Things+I+Used+to+Feel+Strongly+About


 * " There is always Doubt before Trust"**

Ever since I can remember, I have always been a closed gate when it came down to letting someone in. Trusting strangers is never easy, and it can be fairly dangerous at times. The state of a heart can only stay in one condition for so long before it crumbles completely. A good example of such a feeling would be none other than love. Although it can be depicted as the best thing that can happen to anyone, when used the wrong way for the wrong reasons, a consequence unlike any other could arise and effect anyone’s heart for the worse. All my life I refused to believe in anything that I couldn’t see or touch with my own eyes and hands. I felt that I would know when I loved someone the second I saw them; I thought that the minute our eyes met, the touch of their hand, or the sound of their voice would spark something inside of me that would give it away. However, what I didn’t realize was that perception isn’t everything. It wasn’t until after my first true, real love that I realized what love really was. It showed me not only did it exist, but that I, as an individual, had the ability and the strength to feel something so powerful. Even though the relationship came to an abrupt halt, the thought of transforming into someone that went from denying everything and everyone from such an emotion, to feeling so powerfully for just one other person grasped my attention quicker than I had ever expected. From this experience I learned one simple idea that stuck with me ever since; it’s better to have love lost than not loved at all. ~Shelby Hoffman
 * It's like when you meet someone for the first time and you know that they are easy to talk to they are fun and exciting to be around. The only thing that worries you is trust can you tell them things that nobody else knows. Can they keep secrets or do they spray them all over the place so that everybody knows everything about you. You really have to get to know that person and understand them before making that next step you would have to know some private things about them in order to trust that friend boundary. I use to always have doubt before i trusted anyone the only problem with that is then you never let anyone in and you can't have really get good friends.**
 * In all relationships there is doubt whether you are married or engaged have a boyfriend or just friends there is always drama or something in the way to ruin a relationship. That's where trust comes in you have to be able to talk to one another and share things that you have in common or dont have in common it makes things stronger. I have learned to show trust first it gets you alot further with people and I think it also gets you more people to talk to and to be around, trust is a huge thing in anything that happens and in everyday life. Doubting in life helps balance things out its like common sence should i do that or no maybe i should'nt but it could be ok its your concience telling you trust or doubt. You just have to trust what comes to you first and stay with that because it can get you along way with just a little in the end.**
 * Katie Moats** LOVE

the Iraq war I used to feel like we were doing the right thing when our country invaded Iraq. President Bush said it was only to find the weapons of mass destruction and to help end terrorism, but as more time went by I began to see why the war was wrong. I realized that more and more innocent people were being killed every day and that there were no W.M.D's being found in that country. As more and more stories of the horrors experienced by soldiers in Iraq began to reach my ears, i believed in the war less and less. the day i stopped believing in the war was when one of my dads friends was killed, that really got me thinking about why that had to happen and for what reasons. I realized that the war was wrong and that nobody should have to be killed just because somebody in their country did something wrong. we should put an end to the war and the deaths of innocent civilians. Tom Ridgeway Reading Reading was always somewhat of a nuisance in elementary school. The books we were required to read were always extremely exhausting, so I never really captured the joy of reading outside of school. When I was young, my mom deemed it necessary to forge me into a summer reading program through our local library. I already despised reading at the time, so to urge me to read during the summer made me shun the thought of reading even more than I already did. As I got older, I still considered reading somewhat a waste of time. Fortunately, as I matured, I grasped the solution that not all books were misery, and I started discovering books that I could relate to. In middle school, I read “The Diary of Anne Frank.” Surprisingly, I actually appreciated reading the book. I could conveniently relate to Anne and the things she did (before the Holocaust started). After the light switch turned on in my head that some books can be worthy of my reading, books emerged as a hobby for me. No longer did I goggle at books as something I was obliged to do, but something I craved everyday. Of course many of the books we’ve been pressured to read for school have been extremely uninteresting, but having read something that I could make a connection with made me open my eyes to millions of books that I would relish. Chloe Gearhart Cell phones!? :  I used to think that a cell phone would be the coolest thing to have! When I was young that was all I wanted and I just couldn’t wait to get older and have a phone. Although once I had one, I learned more quickly how stressful they were than they weren’t. I became aware that there was nothing too significant about them. They’re expensive just to get, then you have to pay for the plan and work around all that. Since they don’t make just simple flip-phones anymore, they’re all so difficult to comprehend. I never sought I would become so independent upon something so unreliable and inconstant. You can easily lose them and forget them places. Then you have to go through all the work in getting a new one and worrying about where in the world your other one is. You also have to worry about them malfunctioning and just quit working. They are just a handful of stress, literally and physically. Stormie Zanol Reading Not My Friend When I was younger, there was a time and age, when I would spontaneously want to read a new and exciting book. I would read several kinds of books, ranging from the Guinness Book of World Records to Harry Potter, all of which were enjoyable. In elementary school I mainly read the Charlie Bone Series by Jenni Nemo, and thoroughly enjoyed reading them up until I reached middle school. Now this was where everything when wrong between me and reading. I went to Manning, which is a charter school off of 32nd Ave. While attending, one of the highly required assignments was reading lots of novels. I read Frankenstein, The Diary of Anne Frank, Night, and several other highly prestigious novels. This I feel is what ruined reading for me entirely. The pressure to read constantly without the appetite to changed my look on reading. So, instead of being a friend to me, reading was the largest adversary that I had faced. Although I knew the importance of reading was critical to aid in my development as an adult, it was the last thing which came to mind when I thought of a good time. I know that without reading I restrict myself from becoming a well-rounded person, and will have a slightly more difficult chance at allowing myself to succeed during life, but that is a risk I am willing to take. Hopefully in the future I will see reading in a new light and come to appreciate it once more, but until that day, try me some other time. Peter Runden Homework

Back when I was in elementary school I used to think homework was the most dreadful thing ever. I always thought that there was really no purpose for homework and that teachers basically just gave it out to be mean or to punish us. Most of the time I would put my homework off until the last minute and sometimes I wouldn't do it all together but when I reached middle school and high school I started to realize that homework was given to us so that we could understand and work more on the material that was being taught to us during school. Homework is a good way to help me understand the things we are taught in class, I look at homework as a way to study the material and get easy points in class. Most of the time if you do your homework you are going to understand the material better and therefore will do better on your test. I used to hate homework but now I use it as a tool to improve my grades. Jordan Silletti

** Reading ** One thing that I used to have a firm opinion against was reading. When I was younger I really hated to read. I thought it was boring, stupid, and didn’t want to do it. As I grew older the books started to get better and more exciting to read. One of the first books that I really enjoyed reading was To Kill a Mockingbird. It truly opened my opinion of books. As I got into high school the books got enhanced. So I really began to read more, and take pleasure in them. Now I don’t think books are boring a dull, but can be a good way to explore and learn more about diverse things. Aaron Gonzales

One time I had an opinion on the the war we are in with the middle east. That was we should stay in the war. I said that we had to stay in the war or we could get in far worst shape. I still believe in that opinon, but I now have another one. Now I also think that we should get out of the war. We should just get it over with. It has been a long and hard war and people are sick of it already. Lets get back to normal. Lets finish them off. Lets get our warriors home. The reason I am feeling this is because I seen what our troops did over there. I have friends and family who have fought in this war and they're not even proud of what they had to do to those people. Ther are so many opinions people have on this war but lets face it, we do need to stop it. Derek Blair
 * The War**

Trust

Trust is something that never gradually became apart of my personality. When I was younger, I perceived trust as love with a conniving disguise on. I never used to fathom it; trust was some phony word that granted people permission a chance to burrow themselves deep into my heart and destroy me from the inside out. It was used as a key to the door that allowed dishonest people to saunter freely in and out of my life. It was a nonsensical word to me that just further proved my perception of it when my father forsake me at a young age. I didn’t believe anybody could be reliable: friends, family, no one. The only person I had liability in, was myself because at least I knew for a fact I wouldn’t martyrize myself. I couldn’t abandon myself. I couldn’t spread rumors about myself and I couldn’t cheat myself. I saw everyone else as betrayers, even the people that didn’t do wrong to me. I didn’t get to that secluded place in my life on my own, my "companions, family and loved ones" assisted me there. They helped me shut down and discontinue the belief on the idea of earnest people. I retreated from any type of close emotionally contact with anybody. However, throughout time and maturity I began to comprehend that not everyone is foe. There are several genuine people in this world, you just have to encounter the right ones or in my case, some will breeze in to your life. What I realize now is many people will not be trustworthy and many people will. I have learned to keep my distance from those who aren’t faithful and seek out the ones that are. I’ve taught myself to let my guard down and I let people prove themselves before I declare them enemy at first glance now. If there’s any sign of suspected fraud than I refrain from further getting to know them and abort the opportunity of letting them into my life. Simple as that. I’ve given trust a chance. Anissa Mackintosh

Children

As little children we all believed in something different. I used to think that everyone could live forever. I remember being so stubborn and not wanting to think differently. Of course growing up my mind was maturing and my beliefs were working their way to reality. Now I realize how silly it was to think such a thing. But as a child your mind does wonder into different places. How many children have believed in Santa Claus, The Tooth Fairy, or The Easter Bunny. I remember my mother telling me we would could live evermore as Santa's elves. By now of course I know we aren't capable of living forever. My mind has grown and i have more realistic thoughts. Perhaps someday I'll dream as a little kid again. But for now I'll stick to reality. Margie West

School

I used to believe that school was the most important thing in a kid’s life. That it was, in a sense, all a kid should have to worry about and focus on. I mean why wouldn’t you? It’s providing you with opportunity and allowing you to grow as a person. There are people who would kill to have the chance to experience the wonder of school. I really do believe all of those things to be very much true, however last year I saw how other things can get in the way. Life happened to me. Not just small trivial life either, big life, life altering life. It soon became very hard for me to balance all that I was experiencing and school. Life took priority and school was put on the back burner. Naturally grades started to slip and it was a struggle to pull myself back up. I now can understand why school may be hard at points in time for some kids when life becomes more important. Natalie Watkines

“Happiness is not a Reasonable Goal” I used to believe that happiness is not a reasonable goal in life. This is because happiness, in one person, does not benefit the whole of humanity in any way besides keeping the whole human race from killing themselves. I thought that if people understood that they are only important if they further the species then they would not be intensely concerned with their own happiness anyway. Thus leaving happiness, misery, love, and hate in the dust and we would be able to live in peace, without bias. However, through extensive existential questioning with myself, I realized that I was wrong. This is because without humanity there is no emotion. So we must assume that there was no emotion before humanity, thus leaving us with only logic, and following only logic we cannot prove either way that a supernatural deity is behind the existence of humanity and/or life. So, because we have no reason to assume a “god” exists other than that we cannot find any other explanation. So we would not assume there is a deity behind life’s existence, and if there is no decision making process behind us existing then there is no reason to pursue anything in our lives besides the reasons we give ourselves. In other words, if we were not put here for a reason then there is no higher meaning to our lives. This led me to ask; if whole of humanity, and life itself do not matter, so why would the furthering of the species matter? Why, if humanity and life do not matter, would we devote so much time, work, and effort just to further the insignificant existence of human life? I have still not found an answer to these questions and that is what leads me to believe that happiness, or anything else for that matter is worth merit as a life goal, because, if life itself is without reason, besides what reason we give it, then the pursuit of any goal is worthy of being deemed reasonable because the only way a “reason” for anything would exist is if it mattered personally to one individual. “Happiness is as Reasonable a Goal as Any” -Nathan Eckert

“God cannot exist” I used to think that the existence of a “god” or deity was impossible. I used to believe this because there was and is no proof to prove such a thing exists. Nor is there any hint that this thing exists other than, “We cannot think of any true origin of our existence, so we will say that it is impossible for us to comprehend what the origin really is, thus leading us to believe that God put us here.” Also, I thought that, if we were put here by such a thing then there would be proof, and it would interact with us on a daily basis, in an obvious way. I then came across the “fairy metaphor”. This metaphor states that a child walks into a garden once and sees no flowers in bloom. Then the child walks into the garden again and sees many, pretty, and colorful, flowers. The child does not know how this occurred, and, having heard of many stories of magical beings, theorizes that a fairy sprinkled magical dust upon the flowers and made them bloom. The child, so happy with its explanation of the blooming flowers decides its parents must know and informs them of the fairy, which, because she didn’t see or sense it in any way assumes that it is not detectable by human senses. Then, when the child does inform its parents of the fairy they immediately dismiss it without thinking about it because there is no proof of its existence other than there is no other explanation. However, the parents cannot say definitively, one way or the other because, by definition, the fairy is unfathomable in everyday life. I used to be the adult, ignorant of the possibilities. But now I am simply an observer, who notices that, no proof can be given by either side of the argument. So I now am content with not having an opinion, because, by definition, God, is unimaginable, so it is impossible to know for sure either way.

“Anything is Possible” -Nathan Eckert

Afterlife?

My grandma passed when my mom was still in high school, way before I was ever introduced into this world. This left me without any hope of meeting her in this life. My way of informally meeting my grandma was by visiting her at her grave site, which my mom and I used to do on a regular basis. I loved visiting her grave because it helped me attain access to a family member that I would never be able to grow close to. Last year my grandpa got really sick, and he had to relocate to our house, where he ended up spending the short remainder of his life. I witnessed my grandpa's last moments on earth, and I realized that he was gone. Literally and figuratively, my grandpa had left us. Although I watched as my mom and dad helped move his body from the room, I knew it wasn't my grandpa anymore. After the funeral, where we laid his body to rest, I saw absolutely no point in bisiting his grave, or any grave for that matter. If you believe, as I do, that his soul is now in heaven looking down on us, then you'd understand what I say when I say that he can see or hear us anywhere we were. His grave site holds no living memory of him, and I think visiting that site is the least effective way of showing him we care. I think he would appreciate more that we noticed something that set him apart from the rest of the world while he was here and thought of him when we saw an item like that than if we brought flowers to a spot he'd never been in his life.

Mimi Burton