Saving The Starving

Okie dokie, it's been awhile since there's been a post. Lots has been going on!! I recently just got back from my national forensics tournament, that lasted a week, and it was absolutely amazing, and tiring, and I've got some stories!

First story. The second day we were in Kansas City, Missouri, before the tournament actually began, our 7 students that had made it to nationals were signed up to "Save the Starving" with hundreds of other people, by making meals for Haiti. It was THE most tremendous experience in my life. (so far.) You feel fantastic just by thinking to the future of the children and men and women who will be eating the meals you've made, and surviving at least one more day after the tradgedy they'd gone through. You feel happy because you are taking the extra steps in helping many, many people. The first day, there were 425,000 meals made. That is a LOT of meals, and a lot more people who won't go hungry for one more day.

Now the second story is really personal. Before I left for Kansas City, I went through a terrible situation within my family, and I was put into the hospital for a few hours. Looking back at it, I see the situation could have been prevented if I hadn't been standing in the past (Also known as Living In The Moment) practically my entire life, and even now. (I'm trying to step out... I'm trying to let go.)I also realized how many people care about me, people that I have looked over for a long time. So what I want you to do...is think about all the people that care about you, don't think just once, if you have to, think three times. Remember them during the good, and bad, times. It might just help you hold on, just like it's been helping me. I also want you to stop living in "the moment." (I also heard a speech on this. It was absolutely amazing, as well, and it sorta clicked in my head.) By living in the moment, you're holding yourself back. No matter if the moment was bad, or good. With the good moments, you must remember them, and keep those memories for when you're feeling low, but do not, by all means, hold onto the moment for the sake of remembering how good it was, and WISHING how good it could and should be in the present. Things DO change, and THAT's what you should remember most. As for the bad moments, which are the ones I have the most trouble with, I can't tell you to forget them. Forgetting, for one, isn't always the best, and two, it's hard. I can't do it, why should I make you do it? The bad moments can be remembered as lessons, lessons that you've learned from, and proceed to learn from. And if they aren't lessons, which sometimes they aren't, like moments you had no control over, try not to think back to them, because now is waaay more important than bad memories that have scarred you and still cut you open.

I think I've pretty much forgotten everything I was going to say (stupid train-of-thought)so I'm going to leave it at this: Remember the good and bad times scarcely, because as those might be important, what's more important is now, and the people who care about you in this now.

Lots of frikkin love!
--Kylie

An idea

OK, so, you're feeling down, having one of your moments, a mental breakdown, whatever. You need to make yourself feel better, so here's an idea for you. You can do it anytime, even if you're in an optimistic mood. Actually, it's more than one idea, but they can all work. One, is to write a letter to your future partner. It's an idea I got out of the book Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul. Start with Dear Boy/Girl and just write, tell them about yourself, how much you're looking forward to finding them someday, things you want to do with them, how you feel. If you're brave enough, post it as a note on FB, or if you don't want your identity known, go ahead and email it to us, we'll post it anonymously on here as an example for you and everyone else who needs hope. Another idea is to write a note to your future self. Go to futureme.org and write yourself an email that will be sent in the future. You can set the date and everything. Maybe you want to make it a year from now, or a couple weeks, it doesn't matter. You may even give yourself inspiration. If you're having a good day, tell yourself about it, and maybe the day you receive it will be a bad day and it may cheer you up. Or if you have a bad day, write all your thoughts down and when you do get that email, maybe it will help you recognize that you need to be more positive, or maybe that you need to seek professional help. Either way, I always find the best way to express yourself is to write! Who cares if you suck at writing? Let it out and then tear up the paper, delete the paragraph, erase your words. And if you can't bear to do that, like I said before, email whatever you wrote to us, we'll do the best we can to post it on here. Because we're here for YOU. If you need advice or just want someone to talk to, email us! We'll get back to you ASAP, and if you just need some cheering up, email us and tell us that and I'll make sure you get some kind of inspirational message everyday, whether it's simply "You are beautiful" to "He doesn't deserve someone like you."

And finally, some background info, we started this whole blog when I came up with the idea of putting a slip of paper into library books before I returned them saying "You are beautiful" on one side and the link to the blog on the other. I haven't gotten any library books yet, but I'm hoping to this week. If you all want to spread the word, go ahead, start doing it too. Make it spam on facebook, myspace, and twitter. Tell all your friends to start doing it. Make your own group or club to start spreading the love and word. Actually, let's make it a contest. :) If you want to, enter it by August by sending us an email. You can enter alone or as a group. Keep careful track of how many papers you put in library books, how many sticky notes you put on mirrors in public restrooms, and how many notes you slip into lockers. And come on guys, be honest now. :) By December, whoever has the most will receive some kind of prize. Maybe an inspirational t-shirt or poster. IDK yet, give us ideas and we'll see what we can come up with.

So guys, ttyl. Spread the love and stay beautiful. :)
<3Erika<3

Dragonfly

Second post today? Yep. Why? I had another one of my revelations. (You'll hear about the first one later.) So, I'm playing third base in my softball game I had tonight. I'm crouched down, ready for whatever comes at me, when something flies over my head. I look up to see a dragonfly. Normally, people would be like, "Oh hey, a dragonfly, cool." and get on with their business. Nope, not me. I took one look at this dragonfly, and I watched it as it flew around, without a care in the world. It was flying around in a dangerous area, where it could potentially be hit with a softball and be squashed and dead, or have one of the softball players wack it with their gloves, again being squashed. But it didn't look at the situation like that. It was like it was telling everyone else, "I'm here, I'm gonna be here because I feel like it and I'm gonna be okay. Don't anybody try and stop me or get in my way." It's like the saying...it was as free as a bird. (haha, funny, because it's practically like a bird. I mean, wings + sky, right?) Anyway, so why can't we be more like a dragonfly? Feel free, BE free? Which brings me to my first revelation, which most of my friends have already heard about, but now it's time to share it with the world. I had this revelation not too long ago, outside of my therapy office. I was sitting, and I looked down to find a rollie pollie crawling along the gigantic road, a huge landscape for the poor fellow, known as a sidewalk. As I watched the rollie pollie slowly crawl on, I realized that, if someone as small as he could make it on the large ground, let alone the world, why couldn't I? Why can't you? We are clearly larger than he...and perhaps we can crawl along this life, maybe with several obsticles, just like my finger was for the rollie pollie, and be alright. We can survive, and we will. As long as no one smushes us. Aha.


Keep hanging in, be like a rollie pollie and get through all the obsticles you're put up against, and try to be free like a dragonfly as much as possible :)

-Kylie

Beeee yourself! XD

Hmm...ever been told you can't do something? Ever felt small because someone put you last on the list, or benched you during a game? Have you ever had someone else chosen over you, after thinking you were going to be that one? Or even if you didn't think so...it still hurt? The glint in your eyes disappearing all because someone was treating you like you couldn't do something. I say, don't give up. I've been there, we've all been there, and when it happens, be yourself, do what you do best, play hard in the game, and don't get mad at the people who do it to you. As long as you don't change anything you've been doing, but maybe working harder to show them you can do anything you set your mind to (try it, it works), you can't be upset. And they can look at you and think, "Wow, that person is pretty cool, huh?" And if they don't...who gives a damn? You're not here to please anyone else but yourself, treat yourself with more respect than anyone else because you deserve it. Do what you think is right, don't change yourself for anyone, because the people that you need to change for aren't worth it. And then who would you be if you did change? Not yourself, and nobody likes posers. But we also have to realize that most posers out there, are lost just as much as we are, and they're way of coping is by fitting in with the wrong people, people that aren't like them. We all fit in somewhere.
So I guess this post is just about not giving up because you can be yourself and you'll do great, perhaps the best you can and be the best!

-Kylie