Our Judgmental Society Today.

I would just like to quickly bring up the subject of judgment. Sadly, in todays society, people are more often than not judged by appearence. People are more likely to be hired if they project a certain image that the company is going for, or even if someone is attractive, they are more likely to be hired than an unattractive person. I simply cannot stand this.
Okay, let's try a little excersize real fast. Imagine this: You own a business where your workers are constantly around customers and have to be very polite and have fantastic people skills. One man comes in for an interview and is wearing casual clothes, maybe jeans and a t-shirt. (This is a pretty casual company.) He has short, neat, brown hair. He has no piercings or tattoos, he is just average looking with a kind smile and warm eyes. Now, you know nothing about this man, aside from his appearence. What is your first impression of him? Would you hire him? Do you have doubts or worries?
Next, imagine a man that comes in dressed the same, but with a shaved head, multiple facial piercings, stretched ears, and tattoos. He also has warm eyes and a kind smile, and seems eager to work. Now, what do you think of this man? Doubts? Problems? Worries? What do you think his personality is like?
Sadly, most people would not even consider hiring the second man, although this look has become slightly more acceptable than it was years ago. I'm not sure if there's really a point to this post, but I do know that judging people is something that drives me insane. Just because somebody looks a certain way, does not mean that they're a bad person. Some of, if not all of, the sweetest people I know have piercings, tattoos, dyed hair, stretched ears, etc.
        I guess my point is just don't judge a book by its cover, please. Take the time to get to know someone before you judge them. You kow their face, not their story.

Legalizing Drugs (an essay written for school)

I'm going to start off by saying that I do not think ANYTHING productive comes from drugs, I do not do drugs, and I do not think that drugs are a good option, ever. I have had experiences with family members and friends with drugs, and I have lots of reasons to say that drugs should never be legalized, but that is not my opinion for some reason. I am not even really FOR the legalization of drugs in any way, I'm more so on the side where I just don't quite care, because I don't do drugs, and I don't really have a PROBLEM with people who do drugs, so none of this would effect me. I don't care because I'm smart enough to know that if you don't want to do drugs, you don't have to do them, and if you don't want to be around people who do drugs, you don't have to. THIS LIFE IS YOURS. Anyways, the following is an essay we had to write for school, for or against the legalization of drugs, after reading two articles, "Drugs," by Gore Vidal, and "Don't Legalize Drugs," by Morton M. Kondracke. 

Gore Vidal says, in his article, “Drugs,” that he think that drugs should be legalized and labeled properly, stating all the effects. Personally, I definitely agree with this idea, partially because I believe strongly in everyone’s ability to be able to do what they wish and face the consequences on their own. I think that what Vidal proposes is not so much a realistic idea, (which of course the whole topic of drug legalization is not so much realistic anyways) but I do feel that this would be the best way to go about the legalization of drugs, if ever decided.

Imagine the worst that could happen if drugs were legalized. If you think about it, we went through the same thing with alcohol. For a while, it was illegal and the number of users decreased, but when it was legalized again, everyone was drinking, and of course things got a little out of hand. Now think about the drinking problem now. It certainly has leveled out, hasn’t it? I think that the same thing would happen with drugs.

                Right after legalization, things will get crazy, there’s no doubt about that. But that’s just what will make everyone else take it easy. As stated earlier, I think that the scenario would go somewhat like this: within the early stages of drug legalization the number of addicts and regular users would of course increase largely. A good amount of people would die from overdoses, and things would definitely get hard to handle. After experimenting and realizing which drugs do what, the proper dosages, how much you are effected, and what you are able to do and not do, I think people would tone it down a bit. I think one of the main reasons that drugs are such a popular thing right now is because they are illegal and America is so hooked on the idea of sin, as stated by Vidal, and people are also just born with a natural craving for things not within their reach.

 I also would like to point out that the amount of daily drug users and addicts is highly underestimated, as I do not believe there is ever any correct way to gain proper statistics for this subject. If there are so many users of illegal drugs, what makes anyone think that legalizing them will make all that much of a difference? If people want to do them, they are going to do them: legal or not.

I cannot say that the legalization of drugs would be beneficial to our society whatsoever, but I do feel that there are a lot of issues because of the legalization of drugs. There are some drugs that can really mess you up. It’s like you took ecstasy and never came back. It is absolutely crazy to see how much certain drugs can mess a person up, having experience with a family member of mine.

But, either way, I think the least we could do is take a chance and try it; because the truth is nobody really knows for sure what would happen is drugs were legalized. Of course we all have our guesses, our estimations, our imagination, but when you really think about it, there would be absolutely no way to ever tell what would happen unless we were to try it out.

America, or really I would go as far as the whole world, should be about change. We should be about trying out new things and trying constantly to improve our world, and I’m not saying that the legalization of drugs would improve anything, but like I said, who knows. My main point is that change is not only necessary but good, and trying new things is always something wonderful, no matter what the outcome is. We will either learn that prohibition is just a set-in-stone thing, or that drugs could be legal without constant abuse. The best part is that this whole subject is just so out of reach, really, because everyone is far too scared to even get near the idea of legalizing drugs. Perhaps one day we shall see what the outcomes would truly be in a world where drugs are completely legal.

Let's have a talk about "purpose," shall we?

I guess I'll start off by saying all of the usual stuff: I haven't posted in a while, I've been busy, haven't felt like it, forgot I had a blog, etc. etc. Next, I suppose I'll give you a little taste of my life lately: I started high school, which isn't nearly as bad as everyone made it seem. But of course, it is during your teenage years and everything within these few years does tend to just suck a lot of the time. Anyways, I'm going to a middle college (college prep high school) and my grades aren't as great as they should be. If you were to ask me why, I probably wouldn't know what to tell you other than I haven't really been trying due to my lack of motivation caused by depression and other such teenage issues. My grades are definitely one thing that have caused a great deal of stress in my life lately, along with people issues. I think it's safe to say that I'm just not all that fond of society in general, alright? Okay. Now that we got all that good stuff out of the way, I suppose I could get to the point of this post, yes?
Alright, so I started going to youth group recently, and for some reason that has made me become even less religious somehow, but that isn't really my point. A few weeks ago, the youth leader had a talk with us about "purpose." He started off by asking us what our purpose was. He had us sit in silence for a moment as we thought about it, and I found myself feeling kind of lost. I figured most of the kids in there were thinking that their purpose was to serve God or be a good kid, as cheesey as that sounds. Of course I'm not really the religious type, so that most definitely isn't my purpose. Even after he had begun talking again, I was still trying to discover my purpose. Finally, it hit me. My purpose isn't being a "good kid" or getting good grades, pleasing God or anything like that. My purpose is so much more important, in my opinion. 
My purpose is to be the best person I can be. But not in such a general sense, more so in the sense of being a friend to everyone. You know, taking the time out of my day to ask people how their day went and really want to know how they're doing. Taking the time to stop and ask someone what's wrong and listen to their problems. My purpose is to let people know that I love them and I'm there for them, to make someone smile or make their day. For some reason this is not only one thing I feel really passionate about, but something that just makes me happy. So often I give my all to people who give nothing in return, and sure, it's tiring. But it's so incredibly important to just be there for people when they need you. Why? Because you would want someone there for you, wouldn't you?
So, take the time every day to smile at someone. Take the time to stop and ask someone how their day is going. Let people know you love them, because you ever know what could hapen next and you never know what they're going through and how much it could mean to them. Also, think about what YOUR purpose is. Think about that one thing that you are the most passionate about, and revolve your life around it. Press into the things and people you love and let yourself just bask in everything you desire. Always smile, never lose faith, and love deeply. ♥