Reflection

Reflection (noun) -a thought occurring in consideration or meditation.
Synonym - contemplate

My English Comp assignment for this half of the semester is to write a "personal reflection". We're supposed to write a four page paper about our mantra, our personal philosophy of life. The title of this paper is supposed to be a single sentence. Something clever or serious, metaphorical or literal, fiction or nonfiction. I've spent the last week since getting this assignment trying to figure out my title. What have I learned in my short 18 years? What do I have to teach to anyone? What wisdom have I gained through my experiences? I know that I've learned tons of lessons. Too many to count. But how can those lessons be simplified into one clear and concise statement? Well, I've spent most of my waking hour contemplating this, (see I'm already reflecting), and I think I may have come up with a clever statement. Get ready for it....

"Always be prepared to catch the Frisbee" (If you can't tell, I've been thinking about/missing Summer Ultimate a lot. I really wish I was back in Smallsville so I could play every Sunday. Get to talk to everyone, and maybe even get sweaty hugs from disgusting, but sweet, guys.) Let me explain that statement though. It can be looked at two ways, both of which are what I was going for. The literal meaning is obviously be on the lookout for the frisbee. Catch it when it comes at you. This will help you avoid physical injury and ridicule from others. The metaphorical meaning is similar. Be prepared for life. It comes at you fast and if you're not ready for something you will get hurt. You have to accept the consequences if you're not prepared, if you don't have a plan, or if your plan doesn't have the right timing. Just like with a frisbee, if you try to catch to early or too late you won't succeed in getting what you want (in the literal case, the frisbee, in the metaphorical sense, the person, circumstance, grade, etc.) Another parallel between Ultimate and life is the people. Ultimate requires teamwork. You have rely on your teammates to score. In life, you have to rely on your family and friends to help you succeed. You can't do life alone. You can't play Ultimate alone. The help of others is necessary.

I still can't decide if this is the way I want to go with my paper. I have a while to decide and can use all the help I can get. This was just me throwing my ideas onto some sort of paper and attempting to organize them.

Now that that's out I'll talk a little about this week at school. I think I've gotten the hang of classes and school work. I get things done in a timely manner (usually) and tend to understand what I'm doing and how this school runs. I have even made a couple new friends, a guy, Boston, that I met while watching the Gator game. He's really nice. And a couple of sweet girls from my Learning Community. This year will be great, especially now that I have actually gotten around to meeting people other than Bee, Jessi, and Jor Jor.

This weekend is the UF/Troy game. I'm super excited to go because I get to stay at Moo's. And I also (hopefully) get to see JP. I've missed Moo a lot since she left and I can't wait to catch up with her, and I never really gave JP a proper goodbye and I've been talking to him a lot lately, so actually seeing him will be nice.

Something else I've been thinking about a lot is my happiness. I think I have finally realized that I am in charge of my own happiness and feelings. I can control how I feel about a situation and I can choose to look on the bright side of that. For example, college. I can choose to be sad that I'm here, away from everyone, or I can be happy because I'm making new friends and having a great time. I've decided to choose the latter. It's like looking on the bright side of life. Finding the good in something that seems all bad. Nothing is as terrible as it could be... I'm still your best friend (I don't kid when I say that) and that's enough for me. I'm happy. Promise. Swear. Whatever makes you believe me.

Too much thinking for one day... I've gotta go to Language Lab and get my ASL done so Prof. Renato doesn't spank me or something.