|
I'm the kind of person who believes you only live once. If you live more than once who cares since no one remembers past lives anyway. Yes, I know some will say that they remember their previous lives... good for them. I don't. This is the only life I know. I want to live it to the fullest. I want it to be worthwhile. I believe you should do what you want to do with your life regardless of how others feel you should live it as long as it doesn't hurt other people or things. It's a free ride to live your life to the hilt, but it is not a free ride to walk on others with the excuse that you have the right to because that's how you wanted to live your life. Negatively affecting others by your actions and behavior for selfish motives is not okay, nor is it living your life to the fullest, rather it is willing to limit others from living their lives to the fullest and no one has the right to do that to another, nor do they have the right to do it to our planet.  Promote Your Page Too I recycle. If I don't, it affects both people and the planet. As this is my planet, I feel an obligation to recycle as well as finding a joy in the act itself. I know I'm taking care of our planet for people both living today and tomorrow as well as doing my part in decreasing the speed at which the planet is destroyed by human consumption, waste and other toxins. I'm not a big consumer and I have always taught my daughter - through actions and words - the difference between needs and wants. Material goods are not what define us. If Americans (or world markets) needed to survive on the consumerism of people like myself, it would be a different world. Among other things, products would be made better and last longer, particularly larger items like vehicles and computers. As an individual, I'm no better or worse with a newer this or that. It is not where I find my self-worth. Honestly, I'm very put off by the Jones' and truly don't care to be around them. Identifying oneself by one's belongings or financial net worth means one doesn't value themselves enough to identify them by what really matters... themselves. That being said, I am by no means against consumerism. People have a right to own what they want. If someone has worked hard or just has the midas touch with money and they want and can afford something , it's their business and they should be supported in their choices, at least not condemned. It's their money, It's their right. It's not their responsibility to end world hunger. They should not be told to feel guilty because they have when other's don't. Think in terms of abundance rather than limitation. If your prized possessions were stripped from you would you still be whole? Would you still be you? We all have our vanities. I'm no exception, nor would I want to be. It just seems as though Americans have become accustomed to finding their personal identity through their personal property rather than via their personal spirit or their inner self. I don't believe in that sort of consumption. It is unhealthy for Americans as well as the world as a whole. There was a time when most countries looked up to the US. Now (even without Bush's help) Americans and our culture are often looked down upon. What do we value? Is it family, honor, character, integrity, a strong work ethic or is it the closest thing upon which we can boast our grandiosity? I'm a bit of an idealist. I feel that most people could be rich rather than poor. I don't believe we need to push others down to lift ourselves up. I know that my success does not depend upon another person's failure. I've never been a jealous person. I think I've felt jealousy three times in my life. What an awful feeling. No, thank you. Instead, I believe there is enough for everyone. Enough for me. Enough for you. I can earn my share. You can earn yours. I'm probably an average American in that I don't like how the American government is being run. This isn't just a Bush issue although God knows we don't need the numbskull bringing us to WW3. Big business is running our country. It needs to end. There are a few very greedy individuals ruining the country for all of us. Can anyone say, "Can the CEOs". It wouldn't hurt the stock markets at all to rid big business of greedy CEOs and replace then with CEOs of companies like Timberline or Bolthouse. The greed mentality needs to be brought down, destroyed. We need to change the path America is walking down. We need to strengthen our educational system and respect the role of mothers. Mothers raise the children of tomorrow. This is the single most important job in the world. By not respecting it, we kill our world, our future. Period. I don't like team sports. I prefer individualized sports such as hiking, camping and downhill skiing. Recently a report came out which claimed men who preferred teams sports were less likely to be leaders and more likely to be followers. Sounds like our country doesn't it? A whole society and generation of followers. How else would the country be on this mindless path it's been on for so long now. No, this isn't the fault of men as half the country consists of women. Isn't it amazing how many women like football these days? 
We need self-thinkers. We need well-educated child because those children are the future of our country. We need all children to have access to the best possible education available provided in a loving atmosphere, without exception. These children will rule the world tomorrow. We need smart voters who will not elect dumb presidents. We need our citizens to be astute enough to know the difference. We have no right to justify not educating some based on the premise that the world needs someone to be the dishwasher or the strawberry picker. I'm sure all things would balance out. Maybe dishwashers would earn a higher income, maybe their be our mentally challenged? Can you imagine a world where everyone was educated to such a level that the only people who picked fruit were those who chose to? Or, perhaps we would put our prisoners to work and they would tend to the farmlands. It might be good for them. I've heard prisoners fair far better when they grow things - that watching things grow teaches them the value of life. Also, I don't believe people should be in prison for drugs. I don't do drugs and neither does my daughter. I'm against the need for drugs. I'm not against people. People do drugs for reasons. Usually to escape something in their life. We have an awful lot of people who have found a need to escape through the use of drugs both legal and illegal. Perhaps when we build a healthier world our citizens will not feel the need to escape through drugs. Punishing them for escaping through substances does not address the root of the problem nor does it fix the problem. I live in France. I had always wanted to live here. Just over a year ago Sophie and I moved to Antibes, a small town nestled on the Cote D'Azur between Nice and Cannes. We now live in Strasbourg. I am an American citizen and very proud to be one. My ancestors first moved to the States from Ireland in 1623, James Hillhouse, to civilize the Indians. He was a Presbyterian minister. Thank goodness we've come along way since then. I believe in equality. Absolute and unequivocal equality for all irregardless of race, sex, age, religious beliefs, sexual preference, weight, marital statue, etc. The one exception to that rule is that I think brutal killers should be killed in the same manner in which they killed another without exception or leniency. The reason for such equality is to detour others from committing brutal crime. Of course, the way to fight against crime is to simply create a healthy, kind and loving society that is based on the kindness, generosity, good health and welfare of it's people rather than greed, consumerism, consumption, limitation and hate. My daughter is 16. She is now allowed to date, as of her 16th birthday. She never minded the rule but didn't think I needed to tell people about it. Maybe it's okay now that she's 16 since the rule no longer applies. If not, she'll just have to deal with it. She thinks it's an odd rule. It's a rule I'm proud of and proud she's been so understanding of and willing to adhere to. Sophie has been home schooled. She has gone to public schools and she's gone to private schools. 
I have nomadic tendencies. I like it that way. I don't plan on changing. Although I've been told repeatedly by nay-saying black-clouders that it would hurt my child, it hasn't. If anything it's done the opposite. She's incredibly well adjusted, knows right from wrong, and is opinionated, worldly, cultured and self-assured. She does well in school and, like most teens at times, drives me nuts. I've been a single mom most of my daughter's life. It's been a choice to raise her on my own since the time when her father and I broke up. Relationships take a lot of work. So does parenting. I felt it would not be fair to my child to cast her and her needs aside to focus on a relationship simply because things changed between her father and myself. I still feel strongly about that. I have always felt that I could start dating again when she is 20-years-old and out of the house. Even if she is not out of the house by then, at that point I would have the right to resume my personal life. But until then, I've agreed to be a mom and I've held up my end of that bargain through thick and thin ever since the day her father and I decided to conceive her. Just because he changed his mind didn't mean I had a right to. It didn't give me an out. I respect my role in my daughter's life and know that how I raise her now will affect her forever. It is truly important to me to bring the best child I can into this world. Related Article: Single Working Mom Me My Kid and Life on Facebook
| Me My Kid and Life on Facebook Home *My Articles* *My Blog* Family Film Stuff European Travel France Strasbourg Healthy Recipes Frugal Living Living a Green Life Make Money Online Jobs for Teens Sophie's Space Dreadlocks About Me Contact Us 
(The forelorned goth child) 
|