TOMORROW

A few months ago I read article after article about how drones were making children scared to look up at the sky. The SKY! How are they ever going to smile when they see a rainbow or appreciate the beauty of the sunrises and sunsets? All it is that I’m saying is that technology is supposed to benefit us. It’s not supposed to kill us. And yet as we all get more and more paranoid we invent cannons, bombs, guns, drones and missiles. Do we not realize that as soon as we do this we’re prompting our enemies to do the same?

Do we not understand that when we “defend ourselves” we may end up killing thousands of other people in the process? Every time when I sit down and start reading a newspaper (yes I do, do that sometimes) I can’t help but wonder why we think we are the cleverest animals out there. After all, monkeys may fight with each other sometimes but I’ve never heard of an ape that spent half of his life building a weapon that he could use just in case someone invaded his territory.

The problem with us humans is that we love ourselves too much. Don’t take my words out of context, because we are meant to love ourselves, however, I do not believe that we were brought into this world simply to kill anyone who tries to hurt us. You see, if we did this then we would never let our guard down. We’d never be able to make friends and in the end only a handful of distrusting people would be left on this earth. So, even though our first instinct is to make sure that we don’t get hurt (which may mean that we have to injure someone else to ensure this doesn’t happen) I hope that the future generation, my generation, will possess the self-control to realize that the easiest option may not be the best option. And as a result, I hope we will be able to walk away from the walls that we are building to keep everyone out. Also to be prepared to lend a hand to anyone who needs it, even though there may be a possibility that we could get hurt in the process. After all, it’s our job to be the leaders of tomorrow, to be even better (if that’s possible) than the ones of today.

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5 Pictures I think we all need to save

FROZEN!

This week I have had the privilege of looking after little girls at my Church’s Holiday Club. It was an amazing but challenging experience that I thoroughly enjoyed. Though I have to say I listened to “Do You Want to Build a Snowman?” (from Frozen) at least twenty-three times, and I’m not even exaggerating. Yet, as the children asked me to play the song over and over again I started wondering why they loved it and the movie (that I also love) so much. 

www.fanpop.com 

So, why is Frozen such a great Disney movie?

1. It is one of the first animated, kids’ movies that teaches its viewers that they don’t need men to rescue them. This may seem like an arbitrary thing but it is actually very important especially in a society where women and girls are still fighting to be seen as equals to men.

2. The songs. I just have to say that the songs from Frozen were so catchy that the five, six, seven and eight year olds I was looking after were almost always humming one of their tunes. If I had to pick a favourite song I think I would pick “Do You Want to Build a Snowman?” even after I’ve heard it so many times I could probably sing it backwards.

3. The animation in this movie was so exceptional that the characters look just like humans. That in the funny characters like Olaf made this film even more memorable.

4. The cool thing about this movie is that it has a plot-line that not only kids but most parents also enjoy.

If you haven’t watched this movie yet I really suggest you do because well if you don’t you will seriously be missing out.

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TV Time

Yesterday evening I had a brilliant idea for a blog post but on the way to my room I saw the flickering lights of someone watching television. Deciding to take a slight detour I entered the Study and saw my sister grinning as she watched our favourite show. "Just one show" I promised myself. Unfortunately, after that show another one of my favourites was on so I watched that one too, and then the next one.

By the time I managed to drag myself off of the couch I’d seen three shows and I didn’t even remember what I wanted to write about. So, when I finally reached my room and sat down in front of the computer I stared blankly at the screen. I tried and tried to remember but the idea was gone.

However, even after I'd given up trying to remember my idea, I still didn’t hate the fact that I’d watched TV. I didn’t hate the shows that absorbed me or the characters that made me laugh so hard I didn’t notice that my idea was disappearing from my mind. In fact, I was grateful for that temptation that made me sit down because I knew that I was now going to have to be strong enough to resist it, so in the future I would be able to get up after the first show and carry on with what I was doing.

You see, watching TV when you unwind is not a bad thing, nor is lying on the couch and watching movies when you’re feeling sick or viewing your favourite show at 18h30 every night is also okay. It’s just when you spend every minute of every day chilling in front of the television that a problem starts to develop. This is because you start to become a couch potato. You no longer feel like doing homework, chores or even going for a walk outside. In extreme cases you could suffer from depression, obesity and other such problems.

www.unsv.com

                                   

So, in order to prevent this from happening I’ve thought of a few suggestions and I challenge all of you (and myself) to watch less TV this week by following these steps.

1. Pick a few shows you love to watch and try to only watch these shows. If your show isn’t on yet why don’t you turn of the TV and read until it comes on.

2. Limit yourself to one movie a day for most days (with some exceptions of course *winks*)

3. Try to watch at least two educational shows in one week.


Reading through this post again I’ve realised that it sounds like I don’t enjoy watching TV, which isn’t true. I think this invention can be entertaining as well as beneficial as it educates us, helps us to relax and encourages us to laugh thus getting rid of the day’s tension. Without it, watching our favourite sports wouldn’t be as easy and it would be harder to cheer on our teams.

As you can see I do love watching TV but like many things I believe you should moderate yourself in order to stay healthy and happy.

Taking Things Too Seriously

As a teenager I know that we take some things way too seriously. There are days when I hear people stressing about the test that they’ve just written or about to write. Some people spend hours wondering if they said the right thing that day or if they will be able to achieve in the way they would like.

It’s that way of thinking that makes us become stressed and frustrated. This is why I try to remind myself that I probably won’t remember those embarrassing moments or slightly below average marks in ten years’ time. Or if we do then hopefully we’ll either laugh at the memory or use it to become a better version of ourselves.

Let me give you an example:

One day when I was two years old I was playing in the garden with my one cousin. His sister (my older cousin) was flying home from Cape Town that day and I was really excited. After waiting for so long the two of us eventually decided to take action. I grabbed my new wheelbarrow, my doll and backpack and my cousin took my teddy bear before walking through the house to find my grandmother. ‘Can you open the gate please? We’re going to fetch Kayley from the airport.’ I told her not understanding that the airport was just less than 30 kilometres away from her house.

Of course, she didn’t let me go and at the time I must have been angry with her but now I laugh when she retells it. You see, though our problems may seem very huge now we will overcome them and become even stronger than we were before.

Why Perfection is Unattainable

A few days ago I received this note and it reminded me of a problem many teenagers face everyday. The problem: Striving for Perfection.

Hi Casperette,

Thanks for writing to me :)

I wish I could tell you all of the secrets to perfection but unfortunately I'm in the same position as you. There are days when I think I'm really close to being perfect yet I never seem to reach it.

Two months before I got your letter I was daydreaming in my garden. I wondered why my dogs were always so happy and carefree. They weren't constantly fretting whether they were wearing pretty clothes or worrying if they were going to pass their exams. As I thought about it more and more I realized that I lived a completely different life to my dogs (and this is not just because I'm not covered in fur and crazy about dog biscuits). Whilst they spent hours enjoying life I was either worrying or too busy to think. To be honest, I was jealous that my life was so hectic and there's was not. But I couldn't think of anything to do about it so I simply picked up a stick and threw it for them.

My thoughts moved on over the next few days but I never forgot that moment and a week later I realized what was wrong with my life. Before I say it I must admit, I'm a really lucky girl. I have a lovely family. I have awesome friends, I go to an amazing school and I know that God is watching over me. However, when you strive for perfection you don't always appreciate the things you have with you. This is exactly what happened to me. And along with that, I was worrying about attaining perfection.

Ever since I realized this I stopped striving towards perfection, and honestly, I now know that I would rather be imperfect than perfect. Because perfection is different in everyone's eyes and as a result it is unattainable, and when something is unattainable then striving for it will only make you sad, frustrated and angry. So, do what I did, love your uniqueness, embrace your imperfection and I promise your worries will soon fade away.

Smiles,
Kirsten A. Everett

PS: Write again soon :)

World Environment Day

So as most of you know the 5th of June was World Environment Day. I wanted to do something special but because I spent most of it at school and did homework when I got home I decided that I would rather do something on the closest Saturday (the 7th of June). 

When the sun rose on this day I got dressed in my informal school uniform and headed down to the Braamfontein Spruit with my mom and sister. There were many Brescia House School girls there and together we armed ourselves with rubber gloves, gumboots and dustbin bags and began to clean up all of the litter. I’m not going to lie and say that it was easy because it wasn’t. We waded through the river to rescue floating bottles or deodorant cans. We tugged and tugged at all sorts of objects, as we tried to free them from the river bed. All in all, we worked hard and managed to remove different parts of a printer, a carpet, a blanket, many cables, wire and lots of plastic bottles from the river.

I hope everyone had as much fun as I did by being outside and participating in various activities to help clean up our environment. Remember, we are all mighty Eco Warriors and together we can make our world a better place.