Do what you love and Do it well

The beautiful thing about Christmas Break is that it gives me ample time to read. I picked up Barack Obama's newest book The Audacity of Hope and I read an interesting passage about values. This is what it said:

"If we aren't willing to pay a price for our values, if we aren't willing to make some sacrifices in order to realize them, then we should ask ourselves whether we truly believe in them at all."

A certain value that has always been taught to me throughout my life has been to do what you love and to do it well. It has been the understanding that monetary and material possessions do not stand up to the true fruits of this world.

As I continue to grow older, this world of being whatever you want to be has started to fade somewhat. It sometimes appears as if there is too much emphasis on playing it safe and too little interest on living out one's dreams.

As Senator Obama put it, are we really practicing what we preach in terms of our values and ideals on growing up in America? When we tell our kids that they can be anything they want to be, do we really mean it or are we simply giving them false hope?

These are just questions that I think really need to be discussed. I think that every now and then it is good for the soul and spirit to sit in thought on these questions.

Our values are what define us not only as Americans but also as people. But, are the values that have come to define us as a people really the values that we hold dear today?

Words are important in communicating these values but the most important thing that we have to remember is, as the good Senator said, "that our values must be tested against fact and experience, so long as we recall that they demand deeds and not just words."

Why Blame Us?

What has always puzzled me is when the commentators and pundits of our day discuss the culture that we live in today. I was watching television today and a news commentator was discussing how terrible it was that our children are being engulfed by our culture of celebrating celebrities.

My main question was, "Why is he blaming the people of my generation for the very culture that his generation helped to create?"

I was also thinking, "When did Britney Spears, Paris Hilton, and Lindsay Lohan become the ambassadors of my generation?" Why is it that when we must discuss the youth of today, we have to bring up these three individuals all of the time?

The beauty of my future career choice is that I get to spend my time with young people. They are constantly being picked apart by the politicians who believe that tests scores are the only measure of a person. They are constantly being judged by the adults who came before. They are constantly being doubted.

Are these commentators blaming our generation for the problems of today or are they really trying to cover up the real reasons for their questions? Isn’t it true that the world is a much worse place now than it was 10 years ago? Are we really the problem or is it that they are ashamed that they could not provide us with a better world to raise our children in?

Many of the kids of today have problems that these commentators would not even believe. These problems are real and go way beyond the simple problems of being liked by their peers or doing well in English.

Many of the kids of today have to deal with the sadness of only having one parent. Most of the time, this parent is not there because they are too busy working to make ends meet which forces the child to raise themselves.

Many of the kids of today have had to combat life-threatening illnesses. In addition, they must deal with taking prescription medicines whose side effects are worse than the illness that it treats.

In closing, I have a message for those commentators who just love to bash my generation: Focus on yourself before you start judging us.

We have plenty to do with solving the problems you created. It's getting old hearing you complain about how terrible we are for listening to our Ipods and singing lyrics that including “Bringing Sexy Back” and “Money Maker.”

Inspiration for Tomorrow

Tomorrow, I will be coaching my first basketball game. As many of you might not know, the players are not the only ones who need inspiration.

The coaches need to be inspired as well. This is my inspiration!

My Finals, My Future

It is the last night before finals week begins. As is customary, I am up late delaying the sleep which will make my first exam come sooner than I wish.

Of course, my mind is a little bit concerned about the subject of my first final although not too mcuh. Despite it being unlike it any class that I have ever taken, the class will definitely help me in my future career.

However, other subjects are keeping my eyelids from shutting. Mostly, I have just been pondering questions about the past and how my future could have been so much different.

The details of these questions are pretty personal so I will not mention them but it is interesting to think about them every now and then. Would I have been different? Would I have been the same person that I am now? Would I have the same interests, hopes, dreams, and thoughts?

All that I know is that I am ready to do what I was meant to do. Right now, I am in a tough place. It seems that as soon as you know what you want to do with the rest of your life, you want the rest of your life to begin as soon as possible.

I know for sure that I am capable of doing the tasks that will await me when I enter the real world. These past few years, I have learned that no single letter is a measurement of a person. Why are we judged by just one letter?

Much focus has been given to these kind of achievements instead of a person's ability to work hard and better themselves. Even though, I have figured this out, I wish that some of the people would do the same.

When I read a book, I am not concerned with just one letter. I am concerned with the words and sentences that the letters make up, the ideas presented, and the message that it presents. I wish to see people the same way by looking at every aspect of themselves and not limiting myself to one aspect (or letter) of their personality.

True Meaning of Debate

I have not posted on here in a few days. Mostly, I have been spending my time wrapping up one of my last semesters at college, coaching, and reading. Coaching has been going well apart from the whining, crying, and complaining (and that was just on my part).

Lately, I have been reading President Theodore Roosevelt's An Autobiography. I have only just begun and already I am amazed. It is quickly becoming one of my favorite books.

For me, I enjoy reading the first person perspectives of important political figures. I enjoy the political commentary/opinion piece every now and then but I would much rather go to the source. I find a lot more joy in hearing from the person instead of an outside source.

An interesting aspect of this book is that Roosevelt discusses how he never took part or studied speech and debate in college. I found this to be quite interesting but not because one of our greatest President's never took a speech class.

I found it interesting because he never took an interest in college debate. Currently in college debate, as it stands now, each team is given a certain side. One side argues the pro argument and the other side argues the con.

Roosevelt wrote, "Personally I have not the slightest sympathy with debating contests in which each side is arbitrarily assigned a given proposition and told to maintain it without the least reference to whether those maintaining it believe in it or not."

After smirking for a little bit, I read on. Myself, I have never felt comfortable in arguing points of view that I do not agree with. Also, I have felt that college speech and debate, although it produces many great speakers, cranks out a lot of robots.

Roosevelt continued to say, "What we need is to turn out of our colleges young men with ardent convictions on the side of the right; not young men who can make a good argument for either right or wrong as their interest bids them."

"There is no effort to instill sincerity and intensity of conviction. On the contrary, the net result is to make the contestants feel that their convictions have nothing to do with their arguments. "

Luckily, I believe that I have succeeded in that regard with all that I have gotten to do at such a young age in the world of politics. I now feel that I have a piece of literature to express my thoughts about a certain aspect of college forensics. As a political junkie, I am so glad that it came from a great President.

As I end this post, I will leave you with the words of Roosevelt. Maybe, they will inspire you or, in the least, make you think a little bit about what debate truly should be.

"I am sorry I did not study elocution in college; but I am exceedingly glad that I did not take part in the type of debate in which stress is laid, not upon getting a speaker to think rightly, but on getting him to talk glibly on the side to which he is assigned, without regard either to what his convictions are or to what they ought to be."

Content with being Different

I have never understood why some people put so much time and effort into getting to their destination in life.

They seem to spend endless hours, days, and (in this technological age) blog posts discussing and pondering who they are and where they are going. It almost seems as if they are never satisfied. Never happy. Never content with anything.

It seems as if no matter what is happening in their lives, they do not have one positive thing to say simply because a few things in their life are not just the way they want them. Me personally, I think that there is so much of an emphasis put upon our destination that we forget to enjoy the ride.

I can ever remember as a freshman in high school being asked by my guidance counselor, "What are you going to be when you grow up?" I had no idea. I was more concerned about fitting in and whether or not my form was correct on my backhand.

Why is there so much pressure put on people to figure things out?

I understand that in order to survive in this world a person needs to make money. I also understand that many of my colleagues want to find a good job. Heck, I even understand their desire to have a successful career.

But my question to them is - When did a person's career completely define them as a person? Isn't a person defined by so much more than what they do for a living? Also, is "playing it safe" in terms of a career the wrong thing to do?

Do what you love and do it well. I find it very difficult to understand this need to become a workaholic in order to become wealthy. I consider myself to be very wealthy but not in terms of our current monetary system.

I know, I might be a little different. I cherish friendship over cold hard cash and wish to do what I love to do instead of something that will make me a lot of money. Also, I wish to build up my own community instead of leaving and tearing it down whenever I speak of it like so many people do. Oh well, I guess I can take pride in being different.

Because in the end, I am content with my life and that is all the matters.