In Buddhism, HH (which stands for His Holiness),the 14th Dalai Lama once said, "The creatures that inhabit this earth-be they human beings or animals-are here to contribute, each in its own particular way, to the beauty and prosperity of the world."
I am not sure where I heard or read that, most likely in a liturgy at a Temple I used to attend, or any one of a thousand (hyperbole) books on HH, but I think about that particular notion quite a bit. It goes along the same lines as that age-old query, "Why am I here?" I suppose, but when I think of my contributions to the world and what I can do to be a part of the sum total of beauty and prosperity, only two things ever come to mind.
One, of course, is you. Collectively.
I teach. That's something I can do because in so doing, I am afforded the opportunity to, hopefully, broaden minds and open hearts, which will in turn allow you to do the same things with whomever is lucky enough to come in contact with you as you dance through your time on Earth.
What do you do?
What will you do?
Do you believe in HH's idea about contribution?
Does it make sense but seem impossible?
Does it seem like a bunch of nonsense?
What has been your greatest contribution so far?
Don't say nothing or start wailing, "I'm only a teenager--I haven't done anything yet!" because that is a total cop-out. Think about all the people you have known, both superficially and deeply, and imagine how many more you have impacted in ways you might not even know yet. Maybe it's a friend, a sibling, a stranger on the street. Things that you may not even think twice about doing or saying can have an impact that changes someone's life forever. That's chilling and exhilarating and awe-inspring concept.
So, what do you think will your legacy be? And more importantly, what do you WANT it to be?
ReplyDeleteI feel like I somehow manage to incorporate all the things I do into every single blog post, so I’ll focus on talking about what I do for those emotionally, rather than physically. As I have made it aware, I am involved in many things; some of those things being the soccer team, the yoga club, the lemon club, the peer mediation team, and freshmen transition program. My dream is to make a difference in the world, and by involving myself in the clubs such as lemon club, peer mediation, and FTP, I feel as though I am accomplishing my dream. So, with that being said, I do more than what is required of me to get my name written a lot of times in the yearbook for different organizations and clubs. I make a difference. I tend to those in need. I improve the lives of others. I concentrate on being a leader, a mentor, a role model. I put others before myself. I spend each day hoping to be the reason that someone smiles, that someone laughs, that someone develops more love for themselves. I do more than involve myself in clubs. I do more than attend meetings and direct people in the right direction as I am expected to. I do exactly what I intend to revolve my life around. I make a difference.
I am not sure what I will do, but if things go my way, I will end up in the medical field, right where I belong. My desire to be a doctor comes from my desire to help people, so if I follow through with all that it takes to become a pediatric oncologist, then I will be helping people and making a difference from the time I put my badge on until the time I take it off. I will be among the team that is attempting to find a cure to cancer, and I will be working to my full potential to save as many lives as I can. In regards to my future that doesn’t consist of my dream job, I hope to still be making a difference outside of a hospital room. I will still be prioritizing others before myself, and I will still be putting smiles on people’s faces. If I have yet to make it obvious, I do believe in HH’s idea about contribution; I believe as though everybody has the ability to contribute something to the world. None of us are here to do absolutely nothing. Now that’s not to say that people must go above and beyond their abilities and develop some intervention that solves world hunger and cures all diseases known to ever exist, but everyone on this earth is here because of a reason. A reason that demonstrates chances and trial and error and possibility. And whatever that reason may be, it contributes to the beauty and prosperity of the world, which makes us all so different and beautiful.
I am very aware that I have a long way to go, but I am also very confident that my contributions have been quite impactful. My greatest contribution so far would be my foundation, with the help of others, of Oakcrest’s Lemon Club. I established a club here that raises funds for pediatric cancer research, something that I am very passionate about. The club not only brings the members of it closer together, but it brings the world closer together, as we join the fight against cancer, and that in itself is a great contribution to not only Oakcrest but the world.
I want to be remembered. I mean I guess that’s what everyone wants, but still. I want to be remembered. Even if my name isn’t exactly the thing that is remembered, I want people to remember that they were never fighting alone. That people, like myself, were trying their best to help them and raise money and cure them. I want my legacy to be one that others aspire to have. I want people to look at everything I’ve done, and will continue to do, and I want them to feel inspired and selfless, in the same way that I was inspired and in the same way that I developed my selflessness. I want to be someone that others look up to as a figure of guidance. The most important thing to me is being a positive aspect of someone’s life, and I hope that if I have not yet accomplished that, that I will in the future.
As of right now, as of February 8th, 2017, I do what most teenagers are doing: preparing for our future. Whether you study hard or you slack off or you screw up your life, we are all preparing our future. If we still have a future in the coming years, I plan to have a job related to engineering. It could be nuclear engineering in the Navy or aerospace engineering for the Air Force or a defense contractor. I'm pretty sure you could add two and two by now. I am probably going to be in the military. I want to protect the people I love, the country I love, and the freedom we all love.
ReplyDeleteHH is right, in a way. We might not see it, but everyone has a calling. Sure, the valedictorian of your high school is going places, but so can the slacker or the quiet kid in the back of the room. I would like to believe that everyone has a purpose in life. Do you know how depressing it would be if we all found out that we are here for no reason, that we have no purpose? That's why I choose to believe that we are here on the Earth to be important. Importance is subjective, which is why not everybody sees eye to eye. The class slacker might not want to learn because he wants to do something with his life that doesn't involve math or history. The quiet guy in the back of the room might want to be a great writer someday. Everybody has a purpose, and we all deserve to reach it.
Even though HH's quote makes a lot of sense, I don't see it becoming a societal norm any time soon. Do you know why? Because society has labels. And those labels dash our hopes and dreams. The class slacker keeps getting told that his grades will be his future, but he wants nothing to do with them. So he is regarded as a failure. The quiet kid in the back is too quiet. He is labeled as a follower instead of a leader. The valedictorian is smart, so he is labeled to be most successful. As much as I like HH's philosophy, I don't see it becoming possible anytime soon.
My greatest contribution so far would be when I was in King George's ROTC Drill Team. When we became sophomores, we were tasked with the responsibility of mentoring the new cadets who had just joined. We would spend most practices helping them form good habits, such as teamwork and discipline. Knowing that I was part of such an important program and that I contributed my part to helping the future of the team made me real proud and happy. Watching the first years learn the skills that are applicable to Drill Team and in real life made me realize that I too, can make a difference.
Everyone wants a legacy. Everyone wants there names to be remembered for all time. Football players have the Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio, scientists and other great minds are remembered by textbooks and their achievements. Nobody wants their legacy to be a failure, and neither do I. I want people to remember me as the person who can help you turn your life around. I don't really care about being glorified in a textbook or as a war hero. I just want to have a valuable impact on the people whose lives are affected by me.
I attend school, I play tennis, I play the piano, and I work. Some of them I do for fun and others I do for learning. I enjoy playing tennis and playing the piano because I believe that sports and music are what make life fun. I used to play soccer for about four years until I got my appendix removed. After that happened, I was out of shape and could not handle the intensity for a while. Then, I fell in love with tennis and the beauty of it. Piano, however, has always been a huge part of my life. I started playing when I was just six years old. I played for my church, recitals, and my private school in 5th-7th grade. I learned a lot from sports and music. Work and school teach me different things. They teach me new things that I love learning. Work teaches me how to interact with people of all ages, deal with rude and ignorant people and self control.
ReplyDeleteI have many goals. I know exactly what I want to do and who I want to be. I want to go to college, then medical school and start my career as a surgeon. I want to save lives every single day. That is why I currently work at WaWa- people would die without their coffee and subs. I want to contribute to this world which means that I do believe in HH’s idea. I do believe everyone in this world has something to offer- good or bad. Small or monumental. Unnoticed or praised. Everyone has something to contribute to this world no matter where their contribution lies on the mentioned spectrum. It makes a lot of sense, but then again, there are billions of people out there, but not everyone can make a drastic change.
My best contribution has been volunteering at Brotherly Love in Philadelphia. I took care of families that did not have coats or food or electronics- something my generation cannot live without. I went to this event and took care of all of these people and provided them with coats, food and played games with their small children. When I get older, I want my legacy to be spectacular. I want to save lives and donate everything that I possibly could to various charities. I want to build something from nothing, just like my parents did. They came to America together at 19 years old. They did not have money or jobs or housing. They cleaned bathrooms and hotel rooms to support each other. Once they had a solid foundation, they had me. I want to make them proud of me one day and take advantage of my opportunities. I want to see then crying of joy when I graduate medical school and I want them to be there with me every step of the way. I want them to know how much I love them, and how much I look up to them. I want them to know that even though they did not go to college, get a great job or live in a big and beautiful house, they have provided me the world. They are my world. Mom and Dad, I WILL make you prouder than you have ever been.
I am obsessed with getting my revenge through success. As I mentioned in a previous blog post I wanted to be a model since I was 10. However, what I never mentioned was how many people told me my dream wasn’t achievable. I remember in 6th grade I was in the cafeteria eating, and this boy told me I was going to be nothing, but a prostitute when I get older. I remember in 6th grade when we were assigned a project in math, where you had to choice a career and talk about salary. When asked why I chose this career, I told her I wanted to be a model. Her response, “That isn’t realistic.” I been told I was too big, too short, and that I just didn’t have that “look”. I have been told so many things, but all the negative comments I receive motivates me to work harder.
ReplyDeleteOn Monday, February 13th, I will be going to New York to shoot with fashion photographer Shamayim. Shamayim has been in the business for eleven years. He travel all around the world, works with top agencies such as IMG, Wilhelmina, and Major. As well as Victoria Secret models such as Jasmine Tookes, Anais Mali, Herieth Paul, and Jourdana Phillips.
I am honored, grateful, and very excited to be given this opportunity. My mom has invested so much money to get my name out there, to build my portfolio, and comp cards. I will be a model.
I run cross country, and I am on the swim team. I love to run because it clears my head. There is a sense of peace that I get from running. However, I also run and swim to stay in shape for modeling. I am a dress size 4, and some people would consider that small. I honestly disagree. I am short, and my weight fluctuates differently. I love to go on agency websites such as Ford Model Management, and MC2. I do this to view portfolios and to see stats (height, dress, and measurements). I notice girls who are a size 4 appear smaller than me. Therefore, I am working towards a size 2.
I am convinced that I can do anything I set my mind to. I want to go to college, and study chemical engineering. Breast cancer runs in my family, and it is one of my goals to contribute to the research of a cure. I don’t want to be just known as a model. I want to be known as the model who found a cure for breast cancer.
I agree with HH’s idea of contribution and my biggest contributions was to my mom. My mom didn’t plan on attending college until she discovered that she was pregnant. Yes, she grew depressed because she wasn’t ready and she didn’t have anything to offer me, but she sucked it up and went to Rutgers for finance. Not only did I contribute to my mom by helping her get her life together, but I also helped her feel the need to continue to live. My father died before I was born, and my gramy died last year. My mom takes losses of loved ones hard. I believe that me being here gives my mom a sense that not everyone she loves is going to leave her.
I am so excited to write this blog. My main goal in life that I tell people is to impact as many people as I possibly can. When I was younger I actually wanted to change the world but then I realized that is far too hard to do as just a young female in today’s society, so I opted for an easier version : to impact as many people in my life as I possibly can. If I am able to change at least one person’s life in a positive way I will feel pretty satisfied. It’s hard to make a puzzle fit if the piece aren’t already shaped for each other right, but if you shape all the pieces individually first, they will fall together very nicely. My main goal in high school has been trying to make people realize that they don’t have to be like everyone else. In case you haven’t noticed I wear pretty different clothes from a lot of the people I know, but it doesn’t really scare me anymore. I used to get made fun of for wearing the clothes I wear now but it’s become so normal that when I do dress like everyone else people make fun of me. I’ve learned that you can never win. People will laugh at you no matter how you dress (or at least that seems to be the case with me) but in twenty years, I won’t remember any of these people and none of these people will remember me. I try to inspire people to be different. Another thing I ALWAYS do is make sure people are doing okay. If you post anything about being sad on twitter, do not doubt that I will message you because I will. I’m not trying to be noticed as a good person here, because I know I’m not always a great guy but I do know how it feels to be lonely and sad. I know how it feels to be on your floor crying thinking that nobody cares about you and I don’t want ANYONE to have to experience that feeling. It can be tough to reach out to people when you feel like this so I will reach out to you. The other night actually I messaged a freshman that I follow on twitter because she tweeted a sad face and I told her that if she ever needs to talk to anyone that my DM’s are always open and she said, “Can I just rant for a second?” All people need sometimes is someone to listen. I know it’s kind of out of line for me to do this and talk to people like I know them expecting them to open up to me but I just want to show them that someone cares. I got off track for a second there so back to the questions regarding the quotes. I love this quote I think it is so pretty and I think some people contribute to it. I don’t think that it is nonsense because it is true. Almost everything emits beauty just in the way that they are alive. If you think about it our bodies are beautiful, they work so hard and somehow every single thing that’s going on works together harmoniously.
ReplyDeleteIn terms of what my greatest contribution I would say is the impact I’ve had on Pam Myers. If you know Pam she is very straight-forward, doesn’t like change, very formal. If you know me I am very on-a-whim, constantly changing, very non-conforming. When I first met Pam in middle school band, I HATED her guts. When I met her again in track our friendship started blooming. I feel like I’ve taught Pam that it’s okay to loosen up sometimes. She was petrified to go to college. Like crying in my arms scared but I was not about to let her stay home and drop out so I pushed her to go. I told her that it would all be okay, she would meet new people, meet a guy, go to a party, and have fun. I made sure she stepped out of her comfort zone. Pam is having the best time of her life in college. She has an amazing new group of friends, she basically has a boyfriend, she goes to parties, and she’s just having fun. I’m glad that I was able to push her to do these things. I’m not sure what my legacy will be, I just hope it’s enough to change people’s points of view. I want people to change their outlook on life, to know that minorities are no lesser than everyone else, that there is no point in killing you peers in pointless wars, that you shouldn’t care what other people think of you because literally everyone you know will die and no one will care in the long run. I want people to understand there are two sides to everything, but right now my goal is to make teenage girls and guys as confident as they can, I want them to push boundaries, I want guys to dye their hair and wear what they want, I want girls to rock short haircuts, and not feel like they have to spend $50 on a t-shirt just because it says PINK on it in order to fit in. I just want to help make this world a more diverse and beautiful place.
DeleteIn my 17 years of life, I have accomplished more than I ever thought I could, physically and emotionally. I have participated in several events that have made a difference or impact on my community. Whether it be helping victims of Hurricane Sandy, donating all of my old toys to a family in need, raising thousands of dollars for cancer research, or making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for the homeless, I have made a difference to somebody in this world. I also believe my kindness and honesty has contributed to my “legacy.” My goal for the future is to continue to help people. I have always had such an interest in working with people to make their lives a little bit easier and better. I will become a pediatrician so that I could help children. I do believe in HH’s idea about contribution. I believe everyone has a purpose to this world- meaning, everything you do every day means something and it will have an impact on something or someone. As a whole, we all have made this world the way it is now. And, our world right now, has been created by minor or major things each one of us has done. So far, my greatest contribution to this world has been raising about $3,000 within almost 2 years for childhood cancer research. That may not seem like much for 2 years, but to me it is- because it is $3,000 more than what we would've gotten if we did not attempt to raise any money. That $3,000 is contributing to the cure of cancer at this moment. Cancer is a major issue in our world today and knowing that I have attempted, with my peers, to help scientists work to find a cure is extremely satisfying. I believe it is something that I should be greatly proud for. I would love to be remembered as the girl who sought to cure diseases and give everyone the best quality of life as possible. I want people to know that I have worked really hard to get to that point. Everything I do right now, my schoolwork and my social life, will hopefully give me that legacy. I do believe I will obtain the legacy I desire to have if I keep up with my goals and future plans. But, if for some reason I don't continue on this path, I know that I have already impacted people’s lives with what I have done, and that is all I could ask for.
DeleteAs I reflect back on what I have done and what I am doing now, I have accomplished a lot. From a young age I have always loved to help people, whether it’s helping them clean or organize, helping someone carry their groceries, and helping the people in this world who struggle. I’ve helped organize and deliver donations to the Brothers and Sisters Foundation, I’ve helped the victims of Hurricane Sandy, and I’ve donated many of my personal items to people who cannot afford to buy them. I am also very involved around my school environment and I am enrolled in sports and numerous clubs and activities. I love the idea of giving the less fortunate people what they are unable to buy because it makes me happy that I can make a difference in someone’s life. This idea has made an influence on what I want to be when I grow up. I want to major in the field of medicine and treat people who are sick and help them recover so they can live their lives. When I get older, I will definitely be continuing to help people who need it. Having said this, I do believe in HH’s idea about contribution because everyone is brought into this world for a reason. It is very possible that each individual will contribute to this world in their own unique way. I want my legacy to help as many people possible in this world, such as those who are not as fortunate as we are. Everything that I have done so far, gives me hope that I can accomplish this legacy. My greatest contribution to this world so far, would probably be raising the most money from my team for the Special Olympics of New Jersey. My soccer club does a marathon each year where you play soccer for 24 hours but each team has a one hour time slot. All the money and donations go directly to the Special Olympics of New Jersey. My soccer team raised almost $3,000 and I raised a total of $550. Just knowing that this money is going towards a foundation like this where they can use the money to help disabled people help them play the sport they love.
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ReplyDeleteAs of right now the ways that I contribute are so little but very effective, when I think of contributing I don’t really think about anything public, I just think about the ways I affect the people younger than me, who look up to me. I have many young family members and two specifically are girls, one is brown skinned and another is deep chocolate, they grow up watching tv shows on family friendly networks that portray black people as light skinned, curly haired, light eyed people. I try to encourage them to love who they are, and their skin even if the world doesn’t portray their beauty as they are. I think about how they’ll grow up, how they’ll think of themselves, and how they will see their beauty and pass it down to their kids, and their grand kids, which is a scary thought to even consider. I contribute to my nephew by loving him so he grows up with a nurturing family, I teach him a lot of things and sometimes I don’t even know he’s listening until he may repeat something I’ve said to him before. Like I said they’re little ways but they are effective. I do believe that we as humans have a purpose on this earth. The concept of life is so complex that I don’t even like to think about it, but it’s evident that we aren’t meant to live to die, granted we die in the end we still have a purpose. It’s not impossible to leave your imprint on the world and most of the time people do, but if I don’t make a name for myself with whatever I end up doing, then I want to pass on knowing that I affected someone's life positively which will be the seed to influence generations of people, especially in my family.
ReplyDeleteSince I could walk and talk I always wanted to be a teacher, it’s probably not what I’m going to do but deep down inside, I know I still want to be one. It’s kind of funny because all of my aunts on my moms’ side are teachers, so it’s kind of a family thing. I started going to work with my aunt in the 7th grade and I got to see her run her fifth grade class in Atlantic City. the kids weren’t bad, they weren’t rude, they were just kids, and diverse, and a lot like me. What I didn’t know was some of the lives they lived. And me a little suburban black girl watching a class full of kids of different Nationalities and different struggles inspired me along with the movie Freedom Writers. I want to work with kids who have hard lives, kids who don’t have much and I want to give to them what they might not have. Whether it’s food, or clothes, or compassion, or love, even if they reject it I’ll be so persistent that they won’t have much of a choice but to accept it. I want to change the lives of kids by pulling out some sort of drive for them to learn and to love regardless of their situations. I will understand that sometimes people won’t be receptive but if I try and at least affect one person, I feel like that’s my contribution to the world. Aside from my art, my voice, and my words.
I agree in HH’s idea about contribution. I believe that we all have a purpose and meaning to life. I am shaped into the person I am now to fulfill a given task from the day I was born. It may seem and feel impossible at first, but as I grow I think everything will come into place.
ReplyDeleteAside from going to school and playing tennis, I balance my time between myself, my family, and my friends. When circumstances get rough, I am always there to listen. Also, I embrace a new environment when given a chance. I like to widen my perspective by not staying in one place, meaning travelling or moving. I like to meet and build connections with different people from different places. Since the day I was born up to fourth grade, I lived in the Philippines. I built memories and friendships with people who helped me construct my childhood and until today, we are still in contact. Also, I became someone who embraces the Filipino heritage. I follow the somewhat old-school Filipino traditions more than the Western culture. Then from fifth grade to half of my freshman year, I lived in North Jersey. I learned more about the western culture. I encountered a more diverse group of people. And because of that, I became open-minded. Finally from freshman year to now my junior year, I live here in South Jersey. I remember my first impression the first day I got here was, “WOW!” It was surprising how big of a change it was moving from North to South Jersey. Up north, everyone seems like they are always in a rush. Everyone is tensed and stressed. Down south, everybody is so relaxed. Wherever I go, it’s calm and quiet. Anyways, things like these, are what I like to do. I like to see the world myself for me to create a sense of connection and understanding. When I go to medicine school, I should be able to connect with my patients and understand them. To be a great doctor, I have to have genuine empathy. And the only way to achieve that is to stay out of my comfort zone(s). I want to be remembered as the person who isn’t afraid to take risks. I want to be remembered as the person who will do her best to understand you. And if not, she will still be there for comfort.
There are times when I will babysit my mom’s friend’s daughter. The little girl grew on me that I practically consider her as my baby sister. One day, I hear her mom telling her that she should be more like me when she grows up. Of course, that surprised me for a while. I kept asking myself what I have done for her to say that. Honestly, until now I still do not know. It feels very heartwarming to know that I am doing something right that someone sees me as a good role model. I think this is my greatest contribution so far especially because I adore kids. No words can explain why I love them so much. I guess it’s because they remind me of my childhood. They make me feel like a kid again, and their “annoyingness” as some people call it, amuses me. So whenever I am with them, I do my best to be a good influence.
I agree with HH, 100%. Every one of us have different purposes in life but we were all put on this Earth for the same reason: to change the planet for the better. Some of us were meant to contribute with our hands, others our brains. Some of us both. But no matter what we do and how we do it, we will all contribute as we grow up.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, I don’t do much. I got to school, do my homework, take care of my pets, listen to my parents. I also annoy people, make them laugh sometimes and there’s the occasional cry I force out. But I don’t believe those things are my purpose in life. I want to believe my purpose is to contribute with both my hands and brain. I want to help people when I grow up. My dream is to go to University of Hawaii and study biological engineering. From there I want to be an orthodontist or help create new technology for dentistry. My overall goal with being involved in dentistry, mainly ortho, is to bring the technology I create to developing countries. We are a very fortunate country to have healthcare, high tech medical interventions, even a surplus of doctors. Many developing countries have the bare-bare minimum; one doctor, half a nurse, maybe a hospital bed and not sterile needles. If I can help them and bring over supplies to them, I will die happy. I know I can achieve my dream contribution with perseverance and lots of coffee.
I’m going to sound selfish but I think my best contribution has been being my moms’s daughter. They tried having a child naturally (IVF) but just couldn’t so they hauled ass onto a 24 hour plane ride and got me. Shout out to Momma H for not leaving me in the airport : - ). Anyway, my parents frequently say they wouldn’t have it any other way and that their life wouldn’t be the same without me. That just melts my cold, bitter heart. I was able to create a strong bond between my parents and give them happiness, something they were lacking without me.
I have been told straight to my face that I will never make it far in life. I’ll be stuck in Mays Landing and going to ACCC, living with my parents forever. First off, ACCC is a great school and I would be saving money while you’re 50,000 dollars in debt going so bye Felicia. Anyway, I want my legacy to be known as I never gave up. If you know my personally, I rarely take no for an answer. If I put my mind to something, I am going to do it and no one will stop me. Part of that comes from the comments made to me by others but the other part is self-doubt. Having anxiety is one of the worst things ever to happen to me and my life is a constant battle with myself. I want our youth to know, especially girls, that if they work hard they can achieve whatever they wanted.
I don't know what my future will be. I can only thrive for what I want it to be. And what I want to be is a top known color commentator one day. And you can say that in that aspect I'm definitely getting a head start on everybody else, at least in the state of New Jersey, with my selection to the Washington Journalism and Media Conference (WJMC) at George Mason in July. But as I count the days until I'm able to attend WJMC, I feel as though there is a empty void inside of me, missing something I so desperately want rather than need. Maybe it's a girlfriend or a group of friends I can hang with anytime without feeling uncomfortable. Or the anxiousness that goes into tennis season as tennis is about to start up again for the boys. Regardless of what it is, I can only be myself right now and what I am is a entertainer and a friend to all.
ReplyDeleteHH’s belief that all humans and animals were put on is Earth for their own particular purpose is something I can agree with. No matter how many times someone will tell you you're worth nothing (which is hopefully never), your worth something, you just haven't found it yet or you're on the verge of finding it. And it can be the simple things to from being a stay at home mom to the more complex things like being an accountant. I'm working to be the best known color commentator for the next 30 years and I didn't just get that idea from sitting on a couch all day. Everybody and everything is put on this for something and we all excel in it when we do find it.
My best contribution in life would have to be have to be my social media accounts. I know that's silly and not exactly the best answer you'll probably get from everyone else but like I said before I'm an entertainer. And I make people smile for the sole purpose of making sure that they're happy. And during my time in high school, where I first got introduced to social media, there hasn't been one single person that I've made mad with my decisions. At least not that I know of and that gives me energy to keep doing the thing that I love to do. Whether it's people watching my cooking show on Snapchat or me reacting to situations on Twitter, I love what I do and because of it, I get the best reactions from people and it makes them happy. We all have a purpose and that purpose for me just so happens to be my social media accounts.
I don’t agree with the belief that every creature was put on this earth for a reason. There is no set path for anyone or anything to follow, we make our path. We create the reason to be here or else we really wouldn’t have a reason to live. To be alive takes no reason but to feel alive depends on it. We all search for what we want to do with our lives from helping others to rolling in piles of cash. When you don’t have this reason you feel lost which many of people face in our society today. They don’t what they want to do with their lives and this can cause other problems. I’m facing this same problem right now; not with exactly what I want to do with my life but how I want to do it. For years I have had my eyes set on being a programmer for one of the numerous gaming companies across the country. This year has changed this dream though as I have come to realize that coding is neither fun or a talent of mine. Video games have been a happy part of my childhood and I wanted to give back to those who share my interest. My plan wasn’t to make games because I played them but rather for those who played them. I’ve always wanted to provide others with something they would love because I know how it feels to play a game you love. The problem game developers face today is that the economic aspect takes control of the game. I just hoped to make a game that the people wanted, not the company. With the recent realization of this dream no longer being a dream I’m stuck in limbo. Like many others, I don't know what is in store for me. Unlike others, I don’t have faith or a religion to fall back to. Many people turn to religion for support in the forms of a believed “life after life” or just the good morals that come with the religion. While I do agree that religions are wonderful, when practiced right, I don’t relate to them. My parents are Catholics but they don’t follow the religion. I can count the times I’ve been to Sunday church on my hand, we don’t pray, we just do what we want. I’m thankful that my parents never forced a religion on me but that can also come with its consequences. As I stated before, religion can act as a safety net when you fall so not having an equivalent I had to make my own(safety net). I came to the realization that I’m not always going to know what to do in life so I might as well not worry about it. While every creature might not have a reason for its existence you can always hope that you might find one.
ReplyDeleteGoing back, it's time to elaborate on my statement of knowing what I want to do with my life but not how. I don’t know what career choice I want to follow after my fallout with coding. One possible option now that I’m still unsure of is being a veterinarian. Just like with coding, I have always had a strong interest in animals and want to give back to them. So I don’t know what I’ll end up doing with my life but I do know that whatever career path I follow it will include helping others(whether they are human or not). I want to have a job with meaning behind it. An occupation to be proud of. Apart from low wages, I could never work full time in a basic fast food place or department store because of the meaningless job it is. While many people enjoy them they don’t help society in any way. It’s nice to have companies like Nike or Wendy’s but we could all live with another clothing brand or another source of food. My legacy is not on my mind often and I don’t care about it. What I do care for is that what I do with my life can help another. This might sound stupid but I believe the biggest contribution I have made was the PB&J day on Friday. I have never really done anything to help others so to help make sandwiches for the homeless was a nice change.
The quote from the 14th Dalai Lama is something that I believe is 100% true. Everything that is living in the world today contributes in some way towards the nature of our planet. Whether it be a human at Oakcrest High School or a plant that releases oxygen, everything contributes to society. But when it comes down to me, I feel as though I contribute to my community in many different ways. First I am a member of the OHS Lemon club which helps Alex's Lemonade Stand earn money to help find a cure for pediatric cancer research. I am also a member of student council which just ran the 21 Downs dance which I had participated in. Lastly I'm just an overall good person and contribute to help people everyday. I believe that everyone in the world should find a way to contribute to society in one way or another. I feel as though this would make America better and people all around the world would feel better about themselves knowing they lended a helping hand. looking past what I have already done I will continue to contribute to my community by doing everything I can to make it better.
ReplyDeleteWhen looking at this quote it definitely makes a lot of sense and I don't believe that it is impossible. Everybody in the world has the will to leave a legacy and can contribute to society. When it comes to contributions, the greatest one I have ever made was joining the Lemon club. When I was raising money for such a great cause it made me feel on top the world knowing that I was doing something good to help people devastated by such a horrible disease. Doing things like this has always filled me with joy so in my future I will continue to keep doing them. This is how I will hope to begin my legacy.
The legacy that I want to be remembered by is " Do you remember that really nice guy Hunter"? I don't want to be remember for only doing one thing. I want to be remembered for doing everything. I want to be remembered for always being the person that volunteered and helped out when people were in need. I want to be the person who helped out the people who were in need and was a key person in their community. This is what I believe my legacy will be in the future. This is what I want my legacy to be.
In the present day, today, I attend school every day, I am the Vice President of the class of 2018 and I babysit my younger sisters. Although attending school is basically the law and most kids are forced to, there are other students who dropped out. By going to school I continue to learn new things and contribute my hard work to prepare for the future. As VP for class of 2018, I aid in fundraising for the prom and next year's senior trip. Also, being VP allowed me to influence different ideas towards planning events. So far, I have helped plan the semi-formal, powder puff, dodgeball tournament and the upcoming prom. Babysitting my younger sisters benefits me with leadership and experience. Every time I spend time with my siblings, I am able to impact their lives and be the role model that they need.
ReplyDeleteSo far, the biggest contribution I have done would have to be persuading my mom to quit smoking cigarettes. Persuading my mom hasn’t been easy at all. It took saying things that I knew would hurt her feelings but eventually would help her for her future. However, now that she has finally decided to listen to me, she has a bigger chance with living longer and seeing her grandchildren. Helping my mom has been one of the biggest things I have done to be honest because it hurt her and me to know that through every cigarette she lit, she was taking a puff closer to getting cancer. Through all of the things I have done, past and present, I will continue to attempt to spread my generosity to others and influence others.
For the future, my ultimate goal is to be a radiologist. To continue to leave a good impact on people. I want to be able to help others in need by donating and volunteering to big and small charities. To me, it is important to leave behind a good image, one that others could remember me by. Hopefully in the future, I could help and change someone’s life for the better which would be a huge accomplishment for me.
Yes, I do believe in HH’s belief in contribution and no it doesn’t seem impossible at all. The good and the bad both make the same equal amount of contributions. Someone once brought up this idea that without someone failing in life (the bad people) there wouldn’t be any jobs for the good guys to stop the violence. For instance, the police or law enforcement in general are supposed to keep the community safe and lock the bad guys up. If there wasn’t any bad guys, there wouldn’t be any purpose to have law enforcement, therefore yes everyone does make their contributions to the earth. To continue, the animals also contribute to the earth. Animals are sacrificed for the food we eat daily and they also help us with the land. Certain animals eat plants that we don’t need and the annoying creatures that crawl in our house eat other animals. Although everything and everyone might not have a huge impact on this earth, we all make contributions.
I try to a have positive attitude everyday no matter what and make everyone around me happy. I mess around a lot because sometimes it can be boring doing the same thing everyday, so it's fun to laugh with your friends once in awhile. I just try to bring positive energy and put others before me everyday. I am respectful to everyone and I always listen to what people have to say because a lot of people have some really good advice and stories that are cool to hear. I hope to make some sort of difference in the world for the future. I would like to become some sort of doctor and help people who are in a time of need. I think it would be nice to help people as a doctor because it’s so sad to see people struggle through life when there shouldn’t be a struggle at all. Instead of helping, people would rather make fun of people that are less fortunate and that’s pretty messed.
ReplyDeleteI do believe HH’s idea about contribution and why people are put on the Earth. I agree that everyone has their own way to contribute and it will be unique depending on the person. Everyone will find something good to contribute and make a difference in someone’s life. It doesn’t seem impossible and it makes sense. I’m sure that everyone has impacted at least one person throughout their life in a positive way. Even if the person was good or bad, they probably impacted someone’s life in a positive way even if it was a small contribution. HH’s idea doesn’t seem like nonsense, but more like an interesting idea about the world.
I think that my biggest contribution so far has been to my grandma. I have helped her do a lot of things and I have truly made a positive impact on her life. I help her cook, clean, and do other daily activities whenever I see her. When I see my grandma, I know that I make her happy. She has impacted my life with her presence as well. She on makes me happy and always is positive. My grandma has taught me more things than you could imagine. Our relationship has positive impacts on both ends. She truly is an inspiration and I’m glad that I impacted her life in a good way that makes both of us happy.
I want my legacy to definitely be a positive one for sure. I want to be remembered as a person that you can trust and will always be there when you need something. I want to help people that have everyday struggles that they don’t deserve to have. No one deserves to go through their life struggling to do normal things. I just want to be remembered as a good person that somehow made a positive impact in a world where these contributions are desperately needed.
Purpose is something that is always questioned in our society whether it is because of what racial background you come from or ethnicity group you associate. A main source of depression is because of people feeling like they have no purpose in life or on anyone. Which can relate to HH theory that even one is here for a reason and for a main purpose. I agree with that. And at our tender teenage years there may be so little you think you have done. What I know I do is I know how to make someone laugh. I hate being in a sad or sour state it is something I have been in for the past couple months. But I never let that affect anyone else's happiness. It hurts me to see people sad or salty. What I will do later in life is hopefully get people back to full health and provide correct medicine for the sick. It is something that is always a necessity. A lot of people can dream. And some dreams come true for sure. But although it seems far away I don't think it's impossible for everyone to fulfill their purpose. Hard work and dedication no matter what. I have had many little contributions that I thought have been good. But what I want to acknowledge as my best contribution was going to the 21 downs dance and meeting two wonderful girls. I made them happy and I was so humbled to say that I did that. Knowing that they were happy made me realize that no matter how bad your day is going someone has it worse.
ReplyDeleteA legacy is something that you leave behind. It is something that you should most likely want to be good. Something someone can look up upon. If I were to have a legacy it would want to be one of the best poker players of all time. It's ridiculous to many, but reachable for few. It sickens me when someone is told that a dream is not looked up upon. That it is something that is bad to get into. You have to experience a bad day to cope with the thousands you have throughout your lifetime. But I also want to be know for the care of others. The courageous acts of niceness that I can give back to the community so that everyone can love again. Life is up and down. There is no consistent path that will be drawn out for you. Dreaming and hard work is what pushes someone's towards their goals. Forgetting what others say and cherishing the people that want to support you throughout your journey
I feel like I have a much different view on this theory than most people. Yes, I believe everyone is put on earth to contribute to a greater good, and leave a legacy. Yes it makes sense, and yes it is possible. However, I don’t believe that everybody’s individual contributions are for the greater good. For example, Adolf Hitler. He is arguably the shittiest person to ever walk the face of this planet. However, if it wasn’t for world war II, the world wouldn’t be what it is today. Medicine wouldn’t be as advanced, technology would be behind, and we probably would've learned a lot harder, what nuclear weapons can do. Now, I’m not saying all the deaths and tragedies of world war II account for some of the good it did, but what I’m saying is that everything has a legacy, whether it’s good or bad. Even today, some people believe a Donald Trump presidency will be good, because the American people will have to unite and fight back against the government. I’m not saying I agree with this, but I do agree that even the bad things happen for a reason.
ReplyDeleteI personally try to offer a different perspective to people's everyday life. When someone is feeling down, I try to give them advice that they’ve never heard before, or offer them hope that they’ve never considered. I want to help people break outside of the walls they’re confined to, and create their own path to success. This is what I plan on doing, no matter where I am in life. So far, my biggest contribution is being a good friend to someone that needed me. In a time where they had nobody, and felt like nobody cared about them, and nobody was consistent with them, I offered them a hand, and I continue to fight with them to this day. It means a lot to me that I’m helping someone live a better life than they once were, because I know what path they could’ve slipped down if nobody had helped them.
Like I said, I want to be the person that help broke people out of the mindset that they have to be robots to society. One day, people will see me as a trailblazer. Someone that made their own path, and succeeded because of determination, and abstract thinking.
For years people have asked me why I try so hard. “I don’t know it’s my personality” would always be my response, but I know that there is a deeper meaning. Last summer one of my mom’s aunts had passed away, and with all the sorrows came endless stories of how amazing, and kind, and generous my mom’s aunt was. She leaves a beautiful legacy in my family that I can only hope will be passed down for generations to come. But all of this blissful talk made me question how I wanted people to remember me when I pass. I have said for years that I am going to be famous, check my Instagram and Twitter bios, in plain text, right under my name the two words “Already Famous” are plastered there. In a sense I do want to be famous, but not like the typical celebrity or athlete, I want to be known and remembered for making a difference in this world. I agree that everyone is given a reason to live here, I believe that everyone has a purpose for their life. Going to banquets, or award ceremonies, or any event in general, it is usually in honor of someone for bringing positivity to an organization. I want to do something to help people, I want to be someone that people will remember years from now, not because I starred in movies, but because I made an impact on people’s lives. I want to be found in history textbooks like Rosa Parks, or Rosie the Riveter, I want my name to be remembered. I try so hard now, so I can be remembered later. My aunt will always be known as a magnanimous person in my family, but I want to take it a step further and be recognized as a magnanimous person to the world.
ReplyDeleteAnyone can leave a legacy, but it’s their decision how or why. I like to think that my legacy will involve field hockey or the medical field, something that I’m striving for. Like I mentioned earlier, everything happens for a reason, where my path takes me, whatever I do, I want my contribution to the world to be positive, to be optimistic, to be happy.
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ReplyDeleteI like to say I’ve made an impact on certain people’s lives and that a lot of people have left an impact on mine. I have always been the one to put others first, and do little things that could hopefully make someone’s day. One of my favorite things that I do every single year is a Christmas shoebox. I buy a bunch of small goodies (school supplies, mini games, etc.) and put them all into a decorated shoebox, along with a handwritten letter about myself and a picture of me. I send my shoebox to a foundation that collects them and gives them away to children who don’t experience Christmas the same way we do. In the past few years that I have done this I’ve had one child write back to me telling me how much he appreciated everything I gave him and how I gave him the best Christmas ever. The feeling that I got from reading that letter made me feel so fulfilled and happy inside. I felt so grateful to leave an impact on a stranger's life the way I did. So therefore, I do believe in the HH idea because anyone is able to leave an impact on anything.
ReplyDeleteAs I get older I look into more opportunities where I could hopefully help others. Even though I wish I could do something as big as helping everyone out in the world, I know it’s impossible. I don’t think I’d be the kind of person to leave a legacy. As much as I would like to, I just can’t see myself doing so. But if I were to be able to leave an image of myself behind it would be something that showed how selfless I am. Rarely do I ever think about my needs and my wants as supposed to others. I know that’s not always the best thing, but it is the kind of person I am. I love contributing as much as I can, and not only to people, but to nature too.
ReplyDeleteBeing Catholic, growing up I had to attend “CCD” every Monday/Tuesday night to learn more and more about my faith. I hated going, thinking that it was a waste of time and so many hours that I could never get back. But if there’s one thing I actually did pick up and take with me, it’s that we all have a purpose. God, creating each and every one of us, put us on this Earth to serve a purpose, to make an impact. Whether you realize it or not, before we die, we will have served our purpose on this Earth. I completely believe in HH’s idea about contribution. I don’t believe anything is impossible, because far beyond the sky is the limit, this does make sense to me. You don’t even have to know your purpose, just know that you’re worth something and you will be thanked for it. This is not at all a bunch of nonsense.
What have I done and what will I do? I have always been and always will be full of words of encouragement. This being quite ironic, being that I put myself below everyone. I will never stop finding the good in people. I’ve been scolded for being friends with certain people, them not being “the best of people.” My response, every time being: “I like to find the good in people.” I like to encourage others to be ambitious and to push through till the very end and to never give up, no matter what their past is. This happened a lot during marching band, when I would say something to the general whole, thinking nobody was even listening. Somebody always is, every word you speak you make some kind of impact, some kind of difference. Even if it’s just making a difference in someone’s day by making them smile or laugh. I laugh at just about everything till I’m blue in the face, but the only thing I love more than laughing is making others laugh as well. These small differences, I believe, have been my greatest contribution so far. I will continue to do the same.
What I want my legacy to be and what I think it’ll be are the same thing, in my eyes. Me being me, I always say: “If you want something to happen, than make it happen, it’s as simple as that.” I know my legacy is going to be exactly what I want it to be, because nothing will stand in my way. I want to make a difference, a difference in something valuable. Maybe not something valuable to my peers surrounding me, but I could care less. If you don’t know I’m involved with music then you don’t even know me, simple as that. I’m sure I’ve mentioned it before but I want to go into music education as a career. I don’t want to do this to further my education in the field I love, I want to do this to further the education of growing musicians with potential. I want to make a difference in their lives with music, just how mine has been so passionately affected. I want them to look at music not as a sheet of paper with black dots and weird markings, but as a story. That music is telling a story, from beginning to end. I want to help further students in their musical career and encourage them to never stop playing. That it’s completely okay to not go into music, but to never stop playing, that they were given a gift and their story does not end there. I want my legacy to be the difference that I made connecting my future students with music in such a way that I was when I was their age. And that will be my legacy.
I do feel that all of us who live on this earth as of now have a soul purpose and reason to being here. I think this way because it is hard for me to think that we are here for no good reason and don't contribute to anything. I also feel that all the things I do in my life contribute to people around me and change people's lives whether it's a small or big change. My whole life I have always tried to stay positive and have always been a forgiving person. I always didn't like to see people mad or to see people hate one another especially if its me. Being positive prevents these things but also can make other people positive as well. I know this is something small but I do think it has a huge impact on peoples lives. In the future I want to become computer programmer for a video game company mainly because I have always loved to play video games and so I want to be able to create video games make people happy and enjoy the things I help create. I know it's not life changing like being a doctor or a teacher but it is something I want to do and hope to impact the world by doing so. By doing this too I want people to know who I am and look up to me one day even if its just being a computer programmer. But not everybody can predict their future but must create your own path to get to what you want. I don't believe that we all have a set path in life, I feel we all create ourselves through the contributions and choices we make in life.
ReplyDeleteTo sum it all up I do believe in HH's idea of why people are put on this earth whether it is about human or animal. I believe that everybody has a legacy that we must live up to but must find the path ourselves to achieve what is wanted in life. I feel that I am on the right path to achieving my legacy but anything can change from now to the future.
I like to believe I can teach and explain things to help someone. I plan to learn all I can so I can teach what I learn to someone else. To pass on learned useful knowledge to the next guy hoping it help someone somehow. Everyone has been given a gift to show the world or as HH puts it, contribute to the world. When we contribute our talents and gifts it will inspire others to do the same. When we all contribute, we are all in a good state of mind which will bring the best in all out. It is perfectly logical. I’ve always been athletic as I grew up playing sports and was also a gymnast. Freshman year I started to make track my main sport. I was becoming a pole vaulter but there was only three of us. Two being successful seniors at the event. They mentored me, I listened to everything they taught me knowing they’d be gone my sophomore year. I got to into pole vaulting I even did my own researched and went to clinics to learn to become better. I got injuring and I learned out to fix them. Me being the only experienced pole vaulter, I tried giving all the information iv acquired over the years and gave it to some knew jumpers. I’ve seen people improve and become great. One of them even helped me break the school relay record. I’ve seen athletes start to get injuries and I could recognize what was wrong and could help them. This is where I found my love in the human body and how it works and how to fix it. I’ve always had the drive to help other people and I can do that through teaching the things I love to do. By doing so this passes on the love to someone else. Friendships are made and you grow closer to the people to help. Now, it may not be so big but soon I will help so many more people. Hopefully when I die I’ll be leaving the idea of always being appreciative of knowledge and use all that to help as many people as possible. To strive to be someone who puts others before themselves.
ReplyDeleteAs of right now, I don't feel like I do much for the world consistently. I mean like every now and then I'll volunteer or just do small basic stuff to be nice or make someone's day, but not something extravagant. I agree with HH's idea about how everyone had a purpose though. I don't do anything right now, but this summer I want to volunteer during the summer and start working sometime soon. I want to work in the medical field when I grow up and I think people in the medical field definitely make a huge contribution to the community because sometimes all it takes is one mistake for everything to go wrong and they make sure they do their job perfectly. HH makes a good point about how everyone has a purpose. You never know how someone else's life would be affected if one person hadn't existed. I mean think about it, so many people these days feel so depressed and useless if you really talk to them, but then again they never realize how many times they've brightened another humans life or done something so great without even knowing it.
ReplyDeleteI don't consider myself useless just because I don't do stuff as involved right now even though I'd definitely make a greater impact if I were more involved.I feel like I still make great impacts in lives of a few people. I have friends that feel useless in today's world because they've always had a bad childhood, been through abuse, and have never had anything good happen and it's always been negativity on top of negativity. Who could blame them? When you've been through so much negativity how do you expect someone to see the brighter side or situations? As I said in the last blog, I often get told by the same people that I'm all they have and that I'm their reason to keep going. I don't know about anyone else, but to me I feel like that's the best thing someone can say to me that I'm what's keeping them going in a life full of negativity. I feel like being someone's motivation or reason not to give up when everything has gone wrong is the best thing a person can do.
After years I feel like I'll be known for saving lives since I want to be a doctor and that's what they do. I'll be known as the girl who was laughing/smiling most of the time. Like most people, I don't want to be a figure known by the whole world because of stories they heard about me. I want to be remembered by whomever's life I impacted and I made their day a little less painful. I want to be known as the person who wasn't always happy, but managed to keep a smile on anybody's face who was having a horrible day or someone who questioned their existence. I want to be the person who was so happy that everyone who was around me was just as happy.
Sometimes, I think about the population of this earth (seven billion) and how I’m such a small percentage of this number. Then, I look at my friends and wonder at how different my life would be without them. Our lives affect each other, and although I will never know 99.99 percent of the humans inhabiting this planet, I still made a difference to the other .01 percent. Almost no one will know who I am, besides my friends and family, but that’s okay because I still made a, hopefully, positive difference in their lives. Even if I only changed one person’s life, it’s not the whole world, but it was everything to that one person.
ReplyDeleteEvery life has a purpose, even when it doesn’t seem like it. Whether good or bad, what they do has a chain reaction, which can lead to good things. Your purpose isn’t set in stone at birth. You always have a choice to change.
I may not be the next scientist to have a major breakthrough or paint the next masterpiece, but I want to make a difference in the environment and for other people. I try to recycle everything that I can and push other people to do the same. I also love to volunteer my time and share my resources. When I’m older and I have more freedom, I want to go into the field and get first-hand experience into conservation and, of course, volunteer some more. My greatest contribution to society is when I put together some blessing bags and donated it to a homeless shelter.
People will probably remember me as the Crazy Recycling Girl or Crazy Cat Lady, but I just want to be remembered as a good friend, daughter, and sister.
I agree with the idea that we were put on this earth for a purpose of contribution, but my reasoning may differ from others. I feel the prosperity and beauty that we should produce is for the glory of God, to build his kingdom and bring others to it. Yes it is important to make sure that you in one way or another make this planet we live on a blessing for others, but at the end of your life what you did for the kingdom of God and the people going to it is the most important. Saving someone and bringing them to the gates of heaven is the ultimate thing you can do for someone. The earth was a gift from God so it is our duty to look after it and the people in it, keep it thriving, and to treat it the same way heaven should be treated.
ReplyDeleteMy greatest contribution to the world is my positiveness and my light. My light shines and reflects onto others bringing light into their life. I just try to be the joy and the humor people need in their life, that kid that you see in the halls that make you laugh with the first word out their mouth, or make you smile just by seeing how happy I am to be alive. That is my gift to this world. My love and positivity brings glory to God. I definitely see myself at the end of the road being remembered for that same light I have now. I hope that light does not dim, but brightens and evolves into a light that will be shown at a larger scale.
Although I don’t believe in buddhism I do believe in HH’s quote that we are all here to contribute. We always in some small way contribute to our community whether it participating in a club or helping a teacher to name a few things we contribute in our community. Technically speaking almost everyone contributes to the U.S. economy because the economic system depends on the population to pretty much buy stuff, and as we know it we do buy A LOT of stuff. But as for my personal contributions it's a pretty short list: volunteering at a nursing home, part of my elementary/middle school's choir for 5 years, and helped my church change the books. So far I would say my greatest contribution is volunteering at a nursery because I've had 3 old ladies so far say "thank you so much for volunteering here" now that might a typical response, but the way they've said it, the tone of it, was so sincere and admiring I felt so mushy inside. We will always contribute in society, heck attending college is technically preparing us to contribute society. Personally I like to help people in any way and I’ve seen that among my peers also tend to help each other. So really I think we’re in a infinite loop of helping others because as human beings we can’t help it to help others even if some don’t deserve it.
ReplyDeleteNow for my legacy, I've never given it some thought prior to writing this blog, it’s a really hard thing for me to think about because well I'm pretty sure I have at least 50 or more years to build it. As of now though I want my legacy to at least be known to my future family to be a loving and caring father because ultimately I hope to build a happy family like how my dad does right now. How I go about doing that? Well I hope to stay a "goody two-shoes" because I still believe at being kind to people whether the do or don't deserve it and doing the "right" thing to do which is, in a nutshell, The Golden rule.
As of right now, I don’t think I do much to contribute to the world. I’m only 16 and I have a long way to go before I can truly say I am satisfied with the legacy I am leaving the earth with. I have contributed to this earth so far by giving people my gift of laughter and kindness. My greatest contribution is my unconditional love. It is very rare that I turn my back on people even when they hurt me. I like to consider this quality as one of my contributions to others.I try my best to brighten people’s days and be a helping hand for those who need it. I have affected my sister’s life permanently by being her best friend my whole life. She knows that she will always have me to confide in.
ReplyDeleteWhen I am older I plan on contributing to the world by being a dentist. This along with sharing my kindness with the world is how I will be helping people- by fixing their teeth.
I don’t believe in HH’s belief about contribution. I don't think that everyone cares to contribute to the world. Some people just live to live and make themselves happy. If everyone had a goal to positively contribute to the world it wouldn’t be such a bad place to live in and there wouldn’t be as much meaningless crime. Because everyone is selfish, they don’t realize it takes a collaborative effort for humanity and society as a whole to be fulfilled and happy. If everyone did try to contribute to the world there wouldn’t be homeless people or people without food, because we would all come together and put an end to it. We would all stop for a second and show our compassion towards others rather than just ourselves or our own families.
As a teenager, I do the things that I feel as though a teenager is supposed to do, which is to go school and have some type of hobby or sport that you want to take far in life. I personally run Track. As my time is coming closer and closer to becoming a senior and graduating from high school, I’m finally realizing that it’s not a game anymore. I need to be completely focused on what I want to do with my life. If I want to make it far in life, I need to take this serious. I am obligated to work harder and harder each and every day to make it to where I want to be. My job in life is work hard to get to where I want to be, and work even harder when I get it. I work hard in school to maintain good grades. I am a member of an AKA mentoring Program, I am a captain for both season Track teams. I focus on myself and being a role model for others. I also, focus on being a leader. I volunteer in the Mainland Hospital during the Summer. I also work as a lifeguard in the summer. It teaches me how to be responsible and how to be able to take care of myself when needed by using the money that I worked for. Working is a way, to get you prepared for the future. It also, makes you appreciate your parents even more. The fact that they work hard every day and spend their own money on you is something to be grateful for.
ReplyDeleteI have many goals in life. I feel as though that I have my future planned. I’m not sure if that’s exactly a great thing or not but I do. I want to receive a full ride to the college that I want to go to, from Track and possibly academics. I plan on of course running all 4 years and majoring in Biology to become an OB/GYN. I will go to a four-year college, then medical school, and then receive my residency to start my career. I want to be able to help women, by delivering a healthy baby that they gave birth to. The feeling of becoming an OB/GYN excites me and I look forward to my future. I will soon be able to pay my parents back for supporting me throughout the life that I have lived so far.
I feel as though that everyone has a contribution and HH’s idea wasn’t nonsense. He had a point. I just don’t think that everyone was put on earth for a CERTAIN contribution. Everything changes. I also, feel as though that people are here to continue to reproduce, that’s how life keeps going. I don’t believe that there is one person on this earth that didn’t contribute to at least one thing throughout their life. Even if it was something extremely small. Everything matters and counts.
As long as I have been living I have made many contributions that has made a huge impact on people, as well as myself. I can’t really determine my greatest contribution, but one was when I volunteered to feed the homeless. This would disgust ignorant and rude people, but that shows how wicked they are. When I was younger, my mother and I made PB&J’s for the homeless when we lived in Georgia. It was a great experience because I could see the smile on some people’s face when they saw that people felt for them and cared. Every little thing counts. Any little thing that you could do for a person matters.
I want to be remembered for the girl who broke school records at Oakcrest since she was a Freshman. Although I accomplished it by breaking one record, it doesn’t hurt to break many more. I want to be able to break more records before I leave the building for good. I want other runners to look up to me and use me as motivation to get better. But, I must work harder to get what I want. I want to have an impact on other Track runners, not only for my school but anywhere right now and in the future.
I don't agree 100% with HH. I believe everyone makes contributions to this world but not all of those are positive. Everything someone does has an effect on the people around them. It's just cause and effect. I don't necessarily believe that everyone has a great big purpose in life. That they were put on this earth for a specific reason. I would like to think that was true but it doesn't sound realistic. When I think about what I do, how I contribute I think about the simple things. I think about the time my friend called me crying after the first time she cut herself. I remember keeping her on the phone while I was on my way to her house. I spent all night holding her. It was the first and last time she hurt herself. I think back to the first time I was homeless and met a homeless woman that was pregnant. I remember giving her my extra water bottle and the sandwich I had in my bag that I was saving for later that night. I didn't think twice about it because I saw a person that needed help. I think back to all the clothes I donate to homeless shelters or salvation army because I know what it's like to only have the clothes on your back.I will continue to help as many people as I can. I will stand up for what I believe in and will do my very best to help others even if it's just smiling or giving a compliment to brighten someone's day. Overall my biggest contribution has been being kind. It might not seem like a big one but even something so simple can go a long way.
ReplyDeleteI believe that every person here is meant to fulfill something great in their life-time. And, by “great”, I am in no way talking about the measure of one’s success. There are so many things that anyone can do that define “great”, and for me, it’s important for people to know that any given moment, is their moment to be, and do great.
ReplyDeleteAs of right now, my greatest contribution so far has been my dedication to being a good friend. I know that I’m an extremely loyal person to the people who mean something to me, and knowing that I’ve provided that, and more to my closest friends make me feel good about myself.
In the future, I want my time to be dedicated towards teaching younger kids, and being one of the first people to witness their very first steps of becoming something “great”, in their future. If I leave any sort of “legacy” behind, I would want it to be for the simple fact that I love to be there for people, and I love helping others, under any circumstance.
When I think of the word "legacy", two things come to mind: either a fortune for your family to sit on after you're gone, or your name being written down for children ten generations down the line to read about in class. Anything less than that, I don't consider to be a legacy. I consider that being remembered. And sadly, or at least sad to me, just about none of us will leave a legacy. We will only be remembered if we're lucky. So when I think of the legacy that I will leave behind when I leave this earth, I think about how I probably wont. And that's okay.
ReplyDeleteThere's no doubt in my mind that we all have a reason to be here. And even if there is a little bit of doubt in there, I push it back in fear to think that we are just figures taking up space, because in all honesty, to believe in absolutely nothing is a sad way to live life. I truly believe that we all serve a purpose here, where ever we have been put. We may not know that reason yet. Hell, we may never know our reason at all. But whether we recognize it or not, it's there.
As for me, I never wanted to make a huge difference in the world. I mean sure, it would be great to be able to say that I cured cancer, and will be able to provide for my family and the world forevermore. Of course it would be nice to say that I started some nationwide movement that one day was studied by kids my age out of a textbook. But even from a young age, I found ideas of that happening unrealistic. I knew even then that one day I would be a smart girl, who probably would one day go off to a big school where maybe 50 students campus-wide know my name, and make decent money doing a job that I didn't love, being identified by a last name that isn't mine, and helping to provide for a family that would miss me dearly when it was my time to go. It was always my plan to be remembered.
So it is my plan that why I'm still here, and young, and surround by enough (and at the same time not too many) people that I can make an impact, I do.
The number of lives that I have saved in the latest hours of the night are too many to count on one hand.
The only thing that I can do here is try to the lower the toxicity within this little town. And I have. Like I said, I truly believe that we all have our reason, so I do not hesitate to remind others of that when they forget or never knew.
It's not a lot. But it's something. And one day when I die, if I could be there to see who came to service, there's no doubt in my mind that a lot of people who you wouldn't expect to see there would show. One day, people are going to remember as the girl that saved their life. One day the words that I said before I passed away may save that same life again. I'm going to be remembered by a few people within this town. May a few more when I move on from here. But not many. And I'm okay with that. If I leave behind any sense of hope when I'm gone, I'll have lived a complete-enough life for me.
This blog reminds me of an anime I recently finished. It came out in 2016 and became well-known due to how relatable it was to the audience. To sum up the show, a group of friends send letters back in time to when they were teenagers in order to prevent a boy from committing suicide. This boy was dealing with depression due to him believing he was the cause of his mother committing suicide. He could not stand living knowing this and had always wanted to die. He also kept this problem to himself, not wanting his new friends to know, so that they could continue to smile with him without a care in the world. Then on February 15, he committed suicide, thinking that he needed to go apologize to his mother and that even if he was gone, no one would care. This anime is called Orange.
ReplyDeleteWhat this boy did not understand was how much impact the news of his death affected his friends. They felt that they were responsible with him committing suicide and had carried the regret for 10 years.
As a Buddhist, I agree with HH’s saying. All life has a purpose whether they know it or not. My greatest contribution so far is being there for my friends and family. I had a few friends going through depression in middle school and though I could not do anything to prevent them from feeling down, I know that by listening to their feelings, I was able to relieve them from the stress they held for longest of time. I also have a strong relationship with my grandmother due to how we both express our feelings to each other. Each and every day, I would tell her about the exciting things that happen in my life. I would tell her about the conversations I had with my friends and about the problems I am going through. There have been not a single time where I have not shared my happiness with my grandmother.
So therefore, I want my legacy to be: To always bring joy to the people I meet and to always share my happiness with them.
When everything is important, nothing is. However, everything is not important to everyone and that's what makes our days go by with us "in our own world". I put 'in our own world' in quotes mainly because just about everyone has been told once or twice that they're "lost in your own world" and I want to bring emphasis to the meaning of our own world. It is not Earth as a whole, or anything ridiculous, but rather it is what exists to you, and only you. For me, I will go into finance, and build my career along that path; I will live a (hopefully) long and happy life, worry-free and relaxed. As for HH's idea of contribution, if during my life I contribute to his idea, that will be a part of his "world" while I will be living in mine. It will not be a main priority of my life to see the contribution of beauty and prosperity of life on Earth, however as I live my life, I know I will be contributing to that view. It makes sense; imagine watching any sport, to the spectator it may be like a work of art for the player or team to do what they've done, however to the player himself it was merely just another part of their daily job. To one, it is beauty and prosperity, to the other, the living of life. As for me, I still have time to contribute to more of my life and I don't believe in planning out what I want my legacy to be. Legacies are for the dead and what they've left behind morally, spiritually, physically, or as an ideal and personally I don't plan to watch the impact my steps make as I live life (if you view it as a path), I plan to live my life until my days are done; and as I lay on my deathbed, I will think back to everything I have done and close my eyes to my legacy, no matter what it may be.
ReplyDeleteI don't think that any human being is put on earth with a specific purpose. That is unless you were bread for some reason or your parents had you specifically to work for them. However, most people are put on this earth and earn their purpose in growing up. It's kind of like being put on a road and having to choose what road you should take. So we indirectly choose our own purpose. I haven't really done much yet, but I do think a lot. With this, I would say that my purpose as of right now is to question everything, and to stay curious. I feel like curiosity is a largely lacked trait in today's society because almost everyone just believes everything that is brought upon them, and people who really don't believe everything are likely following someone else's opinion. I believe that I was put on this earth to have my own opinion of things and to question almost everything thrown at me.
ReplyDeleteWhat do I do and what will I do... If you're looking for what I do for other people, I couldn't tell you much because I don't know. I can tell you what I TRY to do for people, but I could never tell you exactly what I do for people. But I guess that's something I do. I try. I try to make people feel better when they have a problem. I try to make sure no one feels "alone." I know all too well how it feels to be alone when you have a problem and I wouldn't want anyone else to feel that way. Another thing I do is love. I love and care for people even when they don't want me to but that's what I do. I love hard and I make sure that the people know. I make sure that the people I love know that they are loved because that's all people want at the end of the day. Now about the quote... I think it's true. I want to believe that everything here on this planet is here for a reason. A belief in purpose is what keeps some people on this planet going. Once people start believing that they are useless, that is when things start going downhill. If i believe that everyone on this planet is meant to contribute, then maybe it'll help other people out in the future, even myself. I also believe we are here to contribute because I believe everyone has a purpose on this planet whether it be big or small. I am a strong believer of "fate" and that everyone has a destiny and are meant to do something. My greatest contribution so far has to be being there for someone when no one else was. This person that isn't going to be named went through a time where they had no one. They felt as if even their best friends weren't their friend anymore, so I was there for them. I made this person know that they weren't alone because I cared. My greatest contribution so far is meeting my best friend. I think my legacy will be one that is filled with people who knew me for my ability to care and love so deeply. My legacy will be one that shows people how "good" of a person I was to everyone. And that's exactly how I want it to be. I WANT to be known as someone who cared about people and wasn't afraid to show it. I also want to be known as someone who wasn't so scared to love. In addition, though, I want to be known as someone who gave their all into everything they did.
ReplyDeleteToday in this world I think I inspiring, teach, and heal as much as I don't want to believe that all the facts have shown those three things are what I do. I agree with HH quote "The creatures that inhabit this earth-be they human beings or animals-are here to contribute, each in its own particular way, to the beauty and prosperity of the world." because God put us all on the earth to do something and even though some people may get corrupt before they could do what he had in plan for them. As my life goes on I tend to continue to be a factor in people's lives from strangers to family I see every day, because me helping someone else out with their life by just talking to them or showing them the right way to go means I'm doing what God put me on this earth to do. If anything this quote seems possible and makes sense and everything in the world can back that up because no matter what you believe or who you think is wrong or right or what you think is wrong or right it could have a positive effect on someone else's life. For example look at any public figure that people can recognize off of first glimpse he or she has made a positive impact on at least one person's life and that's what I think everyone was placed on this earth to do, Inspire and help others. The fact is will they do it? I think when I leave this earth my legacy would be that hilarious guy that brightened everyone's day even if it wasn't intentional and I believe that the path that I'm going on now will lead me in the right direction to make that dream legacy come true. Honestly I want to have such a big impact on the world and people's lives that there's a small grieving period like when some of the greats passed and for there to be a way to do certain things because of me. And for that to happen I just have to keeping doing what I was placed on this earth to do.
ReplyDeleteWhat do I do with my life? Practically the same things my peers do. Eat, sleep, go to school, etc., repeat. What will I do in the future? What most of my peers would do? Go to college, eat, sleep, get a job, and raise a family. I might spend some of my years fooling around before finally settling down a little after when people would generally get married, as is the fate of a person birth on the year of the dragon. For the time being, I will spend as much time with my friends and family since the future is not set in stone. On the truth of His Holiness’s quote, I sincerely agree with the Dalai Lama. There is no such thing as good or evil. And thus so, each living thing has a contribution they make for the world no matter how evil. Now on the topic of bringing prosperity or beauty, the results of whatever acts committed must be looked at by searching for the good. Looking for the good is how I interpret the beauty of people’s action if it is not as harmonious as others. Considering my greatest contribution, I would say being born. I am my parent’s first child and that right there is a good start. I brought them the happiness of having kid of their own. I have friends that I can talk to and, for all I know, these interactions may bring a little happiness in their lives. I have my brother and cousins who I protect as the older brother. And that’s my legacy right there. When I die and reincarnate into another life, My past life would be remembered as a good older sibling. I would be a good friend and a great son. I would live my life and raise a family of my own where I would then be a good husband and a father. I’m not aiming for a life of fame. My reason is because that there is no moral rewards in gaining popularity. The most rewarding life is to live in sake of doing my best for the people around me. When I die, I want my legacy to be that of a person who lived a life with no regrets and a smile on his face.
ReplyDeleteLet me just start this blog post off by saying that everyone in this world has a purpose and a meaning. Everyone on this planet is here for a reason. Regardless if that reason is positive or negative, everyone has a purpose. Everyone contributes to society in some way shape or form. Sadly though, not everyone contributes to the beauty and prosperity of society. I myself try to spread positivity each and everyday. Their is almost never a time where you will see me down and upset. The reason behind that is because I was once told to not stress over the past because you can't change that, but to focus on how to make your future better. That is why I will always look to the good side of things because although i may be going through tough times, as long as I stay positive I may still be able to change my future. My goal for the future is to remain as happy as I can possibly be, and to not stress things too much. My goal is to make it out of school and make something of myself in the world. I want to be able to make enough money to the point where I can come back and give back to those who got me to where I will be. Give back to those people who stepped out of their comfort zone and pushed me to be the best person that I can possibly be. Sadly the HH is understandable but will never happen because their needs to be bad people on this earth in order to keep the balance of this earth equal. Their will always be people who get jealous and will purposely harm others to benefit themselves. My greatest contribution so far has to be the way that I treat people. Their isn’t one event that I can pinpoint and say “This is by far my greatest contribution”. But what I can say is that the way that I treat people on a daily basis all together has been my greatest contribution to society. Weather it's me spending some Saturdays while I was younger at the food bank packaging up food for the less fortunate, or just the way I treat others with respect, those things added up has been my greatest contribution to society as a whole. When I leave this earth I want a legacy that will stick around for generations on end. I want others to look at how I lived my life so free and openly and say that they want to live just like that. I want people to look at how happy I always was and say that they want to be that happy. I want people to see how I treat others and say that they will start treating others like that. Although I am no Gandhi, I want to be as close to one as possible.
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ReplyDeleteI am always a very positive person so I would like to believe that I have done a lot more than I think I have. The biggest impact that I’ve left on people is when I leave someone with a smile. Happiness is a very powerful thing that can help anyone get through anything. I would like to think that when I simply smile at someone or give someone a compliment that it will brighten their day and leave them feeling good about themselves. I want to encourage others to try and make someone else happy. I want it to work like a chain of smiles, laughter, and just genuine happiness. I love to talk to strangers and just simply asking someone how their day is going just so that they know someone cares. I would like to think that they will continue with their day in a good mood and pass on the happiness that I shared with them.
ReplyDeleteI believe in HH’s idea to an extent. I think that everyone is here to make a contribution to the world but it is not always to help with the beauty. People aren't always here to help make the world better sometimes people do nothing but make the world worse. It seems impossible for everyone to make a good impact on the world not everyone can leave a good legacy because a lot of people don’t care enough to try and leave something good behind. Even though it seems impossible for everyone to do something good in the world, I love the idea of it, The idea that everyone is brought into the world with a purpose of doing something amazing. I just want nothing more than my legacy to be that I am the girl who made others happy. I want to be the girl who is always happy.
I believe that everyone on this earth has a specific job or reason for being here. Although this reason was not pre-set when we were born, we find it throughout our lifetime. These jobs are not harsh or difficult, yet they are so important that those around us will not function to their full potential if we don't fulfill these duties. Everyone has a reason for being here, and I believe my job is to encourage people. My example to back this (as always) is rowing (mainly becuase thats all I have). I always try, no matter what im doing, to try to lift people up, encourage them that they can do anything, whatever they want to, and I feel that is how I contribute to the world. The definition of contribution is giving in order to help, achieve, or provide something. I feel that I have provided so many people with a more positive outlook, the vision of what they really can do if they set their mind to it. The reason I chose rowing as an example is because it is a very mentally tough sport. The only person you have telling you that you can do it is yourself, but I feel that I have helped many kids get over that mental blockage, I've taught them to always replace the word “can't” with “will”. When the word legacy is used, it usually refers to money, or property, but when I’m gone, The amount of money I leave behind means nothing. I wish for my kids and the rest of my family (and friends) to remember me as someone who lived life with no negativity. I want to leave this behind as an example for my children to learn and in turn teach their children because although we need some form of currency, an attitude is worth more than dollar bills. An attitude is more important than anything, it can be the difference between misery and happiness. So, as life goes on, I will continue to always have a positive outlook and try to pass this attitude on to the people I come in contact with.
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ReplyDeleteI am not special. I am not unique. There are many other people like me in the world and plenty of people who are far better than me. Now with that being said, I do believe I make a minor contribution in this world as does everybody else. I believe in the statement because every single person makes a contribution even if it affects a handful of people, two people, or even one person. You make a contribution to the world just by living and being alive because everyone has something different to offer the world. You don’t have to make an entire movement or inspire hundreds or even dozens of people, if you change one thing about yourself in a positive way, then that right there is a wonderful contribution to the world. Every single person makes an impact in this world. “A person’s a person no matter how small” -Dr.Seuss. I believe my greatest impact so far isn’t is probably very generic, but it is making people smile and being a good role model. I think I make this impact mainly on my friends, sisters, and little cousins. First off, in my family there's over 2 dozen of little kids under 12 years old and I’m the oldest. I don’t feel like it’s my “job” to be a good role model, but I strive to help and give them advice as they grow up. I use my experiences and lessons to encourage them to make good life decisions and to be kind and whole hearted people. As for my friends, I don’t think I’m amazing at giving advice or the best at coming up the funniest jokes. I just want to be the person that makes them smile once in awhile and I want my friends to know that I’m always there to listen, share some memories, be the shoulder to cry on, or anything else they might need.
ReplyDeleteHonestly, I don’t want to be remembered by thousands of people because all those people don’t truly know you. If you think about it, millions of people may know the name of the celebrity and what they are famous for, but only a few people in the world are truly close to them and know who they are inside and out. “Quality over quantity” everyone says. I would rather have a greater impact on fewer people than just be a big name to lots. I want my legacy to be the best mom anyone can ever have, a loyal friend, a caring family member, and a girl that can play the heck out of any instrument.
I'm going to be honest. When I first read this blog, I initially thought that I had legitimately done nothing. I have contributed nothing in the span of 16 years. It wasn't until this Saturday until I realized that I had actually done something with my life. Saturday was the day of the funeral for my Mom's friend Eileen. While I didn't know this lady very well, I couldn't help but tear up when I saw the open casket and her cold, dead body. Although I only met and saw this lady every three weeks for 45 minutes for her acrylic refill, I still made an impact on her life. It was enough of an impact for me to tear up and enough of an impact for me to be invited to the funeral. I realized then that I may have actually done much more than I had initially thought.
ReplyDeleteBeing a devout Buddhist, of course, I agree with HH's idea about contribution. The idea makes perfect sense. I don't necessarily believe we all contribute the same amount but we all do contribute. If I were to break it down to biology, all humans contribute something for the plants. We all undergo cellular respiration which creates carbon dioxide which is fundamental for plants to undergo photosynthesis. Something as small as that can be a contribution to helping make our world more beautiful. But there is a downside. Even though we can all make the world better and more beautiful, we also can make it worse and dirtier. I guess there are two sides to the spectrum.
Now I guess it's time to talk about myself. Hooray! (This is complete sarcasm). Compared to others, I probably have made very few contributions. I didn't help anyone out during Hurrican Sandy. I didn't create a club. I didn't volunteer at hospitals. Compared to others, my contributions are minuscule. But no matter how tiny my contributions are, there's always one that's the biggest. I guess the most important thing I've done is be an older brother. I don't like talking about my siblings. Some of the people that are closest to me didn't even know I had siblings until recently. So in case you were wondering, I have an older brother that's 18 and a younger brother who's 9 and two younger twin sisters that are 8. I love my siblings with all my heart. Well maybe except my older brother (or bother depending on my mood). My parents aren't home a lot and nor am I. I'm usually out and about in school. That leaves my older brother to take care of my siblings. The thing is, he actually doesn't take care of them. He lets them do their thing while he goes into his room and plays some game. When I'm home, I actually spend time with my younger siblings. We play games. We watch movies. We have fun. Making them smile and laugh make my day. It's probably the only reason I come home these days. It pains me to realize that in a couple of years I won't be able to see their faces every day.
When I look forward in life, there isn't a set amount I want to contribute. We all want to leave something behind but how do we do that? At times like this, I can't help but think about the funeral I went to. I want my legacy to be something personal. When I'm on my deathbed I want someone to miss me and cry for me. I want to know that I have changed someone's life for the better. This legacy of mine may not actually turn out the way I want it to. I may be remembered for being a terrible doctor or lawyer or whatever I'm gonna be. But as of right now, I want to be remembered for making people smile.
Right now, I do not feel as involved as I could be. I have, however, improved my involvement in school. I helped with the Oakcrest open house, attended the Peanut Butter and Jelly Drive twice, and am currently involved with the World Language Club. This summer, I will volunteer at AtlantiCare. What I consistently do the most is impacting the lives of others through kindness, compassion, respect, and assistance. With both these ideas as my main values, I wish to work in the medical field to contribute to the well-being of the community. What I want to do, however, that may differ is that I especially want to help as a doctor in Africa, specifically in the DRC (Democratic Republic of Congo). Africa is stereotyped as a poor continent where everyone starves and lacks education, but although they may be issues, these circumstances are not entirely the fault of the citizens. Alright, just to say it, that is absolutely NOT all Africa is! Africa is a wonderful continent with rich culture of all its countries that influences the entire world, chiefly in music. I am not saying this to be biased; it’s indubitably true. It is extremely rich in natural resources, especially in Congo with diamonds, coltan, gold, silver, rubies, platinum, etc (look up coltan and see why it is crucial yet underrated). The problem is exploitation, poor government leadership, and hostility which leads to issues of conflict and war. This is why, briefly, there is a problem there with healthcare. Though it is way better now, the medical field in Africa can improve and become even more advanced by receiving more medical resources they have been deprived of, so I want to do what I can for Congo which is actually very important yet seems to be ignored for some reason. I am unsure of what will be my medical specialty at the moment, but I have time to decide.
ReplyDeleteAnyways, I do agree with HH’s idea about contribution. Everyone is here for a purpose, and even though one may not realize it, their exact presence influences the lives of others. Things would definitely be different in my family if I were absent. I do not think it is impossible though there are seven billion people in the world. Many people are raised in disparate circumstances, but as long as they realize their purpose, their endeavors will become reality. What makes it impossible is people who do not put in any effort to their goals because they believe the negativity that they are useless and just another statistic of society. That is nonsense. We have the ability to make the most of our lives regardless of whatever situations we may face.
My greatest contribution so far has not been anything as drastic or amazing as Alexa establishing Oakcrest’s Lemon club. I have to say out of all of my achievements, it is simply being a kind, sympathetic, supportive, tolerant person to others and spreading good which is necessary. Doing things such as making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches (which I will also consider one of my greatest contributions) is just one of the things that is a reflection of these attributes.
As of now, I want to be remembered as an optimistic person who tries to spread good. I do believe this is possible because it takes one person to have niceness as a decision and create a chain reaction of others doing the same thing. I want to encourage others, especially girls of color, regardless of the labels placed on us restricting our potentials. I want to do as I have mentioned above in the medical field. I just want to be a good person in a world seemingly pervaded with bitterness. I hope that this will be effective in our generation and others to come.
I am currently just an ordinary high school student who does not do much to contribute towards the world. Sure, I help out by volunteering at certain events such as the 21 Down Dance, coin drops for pediatric cancer, or tutoring others in academics and in the piano, but that is not as significant compare to what others are doing in our school. They were not anything of grandeur compare, let’s say, working at hospitals or at special care centers, or making a club that later collects a thousand dollars for cancer. What I plan to do in the future is to either become a legalized drug dealer (pharmacist) or any kind of doctor that I have an interest in. I just mainly want to enter the medical field and help other people by improving their health.
ReplyDeleteI believe in HH’s philosophy about contribution, everyone has a purpose in life whether it is something little or big. It applies to everyone; good or bad. A good person can contribute to the world in a beneficial way and a bad person would contribute mayhem and despair to the world. Whether the purpose is small or big, it is still a purpose that keeps the person to keep on living. Just like in a story, a major or minor character always has a purpose that affects the plot in one way or another. My biggest contribution so far was when I was younger, in where I convinced my friend to not commit suicide. At first, she was not expressing these abysmal thoughts and instead kept a cheerful aura around her all the time. And then when I saw the cuts on her arm once, my innocent mind, of course, thought that they were just scabs and scars from falling onto the ground. She had to explain to me that they were not wounds from an accident but instead cuts that she inflicted upon herself. And then I, being the ignorant idiot that I was back then, asked why would she even cut herself, to which she responded with that she was feeling stress from a certain event and of another certain trait that I will not share, thinking that coming out with this trait would make everyone else hate her for not going with the expectations from her parents and from her friends. She felt as if she did not belong to the world. Luckily the cliché line, “you are you no matter what happens” seemed to work, mainly because we were around nine or ten, and after that, she returned back to the bubbly personality she had before, with no signs of cuts freshly made. Me stopping my friend from having the violent thoughts of suicide is probably my biggest contribution that I have made in life so far.
I do not wish for a legacy in where I am renown among others or famous in the world. I just want to be remembered by my close friends as the weird, blunt, and stupid person I am. Either that or I want to become an inspirational figure for my future kid(s) by getting a job that I can easily support my family with and have an ample amount of time to spend with them. I rather not be the parent figure that neglects their kids due to work, put my family into debt/poverty, or induces stress upon them to become a perfect child; flaws that I have witness many families do.
I always feel as if I am not doing much in this world, that I am not contributing anything substantial, and so this is a tough thing for me to write about. I always end up doing stuff for me, and I end up just being a selfish prick. I do make people laugh, and in most cases I generally extend the hand of friendship to whoever needs it. I like to entertain, and I guess that is enough. I will continue to entertain the people around me, for it gives me joy to see other people laugh. I’ve been working on my selfishness, learning to keep it at a minimum, and making the conscious decision to help others instead of ignoring them. I do believe in what the wise HH said. Everything has something to contribute, it’s just that some contributions are worthless to some people. I could care less about rats or mice, but cats love them (and some people too), so I guess it is impossible in the sense that not everything has meaning to some people. My greatest contribution, besides my smiling face, would have to be friendship. Contributions are subjective, and therefore vary from one to another. Some of my friends do not appreciate my humor, while others absolutely love it. Some of my friends hate it when I talk (too much), and others can’t get enough of my voice. Who am I to say my greatest contribution is my jokes, when Friend D, F, and J do not think I am funny. What counts unanimously is the fact that I am their friend. Being someone’s friend is always a positive, no matter their tastes. I want my legacy to be something extremely positive. I want people who have known me to look back and say “Hey, I miss that guy! He was awesome.” I want people to remember me, as someone who was at the top of their game. It probably will end up just short of that. People will probably go “Oh yeah, I remember him, anyways blah blah blah…”. Even so, I know I can impact the memories of those around me heavily, and that will be good enough for me.
ReplyDeleteAs a soon-to-be adult that will be left to fend for themselves (somewhat), right now my contribution is going to school (and I know that is what everyone else does, but that is quite literally what I do the most of in my life). My job right now is to make sure that my future is bright enough that I don’t end up having a hard time in the future. Also as I plan on going into either neurosciences or biomedical sciences, doing well in school now so that I can progress easily into either of those fields. Hopefully, I can have an impact on the world and help take steps forward in understanding how things in our world work and also help prevent diseases and conditions. Other than this I have not done much.
ReplyDeleteI do believe in what the 14th Dalai Lama had said. We are all here for a reason, whether we do something negative, positive, or even if we do something that is considered mainstream. It all does something to the world, somehow, someway. Why would we be here if we were here to absolutely nothing. I can’t see our universe working that way. And maybe to some it does seem like a bunch of nonsense, but if they feel that way, they can speak up and say something or go on keeping quiet; either way they are still having an impact on society.
My legacy will be whatever it will be. It is way too early to say what it is going to be, so much can change in even just a year. What I WANT my legacy to be is to be known as someone who did tried their best to help, and not for the purpose of wanting to be known or for the money.
May seem a little cliche but, I'd like to think I was put on this earth to make an influence in someones life. Wether it be minor or large, just something that has an impact. I feel like sometimes we cross paths with people just to inspire them, or keeping them from falling off the edge when the world seems to be pushing them. I love to enlighten people about the positivity still stored in the universe. Sometimes I think we are oblivious to all the great contributions that people give due to the lack of social media coverage but, that doesn't mean it isn't happening. For instance, the cop who saves a young Black man. Fox news isn't rushing to cover that story because, that's not what people want to hear. They much rather here about a racist cop that senselessly shot a teen. In all actuality, that's pretty fucked up that we rather here about something tragedic oppose to something beneficial to society. Something that reminds us that all of humanity is not corrupt. I'm not say that the world is just gum drops and candy rain. But, I will say that if you want positivity speak it to exist. Subtitues words like "if" with "when" or "will" and go out and make shit happen. Your mindset is the key to sucess! My legacy will always be that I tried to view life from the bright spectrum of the rainbow. I wasn't sure at first if I would share this blog but, My uncle Buddy who recently passed away last month is someone who was put in this earth for a purpose. Wether it was for the last thing he said to me that made, go so much hard after I felt like I was working to my highest ability. Was that "Myah if the world was against you I'd still be on your side because, I'm proud of you," if that wasn't an angel in disguise talking to me It just had to be. I know now that I have someone on the other side of life looking over me who wants me to do good. Who would've knew that would be the last time that we'd talk. But, our talk served it's purpose! Because, I needed that sometimes were so, fixated on doing good and it's such a reccuring thing to us people feel like we're obligated to do good. Like, we should'nt acknowledge it but, sometimes we have to reflect and pat ourselves and others on the back and tell them of course our work is not finished here but, look how far we came how could we stop now??
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