Prompt #30 How do I connect to others?

I don’t really understand what this prompt means…  but the way I connect with others is by talking or communication like texting, facebook, instagram, kakao talk, email, or letters.

How most people connect with each other is by talking to each other face to face.  When people talk to each other, they are pretty much connecting.  Any kind of talk is connecting.  People can be screaming at each other, although that is not a very positive kind of connection, it is still a connection.  Or they can chit chat and talk about anything, aimless things, like what did they eat for dinner, their favorite color, their new shoes, outfit or even the weather and they can talk about serious things.  For me, I am shy and really awkward, especially in the beginning of a conversation and especially with unfamiliar people, but when I am in a familiar and comfortable, I can be really weird and maybe even more awkward.

A really popular way of connecting with others is using the Internet.  Using sites like facebook, have really helped people to connect with others especially if they cannot see and talk to each other face to face.  Facebook can connect to people from other cities, states, countries, and continents!  It is a really convenient way because not only can we message each other, its totally free.  We don’t have to pay for like long distance messaging~ so its a lot easier than sending letters, which take way too long to receive and also talking on the phone, which can be costly if you talk for a long time.  Another good thing about facebook is that we can post pictures that we can show are friends.

Other popular ways of connecting with others is by using instagram, which where you can post pictures that your other friends can see.  But the one thing, that I use the most to connect with others is an app called Kakao Talk.  Kakao can be used by ipod, iphone, and android.  I like it because it’s like texting but we can send these like silly looking emoticons and also send each other pictures or video and even voice notes to each other.  We can also have group chats or we can just talk to another person.

But my favorite way to connect to other people is by playing with them, like going to the movies or going out to lunch.  When we play, we are always in a group and we like to go everywhere.  Unfortunately, Saipan is really small, so we have a very very limited amount of places to go.  We don’t even have a mall. Boooo~

Prompt #29 Is it better to live in one city or town than to move from one place to another. Do you agree or disagree?

For me, I think that a person should move from place to place, but not like constantly and frequently.  I think a person should explore places and find a place where they think they are content to stay in.

If I had to move from place to place constantly, I think I would have a very hard time adjusting to the places.  Wouldn’t it be really expensive too?  Traveling is really expensive and I would have to buy like food, furniture, electricity bills, water bills, house bills etc. and I would only stay there for a short time.  Also, wouldn’t it be kind of hard to make friends?  I would only stay for a short while like a month or so, and meet a few people but never get to really know them since I would leave before we actually get closer.  I think living like that can also be really lonely.  Especially for someone like me, since I’m really shy and I am kind of slow to make friends~ I’m too shy to approach people sometimes.

 

But I think that just staying in one place is kind of boring.  They might not of been able to experience different things if they j  It can be very convenient knowing where everything is since you’ve lived there your whole life and you already have friends that you grew up with and are very familiar with.  But I think that its time for the bird to leave the nest.  For me, I have always lived in Saipan, a teeny tiny island with like less than 100,000 people inhabiting it and with no shopping malls.  I really like it here, I have pretty much everything, I know a lot of people, I have close friends, my family is here, and I know where everything is.  But I know that I don’t think I would like to stay here, I would want to travel and then settle down somewhere else.  Since I lived in Saipan for a long time, I was very used to the way things are done and when I go to other places like America, it is so different it’s awkward for me.  And I also want to explore other places and find somewhere where I want to settle in.

ust stay in one place.

I think it’s best to have a balance of moving from one place to another.  I think its good to explore places, but I think there should be a time when its time to settle down and stay in one place.  Preferably a place that you think is a place that you wouldn’t mind staying in. 

Prompt # 28 List 10 precepts (or quotes) that you live by.

 10 quotes that I live by:

1.Life always gives you a second chance. Its called tomorrow.

I like this quote because it makes me feel more hopeful about what happens the day after today.  If something bad happens, there is always tomorrow to try and make things better.

2.Stop looking at what you have lost, so you can see what you have.

This quote reminds me to always look forward and to not dwell on the past.  Usually, I tend to dwell on the past and always think of the things that I could of said or done that I regret.  Because I dwell on the past so much, sometimes I don’t see things that I have and don’t regret in front of me.

3.What goes around comes around.

This means that what you do will always come back to you.  Like if you did something good, something good will happen to you in the future.  This is Karma.  It can either be bad or good karma.  If you do something bad, something bad might happen to you in the future.

4.What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.

I like this quote because it sounds inspiring.  It means that what doesn’t ‘kill’ you which can mean anything like any setbacks or troubles in life can actually help you become stronger.  Setbacks and troubles are all part of life and when you get through it, it can help you learn and become stronger.

5.Today you are You, that is truer than true.  There is no one alive who is Youer than You- Dr.Seuss

I am me.  There is no one else like me.  This quotes reminds me to always be myself and to not try to be like others.  There is only one of me and I am one of a kind.  I should always stay true to myself and just act like myself. 

6.You have brains in your head.  You have feet in your shoes.  You can steer yourself any direction you choose- Dr.Seuss

I am the one that can control myself.  This quote reminds me that I get to choose what I want and I should not let others tell me what to choose.  I should not let people tell me what to do since it’s my life and let me make mistakes so I can learn from it.

7.Treat people how you want to be treated.

This is an important quote that even my mom has always tried to hammer into my head.  This means that you should treat everyone how you would like to them to treat you.  If I am nice to someone, they will be nice to me too.  If I am mean to someone, they will be mean to me too.

8.We are all here for some special reason. Stop being a prisoner of your past.  Become the architect of your future.

As I said before, I tend to dwell on the past and I always think of all my regrets and mistakes that I did.  This reminds me that I have a future waiting up ahead and I should stop thinking about the past and start working on the future.

9.Reach for the stars.

Reach big! 

10.The more that you read, the more things you will know.  The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go- Dr.Seuss

Education is important!  The more I study hard and do good in school, the more places I can go~ like to a good college~ then get a job

Prompt #27 What is happiness?

Happiness can be defined as: the quality or state of being happy or good fortune; pleasure; contentment; joy.  How do we know if we are happy?  Only you, yourself know if you are happy.  “If you’re happy and you know it clap your hands!”  You cannot classify a person that is not you as happy or not.  Only you can determine if YOU are happy yourself.

There are many different ways to find happiness.  It varies from person to person. A person can be happy lying all day and watching Spongebob or can be happy playing sports, traveling, fishing, dancing, teaching, or learning etc.  Happiness can be viewed very differently.  Everyone sees happiness differently. 

I think there is no definite way a person can reach happiness.  There are no sets of guidelines or rules to follow so a person can be happy.  Everyone has their ideas of what they should do that can make them reach happiness.  If happiness did need to have some sort of rule, it would be: Do what you love.  Or something like that.  The rule would be very broad and would be interpreted differently for everyone. 

Happiness for someone could be having a family like children, or traveling alone, eating chicken, boat voyages, clubbing, drinking, playing soccer, basketball, swimming, doing math problems.  Sometimes people can have a pessimistic view on happiness or an optimistic view on happiness.  People with a pessimistic view; probably don’t do things that make them happy. 

For me, happiness is defined as anything that will make me smile or laugh.  Which is actually a lot of things.  Everything amuses me and interests me.  Some things may look weird or unenjoyable to some people, but for some reason I find thinks like pens, markers, any school supplies, stickers, Spongebob, shiny things, hoodies, socks with flip flops, anything with dinosaurs, crocodiles or alligators and so much more things tend to make me happy.  I don’t know why, but I am easily happy and even little doodles on random pieces of paper can make my day.

Prompt #26 Which book benefited you the most and how?

The book that benefited me the most would have to be The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini.  I have never read a book so fast in my life.  I am an extremely slow reader and this took me about 3 weeks to finish, which is pretty fast for me. 

At first I didn’t really think much about the book.  It didn’t spark my interest at all, even when I saw it everywhere.  There are many copies of The Kite Runner in my school; we actually have one whole shelf row dedicated to those books.  And every year I passed by it without a single glance.  I have actually contemplated on reading it before, but that was when I was younger and when the size of the letters and the amount of pages in a book mattered a lot to me.  The bigger the size of the letters and the thinner the book, the better.  I was also not interested in books that involved history, I was more into things with adventure like The Hunger Games (which is a REALLY good book series).

It wasn’t until last summer when I was in Peru, that I had a sudden curiosity about it.  When we were on a bus ride, my friend had brought it along with her to read.  She has read the book more than three times, it was one of her favorite books.  She let me read a few chapters in the bus and I suddenly became hooked on it.  I didn’t get the chance to read the whole thing while is was there but when I got home back to Saipan, I searched for a copy of my own.  I was lucky to pick up the last copy of it at a local bookstore~ their next order of it would of came much later~ and I read it and I cried at the end :')

I was really surprised that I really liked the book, usually those are not the kind of books I would prefer, but for some reason I really like it.  Everything about it had a really emotional affect on me, like Amir’s strained relationship with his father and his relationship with Hassan.  I liked the fact that he had took the chance to redeem himself and went back to face his past instead of run away from it like before.  It taught me to appreciate everything that I have and for what people have done for me.

My Favorite Quote: “For you, a thousand times over.” Hassan to Amir & Amir to Sohrab.