Bigger, Better Things

Exams and graduation are coming up. FAST. 

It still doesn't seem real that highschool is ending.

Next year, I won't be coming back to this school.

I'll be moving out.

I'll have responsibilities.

And those thoughts scare me half to death.

But at the same time, I'm so incredibely excited to move from the little pond to the big ocean of university.

I get to make new friends.

Try new things.

Take classes that I'm genuinely interested in.

This change is going to be very bittersweet, but an amazing experience. 

I'm 100% ready to walk across that stage, get my diploma, and throw my cap in the air.

Marley and Me and Lots of Tears

I’m not an overly emotional person.

I get sad.

I get happy.

I get mad.

I get annoyed.

But I almost NEVER cry. Like ever.

My best friend since kindergarten had NEVER seen me cry until one fateful night. Movie Night.

We were going through her movie collection and I saw a dog on one of the DVD cases, and since I LOVE dogs, we decided that we’d watch this one.

Worst. Decision. Ever.

By the end, I was convulsing with body heaving sobs, sniffling like a baby, and my makeup was all over my face. I was covered in used tissues and my friend looked like she’d just seen a ghost.

“I think this is the first time I’ve ever seen you cry… This is amazing.”

I was a complete disaster. My heart was shattered and my brain was fuzzy.  I’m still scarred to this day because of that movie…

Making Something out of Yourself, Yourself

I found the article 10 Beliefs of Highly Successful People and all of the beliefs tied in excellently with the idea of 'living yourself to death'.

All of the 10 beliefs in the article followed the theme of not sitting back and waiting for life to hand you something great, but actually going out and making something work yourself: 

"1. Forget fate! Focus on doing what you love.

2. Fail just means First Attempt In Learning.

3. Never ever doubt yourself.

4. Choose to continue, even if nothing seems to be working out.

5. Being a genius doesn’t automatically translate to being successful.

6. If you really want it, you’ll find a way to get it.

7. Take calculated risks.

8. Know what you’re getting into.

9. Service will always beat selfishness in the long run.

10. Don’t wait. Create."

If you follow those rules in almost any aspect of your life, chances are, you'll find success wherever you look.

People are often too scared to try anything out of their comfort zone that could either lead to greatness or nothing. 

You can't let the fear of getting nothing stop you from achieving greatness.

No one has become truly great by doing absolutely nothing to get there.

Nice Guys v Nice Girls

You know what?

Nice guys often do finish last.

I know that because I've put a nice guy in last place before.

Girls don't always want someone who will ask "how high?" when they say jump; they want someone who can give them a challenge and make her fight her own battles sometimes. 

Girls don't want someone who will act like a kicked puppy when they get in an arguement; they want someone who will fight back a little (but not too much) and stand their ground. Obviously, you should admit it if you're wrong, but don't say you're wrong when you're not just to make us happy.

This may be an 'unpopular' opinion, but nice guys put themselves in last place a lot of the time. They may like us and want to be with us, but they rarely make a move. Girls LOVE a guy who will make the first move, and nice guys are usually too scared to do that. After a while of a guy being too scared and too nice, a girl will usually get used to him being 'just a friend', so if and when the guy finally grows a pair and makes a move, she won't be able to get past the idea of him being only a friend. 

Ya snooze ya lose.

Live Your Life With No Regrets

Life hands you obstacles

that put you out of place.

Do not run and hide

life is something you need to face.

Live each day with a purpose

Do what you want to do.

Dream big dreams

and fight to make them true.

Life can be wonderful

if you live it right.

Full of happiness

if you put up the fight.

Live it by the moment

even if you jump and fall.

Live your life with no regrets

or you never live at all. 

-leanna markgraf

Leanna Markgraf makes an excellent statement about living life to the fullest in her poem. 

People these days often try to stay in their 'comfort zone' and wont make the jumps or take the risks, but still excpect the rewards. 

But that's not the way life works.

That poem is a fancier way of saying "when life gives you lemons, make lemonade". You can't run and hide from all of life's challenges, you have to stand tall and make the best out of any situation.

You should live every day like it's your last day on earth, because for all you know, it could be. 

"Live your life with no regrets or you never live at all"

Reality TV, Crazy Women, and Crazier Fans

The world seems to have this fascination with reality TV, and I'll be honest, I'm one of those people. I love to get home and sit down to watch a couple of hours of terrible TV, and I can't help it. One of my favourites has to be Dance Moms. 

The show Dance Moms has caused a lot of controversy throughout its 4 seasons for a number of different reasons. Abby Miller, the dance instructor, is a big, loud, strong willed woman who is often seen as a ‘bully’ to the dance girls and their moms. She claims that she doesn’t think she’s a bully, but the way she treats the children shows a different story. And it’s not only the children, she bullies the ‘Dance Moms’ as well! She screams and rages at them for everything they do (sometimes they deserve it, but most of the time they’ve done nothing wrong) and get up in their faces. Sometimes, this reaction leads to an altercation which leads to loooooots of problems for everybody: kids being ‘suspended’ from dancing, moms being banned from the building, and now, court orders. 

Abby and one of the moms, Kelly Hyland, got into a screaming fight which eventually ended with Kelly slapping Abby across the face and pulling her hair. Since then, they’ve been to court to deal with the charges and Kelly has been told to stay away from Abby; no contact, no calls, no tweeting, nothing. 

This article explains it all, and ends with this: What do you think of Kelly Hyland getting arrested for attacking Abby Lee Miller? “Whose side are you on? We know you have an opinion and we want to hear it. Comment below to share your thoughts with us!” That leads me to the ‘crazy fans’ section of the title. 

“Kelly is crazy.” 

“Her voice is annoying.” 

“Abby is obnoxious” 

“her reputation speaks for itself” 

“Abby is RUDE” 

“I hope her stupid show never gets renewed.” 

“I hope u get new kids, and u get CANCELED!!!!!”

These comments are a result of being brainwashed by reality TV and 'entertainment news' articles. 

These commenters seem to take what happens on these shows and is written in these articles personally. It's as if it's happening to them and their own children.

Reality TV is a great form of entertainment, even though it's complete garbage most of the time, but people need to take the 'reality' out of reality TV. 

This stuff isn't actually 'real'. Many people believe that most of these shows are staged for popularity, and that's probably true. But that doesn't seem to stop people from getting emotionally attached to these shows and characters.

I think it'd help society a lot if we took a bit of a break from 'reality TV' and actually went out and lived in our ACUTAL reality!

What If?

That's probably one question that continuously pops up in my mind.

What if...?

What's going to happen if it doesn't work...?

If I do that, what will happen?

It's a terrifying question, because the only way to find the exact answer is to do something.

When school started in the fall, everyone was talking about the different sports teams at school. I decided on the same 3 sports that I'd played in grade 10 and 11, but there was a little voice in the back of my head that was telling me to rejoin the wrestling team.

After an incredibly successful wrestling career from grade 5 to grade 9, I quit.

I had spent all of August 2011 travelling the world; I wrestled for team Canada in Mexico and toured Europe with some of the top wrestlers in my age group.

Then I got home, went to one practice, and quit.

It came as a HUGE shock to everyone, including myself. I had just wrestled for TEAM CANADA! I should be working my butt off to keep getting better and better and better.

But that same little voice was there.

 'It's not worth it'
'You don't love it anymore'
'It's taking over your life'
'Cutting weight isnt healthy'

And that little voice was right. My life was completely revolving around wrestling; I had to watch what I ate, I couldnt play soccer anymore because of summer training camps and tournaments, I was gone almost every weekend from October to April, and I was completely exhausted.

After I quit, I was able to rejoin all of the sports that I had been missing, I had a social life, and I was at a healthy weight again. Life was pretty great, and the little voice went quiet.

But the voice came back. I was reorganizing my closet and I found my old team Canada singlets. 

'Might as well try them on, see if they still fit, right?'

So I did, and it felt good.

After strutting around the house for a while, I went back to my closet. 5 minutes later, I found my grade 9 OFSAA wrestling sweater.

'Oh look at that, another thing to try on!'

But this sweater didnt fit. 

The arms and body were WAY to short.

'Oh isn't that a shame.. Guess you need to get a new OFSAA sweater.'

That thought got me started on a list in my head... What could I go to OFSAA for??

Flag football? Yeah we won GBs, but there isnt an OFSAA, and 'GB champs' just doesnt have the same ring as 'OFSAA'.

Badminton? No way. I just do that for fun, the chances of me making to to GBs is slim to none, let alone OFSAA.

Soccer? Our team didnt win a single game last year, so that's not even an option.

'What about wrestling...?'

Hmm.... Might as well try it right?

At first I was extremely hesitant about the idea... What if I suck? What if I embarrass myself in front of everyone?

'You'll never know until you try'

So I rejoined the wrestling team.

And won my first tournament without getting a single point scored on me.

'Well would you look at that, you've still got it.'

3 months later, I'm at OFSAA with a brand new sweater in my hands.

The question 'what if' should never be the thing to stop you from doing what you want, because there's no way to know what will happen until it happens. Sometimes, it's a chance you have to take to get the payoff that you want.

Living yourself to death... Then back?

"Man, 78, wakes up in body bag at funeral home"

That's definitely not your average headline. 

Walter Williams is a 78 year old man who lives in Lexington, Mississippi, and for a couple of hours, he WAS Walter Williams, a 78 year old man who LIVED in Lexington, Mississippi. 

On Wednesday February 26, his family called the coroner when they found him dead in his home, and he was pronounced as such at 9pm. No breathing, no pulse. He was as dead as a doorknob.

On Thursday February 27, his family received a call from the coroner when they found him ALIVE in his body bag.... Kicking, screaming, and full of life! 

Williams was just a few minutes away from being embalmed when the coroner realized that the man in the body bag wasn't actually dead. They believe that the cause of his death (and revival) was a faulty pacemaker in his chest! Apparently it stopped for a long enough time for him to die, be pronounced as dead, but restarted soon enough to stop any permanent damage to his body... That is one incredible fluke if you ask me!

This lucky man got a second chance at life because of a strange twist of fate, and he's "happy to be alive" today! 

Imagine the feeling of dying, and then getting the chance to come back?? You'd (hopefully) have a new outlook on life, be a whole lot more grateful about being alive, and maybe do something to make your new last days a little more special!

The thing is, you don't have to wait for something crazy like this to happen to get a new outlook on your life, you can change that for yourself right this second! Just make a list of the things that would probably change if you died and came back. 

• Tell everyone that you love, that you love them
• Apologize for the things that you've done wrong in your life
• Forgive the people that have done something wrong to you
• Smile more
• Take more risks
• Try something new

The list could be infinite. Read your list, and do those things NOW. Don't waste your life away looking for that "lucky break", make things happen yourself.

Olympic Dreams to Reality

Setting goals and finding a way to achieve them is all a part of leading a fulfilling and happy life. Going to the Olympics is almost any committed athlete’s goal in life, but it is a difficult goal to reach. The amount of commitment, time, effort, injuries, emotions, and money that goes into the journey is intense but for the select few who make it, well worth it. There were a few Canadian athletes who really caught my attention at this years Olympics Games because of their achievements. 

Snowboarder Mark McMorris was a favourite in terms of making it to Sochi, so it didn't come as a shock when he was chosen for the first ever Canadian Olympic slopestyle team, but competing in the Olympic Games was not an easy feat. Just two weeks before the games in Sochi, McMorris crashed on a run in the X-Games and fractured a rib. Most people would probably pull out of the Olympics to nurse the injury, but not Mark! After STILL receiving a silver medal in that event at the X-Games, he fought through the pain and discomfort to place an impressive 3^rd place, just 5 points behind 1^st place. Even though a bronze medal can be disappointing to some, Mark said “I would have loved to be in the gold-medal position but with what I've been through in the last two weeks, just standing on the podium in general feels like a gold medal to me.” (Source) He didn’t let anything get in the way of his dream of competing in the Olympics which allowed him to not only compete, but beat his injury to snag a spot on the podium.

   Dara Howell is just a 19 year old girl from the small town of Huntsville, Ontario, but she made sure that everyone knew her name when she won gold for Canada in the first ever freestyle skiing slopestyle event. Howell was born and raised in Huntsville, and grew up skiing at a resort that only had 8 small runs. Her passion for skiing pushed her to travel for hours to a better ski hill so she could improve her skills, which paid off as she became more and more successful. Believe it or not, her Olympic gold is actually the first gold she’s gotten in a professional competition! She’s received three bronzes and one silver in the X-Games for slopestyle, which must make this gold a whole lot more satisfying.

Both of these athletes compete in one of the riskiest sports possible, but they don't let the possibility of injury stop them from doing what they love. This kind of outlook on life is extremely important because if you let your fears control you, you'll never be able to fulfill your goals and dreams!