Thankful

I am first off thankful just for being in 6th period American Lit. Last year, English was not something I looked forward to...someone who had Mr. Tejano might understand. But this year I'm glad to be in a class where I can express my opinion freely, tell jokes, and be myself. 

As for classmates, I am thankful for Marcos and Lauren, for always listening to my rants or sorry excuses. They are very helpful, and give me a different perspective to some of our readings. I would have never pictured a fun group like us filled with very different people. Maybe we're just one and the same.

Lastly, I'd like to thank Trenati Baker. Before I met her, I sat with a few acquaintances that I thought I'd be safe with. But since we have a mutual friend, I decided that I wanted to get to know Trenati. So the next day I decided to sit next to her and befriend her. Because of her, I've not only gained one good friend that I can most likely call a best friend soon, but SEVERAL good friends. I was able to join her circle and was welcome with open arms. We have the best times after school, whether it be dancing, venturing, signing (yes, as in sign language), or partying. I love those girls now, and I owe most of it to Trenati. But even in class, Trenati and I help each other to be better students. I'm really glad I met Trenati, and I'm thankful for it.

I Celebrate Myself

If you asked someone today what makes them the happiest, when are they happiest, or what would make them the happiest they've ever been, more people would probably have a response that deals with the material world. Society today is so much more advanced from when the world was first created. With the evolution of the earth came the evolution of man, civilization, and technology. And with all of those came the evolution of happiness.

To humans thousands of years ago, happiness may have just been defined as being able to survive another day, or finding the largest loot of food for the whole clan. To humans today, being happy may come from having the most friends on Facebook, getting a new follower on twitter, buying the latest smartphone, tablet, etc. Society today pushes social networking as the way to stay connected to the world. The more you are involved in it, the higher you're ranked among other people. To be the best social networker you also need the best device. So the latest iPhone, newest tablet, fastest and lightest computer, etc. If you don't have the latest this and that, then you're poor. You're sad, depressed, and miserable because you can't afford to have something nice. But why does society say that you have to keep up with the Jones's to be happy?

We as human beings are so disconnected from our natural behavior. We originated as "savages" and have since turned into "civilians". We've tried so hard to stray away from the rural life that we forgot the true meaning of life, love, and happiness. Contrary to what many people think, some people don't own the fastest car or the most luxurious house not by default, but because of choice. Because they don't need those things to make them happy. Because they have more important things to do than to follow the status quo.  Because they are closer to being their own human beings than most others are.

I think there are some people who haven't even seen real stars in the sky. Sometimes we often forget about the simpler things in life. At the end of the day, material things will not always be here to make us happy-nor were they here to begin with. We spend so much time advancing that we don't focus more on our inner selves. For instance, a person so connected to social media might never discover that they're a really good swimmer, or someone that enjoys playing video games indoors might actually enjoy collecting seashells on the beach far more. Some people have already discovered this, but then some people think they are weird. 

There truly is more to life than the physical world. We spend so much time trying to please eachother and fit into society instead of doing what makes us happy, or what feels right to us. We need to break the bond between what's real and what's imaginary. One might enjoy spending time reflecting in an open filed more than watching other people's lives on media if they would break away from it. I say break the status quo and the stereotypes. Let the athlete bake if he pleases, or the intelligent person, dance. Put the phones away and look at the sky for once. See what nature has blessed you with and not what man is polluting it with by hooking you onto it's degrading contraptions. Find the true definition of happy, within yourself.