Monday, November 30, 2009

Turn your fear into fascination!


Draw a picture of your fear.

Learn about what it represents in other cultures.

Wear it as a symbol in a form of jewelry, a t-shirt, a temporary tattoo, etc.

Learn about the benefits.

Face your fear.


Examples:

Fear of Spiders: Native Americans saw them as protectors from storms. Benefits: spiders prey on unwanted bugs in your house. You can face your fear by catching the next spider you find and keeping it in a jar or letting it go instead of killing it.

Fear of Public Speaking: In Japan, they focus on being polite, speaking simply, and presenting beautifully. Celebrating your success is just as important too. Benefits: ideas are conveyed to as many people as you want. Speaking to a large group gets everyone thinking and working together. Problems can be solved, messages can be received, and understanding can be reached all by the audience. You can face your fear by raising your hand more often in class if you're still in school, offering to present even if you don't have to, signing up for a speech class, or volunteering at a school or with a large group of people.

Fear of Failure: Failure is seen in some countries as dishonoring your family. Others see it as not being the best you can be. Sometimes you either succeed or you fail, you win or you lose. Other times there is a wide range of doing really well or doing really poor. Benefits: failure allows you to regroup and rethink. It reminds you that you are human and so is everyone else, but you can still succeed. It weeds out those who aren't willing to keep trying: persistence is key. Face your fear: the next time you fail at something, smile. Ask yourself if it really was that big of a deal. Ask yourself does it really matter, will you really not get another chance? Then do it again. If you fail again...do it it again. And again. Many times, you have an infinite number of times to get it right.

Fear of Heights: All over the world, height is represented as success. The gods are the highest in the sky. The higher you climb in life, the wiser and more courageous you will become. Benefits: height keeps things out of reach. It keeps birds safe in the sky (well usually). It keeps people aiming higher. It makes our dreams more vivid and flying more thrilling. You can face your fear by (obviously) climbing. Rock climbing, sitting on roofs, looking out windows of high buildings, going on high roller coasters, bungee jumping! Learn to look at height through an exciting perspective and see it as freedom, pretend like you're flying.


Don't wait on facing your fears. The longer you wait, the more fearful you become, and eventually you may find yourself just giving up. Give yourself a week. A month. A good time limit based on what your fear is. And mark it on your calendar. You have until that day to face your fear in some way.

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Happy Veterans Day and Happy 11/11!


While it would be an exciting day to remind you to make a wish tonight at 11:11 for double the luck, today holds a stronger importance in the national holiday: Veterans Day. While many of the younger generations tend to use this day as an excuse to skip school or hang out with friends, it’s important for people to realize exactly why this day is so special.

A war environment can be cold, lonely, and painful. It can be hot, miserable, and twisted. Your insides can wrench with pain as you watch the soul leave someone’s body. Your limbs can shake with devastating fear as you leave behind those you love. It takes real character to be a soldier. It takes a lot of will to survive.

There are six badges below. You have one month to earn one badge. On December 11, you can decide which badge you have earned, or you can have someone else decide. The objective? You must give up something that you use or do often for one month. Take some time to think about it. Some examples might be your addiction to the internet, junk food, lazy habits, excessive arguing, etc. Giving up any of these will be beneficial to you in the long run. Plus it takes 30 days to develop a habit, so if you can get through the month, you will hopefully have kicked your bad habit.

Or you can choose to give up something that may or may not make any difference to your habits, but will challenge your willpower, just like a soldier. This can be giving up sexual relations, giving up shopping for unnecessary things, or giving up music with swear words. The choice is up to you.

Once you have completed your goal (which you will!), pick one of the badges below that relates to your toughest struggle. Once you have picked what symbolizes your journey the best, that has become your new symbol. You can draw it underneath your name for future signatures, wear it as jewelry or a t-shirt symbol, or simply appreciate it as you see it in nature. Whatever you do, recognize your symbol with pride, you have earned it.

Badges:

Sun: energy, strength, life, guidance

Moon: influence, wonder, emotion

Spiral: progress, awareness, development

Firefly: strength, peace, harmony, change

Seahorse: patience, generosity, friendliness

Feather: truth, virtue, innocence

And don’t forget to mail a letter to a soldier: past or present, family or stranger. They have seen, heard, and dealt with things most can’t even imagine. And if you are a soldier, Happy Veterans Day and thank you for all of you have done! J