Focus

Good morning everyone!
I know that I'm behind on my blogging. For any Junior Highers reading this post, please understand that you have it pretty easy (as far as school goes), when you get to high school, everything is very different, so enjoy middle school while you're in it!

My topic today is Focus: everyone has heard that if you don't focus on your goal, you will never achieve it.Or something like that. But how many of us really focus on our goal? Do you really have one thing that you can focus on? I know I don't focus near as much as I should, but that is going to change! In school, if you don't focus on learning the information that your teachers are trying to teach you, you won't get the full value out of the information that you should be getting. In your job, if you don't focus on getting your work done correctly, you will not get the job done correctly, which will potentially cause trouble. And in sports, if you don't focus on what you're doing, and why you are in that sport, you will not play to your full potential. If you're evolved in a sport because you have to be, you can still make the best of it, and work your hardest to be the best that you can be, even if you aren't enjoying what you're doing. But if you focus on your school work, or your other work, and especially in sports, you will become better, and you will rise towards the top of your peers.
One of the biggest parts of being focused though, is work ethic. If you are focused, and don't work hard, you aren't really focused, so you will need to work like crazy, and stay focused on your goal for that situation, and then you will become better.

I hope ya'll have a wonderful weekend!

No matter how you feel....

All of you have been in that place, where you just lost. Fill in the blank, I don't know what you lost, but it could have been something big, like your job, your home, your family, a relationship, or even your pet. Whatever it was, you felt like you were defeated, and you couldn't do anything. You feel horrible, and you just don't know what to do with yourself.

If you are like me, you don't want to look like you are hurting inside. If the pain you are feeling you think is to hard for you to hid, then you try and stay out of sight. That's not always the best thing to do. It is alright to show that you are in pain, and that you are struggling. However, there is a balance between showing that you are struggling, and letting it get you down to the point where you can't do other things. For example; you had a really good friend who got in a really bad car wreck, and is paralyzed, the doctors said that she/he would never be able to walk again. You are having a heard time processing this, and you feel really bad for your friend. When you are in this situation, you need to go out and talk to other people. You can't sit at home, or by yourself and be completely isolated because you don't want others to know that you are hurting. If your favorite pet got ran over on the highway, and he/she died, you may be really sad about that, but you need to be able to get up, and keep going with life.
There are a few situations that I listed earlier, you just lost your job, you lost your home, a family member or friend..etc. While these situations are hard, you have to rise up, and beat the struggle. It's really similar to what I said in my last post, you have got to beat the struggle. YOU ARE NOT A LOSER! Maybe you have lost stuff in your life, but that doesn't make you a loser.
My point today, was to encourage you to keep going, even when it's hard. "No matter how you feel...keep going"

Get up!!!

When we get knocked down, the enemy (who/whatever that is) want's you to stay down and get defeated. Are you going to let the enemy win? I know I'm not. If you are not going to let the enemy win, than you need to do the opposite of what they were trying to do. If the odds are all stacked against you, and it seems as if everyone and everything wants you to fail, what do you do? YOU SUCCEEDED. It is hard to not let everything get to you, but when you get knocked down, you have two options: 1) stay down, and be defeated, or 2) get up, and not give up. 

The choice is yours, but I'm going with option number two. I hate to be down, and stay there. I know how hard it is to get back up, but that just proves not only to your enemy that you are stronger than they thought you were, but it also shows you how strong you are. 

Picture this with me: You are towards the end of practice, at the start of the season, so you are kind of out of shape. You've had a long practice, and coach says to get on the line. You know that means practice isn't over, and you'll do suicides until you feel as if you're going to die, and then one more. In this situation, it's the same thing. You can either choose to collapse, and be done, or you can choose to push yourself until coach says that practice is over. And if you are pushing yourself to the very end and trip, what do you do? GET UP!!! And finish strong. 

That was an example in sports, but if you compare it to life, it's not that different. When you can either finish strong until you get told that you can be done, or give up, and get beat.I know what I'm going to do, do you?

 

Your goals

If you are anything like I am, you are very competitive, and hate being wrong. To feed my competitive spirit, I am involved in both volleyball and basketball, and I am in a few 4-H projects also. For myself, I set goals for almost everything that I am involved in.
For volleyball this fall, my goal is to play on the varsity team. That will be difficult for me, because the other players who would be on the varsity team, have played the sport for a long time, and most of them have played together, sense they were little elementary kids. Where I'm just coming in, because the high school I'm at doesn't have enough people to have any sports teams, so I go and practice with the neighboring high school athletics, so I'm the "new kid" and trying to fit in with the rest of the team, and I haven't had as much experience as they have, because our seasons in junior high are very short compared to all the schools around.
That is my volleyball goal for this fall, and it won't be easy, but I'm sure that if I try hard, and really do everything the coaches ask me to do, and follow instruction from my teammates, and work some on the side, I can play some varsity by the end of the season.

What are you involved in? Do you have goals on how you want to end a season, or chapter in your life?
The thing is, you can set goals anywhere, but you will never be able to achieve your goals unless you set them. You also always want to set your goals high!!! If you set your goals to a point that you think you can reach easily, it won't give you the effect that you will want, and it may end up giving you the opposite. You all have heard the quote "reach for the sky" or "the sky's the limit". There is a teacher at my school, and she is such an amazing person, she tells her students not that the sky is the limit, but it is the beginning, and there is no limit!! I think that is what every single person in the world should hear, "there is NO limit!!!"

To achieve your goals, you have to set them so high that you think it is almost impossible, but you also have to have a plan on how to achieve your goal. For example, last year I didn't even want to play volleyball in high school, now look at me, I'm trying to play for the varsity, but I have a plan on how I'm going to achieve this goal.

I hope this was helpful to you, or at least you were able to get something out of it.
Have a wonderful day, and you'll hear from me in at least a week!!!

Judging others and holding grudges

Far to often, we are all to quick to judge other people. We judge them, for stupid things, such as; what they wear, what they eat, who they talk to, and many other things. Have you judged anyone in the last week for a reason similar to this?
Almost any reason that you might have to judge someone is a bad reason, in fact, we are told to not judge anyone for anything. If you are a christian like I am, you would know that the bible tells us that it is not our job to judge, but our job to love others. The next reason why you might judge people, or have been judged is because of the past. The past is in the past, and there is nothing you can do about what has already happened, however, you can change how the future will look (to a certain point). I heard this song a while ago, and I really liked the message it sent. The person you were, doesn't have to be the person you are for the rest of your life, so if you are judging someone because of the way they acted in the past, just remember that they may not be the same person they were in the past.

If you have been holding a grudge towards someone, you should look back, to see why you were mad at them to start with, some of the time, you won't even know. That is a sure sign to forgive them and move on.
One thing that I've had to learn, is how to forgive someone, even if they're not sorry. It's hard, but even if you do know why you are holding a grudge, and it is a "good reason" it's not. I mean, no reason is a good enough reason to hold a grudge, and it is hurting you more than it is hurting whoever you are mad at.

What about the flip side? What if you are the person being judged, for a stupid reason?
Well, It's difficult, but you have to be the bigger person, and not let them get to you. If someone is acting judgmental to you, and you walk away, then you are out of all danger of acting hateful or judgmental back to them.

Freedom

Happy 4th of July!!! Now I'm sure every single one of you have heard that freedom isn't free. Soldiers are risking, and give up their lives everyday so that America can truly be the land of the free. It costs something to live like we do.
A few years ago, I was in sixth grade, and for social studies we were learning about the Vietnam war. Hearing the stories of soldiers coming home, expecting to be heroes, and the treatment that they revived was horrific! Now, I really didn't care that many people thought that involving America in the Vietnam war was a bad idea! My thought was: these soldiers were drafted into the war, and the only thing they could do to get out of serving, was to move out of the U.S. They left their homes, their families, and their lives to go and serve the country, the least we could do is show them respect when they come home.
The 4th of July isn't about BBQ-ing and playing with fireworks, parades, and rodeos (although it is fun), we should never forget how it all started. When you see that American Flag, and when you hear the National Anthem, remember all of the men and women who gave their lives for you and I to enjoy our freedom, and enjoy this country!
If you have served, or are currently serving, THANK YOU!!!
If you know anyone who has served, or is currently serving thank them, because they serve for us.

I watched this and it is amazing! Take only 4 minuets and listen and watch this, it's truly AMAZING!!!

Be better

Far to often we see that we aren't doing as good as we could be at something. For example, maybe I don't have the public speeking skills that I would like to have. So what should I do with that? Well I have two options: one, acknowledge that I have something I need to improve on, and then go to do something else, or two, acknowledge I have an area that I could improve on and then...you guessed it, IMPROVE. Work hard to achieve the public speeking skills I want. Practice, ask other people who will give you the truth, and just overall work hard.

A while back I listened to a speech titled "Dirty Laundry" the reason this man was speeding about it was because he wanted to improve in an area where he wasn't being sucsesf and that wasn't good for him. He was determined to it correctly. I'll attach the video so all of you can follow what I'm talking about. 

My hole point is that you should always be striving to be better all of the time. There shouldn't be a time when you notice that guy aren't as good at something and let it go!

Have a wonderful week everyone!!!

Dirty Laundry