Wednesday 2 March 2011

What Makes Life Worthwhile?

When trying to answer this question, it’s easy to get side-tracked with the obvious things...

· Friends who don’t mind a 4am phone call

· A mum who’ll help you dye your hair

· Brothers who wind you up to the point of snapping, but whom you love nonetheless.

· A dad that thinks the world of you...honestly, I do a half-decent painting and he reckons I’m the next Van Gogh... hopefully not meaning the part about his break-down though...hmmm

It’s easy to get side-tracked with these obvious things because they make you smile. Being able to smile; being truly, blissfully happy, that’s what makes life worthwhile.

Sydney J. Harris, an American author and journalist once said,

“Happiness is a direction, not a place.”

A journey.

Not a destination.

So, what makes a great journey great then?!

For me, it’s the view along the way. It’s the Sun’s smiling face beaming down at you from his water-colour blue blanket. Now, just for the sake of being really Disney, let’s say there’s a couple wisps of cloud up there with him...and they’re in the shape of an msn-style smiley face *colon, close bracket*.

Now, what I’m really trying to convey here, amidst my teenage-ramblings, is that really, loving that journey rather than just looking past it to where you’re headed is what’s going to get you grinning. In that sense, happiness is about enjoying the here and now.

· Living in the moment

· Embracing those little impulses that creep upon us from nowhere

Something that encapsulates that sentiment is this quote from William W. Purkey:

"You've gotta dance like there's nobody watching,
Love like you'll never be hurt,
Sing like there's nobody listening,
And live like it's heaven on earth."

...dance like there’s nobody watching...

What a brilliant line.

I love that [line] because no matter how lacking your sense of rhythm is; everyone can dance because, after all , dance is just an expression of what we feel, it’s living and loving in the moment and the emotion, letting go of your inhibitions and laughing in the face of embarrassment: just going for it. I recently read a magazine article stating that people are 76% less likely to develop Dementia if they dance 3 or 4 times a week...so...there must be something good about dancing!

That last part though, live like it’s heaven on earth...

Nobody knows for sure whether there even is a heaven or a hell or infact anything after our portion of Earthly time but we all have our own ideas about heaven but whatever form it may take, it’s a place for bliss. So, if believing in a heaven makes us feel happier, why not?

Belief Is a Powerful Thing

Regardless of what it is that you believe having faith in something brings comfort to so many people when times get hard. Be it a god or Karma or any number of different things, faith can hold us together when we’d otherwise be falling apart...like a safety pin holding the strap of your dress up...of course that’s a trivial example but the concept remains the same, when everything else is gone and you’re at the bottom, one little thing; faith, or indeed a safety-pin, can lift you up again.

Of course, belief in yourself is pretty darned important too. Being able to look past your flaws and see what others see.


"Love yourself, for if you don't, how can you expect anybody else to love you?"

I’m so much more comfortable with the way I look now, than I was before. I’ve still got issues with my body, I don’t like my legs...

But they work.

I can walk and run and skip and dance. For that, I’m really lucky and so grateful.

Besides, they’re the only pair I’m ever going to have...so hating them would be an almighty waste of time!

Be comfortable with who you are and stop worrying about what other people want you to be.

Now, to summarise, What Makes Life Worthwhile:

Happiness:

· Being able to appreciate all of the wonderfully unfathomable intricacies in the world around us

· Living in the here and now and making the most of it

· Having the courage to believe in something, no matter who tries to disprove your faith

· And finally loving yourself.

That, in my opinion, makes life worthwhile.









Well, there you go!! that's my speech for English :D I wrote it Sunday afternoon and then spent sunday night, monday night and tuesday night learning it :D literally in the nights, I found that in bed was the only time i could properly chill without other people around to hear me practice. and then i practiced to martin on the way to school this morning too:P and again in tutor *ears blocked and eyes closed...must have looked a lil weird...read it through a couple of times as well*


anyways, it went well. I think i was shaking but i tried to keep calm and carry on xD and i did well and got a good mark and i'm so flaming happy. i'm also reeeeeee-aaaaaally glad that it's over and done with now :D


mmm mum's making roast pork for dinner :) smells soooooooo good!!


anything good on the telly box tonight?? i feel like vedging :D
actually...i think mom's watching downton abbey or something...oh and then she wante to see the dream school with jamie oliver.
hmmm :P

i set fire to the rain
watch it pour...

Peace and love
xxxx

2 comments:

  1. That all looks really good. I really wish that I was there to see the speech.

    And I definitely agree with all of the points raised here. It all obviously reflects on your personal life, but still broadens out enough to actually comment on life in general. And sometimes one just forgets the absolutely outstanding and impossibly unlikely miracle of simply being alive.

    And your quotes have put me in a quotey mood, I think there's one that goes like this:

    "Age is not measured by the years in your life, but by the life in your years."

    Anyway, you've given me a lot to think about. Maybe I'm too much of a reflector to be enough of an in-the-moment impulsive person, but maybe that's something I'll address.

    Anyway, sorry for writing so much :P

    xxxx

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  2. never say sorry for writing so much!! :P
    i love that quote, it's brilliant :D xxx

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