It's a New Day…

Day 329 Question 329:

What are some great recipes you would like to share for the Holidays?  I thought this would be a great way to exchange some deeelicious recipes with lots and lots of people.  For those that live all over the world I would love to share some recipes from all of your amazing cultures.

Spinach Dip Crescent Wreath

Wreath

2 cans (8 oz each) Pillsbury® refrigerated crescent dinner rolls or 2 cans (8 oz each) Pillsbury® Crescent Recipe Creations® refrigerated seamless dough sheet

Topping

1 box (9 oz) Green Giant® frozen chopped spinach

3/4 cup light sour cream

1/2 cup fat-free mayonnaise

2  tablespoons fat-free (skim) milk

1  tablespoon chopped green onion (1 medium)

1/2 teaspoon seasoned salt

1/2 teaspoon dried dill weed

Garnishes

1/4 cup chopped red bell pepper

2  tablespoons chopped green onions (2 medium)

1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley

Green bell pepper, cut into holly leaves

Small cherry tomatoes

1) Heat oven to 375°F. Turn 10-oz custard cup upside down on center of ungreased large cookie sheet.

 2) Remove dough from one can, keeping dough in one piece; do not unroll. With hands, roll dough to 12-inch log. Cut log into 20 slices. Arrange 16 slices, slightly overlapping, around custard cup.

    3) Repeat with second can of dough, cutting log into 20 slices. Arrange remaining 24 slices, slightly overlapping each other, next to but not overlapping first ring. Remove custard cup from center.

    4) Bake 13 to 16 minutes or until light golden brown. Gently loosen wreath from cookie sheet, and carefully slide onto cooling rack. Cool completely, about 30 minutes.

    5) Meanwhile, cook spinach as directed on package; cool and squeeze to drain.

    6) In medium bowl, stir sour cream, mayonnaise and milk until well mixed. Add spinach and remaining topping ingredients; mix well. Cover; refrigerate until serving time.

    7) Place cooled wreath on serving tray. Spread wreath with spinach topping. Sprinkle with red bell pepper, 2 tablespoons onions and parsley. Decorate with bell pepper “holly leaves” and cherry tomato “berries.” Serve immediately, or cover and refrigerate up to 2 hours before serving.

Best Shortbread and Eggnog Pudding Trifles

Makes about 4-5 – 8oz. trifles

2 – 5.3oz. boxes of Walker’s Shortbread Petticoat Tails

2 cups of commercially prepared eggnog

Pinch of salt

1/4 cup sugar

3 tablespoons cornstarch

1/2 cup milk -cold

2 egg yolks

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 tablespoons butter

Grated fresh nutmeg for sprinkling

Reserve 4 shortbread petticoat tails for garnish.  In a large bowl, crush the remaining shortbread cookies with your hands until crumbs form.  Place 2-3 tablespoons of crumbs in the bottom of 4 -5  8oz. glasses (I used small canning jars).

Pudding:

Pour 2 cups eggnog, sugar and salt in a medium saucepan and place over medium-high heat.   In a small bowl, make a slurry with the cornstarch and cold milk, whisking vigorously until no lumps remain.  Add the two egg yolks to the slurry and whisk again until combined.

When the eggnog mixture has come to a boil, remove from heat and slowly pour in the slurry while whisking constantly.  Return to heat and cook again until the mixture thickens but is still pourable (this will only take 1 or 2 more minutes).   Remove from heat and add vanilla extract and butter.  Stir until combined then pour a layer of pudding over crumbs in each glass. Continue to layer cookie crumbs over pudding until glasses are filled.

Whipped topping:

1/2 cup heavy cream

3 tbsp extra-fine sugar

In a small bowl, whip heavy cream on medium high speed with an electric mixer.  Gradually pour in extra fine sugar, 1 tbsp at a time.  Increase speed to high and whip until thick and fluffy.  Dollop whipped cream on top of trifles and sprinkle over freshly grated nutmeg.  Embellish with reserved shortbread petticoat tails.

Grinch Punch Recipe

Ingredients

    1/3 cup Imperial Sugar® / Dixie Crystals® Granulated Sugar

    6 tablespoons plus 1-1/2 teaspoons water

    1/3 cup evaporated milk

    1/2 teaspoon almond extract

    12 drops neon green food coloring

    1 bottle (2 liters) lemon-lime soda, chilled

    2 pints vanilla ice cream

Directions

    In a large saucepan, combine sugar and water. Cook and stir over medium heat until sugar is dissolved; remove from the heat. Stir in milk and extract. Transfer to a bowl; cool to room temperature. Cover and refrigerate until chilled.

    Just before serving, transfer milk mixture to a punch bowl. Stir in the food coloring and soda. Top with scoops of ice cream. Yield: 4 quarts.

Smiling Snowman Cake

What you’ll need

    1 3/4 cups cake flour

    1/2 cup Dutch-processed cocoa

    1 1/4 tsp. baking powder

    1/2 tsp. baking soda

    1/2 tsp. salt

    1/2 cup butter, softened

    1 1/2 cups sugar

    3 large eggs

    1 tsp. vanilla extract

    1 cup milk

    1 1/2 cups vanilla frosting

    Shredded coconut (optional)

    2 black licorice drops

    1 large orange gumdrop

    Red shoestring licorice

    Red fruit leather

    3 starlight mints

    3 small gumdrops

    2 sticks chocolate licorice

How to make it

    Heat the oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour two ovenproof glass bowls, one slightly larger than the other. (Note: For our cake, we used one bowl with a 1-liter capacity and 6-inch diameter and the other with a 1 1/2-liter capacity and 7-inch diameter.)

    To make the cake, mix the flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large mixing bowl. Sift the ingredients onto waxed paper and return to the bowl.

    In a separate bowl, blend the butter with the sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Mix in the vanilla extract.

    Alternately, add the flour mixture and the milk to the batter in thirds, combining well after each addition. Fill the bowls about two thirds full. Bake the smaller cake for about 50 minutes and the larger cake for about 65 minutes.

    When done, the surface will spring back when touched and a toothpick inserted in the center will come out clean. Cool in the bowls for 10 minutes. Then invert onto a large, rectangular platter (about 17 by 12 inches) so the cakes resemble a snowman. Cool completely.

    Ice the cakes with the vanilla frosting, then sprinkle with shredded coconut, if desired. Add licorice drop eyes, insert an orange gumdrop nose and fashion a broad smile with shoestring licorice.

    For the scarf, cut two 2-inch-wide strips of fruit leather, notch the ends and wrap around the neck of the snowman. For the buttons, use starlight mints topped with gumdrops. Finish off the snowman with two chocolate licorice arms. Serves 10 to 12.

    Kids’ Steps: Measuring and adding the ingredients for the cake batter, and frosting and decorating the cute snowman.

Day 328 Question 328:

What are your favorite Christmas songs?

Day 327 Question 327:

Do you have holiday regret?  How would you fix it?

So, a fellow blog follower told me the other day that I wrecked his jovial mood with the serious toned blog entry (he was kidding of course…well I think he was) so I suggested that he throw out a question for me to answer.  The question above is what he suggested….which I do not see as too jovial but he took the time so I will too.  I wanted to share with you what he shared with me:

I thought about this when I was at a post office today and I thought about an incident that happened last year. I was standing in line at the same post office getting ready to mail out all the Christmas packages. In comes this small frail raggedy old man with thick accent. He goes up to the teller and starts explaining that he had lost the roll of stamps he just purchased from her, and was wondering if anybody turned it in. Lady looks on and tells him there is nothing she can do. He turned around and all the people waiting in line had good chance to look at this poor old frail man. Everybody was silent for that moment…Old man was hobbling as he made through the main door, everybody in line was silent.

I think I know what everybody was thinking at that moment, but nobody did a damn thing, including myself. Why didn’t I at least hand him few bucks while that was going on???!! because that would have prompted everybody else to pitch in. NOBODY TOOK THE FIRST ACTION, everybody was waiting for somebody else to do something first. How am I going to fix this? You better believe I will never sit on the sideline ever again when something like this happens again.  The end.

Now, if you know me, you know I try as hard as possible to not live with regret because it really serves no purpose.  This, however, is an opportunity.  I was touched by the story that this man shared with me and I reflected on how much I have done for others and while reflecting I have realized that I have not done enough.  It is not nice to face certain things but I lived a large part of my life being very selfish and not taking into consideration the people out there that are forced to work on Holidays and have nothing to eat or no gifts for their children on holidays.  A few months ago I came up with an idea and I am still debating whether or not to do this or do something a little different.  I would share with you now but I want to wait until after Christmas day to see if I followed through.  I do not regret the things I did not do but I know that now is my chance to make it up.  As a child, a teen and even into my adult years I was always asking for materials and I always wanted more more more.  Right now at this place in my life I do not want from others….I want to give to others….to those that have had nothing (or next to nothing) and deserve the chance for happiness.  There is a radio show I listen to every morning on the way to work and every year at Christmas time I end up getting all choked up in the car on my drive.  This particular morning show asks people to nominate families in need for what they call Breaking and Entering Christmas.  Three families are chosen every year by the cast members (and these families are usually in desperate need with mountains of hospital bills, sick children, loss of jobs, etc) and they have friends take the family to breakfast or somewhere to keep them distracted while they break into their house and fill their home with gifts.  They provide a Christmas tree and decorate the entire house.  They fill the refrigerator with groceries and buy the children presents that they have wanted that they never imagined in a million years they would ever get.  They take care of some of their expenses to help them get ahead financially.  The amount of giving that this radio station does for those in need is unbelievably heart-warming and is what this world should be about not only on Christmas but every day of the year.

I don’t like to live with regret in my heart.  When asked this question yesterday all that I could think of was what opportunities I had right now.  I do not want gifts this year (even though I know I will get them because my mom insists) because I have enough and I can provide for myself what I need.  I have lost the wanting of things from others and what I need now is to DO for others.  What makes me the most happy in this world is being a part of someone else’s happiness….knowing that I was able to bring joy to someone else.  There is nothing that can touch that feeling.

Day 326 Question 326:

What are some historical moments in history that have made an impact on you?

In 1967, Katherine Switzer was the first woman to run the Boston marathon. After realizing that a woman was running, race organizer Jock Semple went after Switzer shouting, “Get the hell out of my race and give me those numbers.” However, Switzer’s boyfriend and other male runners provided a protective shield during the entire marathon.  The photographs taken of the incident made world headlines, and Kathrine later won the NYC marathon with a time of 3:07:29.

 The current global generation’s “JFK moment” took place on a Tuesday morning, when Islamic extremists indoctrinated (brainwashed) by Osama bin Laden hijacked 4 commercial passenger jets and deliberately flew them into major American landmarks. Their sole intent was indiscriminate mass murder, for the purpose of causing as much physical, emotional, mental, psychological and financial harm on America as they possibly could. Their motives were, and still are, convoluted, complicated, and completely spurious. America is not the Great Satan some in the Middle East have made it out to be.

The plane crashes instigated a decade-long, ongoing “war on terror,” and played a substantial role in the global economic downturn. These crimes’ most important aspect on American, and in this case global, history is a permanent end to “hijackings for ransom.” Ransoms are what the innocent passengers in the four planes expected would be demanded, requiring the planes to land peacefully, and then boarded by military force. This why no one fought back against the terrorists until word reached the fourth plane that three others had been hijacked and deliberately turned into weapons.

The terrorists had no intention of ransoming innocent people, but were resigned to what they were taught would be a glorious martyrdom, by killing American citizens. The fourth plane was probably destined for the U. S. Capitol building in Washington, D. C., but the nation’s last line of defense succeeded in saving the icon and a worse loss of life, at the cost of its passengers’ own martyrdom.

Today, the entire world can rest assured that never again will an American airplane be overtaken by anyone for any reason, because no terrorist of any culture or motive can ever again be trusted not to kill himself and innocent bystanders for the goal of entering Heaven. Terrorists can no longer be reasoned with, and thus, the global war against splinter cell terrorism is, from the morning of 9/11/2001 until its end, one of attrition. The terrorists will not stop until there are no terrorists. And now the civilized world knows it.

Rosa Parks stood up by sitting down in 1955 on a Montgomery, Alabama, bus. On December 1, 1955, she was arrested for refusing to give her seat to a white man, in violation of the city’s racial segregation ordinances. Her arrest sparked a boycott that lasted a year and ended with the Supreme Court declaring the segregated seating unconstitutional. The boycott is commonly considered the spark that ignited the U.S. civil rights movement, and she became known as the “mother of the civil rights movement.”

The Civil Rights Act

1964

The text of the bill was simple and straightforward: “No person in the United States shall on grounds of race, color, or national origin, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving federal financial assistance.” Overnight, it became illegal to force segregation in schools, workplaces, and housing. Racial discrimination wasn’t dead, but it was dying. The addition of “sex” as a protected category was added by a southern legislator in the hopes that Democrats relying heavily on support from labor unions would defeat the bill. Unexpectedly, the bill gave women’s rights advocates additional ammunition.

Day 325 Question 325:

If you could choose one book as a mandatory read for all high school students, which book would you choose?

I have referred to The Art of Happiness and abundant amount of times throughout this blog.  If I had the power not only would I make this a mandatory read for all high school students….I would make it mandatory for every adult in the world to read.  The premise of this book is so simple but the lives and journeys of people every day make it seem so complicated.  Happiness (like any other emotion) is a choice and this is something we need to remind ourselves of every single day.  The reason I choose this book above all others is because I think as humans living in the Western world (and some in the Eastern) we get lost….we get lost in the chaos and get wrapped up in the superficial aspects of life because this has become the norm.  I have become a spectator as opposed to the one seeking attention in the center of the circle and what I have found is quite dismal.  I wish all of the time that people could embrace the happiness inside of them…even through some of the hardest of times.  So many people have become accustomed to complaining and seeing all of the negatives that they have blocked out all of the good that is happening within them and all around them.

The reason I would choose this as a mandatory read for high school students is because it took me until I was 33 years old to truly get a grasp of myself.  I never embraced my happiness and I lived believing the hurtful words of others and under a spell that made me believe I was never good enough.  When we are teenagers we are so unaware of the big world around us and how much we allow others to determine our happiness.  We live in a time where bullies are becoming part of the social norm and kids/tweens/teens are not being reminded every single day of their value…they are not reminding themselves of their value.  This book is a guide (for lack of a better word) that does not force anyone to be something in particular but instead to find them happiness in who and how they are.  This book found me when I was completely lost and my life has been completely changed because of it.  My individual copy is old and highlighted on several dozen pages and I admit that this is my one book that I will never lend out.  I want this book to travel with me throughout life and be my guide when I feel it is most needed.  I want to share what I have learned and hopefully introduce complete strangers to the simplicity of happiness that they have been seeking for a very long time.

Excerpt of The Art of Happiness by His Holiness The Dalai Lama, Howard C. Cutler, M.D.

 “I believe that the very purpose of our life is to seek happiness. That is clear. Whether one believes in religion or not, whether one believes in this religion or that religion, we all are seeking something better in life. So, I think, the very motion of our life is towards happiness…”

 With these words, spoken before a large audience in Arizona, the Dalai Lama cut to the heart of his message. But his claim that the purpose of life was happiness raised a question in my mind. Later, when we were alone, I asked, “Are you happy?”

 “Yes,” he said. He paused, then added, “Yes…definitely.” There was a quiet sincerity in his voice that left no doubt – a sincerity that was reflected in his expression and in his eyes.

 “But is happiness a reasonable goal for most of us?” I asked. “Is it really possible?”

 “Yes. I believe that happiness can be achieved through training the mind.”

 The concept of achieving true happiness has, in the West, always seemed ill defined, elusive, ungraspable. Even the word “happy” is derived from the Icelandic word happ, meaning luck or chance. Most of us, it seems, share this view of the mysterious nature of happiness. In those moments of joy that life brings, happiness feels like something that comes out of the blue. To my Western mind, it didn’t seem the sort of thing that one could develop, and sustain, simply by “training the mind.”

 When I raised that objection, the Dalai Lama was quick to explain. “When I say ‘training the mind,’ in this context I’m not referring to ‘mind’ merely as one’s cognitive ability or intellect. Rather, I’m using the term in the sense of the Tibetan word Sem, which has a much broader meaning, closer to ‘psyche’ or ‘spirit’; it includes intellect and feeling, heart and mind. By bringing about a certain inner discipline, we can undergo a transformation of our attitude, our entire outlook and approach to living.

 “When we speak of this inner discipline, it can of course involve many things, many methods. But generally speaking, one begins by identifying those factors which lead to happiness and those which lead to suffering. Having done this, one then sets about gradually eliminating those factors which lead to suffering and cultivating those which lead to happiness. That is the way.”

Day 324 Question 324:

Should marijuana be legalized in ALL states?

This topic has been on the table for a very long time now.  Back in my college days I used to enjoy toking up a good bit.  Do I think that marijuana should be legalized?  Honestly, yes I do.  I look back at my time in college (and even after) and it was alcohol that was way more of a bigger threat to my life.  I am lucky to be alive because I took far too my chances driving drunk (yes, I realize that was my poor decision).  Alcohol is this substance that has been legal for many years and really its only purpose is for recreational use.  Marijuana is natural and yes it can be used recreationally but it has been found that there are healthy patients for those suffering from glaucoma and various forms of cancer.  Marijuana gets such a negative reputation because the media depicts dirty hippie stoners using it and these are the people that are useless that don’t hold jobs.  Yea, I am sure there are people like that out there but I know plenty of people that smoke herb that function every single day and people would be unaware that they even use it.  I really can only speak from the perspective of someone that has had first-hand experience with the “drug”.  No, I do not choose to smoke pot nowadays but that is because I really just don’t feel like it and I don’t want to spend the money on it.  It is no secret that I tend to fall more on the side of being a liberal….at least when it comes to social issues.  I guess I just don’t understand why alcohol is legal but marijuana is not…especially after the many deaths we see every single year from alcohol poisoning or drunk driving.  I quit drinking 2 years ago for many different reasons but one main reason is because I did not like the person I became when I was drinking….I made an ass out of myself and I felt depressed.  I could never say the same thing when I smoked pot.  Before you get it all twisted….I am not saying I think people should walk around being stoned all day everyday but yes I do think it is safer than alcohol.  In my opinion, alcohol is just as much of a gateway drug as pot or anything else.  You don’t hear stories of people blacking out and being raped or getting into fights that they don’t remember when they are stoned.  If anything when stoned a person is way more laid back and possibly kind of giggly.  It may sound lame and “hippie-ish” to some but when I used to smoke back in the day I sometimes felt like my creative juices would go into overdrive and in ways my senses and my thoughts became more clear.  I was able to express myself in a way that I never really could otherwise.  Again, I am only speaking through personal experience and I am NOT saying that I think people should get high all day long.  I just believe that people that smoke function better in society than those that drink regularly….trust me I speak from past experience.

I expect to get criticism from this blog and that is ok.  This is my forum of honesty.  It is inevitable that people of the world are going to use different “substances” for recreational use.  Marijuana has been labeled as this horrible drug because it has been made illegal for so long and alcohol remains the drug of choice and the drug that has taken far too many lives every single year.  How often do you hear about a person “overdosing” on weed or causing a multiple car crash killing many people because they were high (I am not saying it doesn’t happen…but the statistics would show that alcohol causes it way more often)?  I am sure my parents wouldn’t love reading this but I think they would understand where I am coming from.  I can’t help but think about the number of people that may criticize marijuana use and legalization but can shovel in mountains of fast food (and shovel it into their kids mouths).  Children are drinking sugar filled sodas at younger and younger ages and eating all sorts of processed foods and there is not the same kind of debate behind it because it means money is circulating more and more.  Trust me I feel way more addicted to unhealthy food than I ever did marijuana and there is greater chance that the effects of the unhealthy eating could cause my final demise.  Just something to think about.  :0)

The end of the war on marijuana

By Roger A. Roffman, Special to CNN

Editor’s note: Roger A. Roffman is a professor emeritus of social work at the University of Washington, a sponsor of I-502, and author of the forthcoming “A Marijuana Memoir.”

(CNN) — The historic measure to regulate and tax marijuana in Washington State deserves to be looked at closely as a model of how legalization ought to be designed and implemented elsewhere in America.

We’ve turned a significant corner with the approval of Initiative 502, which purposefully offers a true public health alternative to the criminal prohibition of pot.

For the first time in a very long time, the well-intended but failed criminal penalties to protect public health and safety will be set aside. Adults who choose to use marijuana and obtain it through legal outlets will no longer be faced with the threat of criminal sanctions. People of color will no longer face the egregious inequities in how marijuana criminal penalties are imposed. Parents, as they help prepare their children for the choices they face concerning marijuana, will no longer be hobbled by misinformation about the drug and the absence of effective supports to encourage abstinence.

“The great experiment” of alcohol prohibition became the national law in 1920. Its intentions were good, but it failed in a number of vitally important ways. In 1923, the state of New York repealed its alcohol prohibition law. Ten other states soon followed, and in 1933 national Prohibition ended.

I believe Washington state has just played that pivotal role with regard to marijuana. Moreover, by borrowing from public health model principles known to be effective, the state has offered the most compelling replacement to prohibition considered to date.

What is a public health model? In brief, it’s an approach that acknowledges use of marijuana can present harms to the user and to public safety, and includes provisions to prevent or ameliorate those harms.

A public health model includes six key elements. Washington state’s new law incorporates each of them.

The first is accountable oversight by an agency of government. The Washington state legalization model assigns responsibility to a state agency for writing regulations concerning how the growing, producing and selling of marijuana will occur. Among those regulations are tight limitations on advertising and the prevention of access to marijuana by minors. Then, that agency will have the authority to issue licenses to growers, producers and sellers and to enforce adherence to the rules.

The second element is a well-funded multifaceted marijuana education program that is based on science rather than ideology. Far too few Americans are sufficiently informed about marijuana’s effects on health and behavior, both the positive and the negative. A key to good decision-making is possessing accurate information.

The third element is well-funded prevention programs widely available to all the state’s geographical and demographic communities. We’ve learned a great deal about what knowledge, skills and community supports actually work in helping young people navigate a world in which drugs such as marijuana are readily available. Sadly, far too little funding has been devoted to putting such programs to work in our communities.

A fourth element is making treatment of marijuana dependence readily available. The new law dedicates funding to establish a statewide Marijuana Help Line. It also earmarks funding to state, county and local governments for the provision of services for those in need of help.

Evaluation of the new law’s impact is the fifth element. An independent state agency will receive funding to conduct periodic assessments of how the new system affects behaviors, attitudes and knowledge. Using the findings of these evaluative studies, the state agency overseeing the pricing and taxing of marijuana can adjust those costs to maximize undercutting of the black market and deterrence of youth access to marijuana.

The sixth element is research. The new law earmarks funding to the state’s two major research universities for the purpose of conducting marijuana-focused studies. As we gradually learn how to live more healthfully and safely with marijuana, the knowledge derived from those studies will inform education, prevention, treatment and refinements in the law.

In more than 40 years of research — primarily marijuana dependence counseling interventions for adults and adolescents — it has seemed to me that prohibition has hindered more than it has helped good decision-making. Far too many teens think smoking pot is “no big deal,” greatly underestimating the risk of being derailed from social, psychological and educational attainment. Far too many adults don’t take seriously enough the risk of marijuana dependence that accompanies very frequent use.

We can do better. By regulating and taxing marijuana based on a set of strong public health principles, I believe our cultural norms concerning marijuana will shift and the harms we’ve witnessed will greatly reduce.

Day 323 Question 323:

Where would you hope to see your life in 10-20 years?

 When I was a little girl I had this big idea of what adult life would be like.  I thought everyone lived the same way.  Everyone got married and had children and settled down in their homes and lived the American Dream.  Boy did I get a wide awakening as the years passed and I entered into adulthood.  I made assumptions about life as a child but growing into my late teens and early twenties I started to feel differently.  I never felt a natural connection to societal norms.  I never pictured what my wedding would look like…I never really envisioned the dress or the bridesmaids or the ceremony.  For a long time I thought there was something strange about me because I believed in love but I never really felt the connection to marriage and the longing that so many girls have for their dream wedding.  Of course the idea of a happily ever after with someone that helps bring me happiness day in and day out is great….I just never really saw the need to marry someone.  Maybe it will happen one day….who knows???  When I tell people I don’t want to get married it is inevitable that they will respond by saying, “you will one day”.  Maybe that is true but I would not be surprised or disappointed if it didn’t happen.  To me love does not equal marriage (but I highly respect those that choose to get married).

 I went off the beaten path of the question at hand.  So, where do I see my life in 10-20 years.  Obviously I cannot predict anything and up until this point my life has been one unexpected occurrence after another.  The journey has been amazing though and I try as often as I possibly can to focus on the now but I  do love to daydream about what my life may be.  I, of course, have hopes for my future and I am human so of course it would be amazing to find love….I mean real love….not “convenient” love or “in the mean time” love but rattles me to my core kind of love.  I don’t stop my life to seek this out though….I let things happen as naturally as I possibly can.  I hope I can look back in twenty years and have the ability to say that I have traveled abroad and met people I never thought I would ever meet.  I hope to one day shake hands with the Dalai Lama and meditate amongst Buddhist monks.  I hope to set my feet in different third world countries and empower and inspire young girls and women….I desperately want to give them hope and to share with them the beauty that they hold within no matter how horrid their circumstances may be.  I hope to have my words printed in a book that inspires my friends, my family and even complete strangers and I hope my words may potentially change people’s lives for the better.  I hope my words have made me find even more peace and balance in my life in the future years to come and have made those around me understand me just a little bit better.

 I have no idea what the future holds but there is so much that I ache to do and I hope that I am able to look back and say that I have accomplished those things.  I want to be part of a radio show and share my silliness with listeners but also share my passion and my thoughts that I feel need to be heard.  I want to stand in front of large groups of people (primarily young people) and share with them my journey and allow them to share with me theirs…..I want to hear their fears and their hopes and their dreams….I want to learn about what inspires them and in return I want to teach them to love in all forms of the word through even the hardest of times.  I don’t want my words to come with political meaning behind them because love and politics (in my book) never go hand in hand.  I want to share what this life has meant to me and how powerful change, self-love and compassion can be if we choose to focus on those things the most.

 I truly hope that I can look back in my life in 10 or 20 or 40 years and find pride in the fact that I continued this beautiful journey with a purpose.  I hope that I can look back knowing that I faced my fears….even the biggest fears.  My parents are older and it is almost certain that they will no longer be alive in 20 years.  I would want to look back at my life and know that I lived in a way that made them proud and continued to do for others as often as I could.  I hope to be just like my mother throughout the rest of my life and love people without question or judgment.

 When I look back in life I hope that there is great depth and substance.  I hope that I continued to seek knowledge and experiences around every corner and continued to do all of those things that I love.  I hope to have met people from all walks of life and learned their stories.  I hope to have learned more and more about myself and stood strong throughout the journey even during the times when it felt like I was being beat down from every angle.

Day 322 Question 322:

Is the Internet more good than evil or more evil than good?

So I have been hooked into the television show called Catfish.  It is a spin off a documentary called Catfish which reveals the story of being deceived on the Internet.  I watched the documentary about a year ago so of course I had to check out the show.  The premise of both the documentary and the show are people meeting people online and falling in love with them and being completely deceived.  The people that they fall in love with are not who they say they are….in one episode a young girl falls in love with a guy and after 6+ months of talking she wants to meet him but he keeps making excuses.  When finally confronted with the situation it turned out to be a young girl on the other end of all of the lovey dovey emails.  It was absolutely shocking to me as a viewer but I cannot imagine what it felt like as the person being completely deceived.

The Internet is this massive tool full of pertinent information that can be so useful but it can always be a terrifying communication tool.  It amazes me that people can hide behind a screen and develop a character that is the complete opposite of who they are.  I had been talking to a guy online and we were planning to meet and the night we were going to meet I got held up late at work and asked if we could reschedule to the weekend.  Through both text message and online he proceeded to call me stupid and told me her understood why I was in my 30’s and not married with no children.  He continued on harassing me by being a complete dick until I finally had to block his number and his email.  I am not concerned about it because I did not give him any personal information but it can be pretty terrifying to think about how someone could turn into something completely different than what you expected.  People can dig (and it doesn’t even need to be deep) and find out all kinds of information about you and use it against you or use it to bully you.  Bullies aren’t only young people nowadays.

The Internet can be a great source for knowledge and initiating and building relationships but if used with malicious intent (which happens probably more than we realize) it can be a weapon of destruction.  To my readers, do you have any stories to share about your Internet experiences…either positive or negative???

Day 321 Question 321:

What do you want for Christmas?

I am not Mother Teresa.  I do like to buy things sometimes.  I, however, have grown very uncomfortable to have other people buy things for me.  My mother has asked me over and over again what I want for Christmas and I keep telling her that I want nothing….which is true.  I finally told her that I wanted to choose an organization for them to donate money to.  I want to send money to an organization featured in the book/documentary Half the Sky to help send as many kids as possible to school…to give them to gift of education.  I don’t know why I have changed so drastically but I don’t want to do for me anymore….I NEED to give back.  I don’t volunteer my free time as much as I could but I want to bring happiness to others…to those that have very little happiness in their lives.  I desperately want to rid myself of my nervousness and fears and save my money to venture to countries afar and meet these children and women and learn from them…to offer them words of love and encouragement.  I don’t believe there is such a good thing as a selfless good deed because when we do for others we feel a goodness and warmth in our heart and what a reward that is.  I know that visiting foreign countries and seeing poverty would break my heart and knowing how little some people have and the struggles they go through but I know that being able to engage with them and sharing with them my words and my love would make me feel complete in a way that I have never felt and hopefully bring them at least a little bit of happiness if even for just a moment.

Day 320 Question 320:

Why do we settle in life?

In life there are times we settle…whether it be with a significant other or with a job we really don’t like or even a place we don’t desire to live.  We settle sometimes because it seems there just aren’t any other appealing options.  We settle in moments of loneliness and moments of self-loathing and we settle out of laziness.  It may not be nice to hear but it is the truth and all of us have fallen guilty of it from time to time…some of us more than others.  We settle on believing that we aren’t good enough or smart enough or pretty enough….and come the end of the day these are all lies that we are telling ourselves.

I truly think we settle in life because so many of us are unaware that everything we do, say and feel in this life is a choice.  We are each molded by our environments and what we know….we act and react the way that we do because it is commonplace…it is the norm.  It is normal to feel sadness or anger but we can (whether you choose to believe it or not) change what we are feeling if we truly want to.  What it truly comes down to is accepting what we are feeling….accepting it for what it is and living in a natural state instead of fighting what we are feeling.  When we fight our natural feelings we are forming an unnecessary anger because we aren’t feeling what we want to be feeling…we are resisting the nature of ourselves….doesn’t this seem quite contradictory?  Life is complicated and confusing but very simple at the same time if we allow it to be.

I am at a stage in my life where I am still settling in some areas (and I am aware of it and working toward change…these are the areas in which I am slowly but surely stepping out of my comfort zone) but in some areas I will never settle again…or I will at least try my hardest not to.  We settle because of the constant buzz in our ear…..the continual pushing of everyone and everything telling us how we need to think and act.  We naturally get pulled into listening to the masses and ignoring what our inner self is telling us.  I am not saying this in a manner to insult anyone because I fall into it myself.  I just believe that this is the reason we sometimes settle….we see the masses do as they do and we tend to follow along with the norm because it feels comfortable.  We all hear day in and day out “Be yourself” but when you decide to finally do it we are criticized for being “weird” or “different” so we sometimes just do what we think is the right thing in order to avoid these ugly feelings.  This is what I mean when I am always saying that life is this great balancing act.  When we step outside of our comfort zones we can find that sometimes the feelings that result from it may be hurtful or painful….this does not mean that the battle is lost though.  I hope what I am saying makes sense.  I write as I do because I am facing my life for what it is and sometimes I need to see what has been challenging me.