It has been said that teenagers poised on the precipice of adulthood have two fundamental fears: 1, the idea of change and/or 2, the possibility of making the "wrong" choice.
Now, I know that there are plenty of people who will tell me that the idea of change, especially if it includes a change of scenery from sunny Mays Landing/Mullica to just about anywhere else would be welcomed with open arms and a huge, block-lettered sign.
But, despite the "senioritis" (which has no known medical impliaction by the way AND should not even be an issue since you're JUNIORS!!!)that you have all felt creeping in on you, you have to admit that, at its core, change is a scary proposition. After all, the intrinsic nature of change is that of the unknown, the unchartered, the unfamiliar and the unrevealed.
So, if you are one of the restless souls who yearns for change--what is it about it that is so appealing to you? What do you hope the changes you want to seek out, to undergo or to witness will mean for you, your future, your life? On the other hand, if you are one who double locks the door when change comes a-knockin', tell me what it is about the prospect of it that fightens you. What do you think might happen?
Now, one of Change's many dance partners is Choice. Right/wrong, smart/stupid, bad/ good..choice exists and you are confronted with the notion of it every single day. Sometimes, these are choices of epic proportions--break-up or stay together; cheat or suck it up and take a zero; confront the back-stabbing friend or let it go; get high just this once or walk away never knowing; and sometimes it can be as inconsequential as chicken patty or PB&J.
Either way, your mind has a process it undergoes when you have to make a choice. Tell me about it. Do your weigh all your options and consider possible outcomes, or do you dive in and hope the water isn't too cold? I think I am mix-metaphoring myself into a corner here--but I know you know what I mean. When you are confronted with a choice--how do you make it? Do you seek advice from anyone in particular? Rely solely on your wits? Why?
(450 words/75pts)
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ReplyDeleteFor this blog I actually had to re-read and think for a few minutes about the topic of changes and the choices we have and make in life. Which isn’t a bad thing; not only did I think about what I was going to write about for this blog I thought beyond that. I thought about choices I have made and why, things I haven’t done because I didn’t like the idea of change. I am one of those people who tend to “double lock the doors when change comes a knocking” I have never really been the type of person who likes changes. From the larges changes like who I am living with, to the smallest ones like my uncle buying different peanut butter at acme from the last time he went shopping. I guess you could say I am a pretty damn scared of change. I am not only scared of the change it self im scared of what is going to come out of it, and how its going to effect me. Even if it is a change for the good, I am still not crazy about it. I guess it has a lot to do with comfort. I like to be comfortable… Who doesn’t? Take school for example. In the classes that I don’t have assigned seats I still sit in the same seat every day. The same seat I have sat in since the being of the year. I am comfortable there! If I would have to move my seat I wouldn’t be as comfortable! Also I tend to follow the same schedule everyday, and not just in school. I wake up around 5:30 get ready for school, Miss my bus, follow my schedule at school, come home eat a snack, take the dog for a walk, turn on the Doctors and watch that while I work on my homework. I HATE when that get changed! I like being comfortable and know what is going on and what is going to happen, I don’t like the unknown feeling of change! If I have a choice in weather or not a change happen I almost always go against the change. I don’t really know if it’s a good or a bad thing, weather or not that makes me a good person or a bad person. Weather or not I won’t live my life to the fullest because I don’t like changes or if it will be just as great. But what I do know if that I don’t like change!
ReplyDeleteNow for choices…
Everyone makes them, we are all faced with them, and know how they work. Some think things over more then others. Some make choices based on emotion; some make them based on logic. I guess It all depends on the person and the way there mind works. Now me on the other hand when I make choices they tend be made with 61% logic and 39% emotion. I ALMOST always think, double think, and think once more before I make a choice. I like having lots of choices! I don’t like being limited to just a few. Before when I said that I almost always think a choice over, I said that because there are times that I make a choice or action that I never thought over at all. I never thought about how it was going to effect me and or other people. I guess we have all done that before. Some times I regret them and then other times I am happy that I guess when along with it and didn’t over analyze my choice because if I did I would I missed out. When I need advice because when I weight out the pros and cons and they are tied I almost always go to my uncle. He is always honest and logical and always brings up a factor I didn’t think about. He always gives me great advice, he never leaves me hanging and not knowing what to do. Well I think I answered all the questions and I can post this baby!
(685 WORDS… Woot)
Well this sounds like a pretty easy blog to respond to but I know its going to take more thought. Well I guess you can say that im the type of person that doesn’t think before I act but I need to start thinking before I do because I know that if I think before I act I’ll most likely make a better decision and also have a better outcome. Im the type that dives in and hopes that the water isn’t too cold because I take risks, but then again doesn’t everyone take risks? I’m 100% sure that all of us took risks before we even knew how to talk and it all started when babies tried standing up to walk but ended up falling down. Even though we all knew that we were just going to keep falling down over and over we still took risks and look what happened, we can all walk now. I’m not saying that if you take risks it’ll be a good outcome I’m simply trying to say that people who take risks often have a worse outcome then someone who weighs its options including positive and negative. For example, if I was in a situation where I was at a party with a bunch of friends and I was offered a drug or alcohol I’d decline the offer because drugs and alcohol only hurt you, there is no positive side to drinking or smoking. If I were to seek advice from anyone itd most likely be my dad because hes been in my shoes and he knows what im thinking of doing, what I’ve already done and what im going to eventually do. Usually im never in a situation dealing with a decision where it’ll effect me greatly. My dad is the person I go to about relationship trouble and school trouble because hes been in my place and he knows what im going to encounter in my life. Im going to try considering the possible outcomes and think before I do because I know if I do that then I’ll get further in life and life will have a better outcome. This is one of the things my dad has tried to instill in my head because he wants me to think before I do because when I don’t think then the outcome will be negative most of the time. Well I don’t have 450 words but im pretty close to it. I cant think of anything else to say that will give me 450 words so I guess I’ll just end this blog response at 437 words.
ReplyDeletemaking the wrong choice to me isnt that bad because in order to make the right choice someone has to fail or you know mess up and make wrong choice. change is constant you have to adapt to your surroundings. many things change such as prices and jobs u just have to cope with it because it always changes also some relationships change constantly as well. the only change im afraid of is life out of school because i havent relized what i realy want to do with my life. :(
ReplyDeleteChange….Change is very appealing to me. I accept change and welcome change as a positive. Sometimes the change we take upon ourselves can be scary but also challenging. Two summers ago, I decided to go on the people to people ambassador trip. It was a month long and I knew that I never was away from home for that long. Talk about change. I had a fast lesson in doing my own wash, managing my own money and learned to get along in foreign countries without knowing the language. That change brought on newfound respect for my family, and how I missed them and all they did for me. I never realized how much my parents did for me and how I needed to learn quickly about these things. I left Europe after a month with $4.29 in my bank account. I made it through the trip though and still had a little bit of money leftover!
ReplyDeleteThe next change I will be making in my life will be the decision of where to go to college. It would be an easy choice to stay at home and keep all my old friends. My parents say to weigh all my options and consider my decisions wisely, whatever that means? I know what I want to study, but it is the where that is the big decisions. I have narrowed down many colleges and decided I would like to go someplace that is cold. I love the cold weather. Then I looked at the schools that offer my course of study. I would like to study fish and wildlife. Not too many local schools offer that course. So I searched. I have narrowed myself down to a few schools with the top picks being University of Maine and West Virginia University. Well they both have extremely cold weather but they are both far away from home. This change would impact how often I come home from school. The schools appeal to me because of there because their change in climate, but will climate alone be enough to satisfy me? These are the decisions I have to weigh. My mom tells me that it could be lonely so far away, but I think I could make friends easily. After all I am a friendly guy.
As I consider all possible outcomes, I would be attending the school that offers my interests. I do not want to go to a place just to go to school and not work toward my goals in life. I do want to experience the cold weather and to be able to work in that climate too. In weighing these options, I need to think about other things as well. Change is scary but also inviting. I welcome change!
Choice and change are like yin and yang a perfect balance. For choice requires decision which therefor leads to change. Now change can be good our bad but you have to learn to take the good with the bad.this is because you can't have one without the other because otherwise they're just simple acts of solitude. Now choices can be a thing of beauty or wonder. For example the never ending choice between love and hate. One leads to good things while the other could lead to bad things like heart ache but even though it though you may want to avoid it you need to except it so that you can move on from this experience. If you do except this choice new changes will unfold in front of you.To some change is viewed as a bad thing. This is because they make so many bad choices. There is a thought process that has to go into making choice. Not thinking before making a decision could cause you to make the wrong choices. Inevitable leading to bad changes and therefor a disappointing experience.People say "the future not set in stone." This is an interesting metaphor because it is true. Your future isn't set because it is linked directly to your choices. Bad choices lead to a bad future where as good choices lead to a good future. But it is up to you to make those choices.If you don't and let someone else choose for you leave your future in their possibly incapable hand allowing them to determine your future for you. as you can see choice and change play a very important role in every day life. For without choice or change the balance of the world would shift causing a great imbalance in the very delicate forces of the world. So be thankful that you have the ability to make choices. And don't be afraid to look forward to change. Welcome it with open arms for it can be a wonderful thing. I love change because it leads me to great things. So thats all see ya I have to go catch the school bus.
ReplyDeleteI didn’t get this blog at first but I think I can comprehend what you mean.
ReplyDeleteI am a person who follows wherever the wind takes me, I don’t stop for anyone, and I don’t let anyone bring me down anymore. I like too be pretty spontaneous so as you can see.
I don’t have the greatest judgment so I do what I want to do that sounds good at the moment.
Hmmmm examples
I was in brigantine this January with my friend and he mentioned surfing. I immediately perked up got my wetsuit and board. I got sick as you can tell the water was like 30 degrees.
I just really don’t think of what’ll happen in the future I mean why stress on tomorrow when you have today in front of you?
Change is something I don't really like. I am very coward at moments, and change transmits me fear. Of course I love the "good" change, when I know that it will bring me happiness and everything would be better, but when we make a choice we don't know if the result will be good or bad, because every time you gain something, you lose something too, even if you don't notice that. Sometimes it's the smallest decisions that change your life forever, so I get scared when changes come in my life. Even when I am in a restaurant I always tend to go for the food I usually eat, and when I see something new in the menu, I think about trying it, but then I ask myself...what if it tastes bad?.. what if I lose my money and I don't eat it?. This is a "dumb" example but it reflects how small a change can be and I still lock the door. I know that this way of thinking is not good, because you can lose many opportunities to experience new things that can make your life better. I don't like monotony but I got used to my life. For example: If one day some important guy comes to offer me a model contract in Paris, with everything pay, great job, a car etc.. I would not be able to take this offer, and people will say that I am so stupid for not taking this opportunity, and they are right. But I have always put LOVE and my loved ones first, and I know that going to Paris means leaving all that behind, and I couldn't handle this because I rather live a normal life with decent money, than be rich and empty without the people I love the most. The biggest change I have made in my life is coming here, but I lost and gain new things. Change means sacrificing things in your life, and I have done that. And I am happy with this choice that I made coming here, but then again change scares me.
ReplyDeleteI have made good and bad choices throughout my life as everyone else. I honestly say that the majority of time I act first and then I think. When the choice that I have to make is in front of me, or I have to make it quickly, I don't think about the consequences. But when the choice can wait some time, I do think about the results. I make choices by myself, I don't seek advice from anyone, because I am the type of person that keeps things to itself, I don't like to make choices from the point of view of other people, I like to make it from my point of view, anyways I am the one making the choice, so I have the right to choose. I make my choices with the emotion I am feeling at the moment , it can be sad or a happy emotion, and that's not a good way to make them, but I always tend to do that. I don't like when people say that they don't regret their choices, we all have something to regret, and that is part of the process in life."Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending".
I've been sitting here at my computer for over two hours reading and re-reading this blog as well as thinking and re-thinking my answer.
ReplyDeleteWell.....When it comes to change, I hate the idea of it, even if it is for the best. I've been through lots of changes and sometimes I wish that I havn't. I'm not going to lie, most of my changes were bad. When I see change comming along, I can already see the results and run in the opposite direction. My fear of change is that once it comes and you answer, nothing is the same, no matter how much you tell yourself that your friends or family will still be the same, they won't be. They will either support you or leave you. To be honest, I feel like I'm in a little cacoon and that its the only world I know. For me to see or hear something unfamilar pry itself into my little world, stresses me. I like things a certain way and when I dnt have it that way, I try to do everything I can to make it like that.Im just one of thoes people who have a steady way of doing things. I was once told by someone that,"Change comes even if you cant see it or feel it.."
All my life I've had people pick and choose lots of things for me from what I have to wear to who I can talk to on the phone. But now, when it comes to my choices, I normally jus go with the flow which is some times determined by peer pressure. Wanting to be accepted by others instead or rejected. Sometimes something tells me not to make a certain choice and I do anyway, not realizing that I can be making the biggest mistake of my like. I guess I never stop and think about what could happen if I make the wrong choice. I dont really ask for advice from anyone about a choice I should make, unless I really can't come to a conclusion and because I dont want to accept what is being said. I also don't ask because some people have ways of making a bad choice sound like a great one when in reality, they want you to mess up. I hate that. The way I make my choices is by comparing them, like, what can i get that will benifit me in the long run to how my family will react to the choice I've made. In the end some have have regrets and some just think it's the way life goes.
This is actually very weird because about a week ago I was talking to my dad and he was telling me about making the right choices. Just last week I think I’ve made one of the biggest decisions of my life. And yes it was tough but it was definitely going to help me in the future. I’m not going to put my business all out there but yeah it was a pretty big choice. I’m actually pretty smart to when it comes down to making the right decision. When ever I’m in a tough situation like that I immediately look at the outcomes. Is it going to benefit me or make things worse? You can’t just go diving into things; you have to take your time to really think if it’s something that big.
ReplyDeleteI don’t really like seeking help from anyone when I’m in a bad situation. I look at it as almost cheating. If I need help I will ask for it. Other than that I can manage. I’m not really a fan of just “diving in,” I like taking my time and think about what is the right choice. Life is filled with choices and you’re going to make some bad and some good. Making the wrong decisions is also the question between life and death. Sure there are a lot simpler things like waking up in the morning. The decision of being lazy, not going to school, and fail for the year. Or the decision of waking up, go to school, and pass. It’s as simple as that believe it or not.
Well to start off, all the 'B-Man' blogs were mine. lol ^-^ But anyway, yeah, change sucks, really bad. Right now there are A LOT of changes going on in my life, and I mostly can't find any good out of it whatsoever. For example, the one we all love right now is the budget cuts. The board getting rid of some of our favorite teachers, electives, and after school programs. I hate that, and I wish everything could just stay the same like it's always been. To ruin our schools just to save money is really low and selfish. It's been stressing me out lately, but I have a choice to either be pissed off and miserable about it all the time, (which I kinda am), or just stay positive and hope for the best. Now I always go on about how much of a loser I am and that I love marching band, I hear it wont get cut but our transportation will be. We Need our charter buses to travel out of state for competitions, and school buses for parades and other local stuff. And I just wonder, why are they doing this to us? We're just kids in school. You shouldn't have the right to take away our favorite things and what we need. But it's not just the budget cuts, it's other stuff too like getting older and graduating. Change can either be good or bad, but it's something Everybody goes through. For example, we're all not the same kids as we were, say Hess or Davies. And we're even not the same people we were our freshman year. Yes change is mostly depended on choices, but it's all about the right ones you make. If you make good one's then good will happen to you. But if it's something bad that is forced upon you, then you just have to be strong, have a positive attitude, and just pray that things will be okay, because eventually it will. At first, no one likes change because they're so use to the same things, but after a while once whatever keeps happening then eventually you get used to it. And sometimes people start to like it, but who knows. So really change is all around us and it happens all the time. It's just about choices and how you want that change to be. The only person that knows is you.
ReplyDeleteWhen it comes down to one or another, I can’t do it. If I had to pick between tow things, I would end up picking one but I could choice one right there. It takes me a long time to make one. My options of two things take a long time two. If one thing is good and the other is bad I will try to find bad in the good one and the bad in the good. Some things I would pick right away because I know that the other is bad. But if some things are two close to call it would take me a long time to choice. It all deepens on if it’s a life diction or just for fun. If it was a life diction then it would take me a long time to think about, but not if it was a sort term thing. When it really comes down to make a choice I would go to my parents or the old flip a coin. Asking my parents what should I do and how do I react to things is usually the right thing in the end. They help me with the littlest thing from picking my clothes in the morning to helping me to choices something for the future. I ask them these things because I know I can trust them and no one else. Trust is a big thing in my life and knowing that my parents are there to help my get through some hard times and even there when the times are great that is why I can trust them with making choices in my life.
ReplyDelete