handsome, smart, and athletic young man despite all the turmoils he came from. He started dating my mother in 8th grade, and they're still together now. I guess you could say that's one area he got lucky in. Anyway, my father got good grades, and was constantly working to better himself. He didn't let his troubles hold him back from anything.
During the fall of my dad's senior year in high school, 4 of his friends died in a car crash on their way to school. The scary part is that my dad almost went with them, but my grandmother told him, "You ain't allowed tah drive tah school. Nah, jus take the bus lak everyone else." Can you even imagine what that would have been like? His FOUR best friends. God, it gives me chills just to think about.
My daddy went into the family business after college. He had to give up his dream of becoming a veternarian because the schooling would take too many years and he didn't have the money. So he graduated and went straight into masonry with his uncles, cousins, brothers, and father. Unfortunately my Uncle Joe was a hearltess asshole and screwed everyone over. I'm not going to go into details but things got really bad. Our once tight nit extended family was split into sides over money. And this was oh, 8 years ago? Things still haven't gotten better. My dad and Uncle Chris started their own business and my Uncle Joe started his own while my grandfather closed his. So now, they all compete on a daily basis for jobs. I never see my aunt and cousins, we never talk. It's messy and complicated.
Recently, 2 of my dad's other high school friends passed away. One died after battling cancer, the other was tragically killed in a car accident. So this leaves him and one other friend from high school left alive. I never saw my dad seem so upset. Ever since the death's of his friends, he has had a rough time making new friends, often leaning on just my mom for support. My dad shies away from company, and is always home when he isn't working.
Despite all of the hard times, my dad still manages to be a happy, cheerful, strong, humorous, loving, and wonderful man. I connect with him so much, and many people say that I'm his mini-me. He's an amazing dad, and the older I get the more and more I respect him.
So what would I give to my dad? Well, I can think of many things. But I think that the best I can do is to give him the gift of freedom. The ability to quit his job and go back to school. Study to be a vet, or a chef, or a teacher (all interests of his), without having to worry about money. He stresses so much about us kids and money and making sure that we have a good life. I just want him to be worry free and do something for himself. He loves animals, cooking, and history so I think that any of these would work. I would say, "Dumbledore, please allow my family enough money to live comfortably so that my father can be free to do what he wants. Please give us this so that he can have his freedom for once."
After this gift was bestowed, I would simply give my dad a kiss on the cheek, tell him I love and appreciate his hard work, and tell him to have fun and enjoy it. What advice would I give? Well, honestly, none. My dad is the advice giver, not me. He would know what to do with his freedom. Of course I would encourage culinary school, because I love his cooking, but there's not much else I could say. His freedom and choices have to come from his heart, not mine, and I trust him to do what he wants to do.
Matt Capone-
I read and loved your blog. You are such an intelligent person and every week you amaze me with what you have to say. It's so hard to explain it, but I either completely agree or disagree with what you write. Today, I agree. You make some fantastic points about the human condition. Your gift to Barack Obama is genius. Well done! Have fun swimming from 8-10 :(
Okay well now knowing that I kinda missed the ball on this blog. I’m just going to add a little bit extra. So if i could choose to help one person, I would help this friend of mine, who has fallen down the wrong path. He has changed so much since middle school and his attitude has become quite arrogant and selfish. I would like to continue with the gift I wrote about before. I want to give this person compassion. He has suffered a few losses in his past. And with that loss, I think he became angry at the world. And not only that, but he feels no sympathy for the people around him. Therefore, I would like to give him the gift of compassion, which can only be achieved by giving him the opportunity to do so. Because I think a person can only achieve an attribute like compassion or courage by being presented with the opportunity where they can prevail.
I want to give him compassion and hopefully he will utilize it. And the only way I know that he can is if i present him with my power as well- the power to give anything to anybody in the whole wide world. If he truly adopts compassion, he will do the right thing.
The advice I would give this person is the exact same one I wrote about before. I would tell him to observe the people around him. Don’t think to quickly and judge people. Don’t assume that you are always right. Everybody has feelings and you must learn to be empathetic to them. With my gift, I know that he will have much power and I can see that his arrogance might shine through. But i warn him not to let it. I want him to help others because he wants to not because he can.
So I’m not really sure that this is the best thing in the world for the world, but it is the thing that would make me most pleased with myself. So I’m going to go the selfish route and do it that way.
If I could give a gift to a person, any person I would give the gift of self-belief. It is just about the same as self confidence, but you can be confident and still fail. So self-belief is just my way of saying it. I am giving this gift to you so that you can do all of the things you want to do in your life and not be held down by trivial things such as doubt or shyness. Your life is amazing and it is sad that it is wasted because you don’t want to speak up in math class. So I bestow upon you the gift of self belief. I want you to believe that you can do anything you want to, because you can.
With my gift I would like you to keep in mind that though yes you believe in yourself, you are not infallible, and you need to believe in others as well to succeed. The people who surround you are the real source of your self-belief and you need to cherish them because even if you believe or have confidence in yourself, you cannot win a war with a one man army.
Never doubt your worth in this army of friends though, because you are the main character in the novel of your life. You are Harry Potter, not Ron or Hermione, or Lavender. You are the starring role and you deserve your name in lights. Don’t let yourself be outshone by the supporting roles. Remember that you are the important one and the others are there to help you be better.
Self belief is less of a gift and more of a state of mind that I want you to exist in. this does not mean that you have to be Wonder Woman and do no wrong or make no mistakes, it simply means that you know when to step up and do something even if you’re not positive that you can do it.
In closing, I want you to live your life the way you want to and don’t let yourself be held down by your lack of belief in yourself. I have no doubt in your ability to do whatever your heart desires for the rest of your life, be it traveling the world or managing other people’s weddings so they have a happily ever after. Just be sure that your get your own happily ever after. Yours is after all the most important, right?
-- Ali B
Hayley-
I think your gift to your grandpa is very sweet. When i read your blog, the cliche phrase “live your life to the fullest” popped into my head. It seems that we need to all live this way and like you said “not be afraid to make mistakes.” I think mistakes hold us back and keeps us from saying what we want to say and doing what we want to do. No one wants to be known as the failure who makes mistakes all the time. But thinking this way will eventually take a toll on you especially if you don’t give yourself the opportunity to be happy.
Deciding who give the gift you is easy but giving only one gift is hard part. However, if I had to give a gift to someone with advice because it’s get something and get advice for free. But the gift that I give you has to depend on whom I am giving the gift to. There are numerous types of people I know and as the personalities change so do the gifts. For my best friend I would give confidence, for my archenemy (bit*hest person in the entire world I would give kindness, and to mostly all other people I would give the gift of shutting up and listing to someone else for a while.
I don’t know if I can do this but I would give the gift to someone who has passed away. About two years ago, my uncle passed away. I didn’t remember him that much because I hadn’t seen him in like six years. Nevertheless, all I knew was that he loved me just as he loved his own children. Two years we had no idea that anything went wrong in India and that he was in the hospital. I was about to start high school and awaiting the first day. Then a week before school started we called India just see how it was going? Nothing was fine; everything went wrong in that one week. My uncle suffered from an undiscovered, unknown disease. He was one was the first people to die form it.
The disease kills you within a month. It gives you a fever that you think goes away but it lasts until you don’t die. Then you get another disease that I don’t know the name of. After that, your immune system starts shutting down and all your white blood cells begin to die. After all that comes liver failure. Then it attacks you brain somehow and you intense seizures. Then one day before your last day, everything gets better. You white blood cell count goes up and everything looks normal and then day before 24 hours you are dead.
My uncle was a man that always helped everyone else before himself. Everyone in our family knew that he was the go-to-guy. If you needed anything, he would get it done before you could even finish the sentence. He was good man and a caring one at that. When he died, my parents had to leave immediately. They went and left my sister and me with my aunt and uncle that lived two doors down. I was worried but everyone kept on giving false hope but when I was my sister cry at night I knew that there was something terribly wrong. The next day I find out that he is dead, but as my mom explained to me, she said that even god needs help and love from people.
After he died, my aunt was never the same. He had two kids when he died my cousin sister who in tenth grade and my cousin brother who was in 4th. My aunt finds it hard to smile and laugh without having him there. They were what you call soul mates; there true happiness lied with one another. When died he took many things away from my family. My dad lost his younger brother and my other uncle lost his older brother. He took a son form my grandparents and left them with two. But most importantly he took away the love of a father from my cousins. We were a happy family for a long time and no one dreamed that such devastating times could be bestowed upon us.
I were to give a gift I would give him the gift of life. He was a person that deserved to grow old, be happy, and be a cranky old man in his life. I would want to take away the pain that my grandparents would’ve felt when they held their son’s ashes. The advice that I would give him would be that continue helping others but don’t forget to help yourself. He put everyone before him, and never cared for himself. He was the healthiest and yet we lost him. R.I.P
Hayley-
I thought that your gift was incredibly sweet. I can relate to what you feel. Everyone should get a chance to live their live life.
While sitting pretty in a black-white checkerboard dress upon the grass, my grandmother laughs to the sun in my grandparent’s backyard as she sees her husband out yet again with his camera. My mother strikes a pose in her 80s wedding dress with the sunset’s reflection sparkling into the river across from our house. Knowing that his parents would be proud, my grandfather stands at the bow of a Navy ship with a smile that could have caused any girl to faint in adornment. Then, there’s my grandmother as she places her head upon my great-grandmother’s shoulder with a faint smile, knowing that she is in her last days. I was not there for any of these moments. In fact, I have no idea where I was at the time, and there is no way for me to ever touch upon these past moments. It is this very notion that makes me question if I am in existence right now. Perhaps time is just an illusion, and life is merely a dream we are soon to wake up from. Our accomplishments may become lies, and the people who have meant the most to us won’t be there anymore. In the end, we have no idea where we came from or where we are going next. There are times in school when I really think about it to the point that I get myself dizzy and have to press my thumb into my index finger to rid myself of the thought, and associate the pain with meaning existence. My grandmother always tells me that time goes by way too fast for anyone to ever catch up with it. As a result, I choose to think of my existence, as often as I can, as an experience. If none of this is real, I might as well enjoy it to the best extent that I can.
The part that I regret most about myself is not being able to recall an average day in third grade, my ninth birthday, or even the Christmas my sister and I were given a Barbie Jeep that both of us would apparently drive around for hours. The memories I possess of my childhood are in such poor condition it’s like fitting puzzle pieces together that have already been burnt. I’d give anything to remember what it was like, or even know the thoughts I had as a kid about the world I lived in. I let time go by as if it didn’t matter. As a matter of fact, I’m beginning to doubt it really mattered much to me at all at that age. I’ll never know what I questioned, if I was afraid, or who I thought I might become some day. Since my child memories have been long-forgotten and, as of now, unattainable, I suppose the least I could do is prevent this from occurring to the life of someone else. Someone who is just starting out, and has plenty of time to hold on to any memories, explore any place, or think back to whatever time they wish.
I would like to contribute my gift to my five-year-old cousin in Regensburg, Germany named Vince Schieder. The last time I encountered Vince was when he was only one year old, could not walk, and cried whenever he heard my or my sister’s foreign, high-pitched voices. His hearing was already adapted to the deep voices of many German men and women. I kept my distance from him as my relatives and I walked down the brick alley-ways of Berlin, or sat down at an outdoor café for ice cream. Most women seem to be very protective of their children at such a young age, and can be seen with tightening muscles in their neck when strangers awe at the small child in their arms. Susan, Vince’s mother, has always been a very friendly, care-free type of person, and could only be seen laughing with joy while showing off her sleeping infant to any interested passerbys, but I decided to keep away anyway.
The gift I would like to present to him was invented by Johann Zahn in 1685. It is an invention still used quite frequently today and can be bought for as low as one dollar and fifty-five cents. The gift I would like to give him is a camera. It would not be just any camera, I would make sure that it would last for as long as he lives, and could never be lost or run out of space for pictures. The reason why I would grant this gift to him is because pictures, unlike our memories, can hold any moment in time. Often, when we get the chance to flip through the pages of picture albums, we realize moments in our lives that we have long forgotten, or perhaps do not remember at all. Cameras are probably one of the best creations ever made because they help to convince us that the past really did happen; it provides us with a type of evidence, unlike any other, that assures us of our existence. Time has been given a concrete appearance with cameras and their colored-inked products. If life is so short, I want this youth to be given the opportunity now to preserve as many moments he feels worthwhile. Whether he decides to take pictures of gum on city sidewalks or use it in his potential-career as a photographer, I just want him to feel in the end that he has truly fulfilled every moment of his life. I want him to have something to look back on, something he can share with his friends, something he can scan through on his way to college, and something he will, as an old man, greatly appreciate.
As for my advice to Vince, I would say (translated into German):
Dear Vince,
Along with life comes moments when you may feel like breaking down, and perhaps doing nothing but stare at your ceiling for hours trying to think of nothing but that white ceiling. Life comes along with moments when you contemplate if life could get any better than it already is, and try not to think about any of the disappointing moments there might be laying ahead for you. Life comes along with moments when you are so irritated, you choose to say nothing at all. Life comes along with moments when you question why there is a poor man laying on the sidewalk asking for money while people with more than they could ever need walk right around him. It is confusing and seems to go by all too quickly…but don’t worry, life only goes by as quickly as you want it to if you take in every moment you’re given. So I have provided you with this camera, which I hope you use as often as you can, whenever you want, wherever you want. Don’t worry about film and don’t think about what pictures to take, just think of life as an experience; that’s all. It’s just an experience, waiting for you and your much-needed purpose in this world. So, I’m not going to take up any more of your time. Take lots of pictures for me, and I can guarantee you that you will thank me someday.
Love,
Ashley
I myself will be joining in this adventure with Vince with my new pink camera I got for Christmas this year. I will no longer have to squeeze pictures onto my cell phone anymore of bridges, sunsets, or old-fashioned houses. Life really is waiting for me to seize it and use it for my purpose in this world. Each one of us has a purpose, in fact; a purpose we may never directly discover, but is certainly in existence. I know that I cannot continue to worry about my own existence, and that now is the time to make the most of it, even if it is just a fantasy. Perhaps life is not about what’s real or not real, but what chooses to be real or not real.
In response to Alice H:
First off, I really like your introduction. Personally, I feel that dialogue in an introduction is very appealing. I also liked that fact that you kept who you were talking about as a mystery in the beginning; it bought more attention and interest to the writing. Additionally, when you said, “She is still a dear friend of mine and I don’t want to lose her, but I don’t want her to rely solely on me for escape from her reality.” This was said beautifully Alice, I only wish I could somehow fathom what it must be like to be in your position. Also, in the second paragraph (after the conversation), the way you constructed the paragraph was very well done. You were really able to put the reader into your shoes while listing all of the good things you could grant for her, but then narrowing it down to one that really touched my heart. Then, when you were giving advice to your friend, it was like poetry almost…I don’t know, but I really liked it (if you did intend for it to be poetry, I sincerely apologize). Next, when you said, “While we might feel out of place because things have changed, we have been able to deal with it in our own way. Plus, we’ll be able to find our own happiness one day, I’m sure. It’s nothing. I'm sure you all understand,” it was very clearly stated and it made me realize that you do almost a rhythmic flow to your writing in general, and let me just say, I really like it. Maybe I’m the only one who has noticed, or maybe I’m just being completely wrong right now and seemingly out of my mind, but it got my attention. Lastly, your conclusion was beyond words Alice, it was AMAZING. You’re a great writer, and I regret not responding to any of your previous blogs.
Also, Alice, I know that I cannot relate to you at all with your friend-problems right now, but if you ever need someone to talk to, I’m right here. Perhaps I don’t talk as much as other people, but I’m a really good listener and usually formulate some good motivational speeches to help others feel better. You should not have to live with this problem, nor should anyone.
Carly--
Your blog was so cute!
I think everyone is a child at heart, and to give your pop-pop something that would bring out his true self and offer him so many opportunities to be young again and experience all that he's ever wanted to do, that's so sweet. =]
Maegan--
Please give me your gift. PLEASE
And your advice just reminded me of the movie A Few Good Men:
"You want answers?"
"I think I'm entitled."
"You want answers?"
"I want the truth!"
"You can't handle the truth!"
My dad used to always say that to me (I don't know why). But in your advice, it's true, if you can't handle the truth, don't ask the for the answer.
“Maybe we're not supposed to be happy. Maybe gratitude has nothing to do with joy. Maybe being grateful means recognizing what you have for what it is. Appreciating small victories. Admiring the struggle it takes simply to be human. Maybe we're thankful for the familiar things we know. And maybe we're thankful for the things we'll never know. At the end of the day, the fact that we have the courage to still be standing is reason enough to celebrate.”
-Meredith Grey
Courage is a trait that is often overlooked. The people that walk around you in school, at work, or in life have struggled through something in their life. Something that has shaped them as a person for better or worse. These struggles that have shaped a person for the better have made them courageous. Whether you survive cancer, struggle through poverty, or even something as miniscule as finally standing up to a bully, the bottom line is that you survived it. You had the courage to keep going. Although everyone has difficulties throughout their lives, we often fail to stop and think, “They have survived life so far. They have made it.”
However, there are also those who do not get shaped for the better. They give in to fear, and let it rule their lives. Some, unfortunately, do not even have the will, the power, to go on living. Some change so drastically from a single event, that they are hardly recognizable when you next spot them. However, they are different levels of courage. For example, maybe someone you know just had a sibling or parent die from cancer. The very fact that you saw them, still going on with their normal lives, damn, that’s some courage. Those who don’t must be suffering unimaginably, with struggles within themselves. Distraught and sadness overcome them and consume them. This is a terrible way to live out life, if you even get that far.
Thus, as you may have foreshadowed, my gift to someone with the deepest distraught is Courage.
With this gift however, comes responsibility. If used in the wrong way, it may jeopardize yours or someone else’s life. Thus, there is also a penalty if this gift should accidentally be bestowed to someone who does not deserve it.
When I bestow this gift onto the Chosen One (no, not Harry Potter, silly!), I will also bestow these pieces of advice:
-You should not use this newfound gift of Courage for selfish gain. (Example: If you are in extreme poverty, DO NOT have the courage to go rob a bank. I’ll get in trouble with Mr. Almighty up there.)
--You should take heed to realize that this gift won’t take away all you pain, or all your anguish. It is meant to strictly give you the willpower to go on in life, to help get you back to your daily routine. (Example: Getting this gift after suffering the death of a loved one WILL NOT make the pain go away. It is meant to make it easier to handle and deal with.)
-You should realize that this gift does NOT make you a superhero. (Example: If you are depressed about being out of shape, DO NOT think that you’ll magically be cured of the couch potato syndrome. So, please, DO NOT decide you are going to be the next climber of Mt. Everest, the world-record-breaking cliff diver, or the next EXTREME daredevil. You are still a couch potato.)
I’ll leave you like I always do, with a fantastic song. This one is called Courage Is…by A Strange Familiar. (I hope you guys are looking up these songs!! =])
We all have excuses why
Living in fear something in us dies
Like a bird with broken wings
It's not how high he flies,
But the song he sings
Courage is when you're afraid,
But you keep on moving anyway
Courage is when you're in pain,
But you keep on living anyway,
You keep on living anyway
It's not how many times you've been knocked down
It's how many times you get back up
Courage is when you've lost your way,
But you find your strength anyway
Courage is when you're afraid
Courage is when it all seems grey
Courage is when you make a change,
And you keep on living anyway
You keep on moving anyway
You keep on giving anyway
You keep on loving anyway
Alright, well, I think its important that I mention that if I had the power to give anyone anything, I would probably give my room the power of a lock that keeps wizards away. I don't know about you, but waking up to an old, homosexual wizard standing next to my bed is not a happy thought. AHHHH!!! BAD IMAGE!!! Alright? sorry, just felt that I had to say that. My real blog responce is in the following...
I guess if I could give a friend anything in the world, it would be a magic ticket. The ticket has the power of opening up a warpwhole, unleashing the almighty ghost train. The train has the ability to take the ticket holder anywhere in existance. Any country, any planet, any solor system. Hell if you are that big of an appreciator, it will take you into the World of Warcraft or even Pokemon Land. It doesn't matter what you prefer, its there. Nothing is too difficult for the might ghost train. Just one catch. ONE SIMPLE CATCH!!!!! you can't come back. The train is a ONE WAY ticket to anywhere you want to go. Why the catch? It will be known in the advice section of my responce
ADVICE SECTION
The advice I would give to the holder of the ticket is "don't let your emotions take you on a reckless trip to a self-made hell." What I mean by that is basically, don't be impetulant with such a power. The reason behind all of this is that people always have that one thing they want that is always out of reach. For some it might be a friend or gf/bf that moved away. For some it just might be the hatred of dislike of their current living, who just want to move anywhere for a hope of a better life. While hollywood always makes characters who go to extreme lengths for whatever reason, one must never forget of the limited grasp that hollywood has of reality (bullshit movies). Sometimes, you just need to appreciate what it is that you have that makes you keep going everyday. Appreciate and don't leave it behind to go after something that may only disappoint in the end. Stick to what makes you happy, count your blessings, chase dreams not dumb schemes. Idk, but thats what I believe, and that is what I would like any of my friends to believe. One more then others.
To Alice:
Gotta give you props for using my favorite Linkin Park song.
To Brendan:
Im all up for exploiting the system, but wow, you've got quite a few schemes going on right there. I am interested to know more.
To Matt:
Wow dude, that must have been the longest buildup to answering a question I've ever read, but in the end, that is a nice power, though very exploitable. On a last note, Harry Potter is far from the best thing ever.
*ATTENTION HARRY POTTER FANS*
PLEASE DON'T KILL ME =D
I had to think long and hard about this blog. Certain people kept popping into my mind as I tried to think of one single person whose life I could make completely better with my one gift. I thought about those that have impacted my life the most and the different struggles each of them face, or at least the ones I am aware of. One of the most difficult things about this blog is that I know there are people in my life that need something so badly yet don’t express it because of shame or that they just lack the ability to ask for help. After thinking about all of the people that deserve more than they have, I decided on giving a gift to my mother.
After all, she is the one that gave me life and has done everything in her capacity for me over the years. If she knew how to do the math that I am doing now in calculus, she would help me every night without hesitation. She is always looking out for me and wants me to take in everything I can possibly squeeze out of life. It makes sense that she would be the one person I want to give a gift so that her life can be enhanced in a spectacular way. So, the gift I thought of giving her is the ability to see her family whenever she wants at the snap of her fingers.
This may seem like a simple gift, but I know it would make my mom happier than anything else in the world ever could. My mom grew up in southern California and lived there until she met my dad. Her family was four boys and four girls and her mom and dad. My grandmother had each kid right after the other, so each of them was each others’ best friend. They were super tight and would do all the things loving families would do. They would take long trips all cramped together in one car and go camping at Yellowstone. All the stories I have heard make me wish for a huge family and long for the company of seven brothers and sisters. They had the perfect family.
My mom and dad met when he was stationed with the Navy in the area where she lived at the time. They went on a blind date set up by their two friends and the rest is history. My dad is from Absecon and has lived in Jersey all his life. When he asked my mom to marry him, she said yes, and for some odd reason, also agreed to going back to New Jersey and living there with him ( If she had insisted on staying home, I could be living in a place where the temperature is actually above freezing during the winter…). She has explained to me that she thought she was going to be able to return home often because my dad is a pilot, but because of her busy life and guilt of leaving us behind, it has been hard for her to get out there as much as she would like. Once a year is pretty much it. It has been over twenty years that she has lived here and twenty years of painful heartache for her. I have seen the countless tears she has shed over missing her mom and family in California. After the death of my grandpa, I can see the anguish and frustration in her eyes every time she hangs up the phone with my grandma. She knows she has missed out on all the millions of birthdays and holiday parties that everyone has been able to participate in except her. She sees the pictures that are sent to her in cards and e-mails that lack her face. She gets phone calls on practically every holiday where everyone passes the phone around to say hi to their sister in New Jersey. I see her light up at the sound of their voices, so the gift to be able to make herself available in an instant to attend every family oriented party would be what I want to give to her more than anything.
The only advice I could give to her along with this gift is to live it up with her family now because she only has so much time left to make up for all that has been lost. So many families are hostile and separated, but the unity that is shared in her family is something amazing and should not be wasted. I would tell her to pay extra attention to her mom, even though I know she wouldn’t need me to tell her to do so. I also would hope that she could bring me along with her when she takes these trips because the Lamantia family really knows how to have fun from what I have experienced with them. I would tell her that she deserves to have ALL the people in her life that really love and care about her nearby always, and with my gift, she could have this.
Molly:
Your gift to your mom is really great. I know that there is a lot of feeling behind it, and i am the same way with my mom. That's why your thing almost brought me to tears. (Next time i try to cry on command, i know what to think about.) But honestly, I am so scared to think about what life will be like when my mom passes away. I don't know how I could even begin to live without her. She does EVERYTHING around the house. She is NEVER EVER selfish, EVER. The amount of time and energy she takes to care for every family member is...amazing. Even when we get angry at her, she looks past it, and does what she sees is best. Later, when we look back on it, we realized she was right, everytime. Yeah, so your gift is perfect. =)
Matt C:
"I lied in my blog. The first thing I thought was “I’m giving myself super powers”. I mean that is the expected response from any teenage guy when posed with the same question we were given."
Lol remember, "Didn't you ever wonder what a teacher would do if you just flew through the ceiling in the middle of class during a test??? She'd definitely give you an A."
"Example: If you are depressed about being out of shape, DO NOT think that you’ll magically be cured of the couch potato syndrome. So, please, DO NOT decide you are going to be the next climber of Mt. Everest, the world-record-breaking cliff diver, or the next EXTREME daredevil. You are still a couch potato.)"
Meggggg Songgg,
hahahah :] what would i do without you? I thought you were going to cure my couch potatones so i can finally cliff dive! What a disappointment.. Anyway, as i was reading your blog, i felt the Secret Life's "courage is" song coming, and sure enough, there it was at the end! :] i love you. Who doesn't want more courage? Your gift would be perfect for anyone.
I first read this blog question three days ago and was immediately stumped. Although there are many amazing, important people in my life as of right now, choosing ONE person to give a REALLY great gift to was going to be extremely difficult. But after days of thought debating who on this Earth truly deserves more than what they are given, I have come to the conclusion that this person would be: my brother.
For those of you who know me, you all must be beyond shocked. But for those of you who do not understand the relationship I have with my brother, let me sum it up for you—we barely have one. A good one, I must add. We argue about almost everything and I can’t stand being around him 98% of the time. It’s like we are from different planets and don’t have one thought that is alike. Despite our differences and daily bickering, he would be the person I choose for a few significant reasons.
Nicolas, although an annoying pest to me, has a genuinely kind heart. He’d never do anything to purposely hurt anyone (other than me, of course). But with such a kind heart comes certain insecurities and sensitivities that he tries to hide with a tough outer layer. Rarely does he show his sensitive side, or his true abilities for that matter. Because he has these traits deep down, they seem to affect a lot of the things he sets his mind on, so he hardly comes out successful. He’s not exceptionally good at any sport or academic subject. The reason being, from what I can tell, is not that he can’t be great, but he has been so discouraged throughout his life that he either (1) gives up too soon. Or (2) doesn’t put in enough effort to begin with to prevent further discouragement. I honestly feel he has missed out on something that could have changed the outcomes of some of the things he has tried to do. For years he has been basically without a father and as my gift, I’d like to give him one.
Sure, he/we HAVE a father, but for most of his years of growing, he’s been without a father figure to look up to and teach him “guy stuff.” I can’t tell you what those things are for I am not a boy, but I feel bad when he’s experiencing changes that he may not be sure of but has no where to turn to other than a bunch of girls. So with my gift of the best father in the world, I would hope that with such paternal support, he could ultimately exceed in the things he does rather than accepting pure mediocrity.
The advice that I would give my brother is simple. I would suggest that he first, allow this person to enter his life without fuss because it, being the amazing “father figure” I created, would not be able to do any harm. Next, I would ensure that he uses him as a tool, in a sense, not a crutch. Just because all of a sudden a magical person shows up with all the answers doesn’t mean it’s time to stop all individual thought. Last, with the love, support, and father-son connection that will come from this man, I would tell my brother to forget about what has happened before and live in the NOW. You can be a Varsity wrestler, you can be a pilot when you grow up. Realize your true potential and don’t let anything or anyone hold you back anymore.
As I was reading the blog question, I immediately thought of the movie Seven Pounds. It's a great movie, so I'll try not to ruin ot for anyone. Basically, Will Smith's character becomes wholly consumed with the guilt of an awful tragedy that he blames himself for. Having to carry this burden around with himtoo difficult a task for him to bear, so he makes it his mission to positively affect the lives of others as restitution for his life-altering error. His ultimate goal is to give people the greatest gift of all: the gift of life. But he first must deem whether or not a person is worthy of receiving such a gift, whether or not they are a truly good person, one who cares about the well-being of others and is truly grateful to be alive.
So Will Smith was doing everything in his power to help right his past wrongs and give deserving people the greatest possible gift of all. And he did that without the help of Albus Dumbledore. If an old, bearded, creepy magician in flowing robes managed to Apparate into my room, my first reaction would probably be to piss in my pants and hide under the covers. When he starts moving closer, I would then throw my pillows at him, because that is obviously the most sensical way of deterring a wizard who could turn you into a pillow witha flick of his wand.I guess I would eventually calm down after accepting the fact that no, he is not some crazy hundred year-old pedophile who spends his time hiding in high school boys' closets, and because i ran out of weapons (pillows) to hurl at the man. Hopefully, he would still find me qualified to bestow one person of my choosing with anything my heart desired. At that moment, though, I would probably decide that i was just part of some twisted nightmare and would squander the immense power to banish Dumbledore from my mind and my room. But, imagining for a moment that I had any kind of faith in supernatural occurences, I would most definitely take my time with such a monumental task. "Anything" is so comprehensive that it's difficult to choose just one single person to bless. This makes the task so much harder than saying, "give us world peace", or "stop world hunger", or "cure cancer". What kind of attributes qualifies someone to receive such an impossible gift? The person I would give my gift to would have to be someonewho is struggling in his or her situation, yet continues to help others. It would have to go to someone who appreciates all they have, no matter how much or little that may be.
One of the most influential people in my life was the late Dave Lewis, the former Oakcrest basketball coach. He succumbed to cancer in July 2008 after a long and hard-fought battle, leaving behind his wife Beth, and two young children, David and Emily. Coach Lewis is not only an inspiration because of how hard he battled his disease, but also because he didn't let it get in the way of helping people. Coach traveled to New Orleans to aid victims of Hurricane Katrina when he should have been at home resting. He thought that a day without helping someone was a day wasted. No matter how weak or tired he was, Coach would find a way to make it to practice, or Dave's soccer games, or Emily's choir rehearsals. He could have been battling extreme pain, but no one would know because he would never complain about his situation, no matter how tough it was on him. Through his example, Coach has turned many foolish, young high school kids into mature adults. He taught us responsibility, loyalty, and perserverance. Because of these reasons and so many more, I would give my gift to Coach Lewis's son, Dave Junior. Growing up without a father must be unimaginably strenuous. To not have a father figure to talk to about your problems or to just shoot hoops with can create a void in a child's life that is often filled with bad mistakes and poor life choices. But little Dave will not follow those roads, because of the legacy his father left behind through his former players and friends. He will never have any doubts as to the strength of his father's character and heart. The people who Coach cared about and loved will love Dave as well as the rest of his family. Because he knew his dad for a shorter time than the rest of his family, the gift I would like to present to David is his father's selfless nature. In so many ways, Dave is like his dad, yet there are many things that Coach did not have the time to pass on to his son, especially how to truly bless others. My advice for Dave would be to live life to its fullest, and not dwell on what might have, or what could have been, had his father still been alive. I would tell him to honor Coach's memory by living as his father would, lending a helping hand to those less fortunate, and to always be grateful for the things you have, because they could be gone in an instant.
Devie-
Your post was really cute. I sorta know your daddy and from what I've seen and what you've described, he really deserves the gift you gave him. I seriously could not imagine the grief he felt from all the tragedies he's been through along with the troubles at home. But I believe he would be genuinely happy with the gift you described <3
Tarah-
"WHY COULDN'T MY MOM HAVE STAYED IN CALI. I COULD'VE BEEN A HOT BEACH CALI GIRLLL."
first thing i thought of when you started describing her family. but awww i wuv your mommy <3 :)
I’m with Matt C on this one. It’s extremely difficult to pick one person to give this gift to. And yeah, some would argue that it’s irrational to think about everyone in the world, but whatever. And I also had a whole blogged typed out… I decided to scrap it.
Enter 1984 (no, not Orwell). My parents had just arrived in Japan, and they know no word of English. My father is an ambitious student trying to earn his degree, and my mother was a pretty lawyer trying to find a niche in the strange land.
If anyone knows what it like is to be an outsider, well then I hope you can sympathize. My parents were pretty much alone in a warzone, with ridicule and prejudice whizzing past their heads at every turn. Opportunities were nearly non-existent for my father, who resorted to selling vegetables on the side of the road to support his family and education.
And it was during the first several years that my parents met one of the single most influential people in my life. It’s my nanny, or my grandmother of sorts. Her name is Kawade-Obachan, and she met my parents after arriving. Even though she knows hardly any English, she helped my parents with their monetary issues, and helped them master the new language.A survivor of the atomic bombs (she lost her mother and siter), she had lived a very calm and fulfilling life.
After I was born, everything started getting a lot harder for my family. My dad had to pay for his and my mother’s schooling. He worked at a convenience store, a job he practically had to beg for (the owner told that his skin might scare customers away). My mother taught English at a local community college. That left my brother and I alone at the house, and Obachan took care of us.
She taught me the importance of respect, and showed me what real empathy was, instead of the fake bullshit most people throw around. She taught me to see the goodness in others, and not to judge. She told me that stealing money and buying Pokemon cards was a very bad thing to do.
She has truly turned me into the one person I am today. She carved the marble and turned it into something decent looking (myself). She encouraged me to think from a young age (along with my uncle, who is what my first blog was about).
And it isn’t everything she taught me that makes me respect her as much as I do.
It’s her sincerity, and her rare, genuine love of helping poeple.
Because quite frankly, she didn’t have to take care of us. She was happily retired, with several children to support her and her equally loving husband. But in my family’s desperate struggle to survive, she lend out an open hand and helped my whole family stay afloat. My parents did not have the money to pay her, but she didn’t care. She adopted my brother and I like her own children, with complete love and reverence.
I’ve only met a few people in my life that embody the true meaning of being alive, and Obachan is one of those people.
So anyways, my one gift to her is the ability to speak English. Sounds like an odd request?
Obachan speaks hardly any English, and my Japanese is pretty rusty. I can understand nearly everything, but I’ve lost my confidence in conversing back. And this tears me up inside.
Not being able to thank her, to tell of her how much she means to me, and how much I miss her is devastating. It eats me up inside. And she’s in her 80’s, and I know she doesn’t have too much time left. I dread the day when my parents would sit me down and tell me the news. I don’t think I will be able to take it. Just thinking about it makes my eyes well up.
There’s a big flaw in this piece of writing, because I can’t put into words just how much this woman has impacted my life.
Everyone carries around the memory of a person that shaped them to the people they are today. Aunts, grandfathers, coaches… you all have that one person. And I envy you all of you who can talk to this one person. And to anyone whose one person has left this world, I still envy your ability to communicate with this person.
I would do anything to pick up the phone and tell her how much I love her, and how I respect her more than anyone can imagine. My advice would be for her to let go of any remorse she had in her life, because she is probably my biggest influence in life.
I would love to throw away all the fear and embarrassment I may have and grow the balls to talk to her, and visit her and give her a giant hug. I hope I can soon, because I know my time to do so is running out, and that scares the shit out of me.
I hope my wish comes true.
To be honest, when I first heard this, my mind instantly leapt to honesty, a sort of one-day pass where you can speak your true mind without repercussions. But despite the girl who leapt to mind being able to use something like that, it's not the most I can do. One wish, for one person, a gift of anything at all, and I'd waste it on something trivial, something that doesn't need magic, something that doesn't need anything but a little guts, and the person I had in mind has that in spades. Anyway, it hit me, what I should do, the gift that can be achieved no other way, the gift that will give and give until nothing more can be received. I would give my grandmother back her memory.
As I've stated before, my grandmother suffers from Alzheimer's. I feel for Jen. With that kind of situation I'd go completely insane, but I digress. I came to the realization awhile ago, but I've grieved already. For all intents and purposes, the woman she was is dead. What's left is a husk that goes on after the soul should've left and gone on to whatever's next. But before I get myself worked up even more, I propose to offer the gift of memory. This, she'll not be a husk, but her full self. And she'll be a joy rather than a burden. Experience rather than nothing, a life worth protecting and learning from rather than nothing.
Advice? Ha! The entire purpose of this is, in essence, raising the dead. I figure on one level or another, we never die, so she knows exactly what to do with life. The burden, at that point would be on me, not to waste the second chance. The entire point is to take what the gods stole, return it, and learn from the true owner. I wouldn't do this at all if I thought there was no point, and its not my idea of a good time to tell someone, particularly someone with that much more experience than me, what to do with their second shot at life. Compared to seventy some years of experience, the hell can I offer? The five years missed completely should be advice enough not to waste any more. The entire point is to give my mother back hers, to give my aunts and uncles their mother, to give myself and my cousins a grandmother, to allow a life to come back. The point is to allow something that was to reenter the now, to become something that is. What would I offer with a half-thought word of advice? The best lessons are learned, not taught, that I'm sure of, and five years missed trumps a few sentences advising not missing any more would be torture, not salve.
I don't mean to play a god, or game the system, but there are so many selfish, ultimately useless gifts I could've crapped out, this is the only thing that seems worth considering. I'm gonna go do something diversionary now.
Morg : I remember your stories about Danielle, and I wish her the best.
Dev: That was very touching and hooking. And I’m not giving the typical “your blog was great!” response. It was genuinely fun to read, and emotional as well.
Ash: Same with yours. The parallelism between your childhood and your cousin was very well brought on and written. And that letter of yours… wow. It was amazingly well written.
Wait, that was a Linkin Park song? Alice, I thought that was a poem you wrote.
A single wish is a torturous task. The innumerability of options boggles the mind, and being forced to pick one just adds to the difficulty. Being asked to chose a wish for ANOTHER person is like trying to ice fish in the desert. There is no way you can tell what any person wishes, even friends and relatives. So when choosing a wish for someone else, it’s impossible to be specific. A cat won’t want a bone and dogs hate catnip. It has to be a universal theme every human can utilize/
In my search for the perfect universal gift I first ran through several material ideas, but none seemed wish worthy. Muscles can atrophy, houses can burn, and money comes and goes. Nothing human was up to par, so I started listing off superpowers. Flying, super strength, X-ray vision, all the classics. But I realized a gift like this would condemn a person to the life of a classis superhero. And in every superhero movie I see, he or she usually hates their life. One gift however, stuck out in my mind. It’s the perfect gift for anyone because it grants them the ability to do anything without directly wishing for it. It has the power to do tremendous good. It could end world hunger, bring world peace, cure every disease, and the best part is, it’s completely inconspicuous. It is the gift of intelligence.
This gift of intelligence wouldn’t just make them AP smart. This world be an other worldly intelligence. A brain never seen on this planet, with all the knowledge of the universe, the quickest reaction time, the best reasoning, the most logical, everything. Simply put, the brightest mind the world has ever seen. With this mind, anyone could do anything. This individual could revolutionize the human existence. They could make planet Earth a utopia of existence by solving all of our problems and make themselves the most revered human in history. But there are two sides to every coin. A human with this power could just as easily destroy the Earth with such a mind.
We’ve all seen those posters in our second grade classroom. Between, “Reading is Fun!” and “Math is a Blast!” was the phrase, “Knowledge is Power.” Intelligence is a dangerous thing when in the wrong hands, and the answer to our prayers when in the right. What I believe is the best part of this wish is that it is up to the recipient which way this gift goes. But to help ease them to the light side of the force I would tell them my favorite quote of all time. “With great power comes great responsibility.” I completely believe in what this quote says because one, I loved the movie Spiderman, and two, it’s applicable to everyone. The more power you have, the more responsible you become. It’s a fact of life, and the most intelligent person in the world should realize the immense responsibilities that lie ahead.
The only rule I would tag along with this gift is due to a personal pet peeve of mine. The person could not be haughty with his or her gift. They can’t brag about their intelligence in any way, because I could not live with my self knowing I put another smartass on the streets bragging about how genius they are. Modesty is a virtue.
Sara-
Thank you. And your blog was very sweet. I think that Nick is a great kid, and I know that deep down you guys love each other. You and your mom are doing a great job raising him as far as I can see. Sometimes I feel bad for Jason, in a house with 4 girls! But my dad is definitely what keeps him sane. Jason always wants Nick to come over, lol. Sooo he can come and chill with my dad (and his newfound freedom and chef self.)
I rewrote this a couple times before I actually could find a person who I think deserves a gift this great. Everyone I know seems to have his or her life together and are pretty happy with the way it is. I do however know one person who needs a break, needs to be able to sit back and be not judgmental for just a day. That person is my mom. We don’t get along well and I’m not necessarily giving this gift to her for her to be happy. If I could give her a magical gift I would give her my pair of eyes, my thoughts, my life. That may sound a little strange but let me explain. We fight because we see things completely opposite she seems my life as mistake after another yet I see them as a normal part of life. If I could give her this gift she would be able to realize everything I do is not to hurt her and not to make my life worse. I do it because I’m growing up and this is the best I can do for now. I feel if she could spend a couple days knowing what I think and why I do things we could be at peace. This would allow us to have a chance to have a better relationship and in return she would be happier. I would say the same Molly said about her mom, “I don’t need to place restrictions on how not to spend the money, because my mom isn’t a dumb woman, she knows what the right decisions are.” The only advice I would give to my mom is not to judge. Not to criticize me because I don’t think the same way she does. Not to base your whole opinion on someone off one mistake they have made. So really the gift I would give she probably would hate. At first. But she needs it and I need her to understand me.
Thoughts of all the good I can do with a single gift flit through my mind, before I realize that they are all compound gifts. No one present would save the world or end hunger. So I move from gifts the world bleeds for in the present to less practical things, which might be remembered later on. I stoop, and pick up a lump of flawed quartz from the ground. Then I hand it to some nearby friend, and place it in their hand. “Look,” I say. “Have you ever seen anything as wonderful? Polished, this stone could be mistaken for diamond. Powder it and heat it, and you have glass. Grind it up, and you have the sparkling sand our state used to be known for. In one scratched stone, you have both the most and least valuable clear stones we can name. But this is not the only one. Look beneath your feet. Every one of the white grains we step on is this stone in miniature. Each one is just as precious as this stone, is just as wonderful. But we pass them all by daily. We would have walked past that wonder in your hand.”
“Look around! The leaves are falling from the trees, blowing away on the wind. Look at the patterns. You’ve seen them every day of your life. Now close your eyes. Can you describe any of them? What is the shape of an oak leaf? Of a maple? Of a holly? Open your eyes again, and look around!”
My friend by this time is smiling. They’ve heard this rant before. But I’d continue. “Go. Bring back one of the leaves. Now tell me what type it is.” Before they could respond, I’d press on. “Look at the size of it. Why should an oak tree make leaves of this size? It’s as large as two of my hands. And yet it’s cast off, forgotten, a bit of its life thrown away. And yet it’s tougher now that it’s fallen than when it was part of the living tree.”
“Are we any less careless? What have you worked for? Food? Grades? The clothes on your back? How long will it be before they’re all forgotten? Don’t actually answer. It’ll turn into an argument no on can win because we’re debating from two different universes, obeying different rules. But think about it. Think! That’s all I can ask from you.”
The gift I gave is as commonplace as any pebble on the ground, but is bypassed just as easily. A pebble and an oak leaf are the only physical manifestations. I hope that with them came the gift of observation.
This is a gift I’ve tried to give, less loudly, many times before. It doesn’t go very far. We’re trained in our own mindsets, and it isn’t easy to change them. People really don’t want to listen to this rant when it’s delivered, and I’ve proved just as stubborn when they’ve tried to bring me around to their views. I don’t actually want them to change completely.
I just want them, by the grace of Dumbledore, to listen.
Molly - I was considering giving my mom a "gift" as well. It's amazing how much parents live for their children, even if we often feel like we don't deserve all of their attention and love. I would love for my mom to be able to not worry about us, and how she's going to get us all to practices, and into colleges, but I'm not sure she would know what to do with herself without those responsibilities.
“For years he has been basically without a father and as my gift, I’d like to give him one.”
Sara-
Your blog was AMAZING! I will admit, I started tearing up. It is such a selfless gift that would truly change your brother’s life. I just loved it!
Dan: I think I know how you feel. My grandfather died not knowing who he was.
Sara-
i thought your blog was amazing. That is so sweet that you would do that for your brother, i know brother can be annoying and a pain all together but i also know that no matter how much of a pain they are you still love them. What you would give your brother is such a great gift, it is really heartfelt and that is one amazing gift.Your a person with a big heart too, i guess we can tell you two are related :)
@Eva: Observation, eh? Well thought. We pass through wonder every day, and miss it all in a rush. I wish more people tried to give that gift.
The person I fight, argue, and can’t stand at times the most would be my dad, and this is who I would give my gift to. As I initially began to write this I began to think of the life my dad lead when he was growing up, and I have to emphasize that I wouldn’t ever change his life because it’s actually made him into a really great person, but I would like to change the affect that his younger life has on him now. My dad grew up as an orphan in South Philly, where he has told me numerous times was really hard for him. He never knew or met either of his parents, and the closest thing he had to an adult was his grandmother that passed away when he was little. The information his grandmother gave him when he was younger was barely anything, and the most he has of his parents is a sepia toned 2x2 picture of his mom, dad, and himself as a baby only a couple months old. In addition to this he has a handicapped sister whom he knew only when he was a kid, and has never seen or spoken to her since. The weird thing is that this family part of his life is the least thing that seems to affect him, or at least he portrays it that way. What I always hear him say is how he regrets the decisions he made when he was younger. He never divulges on what these choices might be, but often reminds me that he was lost as a teen and had no one to help him. At this point I don’t know if it’s his choices that he regrets, or the lack of someone there to help him make them that gets to him the most.
I can never really get an entire grasp of my dad, despite the many times I’ve tried. It’s complicated trying to distinguish the different parts of my dad. He’s one of those people that you can characterize by his actions rather than try to mentally gage where he may be. For example, my dad goes to the furthest extent to make sure that my two sisters and I are given better lives than he was ever able to have. He’s always sure to discipline us, help us, and above all tell us ‘not to make mistakes, because we know better… unlike him when he was younger.’ But out of all the actions that don’t reveal his state of mind at times, this statement alone has brought me to realize that it holds a lot more insight than I would think. Although I usually hear these cliché words about ‘making good decisions’, right before I go out with my friends, he always adds the fact that he lacked this kind of advice, and therefore left him lacking good decisions. For all I know this statement could very well be hung on the end of his words for dramatics, but the fact that he’s relentless to teach us this concept, shows some sort of grudge that he’s had on himself since he was little. My dad is definitely someone who has grown up and learned not to make the same mistake twice, but I know that something is always tugging at his 45 year old heart.
If I could give my dad one gift, it would be the gift of ‘peace of mind’. I would give him the peace of mind on the fact that the guidance he lacked when he was younger, no matter what mistakes he could’ve made, has allowed him to develop into a great and wise person. I would give him the peace of mind that he has raised his daughters well and no longer has to press the concept of ‘making good decisions’ on us any longer. I would also give him the peace of mind concerning his own family, whatever that hidden emotion would be.
I must say the most recent story of my dad’s childhood would have to be yesterday when I was listening to Free Bird by Lynyrd Skynyrd When I clicked to the next song, he immediately ran into my room and said what happened to Free Bird?! He then went on to tell me that the song was the soundtrack to his life as he grew up ‘lost’ as he puts it. So despite the fact that I might not ever be able to give my dad peace of mind, I definitely know that a little Lynyrd Skynyrd will put him at peace.
Hayley- I almost cried reading your story about your grandma and grandpa. It’s probably one of the strangest situations your grand mom could be in on one half wanting him to live a happy life, and on the other side not allowing him that, at the chance that he might not live very long. The wish to give your grandpa a happier life as well as your grandma is so admirable, and one of those situations where only a miracle, blessing, or granted wish would suffice. Just know that both of your grandparents lived our great lives together, and can only pray that hopefully they will have the chance to peacefully end it together. I hope your mom and family feel better, and it’s great to see that something is taken out of such a bizarre situation.
Devon- Your dad and grand mom really reminded me of some of the qualities and mannerisms I find in my own dad. Whenever I go to do anything, my dad reminds me that bad things can always happen to me as well as the fact that ‘I’m just like every other kid that has to be driven to school!’ I couldn’t imagine loosing such family and friends, but I’m weirdly happy that he met your mom! It’s crazy that his life when he was a teenager goes as far as to affect our own lives as teenagers. I hope he gets some free time to get to do what he wants. =)
Life is something every human takes all too seriously. As it should be, there are no second chances, no reset button, and no extra time. It humbles the most powerful kings and the dregs of society; there isn’t any way to escape the cold grasp of death. No man can buy life, no matter their wealth, and no man can steal life, no matter their slyness. For some it is the only thing they can control, and for others it is the one thing they cannot. Unless a deal with the devil is made, the circle of life will consume everyone, no exceptions. Changing one person’s life is something that should not be taken lightly. Certainly with the curse I would bestow on them. I would gift them with immortality.
Immortality should not be put into just any hands, but only someone who can handle the stresses of being wise when all seems lost. Immortality means living until the end of time. This entails watching your loved ones perish, being tormented by the mistakes of the world, for history repeats itself and you would have seen it thousands of times before, and these things are things no man has been near to. Food would lose its taste; the finest things would seem average. In a world of eternity, there is only one thing that remains the same, and that is the body. If the person selected had malicious intent, there would be nothing that could stop him. They could just wait until the building they sat in while restrained, started to decay. The guards would have died, their children would have died, and the person could wait until the prison cell was no more. Then the person could take advantage of mankind, leading them where the person wanted. The greed of man infects every one of us. This person will need to have the ability to move mountains, with just the wind through his mouth. The candidates for this gift are few and far between. There is one that is truly worthy of this, Mahatma Gandhi. This little man freed a country from tyrannical rule. This was all done with not a single lift of his finger in malice. Gandhi tried to learn from every one of his mistakes. Just think if he can make an infinite amount of mistakes, surely he would find the answer to most of them.
What advice can someone give to Gandhi? The only thing that I can think of saying is to do what I could never be able to. I know that I would be unable to keep my sanity throughout eternity. Seeing my parents, friends, and peers all die before me. That is something I could not handle. Hopefully something that Gandhi embraced so much would not anger him to have forever. Is it ethical to wish never ending life for someone? Would he be willing to stop his wheel of reincarnation? Would anyone be able to see everything come to an end?
To Jen
Your sister sound like an amazing person for what she has done. Her selfless acts are something that unfortunately usually go unnoticed in this world. By basically sacrificing her childhood for you is something truly great and it's sweet that you would think of her for this blog.
Janiru-
Your blog brought tears to my eyes, and I'm not just saying that. What a tough situation to be in. I know what it's like to not be able to tell that one person who has impacted your life the most, how much they mean to you. Although our stories are different, I can empathize with the way you feel. See, it's not that frustrating to me any more because Coach Bob is an angel looking down and he knows how much he meant to me. But Obachan, she's still here, and you can't talk to her. That's devastating. Janiru, I hope that you can figure out some way to contact this woman because she sounds incredible and you can't let the opportunity slip by. Even if she does pass on and you don't get to talk to her, pray to her. Don't worry, everthing will work out.
Hayley: Your gift is truly selfless.
MR: The answer. I think it may be a disappointment. I hope I'm wrong though, if we ever find out.
Devon:
That is a really sad story but an amazing gift. It is simple yet encompasses so much. I really like your blog it was very well-written, as always. Keep up the good work.
Hilary:
That's a great gift for your dad, who, even though I only meant a few times, is a really cool person. Great advice "don't forget to eat" that made me smile.
Mike N:
That's a really awesome gift. I never really though of it but when you chose it, it sounded like an amazing quality to possess. I like you're reasoning behind your selection process, as well.
Alice and Leonor:
Thanks for taking the time to read my incredibly long post. It really means somethings to me. I have read both of yours and I must say they are both amazing in their own ways.
John M:
Your choice of both person and gift were mind-boggling, in a good way. I can only imagine what good things might have come about if gandhi was still around, maybe there would be no war or violence. All around great job!
Sergei:
I hate to tell you this but you're wrong about harry potter. i could go into a full on tirade aabotu why but i'll spare you...this time. Anyway thanks for reading my post and what do you mean "very exploitable" They lose the power if the become selfish or greedy basically? Maybe missed something? Please explain.
Jani:
First, amazing job on your blog.
Second, was buying pokemon cards wrong or stealing money to buy them wrong? :)
Third, that was a heart-wrenching story and I can only imagine losing someone or being unable to communicate with someone whose was that influential in my life. It sounds like she was practically family, as you said, "grandmother"-like. I feel bad and hope your wish comes true. Devon is right though, things will work themselves out, they always do.
A gift that can be given to anybody. It is a simple ability in concept, yet at the same time complicated. Perhaps I could simply give money to a hobo, and simply say, “Don’t waster it on booze”. Perhaps I could give myself superpowers, allowing me to improve the world. Of course, the first is just silly, while the second, granted to myself or not, would likely lead to corruption or insanity, no matter how much is said and done. That said, a grand wish that won’t go awry will require a lot of planning.
I can’t say I could decide to give something to anybody close to me. Nor can I think of many grand gifts that help everyone without backfiring completely.
Perhaps something simple as,
having the ability to inspire hope in others who are ailing is enough of an ability. It is essentially the mental version of a superhero. They would walk the path of a hero, without having to bear the fact that despite their tremendous power, they cannot save everyone. The person I decide to pick is likely going to be just anyone I view characterizes what he/she are going to spread. A person who has known suffering yet moves on towards a brighter future. Perhaps this person will become a rights activist, a delusional dictator, or simply the next person conspiracy theorists believe to be the antichrist. The number of variables is beyond comprehension. That is why I’ll have to brief them on the basics.
Everything would be easy if I could make the person’s head explode the moment they tried to do major harm to society for greedy purposes. Unfortunately, Dumbledore, Gandalf, Merlin, or somebody’s deranged grandfather, would likely not give that power. Even then, the thought of less-than-indirectly killing someone through head explosion isn’t very pleasant. Let us hope that my words could inspire the one who inspires others. The mess would be difficult to clean up.
My first piece of advice would be simply to know his limits. After crossing a certain line, there comes a point in which people begin to depend on guidance. Never act as an end all person of advice. Listen to the opinions of all whom follow you. Stepping on the nuances in beliefs of others is inevitable, but never should you trample on them completely. That will allow this person to become accepted beyond a select few that follow along.
The second would be, well, logic. Something a good number of people, whether they’re opposing or agreeing with my views, lack. Severely. Just as a man in the military should not fight guns with swords, a leader should not use blind faith. You are not Jack Churchill. You aren’t going to succeed in doing anything other than getting some crazies to come along. In order to not sound like an idiot, a leader must know what they’re saying, or very well, not saying.
Lastly, I would try to make sure they’d remember their upbringing. To remember what is being fought for may very well keep a person with power in check. Those people that supported them would make the person wish to fight for them in return. The reminder of what has gone on through life would make sure there is no straying from a righteous path. Or maybe make the person go on a killing rampage with followers tagging along. Either is possible.
Perhaps I should just tell them about the head exploding thing. An idle threat always works.
Well, so for about three hours now, I’ve been staring at this vacant blank screen, contemplating the perfect gift for one deserving person, and I have FINALLY come to what seems to be a conclusions.
Ever since I was about 8 years old, I had a very strong connection with my grandmother. She lives in Toms River, which was close enough for us to visit her just about every other weekend, if not every weekend. My grandmother is 100% Puerto Rican, and was born there, so her English isn’t what you would call perfect, and is sometimes unconprendable. Whenever I happen to show up at her doorstep, there is always a buffet of Spanish food waiting for us, and even if we call before we arrive, there will still be a good supply of food waiting. Even though there is a barrier to what we are able to communicate, (the different languages thing….it’s tough) I still have been able to find out a lot about her.
Her Name is Awilda Cancel, and she was born to a loving family in Puerto Rico. She grew up in a very ‘busy’ environment, and her family owned a very successful furniture business on the island, and her father and his brothers were involved in some pretty shady stuff……if you know what I mean. ( If you don’t know what I mean, I am sorry, because I feel like if I wrote it down the government would come searching from me.) Before she entered high school, she moved to New York (that explains my deep love for the New York Giants, may their playoff hopes rest in peace <3) with her mother. When she was only 15, she got pregnant with my mom, and dropped out of high school. This man was my grand father, who is about 25 years older than her and they are still married to this day. He wanted her to take care of the baby, and to go to work to make money for the baby as soon as possible. But anyway, 15 was very young to not only drop out of school, but also to have a baby. This event altered what was to come her whole life. She ended up working in a perfume factory, doll factory (and would bring home dolls to my mom all of the time when she was little) and was a belly dancer for a short period of time. She had two more children, which were both boys, and was pregnant with twins, when she fell down a flight of stairs and they were killed before they were even born.=( She currently is still working as a nurse at a hospital near her house, and is retiring next month, to stay home with my grandfather.
Even though all of those professions seem to be cool and absolutely amazing, I’ve always felt that she is a very smart person, and could have really been somebody influential. Maybe she could have stayed in school and properly learned how to speak English, and I would be able to connect with her more, or she could have brought her fathers successful furniture business to America.
So, finally, to my gift, I would give my grandmother to go back in time, and not drop out of high school. She could learn all of the essential things that could alter her life, and she’d really be able to experience what SHE wanted and took part in what she wanted to do in her life, rather than appease the wants of others. Maybe this would mean that I wouldn’t exist, or my mother would have been put in an adoption home, and not known any of these things about my crazy family, but I think that it is fair to her that she gets to experience what she wanted to become when she grew up, and be more than just a working mother. I would tell her to take this second chance, and accomplish all that she wished that she could have been or done, and to not dwell on fixing exactly what she did wrong, but rather add to all of the experiences that she has, new adventures that she will never be able to do now that it is too late.
Sara Veeep-
“Nicolas, although an annoying pest to me, has a genuinely kind heart. He’d never do anything to purposely hurt anyone (other than me, of course).”
Nick is the cutest thing that I have ever seen in my life, and I see you look out for him, and it is ADORABLE. Like during that fire drill when he was wearing red chapstick and thought that it was clear, and you traded with him.<3 haha.
To Dan:
First off, when I read "Girl being able to use something like that", my mind leapt to something it shouldn't have. That's enough of that, though.
It's interesting to see you write such a serious post. I didn't know you had that opinion on death.
Sara.
The gift you chose for your brother was so nice. A father figure, no matter how much someone doubts it, is necessary in a growing boy's life. Nick is a really nice kid still, and I think that he will have sucess in life just because of you and your mom's influence on him.
Alice-
Your selflessness surprises me and puts me to shame, as i answered this blog from a more selfish standpoint. I hope that one day your friend finds her guy and you still hold a great place in her heart. :)
Ali
When I was thinking about doing the blog after practice, I really had a lot of ideas about what to do. I actually was devising a number of plans in writing this blog. I thought to myself with a dreary feeling from practice, “Well, I could give [anonymous] confidence because they don't believe they can.....” or “Maybe I should give them the gift of [blanky] because they [blankity-blank].” And it really was blank because I was thinking of anything productive. It was just all a mimic of what was suggested or an overrated theme that would of sounded bland. All bullshit. When I got home I did what I do best- eat tons of food then go to my room an blast my music to annoy the hell out of everyone. After finally settling down and managing to sit still in my chair, I turned down the volume on my Ipod stereo and turned on the computer.
Right as I logged into the blog and began reading the question once more to gather an idea when I realized it turned on. This IT was a song that I name as potentially the best song that was ever written from someones soul-Release. And if you know anything about me at all, you would know that the song I was listening to was by known other than.....Pearl Jam! The song is the concluding track on one of the best alternative/grunge albums of all time, Ten(you may of heard of it from the annoying repetition of “Even Flow” on Guitar Hero III). No matter how many times I hear this particular song, which I believe to be one of the best songs ever written, I find this emotional connection to it. I will literately play it 10 times before turning off the radio. Sometimes it makes me happy, sometimes adds to sadness. Here's the song and its forever evoking, at least to me, lyrics.(If you do choose to watch, please listen in it's integrity)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ud1tR_zglk
Father...ooh...oh...oh...
I see the world, feel the chill
Which way to go, windowsill
I see the worlds on a rocking horse of time
I see the verse in the rain
Ohh...ohh...ohh...ohh...
Oh, dear dad, can you see me now
I am myself, like you somehow
Ill ride the wave where it takes me
Ill hold the pain...
Release me...
Ohh...ohh...ohh...ohh...
Oh, dear dad, can you see me now
I am myself, like you somehow
Ill wait up in the dark for you to speak to me
Ill open up...
Release me...
Release me (3x)
Ohh...ohh...ohh...ohh...
But one of the best things about the song, and probably Pearl Jam's music in general, is you always find something new. In a literal sense, I found that at about 7 seconds, Eddy Vedder says very lowly “Hush.” But more important than this sense is the ideas that you find and lessons of the songs, The song is about Eddy's(Vocals) real father, whom died when he was three. Eddy went his whole life assuming that his arrogant step father was his real one. When he found that this was all a lie, he was very troubled. This songs acts as a call beyond to his biological father, asking for some guidance, approval, and a “release” from his troubled past endured.(The song was their first ever performed song at their first ever gig.
But all of this goes to say this-it became my inspiration for my response. After finding this “Hush” I thought about the song for a long time, till it came to me. I wouldn't give any of the things I named before back to people for my new idea. All of those things meant nothing and would only be held with one trait or emotion. This new one was packed with much more.
I could have done it on anyone I knew with this misfortune, but I chose this person for certain reasons.
I will not refer to kid, but the description will be very blatant and apparent to must people who read this.
The kid is just plain arrogant! When I think of arrogance, sometimes I have mixed feelings. I think of someone blurting out shouting in class, or a cocky moron who thinks they are the shit. But whenever I think of the word and it's sister phrase, this kid always comes to mind. He's a skinny little pride-bound, cocky-ass, selfish, snooty jerkoff prick. Granted, like anyone this kid can be good, and I've seen him get better, at times. He can actually be really cool. However, his overall attitude sucks. He's inconsiderate to anyone. He acts cocky for no reason. He makes fun of anyone whom just happens to be on his mind. He has his universe above everyone else's. He wrecks peoples shit for no reason. Worst of all he thinks he is about 6-5, 250 lbs., so he acts like all of this is justified. When in all reality God, he's a scrawny piece of crap that couldn't hurt anyone. Damn It! I just want to go cave-critter on his ass and F””” his day up!!!
...and a few times, I have thought about this intensely. I thought about it to the point that i was ready to throw up my fist and hook him right there. All his arrogance towards me-gone. But I didn't. I never could get my self to left my hands and harm him, and thats all because of my believe on him, which I know is completely the case. I would do something was it not for one factor: I knew the only reason he was like this was because of his horrors of the past. When he was only in fifth grade, he lost his father. The most dearest of men, the standing source of respect for any boy, the sheer example of your existence-dead. He never acted this way before, most people who can remember back that far say he was actually really cool. Very humble, modest. Once this happened, everything went down hill. He has lived through something that I myself could not live through,for I am no where near strong enough.
My personal believe is that their is a boy under this arrogance. A poor boy who had to endured so much. A boy who never harmed a fly. A boy that stopped growing and hides crying in the deepest depth of a soul because he did not know how to handle what he's happened. What now encases this little boy is a shell of selfishness and disillusion to the emotions of others. A shell that simply does not care.
Will this boy ever see the light again? Will he one day face the facts that the natural course of life has presented him and tear down this shell that has grown ever so thick? Will he lay aside the haunting memories of the past in order to better himself and the world that surrounds him? This I can not answer. I myself have no idea whether this will ever happen, let alone give any measure of assurance. All I know is this poor boy lives somewhere in a tattered past, mourning his loss with great grievance.
If only he had been able to hold onto what he so loved, he may a walked down a different path.
What I would give to this kid to break this shell would not be realization or confidence. It would not be humility or the ability to move on. None of that matters in contrast. I would give that boy what he has always needed. I would ensure that he had a hand to guide him in a direction that would not lead to a life of mood-swings and constant anger. I would give him the one element he really needs;what anyone needs- his father.
The amount of change that would sprout. The poor boy would have never cocooned himself to the form he is now. He would break from all bounds of evil hope to run freely through the fields of happiness and morality. He would finally receive the piece of the puzzle missing.
My advice would be so simple and understanding, yet so easily crossed it may be near impossible for any human being. I would ask him to hold everything close that he truly HAS. To not take for granted what God has placed before him and learn to cherish every moment he spends with the things he loves. Follow the lessons that your father want you to learn. Continue to forever respect hi mas well as everyone around you. Try your best to keep humility and never let the evils of humanity slip into the bridges of your mind. Learn to love all you are presented, for at any moment you could once again lose almost everything you know.
To dust away the ideas of self- gain, this gift would not be related to me in anyway. Sure, it can piss me off when this kid does act this way. Quite frankly, if you haven';t figured it out, it pisses me off beyond believe; but I can live with this arrogance. No. Not for me at all. It would only be the assurance that a boy gets whats best. He receives the thing which will so help in developing him into a good man and someday a good father. Even if by chance his father did turn out to be a jerkoff, the pulchritude in this situation is the boy could at least learn how to not to act; how he can at least be a better man. No one should live this way. No one.
That is my gift. Routed from a song.
For the past couple of days I have been contemplating on what I would choose to say. I am well aware of the endless possibilities of being able to give someone courage, hope, faith, or self confidence. We are teenagers and with that being said, we could always use a little bit of all of those attributes. I am positive that I could pick someone to give one of those gifts to; however it is not what I really want. You could say that what I choose may seem selfish or you could see the love in it. Well….. I guess I should let you all know what it is!
My dad was 37 when he had his heart attack and at the time I was 6. My mom was scared to death and if I could go back in time I wish that I were older or more mature to put her mind at ease. She was afraid at the time of having to raise three small children on her own, not having a father for her children, or most importantly loosing the love of her life. Possibly I would tell her that we need our faith in God now more than ever. We would get through this as a family and he would fight with everything he had. The downside was that I had no idea at the time what was going on. I was too naïve to think that my father could die and too young to understand what was really occurring. I understood that my dad was sick and that hospitals really were as awful as I had imagined. My dad had to have stints put into his heart and to act as fake arteries. (I am not too big on medicine and as much as I wish I knew all of the medical terms and things that my dad had done I do not feel like asking him because then he would know that this is about him.)
Roughly a year went by before my brothers and I were tested for high cholesterol and a few other issues we could have. I remember the day when I found out that I had high cholesterol perfectly. Everyone from my family was sitting around at our kitchen table and I had just gotten home from school. My mom said the bad news and it was that my oldest brother and I had high cholesterol. I had no idea what the heck cholesterol even was at the time and I asked what it meant. In 3rd grade my cholesterol was 398 and normal cholesterol for a teen is around 170 or lower. Mind you at the time that my father had his heart attack his cholesterol was 415 and was in good physical condition. My cholesterol in no way meant that I was going to have a heart attack the next day it simply meant that there needed to be steps taken. The doctors tried to put it into terms that I would comprehend by explaining that people with normal livers have their cholesterol in a sense filtered and the cholesterol builds in my liver with trapped doors. I was in no way shape or form overweight and the doctor said that I could eat cabbage for the rest of my life but it would not make the numbers be what they should. My brother, father, and I were immediately put into a study in Philadelphia and I have gotten my blood drawn every three months from the time I found out about my problem. Some of my friends when I was younger remember the pills that I was on and I was taking 12 a day. It would be 6 in the morning and 6 at night time. The doctors tried to hold off on giving me statin until I was a bit older and when I was 13 I began taking lipitor which was a huge adjustment to me because I only had to take on pill a day. The negative aspect is that it can cause liver damage but they doctors say, “We would rather have you liver fail first than your heart.”
Back to the main point here……. If I could give one person in the entire universe anything it would be to give my dad a new heart. I know that it may seem selfish but I need my dad. The reality is that in 10 years or less he will need a bypass and it scares me to death. I want my father to walk me down the isle, to teach my children how to swing a baseball bat, and to love my children with the love that he has given me. I want my father more than anything to grow old with my mother. I know that life is not guaranteed and death scares me but if he had a new heart than he would be much better off. I find myself thinking that the cards he was dealt are unfair and he deserves new ones. He would not have to take any more pills thus helping his liver and God knows what else those pills ruin. If he read this blog he would tell me that God has a plan for him and there are others that would need a different gift far more than he needs this one. His response just proves what a great man he really is. I would say that one of his greatest characteristics is that he always puts himself before others. The advice that I would give him is to cherish every moment that he spends on this earth and to know what a great husband, father, and man he is. He needs to know that he is amazing and I would not change a thing about him for the world. My father is truly a remarkable man.
Firsties, Myra, you both scare me and make me giggle. Kind of like my baby sister. Who is currently giggling manically at me with a big smile and narrowed eyes. She looks quite menacing, for a one year old.
Secondly, as always, I feel the need to start my blog with a rant. I know nobody reads my blog, so I feel comfortable ranting here, even if my rant doesn't contribute to my blog, or even relate, persay. Like today's.
This morning my mom got on a plane. She left the house a little before me, went to the airport and got on a plane to Rhode Island. She's hated New Jersey ever since we moved here, and she finally decided to do something about it. She currently teaches at Georgian Court online and Art Institute Online, but apparently she'd rather teach at the community college of Rhode Island, because that is where she went for a job interview today. Not only that, but she got the job. In Rhode Island. Starting next semester. Like, right after midterms next semester. I'm the only one my dad's told yet, but what is she thinking? Liz is just starting to have a social life, Margaret... Margaret will end up the same way as I did when we moved here. She's popular, comfortable, and happy here. Moving to Rhode Island will, at first, be an adventure for her. Then it will hurt her, just like it hurt me. And I can't believe my mom would want to induce that again. Margaret and Liam are just getting comfortable with Wilson Lessons for their dyslexia, Liz is supposed to go to ChARTer Tech for animation next year... She's willing to throw away so much, because she's not the one who will have to sacrifice.
As for me, I'm not leaving. Whether she leaves in February, August, or somewhere in between, I am staying in Mays Landing and finishing my high school career at Oakcrest. I have too much invested in it already, and I've put so much time into establishing myself here that I'd never bounce back from a move now. And although she doesn't know it yet, that's that. There is no more to this conversation, and no refute that can be made that will make me reconsider. I will miss my siblings terribly, especially Burke and Aislinn, but if my mom wants to move them away that's her perogative, not mine.
well, first of all, this post would be easier if I was heartless because I wouldn't be so torn about who I want to give what. There are so many people who have helped me on the road to who I want to be, and I'd like to thank them all. Unfortunately, the Albus look-alike won't let me. So, in all my puzzling over the past three days-and yes, I have been thinking about this near constantly since sunday night- I have come up with several scenarios, and I think I know how I'm going to combine them, after reading other peoples posts.
When I moved here, to Mays Landing, I knew nobody. I wore boys jeans and giant tee shirts and everyone who knew me when I walked into Mrs. Parkers class knows I was quiet and bitter and angry we'd gone from my personal playground of sunshine and ocean to this desolate, then drought-ridden, swamp land of no beach, no sidewalks, and absolutely no taffy. However. Very soon after moving here, I found my saving grace. Mrs. Crystal and her dance studio, which used to be Gay Bergmans greater beginnings, and is now Dance Spectrum, the place where I've spent, (next to school and home, I guess, since I sleep there) a majority of my time since the end of fifth grade. She has slowly improved me as a person, (if not a dancer) over the past near-six years. So, in thanks for that, I would want to give her a new dance studio. A big, open studio, with lots of windows and good heat so she can feel more comfortable. There's something else I'd give Mrs. Crystal, but this has to do with her children. Seven years ago, Crystal had twins pre-maturely. One of them was severely physically damaged, and the other was very small, and her lungs weren't fully developed yet. Dylan, from birth, was destined to live his life in a motor chair, which he drives with his chin because his hands are uncontrollable. Elaina was taken from Crystal immediately after birth, and not given back for weeks. She had a tube stuck down her throat to feed her oxygen, and she was in urgent care so long that even some of the nurses gave up on her. She's still skinny and short, and has to gasp for air every couple words. Her speech is very breathy, and she has a patch of skin, that soft spot between her collar bones, that's a different color than the rest of her, because of the scar tissues formed when they took the oxygen tube out of her throat. She can however, move, (in fact, she takes dance class from her mother) and is just as intelligent as she ought to be at her age. Dylan cannot speak. He cannot control his volume. He is mostly deaf and will always need help to do things like get out of bed, drive, go to the bathroom, and bathe. When he gets to high school, he will be teased, taunted, and persecuted for his unfortunate situation. I cannot imagine what suffering it must have been, and must be, for Crystal to watch two small people who came from her suffer so much throughout their lives.
So, for Crystal, a studio and strength. For Dylan, a miraculous recovery and full control of his body, mind and voice. For Elaina my wish has less to do with her condition. I would give her the ability and wisdom to take what she and her brother have expirienced and use it to have compassion and help others.
Now onward to my family. After spending a better part of my blog thus far disclaiming my mothers decisions, I think I shall continue. My mom, a teacher, married a teacher. Now, that's fine. Don't get me wrong, they love each other and seem, most days, to get along well, even after... uh, 19 years? Not the point. The point is that they don't exactly rake in the dough. So my next idea was to give her like 5 million dollars. Then the advice would be to put a half million in an account for each kid (Depleting 3 million dollars and ensuring that we'd all be covered for college, grad school, post college initial housing, whatever.) Then, my next advice would be DO NOT TAKE THE EXTRA TWO MILLION AS PERMISSION TO HAVE FOUR MORE CHILDREN >:O.
I would say that very loudly, so maybe it would actually register. -.- anyway. The remaining two million would be for her and my father to spend as they wish. Maybe my dad could buy his father, my grandfather, the house he and my grandma owned before she passed away. Or my mom could take a very long vacation every now and then instead of moving most of my family 7 hours North. Just an idea.
Then came others. Not so obvious, not so grand. But I would give Paul Brower focus. I want so much for him to apply himself and succeed like crazy, but he's content to be young, foolish and in love. Those are all important things, don't get me wrong. I'm not the average hard-core student who misses their childhood and being young, because I'm still a child, and I'm still young. I'm frequently foolish, and love is nothing to be downplayed. But if he could apply himself in college, he would be far better off. So my advice would be too use the creativity he already has in abundance to accell with his newfound focus in ways he'd never dreamed; but to not lose his foolish fun-loving nature.
I would give Alison a little bit more free-spirited-ness. She's very practical and down to earth, and I love that about her. I just think she'd enjoy herself more sometimes if she were to loosen up a bit. My advice would be something along the lines of learning when to have fun and when to be a 28 year old. ^_^ <3
I would give Lauren1 and Lauren2 confidence and freedom. Both are seniors who graduated last year, one from Oak, one from Gami, and both have overly controlling,obsessive parents who they continue to let rule their lives because both Laurens are peace-loving and unlikely to talk back or defend themselves. My advice to them would be to use it wisely. You might get the impression, from my rant about staying in Jersey no matter what and now this, that I'd tell them to completely disregard their parents and just do what they want, but I think their parents opinions should matter to them and be taken into consideration: i just think as 18 year old women they ought to be treated like adults.
Lastly came the wish that will sound selfish but is not, at it's core. I would wish for a big, spacious, windowy house- and old victorian somewhere, that maybe used to be the town meeting place until the town developed... Being idealistic, of course. And with that house, I would have children. Not me, but I would adopt kids, from all planes of the Earth, all different nationalities and orientations and I would try to provide them with a steady basis of principles, and I would try to give them a shot at succeeding at life. Kids from the inner cities, kids from Africa, girls from China, etc. Not exactly like a foster home or orphanage or in-between house. I would only want like, 3 at a time in the house, because any more than that is an injustice to the child, who ought to have at least a third of my attention. But as soon as one has begun to support themselves, I would take in another, and in this way, help as many people as I possibly can within my lifetime. (I plan to do so anyway, by the way. Whether Albus shows up or not, this is the plan.)
So all of these possibilities were swimming around my head when it struck 10 and I realized I still have boatloads of homework to do. So I've decided. I'm giving the 5 million to my mom, with the same half a million put away for each kid. But out of the remaining 2 mil, my advice would be to give some away. In fact, I'd suggest perhaps she might want to give some to Mrs. Crystal... say, maybe enough to buy a studio, and to pay for awesome physical therapy and SpEd tutors for Dylan? Unfortunately that's the only way I could find to get away with solving more than one persons problem, but there was one last option...
Command of this strange, potentially very insane faux-Dumbledore the ability to grant wishes! >:D
Molly-
Your blog was really cute and thoughtful. I thought the restrictions were wonderful rules and it took a different spin on the blog.
Kelly N.-
I loved the reference to the movie “pay it forward”, it is one of my all-time favorite movies. While sad and touching it still has the perfect moral that relates to this blog flawlessly.
After disgustingly vomiting all over the place, my mind was plagued with thoughts about all the people in my life that deserve many different types of gifts. But an earlier conversation with someone floated through my head, and I realized that I know exactly the person and the gift I'd like to give. Actually, my first thought was to give myself the notion to have better health, and then I remembered that the recipient had to be someone else. So after I shook that idea out of my head, along with bringing in a new headache, I came and sat down at my computer only to stare at a blank screen and ask "how can I give this without there being any misinterpretation as being misunderstood, which is frequently believed?" Yes, I do talk to myself in lengthy sentences in my head in case your wondering. But then it hit me like a brick wall.
I refuse to name my receiver to avoid bringing any unwanted attention to them, but I swear to you there is a specific person. Come to think about it people will probably be able to figure it out, but quite frankly I don't care if others can decipher it so it will remain anonymous. Every single day I watch one of my closest friends struggle with an internal power trip between the person she wants to be and the person her ideals tell her she must be. Its extremely heart wrenching to watch as her powerful ideals crush the person she wishes to become, and thus forcing her to put a facade on and parade around doing things she really doesn't wish to do. Sometimes her illusion is so tightly stuck to her it's hard to extract the true person from within, which makes it increasingly difficult to ever help her with her situations. At the end of the day though I usually figure out my way to worm inside of the conflict to help her find that inner person she's petrified to fully express. Many times the conflict arises from her crushing nature to evaluate her own actions so harshly that she ends up overlooking the most important things that make up her persona. This brings me to present my gift of reflection, not self-reflection but a more general reflection. Reflection of how the world, or at least the people who can see through this mirage she creates and forcibly stands by, see her. A better way to put it would be an unbiased reflection. Almost like standing in front of the mirror and having the mirror itself cross examine the reflection, giving a pure and untainted assessment of the individual.
I feel as if giving this to my recipient would not help them in the long run, unless they learned how to accept it. It would provide them with an arsenal of weapons to combat her ideals with, and ultimately allowing her power struggle to tip in favor of the person she wants to become. Her ideals would no longer be able to subjugate her to its will, considering she now has a means to change her ideals into what she wants them to be. Essentially the mirror would show her all the amazing things she overlooks about herself, the significant insignificants if you will. With these hidden attributes that she rarely recognizes, I feel her Civil War would have many more battles with her true side prevailing, and thus leading to more sound and sensible decision making. Even if her true side didn't begin winning these battles her ideals side would have to be altered because of the new information presented. This in itself would ultimately just cause definite changes in her decision making process, which potentially leads to more appealing decisions being made for her.
Advice would be essential for this type of gift, because without it bad things could happen. Probably the most effective advice would be for her to believe what the reflection tells her, and not to disregard it as false information. It would be within the nature of her ideals to pass the reflection off as something of menial importance, but for this gift to effectively accomplish its goal she would have to believe in it. Once she believed it, which would probably never happen due to the strength of her ideals over her opinions, she would have to want to express what she knows about herself. So my second part of the advice would have to be for her to effectively apply what she gleans from the reflection to her life. It's one thing to know information, but it's another to take that information,process it, and make it applicable to every decision you make. This what she she excels in so teaching her how to do it would be unnecessary, but just giving her the advice to follow through is what is the essential part. Her ideals could not prevail if her wants are sure that there is flawed logic behind her ideals, and she'd have to point this out to herself. Conclusively, without the advice the gift would be utterly pointless, since it would just be dismissed without careful ingestion by her due to her overbearing idealistic sense to immediately refute any information that clashes with her own.
I know it sounds like a schizophrenic argument within the person, but its not. Its just a conflict between ones opinion on how they feel they should act and how one logically analyzes their attributes in an attempt to how one should act.
no one watched the penguin video?
Okay, I'm going to admit that my idea here is not entirely my own. A part of the idea comes from a book series I read when I was younger called "The Chronicles of Prydain" by Lloyd Alexander. If you've read these books, you'll probably spot which part of the idea is borrowed. If you haven't read the books, or haven't even heard of them, ignore everything I just said. The idea is entirely my own. Aren't I brilliant?
The selection process for the person I'm giving the gift to would be careful and intricate. Okay, maybe not that intricate. Okay, maybe not that careful, either. But it’s a great plan. Okay, a good plan. An adequate plan?
STOP READING OVER MY SHOULDER RACHEL!!!!!
Okay, anyway, here’s my AWESOME AMAZING SPLENDIFEROUS plan, no matter what snide little comments my snide little sister makes about it.
(And I know some of the elements of the elements of this blog may seem unbelievable, but I ask you all to suspend your disbelief and remember that a) it’s MAGIC and b) the ring knows all.)
So first I go to a random street in a randomly picked city or town, dressed in my worst clothes and carrying a dirty, dingy, raggedy old backpack. Like, imagine the ugliest, grimiest, most disgusting old pack you’ve ever seen, and multiply that by ten. I will stand on my randomly-selected street with my gross backpack and wait until I see a nice-looking person go past. Then I will approach that person and say, “I’m sorry, but I just can’t carry this backpack anymore. Will you help me?” (And if you’re anything like my friends, right now, you’re probably saying to yourself, “Stranger danger! Stranger danger!” but I’m talking about a public street in broad daylight, so chill.) If the person says yes, I will give him/her the backpack and start walking, gesturing for h/h (him/her) to follow. The person will follow behind me, and find something strange happening. With every step the person takes, the pack will get heavier and heavier. The person will probably be weirded out, but I’ll just keep walking, and hopefully, so will they. We will keep walking, and the pack will become continuously harder to carry, until it is too heavy for the person to hold. At this point he/she will put down the pack and say, “I’m sorry. I can’t carry this bag anymore,” or some variation thereof.
“Okay,” I’ll say, “Open the bag.”
The person, by now plenty pissed at my weird demands and magic bag, will nevertheless open the backpack (Why not, right? They already carried the ugly thing around). When they open the bag, they will find sitting at the bottom, a small simple ring of white gold (I like white gold better than yellow gold). No doubt extremely miffed by this point, I will explain to the person what the ring is and what it can do.
The ring, obviously, is magic.
One size fits all.
The ring once put on, will not come off until its purpose is completed.
It only works one time per person.
So what is the freaking point of the ring? You and my hypothetical recipient are probably wondering. The ring helps you when you most need it, and grants the deepest, truest desire of your heart (remember, the ring knows all). Here’s how it works: you put the ring on. When you are in dire need, pull the ring off your finger, and your heart’s desire will be granted.
The one rule of the ring: after you have used it, find another worthy person and give them the ring, explaining what it is and does.
Here’s the advice that goes with my gift, what I would say to the recipient.
Never doubt yourself.
Always be who you are.
Everything you need, you have. The ring is just a little extra help.
Never carry more than you can hold. (Get, it the whole ever-heavier backpack thing…! I’m so funny!)
And
Try not to hate me.
Because, though I won’t tell my ring recipient this, I know there will probably be times in h/h life when they will think, “This is it. I need a miracle… time to use the… WTF! This damn ring isn’t coming off! It isn’t working. (Beep) that (beep)(beep) dumb blonde (beeeeep) should have known she was (beeping) me over, if I ever see her (beep) face again I’m gonna take her (beep) magic ring and (beep) shove it up her (beep). That lying (beep)!”
The fact of the matter is, there’s always going to be hard moments in life, when we think a magic ring or a miracle is going to solve all our problems. And yeah, when a person’s life hits the hardest point, and they need a little help, the ring will help, in any way it’s needed. (What, did you guys think I was going to give someone a magic ring that doesn’t do shit but stay stuck to your finger for the rest of their life? Come on, I’m not a total bitch.) But the ring can’t, and won’t do everything. Ultimately, life comes down to what we do, and the decisions we make. It’s the things we decide, and the people we are, that ultimately changes our lives. We make our own fate, and in the end, it’s not the gifts and influence of others that makes the difference. It’s us.
It’s like I already said. Everything you need, you have. The ring is just a little extra help.
Linds-
Your blog seriously touched my heart in a way that I've rarely seen. Your definitely one of the people I feel knows me better than many of the others I interact with on a daily basis. As I read it a big smiled crossed my face, and if I wasn't a man a tear of happiness probably would of came to my eye. Thank you Linds. I really couldn't tell you the depths of my gratitude for that gift. :)
-Brendan
"Well, I think it's rather obvious. If I could bestow any one gift upon any one person, I would bestow upon myself the powers of God.
Of course, if I were to write my blog on that, I might become the first person to get points off for a completed blog, so I think I'll change it a bit."
Have I ever told you that your hilarious bro? Because you are one of the funniest kids I've ever met.
It surprised me that I had to think about this so much to come to a decision about the answer, when all along, it was right there. The moment I realized whom I wanted to help with what, I thought, “well, now WHY did that take me so long to realize?” Because the person I would grant the wish to, happens to live with me and I repeatedly wish that she had this ability. The person I would give something to would be my sister. I would give and grant her common sense. She can be so stupid sometimes in the simplest situations, and she always ends up making the obvious wrong decision about everything.
The thing is, she doesn't even KNOW she lacks common sense; if you ask her, there's absolutely nothing wrong with her. I disagree with her here, because anyone with REALLY messed up credit, in debt at age 20, squanders her money before she even gets it, parties too much, smokes weed, and drops out of high school, sounds like there's a lot wrong with them. That would be my sister.
She wants to be an actress, so when she read somewhere that you don't need a high school diploma in order to get into Lee Strauss berg acting school, the next thing I knew, she's signing the drop-out form in the Oakcrest guidance office. (eventually, my parents had to goad her into getting her GED, and now at least she goes to ACCC), but seriously, WHO would do THAT? Then she went and rented a house with a roommate, when she didn't realistically have enough money for it.
One day, $5,000 dollars appeared in her bank account. Probably a mistake made by the bank. Any normal person with common sense would have waited to see what happened right? If she had common sense, she wouldn't have gone out and bought an apple mac book laptop.... or maybe she would have stopped there, and not gone on to buy a new phone and itouch, right? Most days, the question just kills me and makes no sense that how can she do the things that she does?
Needless to say, I would definitely give my sister, Anna, some common sense. Maybe then she will cease to make the stupidest choices and decisions possible, so that she will be able to lead a normal life, not one filled with mistakes, and more mistakes waiting to happen.
Advice? Well, I would tell her to actually use this common sense to maybe stop doing some of the things that she does, and start picking up the pieces of her life little by little so that she doesn't end up miserable. I'd tell her to apply this common sense to every situation.
This common sense that I'd bestow upon my sister, If I could, would prevent her life from getting worse in the long-run and would make her more aware of everything.
Sorry about the way it's written, for I know I could have done a better job at it, but I have to confess that I did sit down at around 11 to start writing this. But I had no other choice, I just got home..but in my defense, I'll say that I gave this assignment a lot of thought, and I already knew what I was going to write...
and I hope it's not late, on top of it all.
Alice: I empathize with you like you wouldn't believe. I was also a Musketeer, years ago, until one of our three moved to Hesperia, CA. Reading your blog was like reading one I might have posted, had I been asked this another time.
It was coincidental that you posted that blog today, since just this afternoon I found myself near tears in public, knowing that if Katie were still here, my family moving to Rhode Island wouldn't matter in the least. She'd have my stuff packed and in her closet sized room before you could say "Katie, I'm moving" and I miss her so much for that acceptance and love. I feel slightly pathetic saying this but I can barely see the screen as I write this through a blur of water, and my room suddenly feels uncomfortably hot and stuffy as my breathe starts getting short. I have to stop writing, but I really liked your blog. <3
Well my blog this week will be inspired by the movie Seven Pounds. In this movie, Will Smith bears the guilt of accidently killing seven people in car accident. By the end of the movie, he commits suicide to donate his organs. This very movie was extremely mind boggling for me to swallow all the events that led to this climax of suicide. I saw this movie when it first came out with a guy on our first date, which was a bad idea. We dated a couple more times, but now we don't anymore. This movie made me uncontrollably cry and the rest of my night I couldn't stop thinking about the importance of being an organ donor and relating it to my own life. As I've talked about before, my father passed away when I was four from a heartattack. However, he also had diabetes and other health conditions that led him to a poor health. He was on the list to receive a heart from a donor, but he never got the heart and in turn died from a heartattack. There are so many people who are in similar situations and are waiting to receive an organ to save their life. He was in his forties and had the rest of his life a head of him, as well as others do. If I wasn't selfish and if I had the courage to do so, I would give up any of my organs to save several lives or somehow influence others to decide to be an organ donor if something was ever to happen to them. There was a man in the movie who was blind, and he received Will Smith's eyes and was now able to see. Imagine every part of your body and how one part of your body could make all the difference in many lives either saving their lives or contributing to the greatness the life. I'm not trying to come off suicidal because in reality I could never kill myself. The thought of that just is ridiculous, but what makes your own life so meaningful? More meaningful than others. If I could give a person anything, I'd give a person the ability to live because everyone should have the opportunity to live a long, healthy life. This also reminds me of people who take their life for granted with the choices they make daily when there are people who can die at any minute because of health conditions that were inherited and could not be avoided. Can you imagine the face expression of the person who learns they'll have a longer life because of a donor? I wish I could be the doctor that tells the patient this news. The advice I’d personally give would be to not take you’re life for granted and dwell on the fact that you may need an organ in order to live, but appreciate that time you have now on Earth and be thankful for the second chance at life. Second chances don’t always come around so easily and when they do, it’s urgent to snatch it out of the hands of the giver.
Sarah C:
your blog sounded like a fun/interesting book that would have a bizarre ending
:)
Alice:
"“While he will take my place in your heart, please don’t forget.
Don’t forget the happy memories you’ve made with Jacob, and I.
Don’t forget the plans we’ve made for the future about traveling the world together.
Don’t forget the dreams we’ve shared back in the old days.
However, being the weirdo I am, I also have to say:
Don’t remember.
Don’t remember the bad things that have happened in your life.
Don’t remember the times you’ve been let down and kicked around.
Don’t remember the hopes that were crushed by strangers…
Because this gift will take all that away.
Also, do not solely rely on him for everything for you are a strong girl.
You’re a great person, independent and self-sufficient.
You will always walk a road full of opportunities and the great wonders of life.
You will always be ‘someone’ to me.
"
Your blog was so adorable and you're lucky to have experienced a friendship like that. This really showed how passionate you are towards your friend. I think thats a lovely gift to give someone.
Everyone has wants in this world and you know how the saying goes “well sometimes you don’t get what you want, life isn’t fair!” We all know this fact and are well aware, but what if life was just? (I did write fair but it rhymed and I didn’t like that) When I read this question, I knew instantly who I wanted to write about. He’s one of the most important people in my life. I love him so much it hurts. (usually him because I beat his ass still) My little brother, Robbie, deserves the world. Don’t get me wrong, I love the boy listed above no matter what he’s missing, but there are a few things that I know would give him a better quality of life. What if we could get what we wanted, needed, or what is asked of us on a daily basis? If I could give any one thing, whether it be a character trait, material item, or dream to someone, I know my little brother is the most worthy.
Alright, I’m going to be honest with you all, my brother is REALLY weird. You see, he takes after my father’s side of the family in the way that everything you say must be funny or else it’s not worth saying except he missed the last part. He tries to be funny constantly and it almost never works for him. He’s so immature and it’s like when he’s trying to describe something funny he sees it in his mind as a cartoon and obviously life isn’t a cartoon. Anvils don’t fall out of the sky from nowhere and when someone gets hurt, they don’t spring back like a slinky. The other side of him he gets from my mother, the nurturing, loving, and caring of everyone and everything. He’s so sensitive about things and passionate about being there for anyone if they need it. The mixture is just not a positive thing for him. He tries too hard to please people and it’s all in good intentions but he is almost socially inept.
I would look at his phone once in a while and I found texts from girls saying things like “ur a fag. Don’t fucking text me ur so weird!! I don’t want to talk to u” and some more things along those lines. I always try to help him out, tell him the right thing to say, but he doesn’t want to listen. He swears he knows the answers but it just doesn’t work out for him. He won’t open up a lot of the time because he thinks everyone will make fun of him, but that’s how our family is, we joke about everything. We gun all day long. And it’s so hard for me to see his rankings in society. I ran Davies, all the teachers knew who I was and I did whatever I wanted. When they find out that I am his sister, they’re all taken aback because we are polar opposites. Not saying we should be identical, but it makes me sad that he probably wont have the same experiences that I did. Now onto my gift.
The gift I would give him would be popularity, as bad as that sounds. Not the popular where the person thinks they are better than the world (because he could never do that anyway) but popular that people like him for who he is and they want to be around him. Girls would dieee to hang out with Rob Morano. The guys would invite him to hang out and take him to parties. I want him to have fun with people his age instead of the younger kids that neighbor us. I want him to be respected, not put down for the way he holds himself. I want him to find a place instead of sitting quietly (or obnoxiously) in the corner of the room, alone. My advice with his new found popularity would be, to not forget who he is even if he has acquired a new social standing. To branch out and help others who may be in his position. Don’t forget the right thing to do or the way you know issues should be handled. I know he’d handle this situation the best way possible.
"You can get anything you want
at Alice's Restaurant"
18 minutes and 37 seconds of greatness.
That one song is longer than the rest of the album combined, but it's the only song I HAVE to listen to all the way through.....except maybe The Motorcycle Song just for old time's sake.
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This is a really tough question for me because I'm so self-centered that I never really think about what I could give other people. The other day, I looked at my intrapersonal vs. my extropersonal "intelligence" scores on some personality test in psych class.
Extropersonal = 2/10
Intrapersonal = 10/10
"Woah!"
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Sorry, that was going nowhere.
(btw, it is currently 11pm)
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First of all, I wouldn't use my power right away, because as long as I had the power, I could call myself a superhero (wasn't there a MadTV skit about that?).
Right now, I just don't know anyone worth giving the ultimate gift. Wait, that's it. The ultimate gift is the gift of life, right? I could give someone a second life. But who? Who really died before their time? There's John, Kurt, Freddie, Ghandi, Elvis, MLK..........this is gonna take longer than I thought.
Maybe it should go to someone who's still alive? Give them the power to be young again and show today's youth how it's done? But Simon & Garfunkel are two people!
Ok, if I could give anyone anything, I would give life to Socrates, so he could finally get sufficient time to figure out the world.
Maybe we can't answer philosophical questions because we lack the life experience required. That's up to Socrates to decide.
I'd tell him how philosophy hasn't really gotten too far in his abscence, so I have called upon him, the father of philosophy, to cultivate his crop until it can be harvested.
This life I have given you is not just a short-term occurrence. You will remain alive and well until you choose to stop. Use this time to ponder the questions of life. Oh, and remember to write things down this time, instead of just telling everything to Plato.
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It was at that point that I fell asleep, around 11:30. I don't know exactly how I fell asleep. All I know is I woke up at 6:10 and realized I never posted this. I can't remember my train of thought from last night, so I'm just posting this as is.
To Alison:
Thank you.
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