me to we: chapters 1-3
DESCRIPTION
By: Sarah SandersTRANSCRIPT
CHAPTER ONE -‐-‐ Passion
COUNTING BLESSINGS
I am thankful for LIFE! More specifically, I thank God that I was blessed to be
born into a life where I don’t need for anything. I am not restricted by health problems, an unstable family, or a lack of economic resources like so many people in our world. Living in such a prosperous country, I think Canadians often forget how lucky they are to have basic necessities. I am thankful that I have had the opportunities to travel to third world countries such as the Philippines and Jamaica to see poverty first hand, because those experiences opened my eyes to recognize the abundance of blessings God has granted me. Those trips have inspired me to serve others in the name of gratitude to God. I always welcome volunteer and fundraising opportunities into my life, because I feel a duty to thank God for my blessings through serving others.
The lack of major obstacles in my life has allowed me to grow, learn and thrive
into the person I am today. My present stable situation makes my heart overflow with gratitude, and it only makes me more thankful for the simplest blessings-‐ like human rights and a loving family-‐ and I try my best to never take these things for granted.
I am thankful for my yoga practice because it grounds me and reminds me that I
am just one person in this world, part of a much greater picture which makes up our global community. Yoga has helped me develop another way in which I show gratitude to God—a sense of responsibility towards our earth and environment. God calls us to be stewards of the earth, and the yoga encourages one to live simply amongst nature, not against it.
The deep sense of gratitude that I have developed was influenced a great deal by my time spent in Kingston, Jamaica on a mission trip this past February. I was directly exposed to the greatest injustices in our world-‐ children living in a neighbourhood built on a dump and having one meal a day, and neglected elderly people sitting in homes all day without enjoyment of life or companionship. This made me realize how often people on our side of the equator, myself included, take things for granted. Who am I to get mad at my mom for putting mushrooms in the spaghetti sauce when there are millions of children in Jamaica who are starving? Who am I to complain about having to go into work when so many are unemployed, or like the men we built houses with, willing to do hours of hard labour for only $30 a day?
Learning life lessons from the underprivileged in the Philippines
Ungratefulness makes me angry. Returning home from Jamaica was hard,
because the things I used to hear from my friends everyday like, “I wish my mom would give me fifty dollars more for my summer wardrobe”, now make me angry! In times like these I can’t help but recall the Jamaican people who had next to nothing, and lived in one set of clothes-‐ forget a summer wardrobe! I am thankful that the trip could open my eyes, but I only wish others around me could see the world as I do now.
When people show ungratefulness towards the blessing of nature, it also sparks
anger within me. Our earth is a gift from God, therefore we all have a duty to respect and protect this gift. Seeing people litter, neglect to recycle, or show a general passive attitude towards the conservation of our planet frustrates me.
MY VALUES
HUMILITY-‐ A quality by which a person considering his own defects has a humble opinion of himself and willingly submits himself to God and to others for God's sake. Humility, held dear by St. Francis Assisi, is a virtue I hold in high regard because it calls one to recognize that there are things in this world bigger than one’s self. It allows
one to form respectful bonds with others, founded in equality and mutual respect. At the same time, it also requires one to cherish his or her talents as unique gifts from God. It allows one to recognize the good in themselves and in others. INTEGRITY-‐ One of honest and consistent character, who acts according to the values, beliefs and principles they claim to hold. To me, integrity is what makes someone worthy of respect. I always try to act with integrity because I want to be known as someone who people feel like they can count on. Integrity fosters solid relationships, where friends can be confident in the wholesomeness of the other.
Volunteering on the Jamaica Mission Trip- such a grounding experience!
COMPASSION-‐ The understanding or empathy for the suffering of others and helping them to come out from the suffering. The compassionate person has a pure heart. When one acts compassionately, they come closer to God, who calls us to service to others. Compassion is important to me because without it, selfishness would pervade. When everyone acts passionately, we can ALL help EACH OTHER become better people, and nurture a healthy environment for all. PERSONAL PASSIONS
I feel passionate about gratitude. To be ungrateful is to live ignorantly, because the truth about our life is that it was given to us by God. We were all created and put onto this earth for Him and by Him. God did not give us life for us to waste it being driven irrationally by our passions. We each have a calling from God—a vocation which we can come to know through contemplation within natural law. If we follow natural law-‐ the conscience God instilled into our soul-‐ we will discover the vocation God has called us to. I feel especially called to be a steward of the earth. I feel very passionate about the environment, and conserving our resources. I’m hooked on recycling, buying locally, and often research environmental issues online, and read about them in books. EXTENSION -‐-‐As I identified with gratefulness for family I can carry out a random act of kindness for my mom by watering her flowers -‐-‐I can do Sunday grocery shopping at the local farmer’s market to buy organic produce -‐-‐I can thank God in prayer for my values that I hold most dear, and pray to develop those that I lack
Making time to go to church
Mom values flowers as a gift from God
Organic food
keeps our earth
and bodies clean
CHAPTER TWO -‐-‐ Leaders/Volunteers
FOREVER FRIENDS
In my free time, I always make an effort to practice yoga. Not only is it great exercise, it helps me relax, and gives me an opportunity to reflect on myself-‐ both in mind and body. I also spend lots of my free time with my friends. My friends are amazing people, and we have similar interests, of which we can talk about and share ideas. When we get together it’s always a good time, and we do many different things such as shopping, exercising, and participating in fundraisers such as the Inside Ride. Furthermore, my friends make me a better person because we always encourage each other to try new things. They constantly introduce me to new music, books and activities.
MOTHER GOOSE I’m known as the “mom” of my group of friends. I constantly check up on them to make sure they’re okay if they’re faced with a problem. My friends would say I am caring and thoughtful, because I always try my best to put their needs before my own, and I’m always willing to drop everything to reach out to them if they find themselves in trouble.
My friends and I participating in the “Inside ride” fundraiser
I always take care of my friends!
Being the Mother Goose of my friend group, my friends feel like they can come to me for anything! Most of the time my friends ask me for general life advice, and more than once I’ve been referred to as a friend’s “voice of reason”. I often help them out with academics, and it isn’t uncommon that I’m called to edit a paper, or help form a thesis.
I put academics high on my priority list, and I love to share my passion and knowledge in various subject areas, especially humanities-‐based subjects. A semester I spent peer tutoring a grade 10 science class has equip me with skills in teaching others, and I continue to use those skills outside the peer tutoring class, in helping out friends and classmates with their school work. EXTENSION
-‐-‐Tutor a struggling classmate before the next unit test -‐-‐Offer to edit a friend’s paper without them asking -‐-‐Be an ambassador for the earth by making an example for my friends and recycling my trash at lunch time, or packing waste-‐free lunches
Tutoring is such a rewarding experience
My philosophy classmates could always count on me to edit a paper
Even packed lunches can be eco-friendly
CHAPTER THREE -‐-‐ Priorities
WEIGHTY WORRIES
With all the hype the media has put on global warming, I often worry about our earth and the quality of our future as I am falling asleep. All the abuses big factories and oil spills and dumping waste have on our earth concern me. Will our water still be safe to drink in 20 years? Will the air be safe to breathe? Are large companies prioritizing economic gain over protecting human life? Not only is the environment important to me because of the religious implications of respecting God’s creation, but the quality of the environment directly effects the quality of human life. PUSHING FOR PRIORITIES
As a result, I often worry about the chemicals in food and cosmetics. I do my best to buy organic food and body products. Shopping this way is more ethical because organic products are better for both our earth and our bodies.
EXTENSION -‐-‐Plan a special dinner at home on Sunday, the Lord’s day of rest, to take time for my number one priority-‐ my family! -‐-‐Finish all my homework BEFORE I turn on my computer the surf the web
-‐-‐Help mom grocery shop, and check labels for harmful chemicals and preservatives
Enjoying a Sunday Farmer’s Market
Work before play! No matter how busy life gets, I save Sundays for God and family