PINKY PROMISE

Schedules....

Sure, they can be helpful in pushing you to put in that extra time and effort. Sure, they can help in making you more organized and force you to actually work. 

But, those are just expectations and fantastical outcomes. I am not denying that schedules can work for many people and make them more productive. I am just saying that I am not one of those people. 

I'm the kind of person who can't stick to a schedule for the life of me. It's not that I lack motivation or that I am lazy. Am I a failure for making tons of schedules and not following through with any of them?

NO. 

It does NOT mean that my life is over. I shall NOT let one failure define me, when I have many successes past and successes to look forward to. 

Tell me honestly. If you had made a plan to conquer and you really believed you could make this one happen. How would you react if it fell apart in front of your eyes? Would you be devastated? Well, if you're a human, WELL DUH, YEAH. 

And I completely empathize with you because it's happened to me in the past 479230254748302747 times and it probably will happen again.

But we can NOT let it stop here. We need to get it together and keep going. The schedules we create can't judge us. The people we told about our plan have no right to. So, why should we judge ourselves so harshly, when we out of all people know the circumstances which led to this fork in our path. I'm not saying we shouldn't blame ourselves for our failure. I'm just stating that we shouldn't destroy ourselves more. 

Our will power must be strong enough to break our self criticism. Any thoughts of negativity such as "I couldn't even do this" or "Everyone will succeed, and I'll just be left behind" or even comparisons to other people who seem figured out, are ABSOLUTELY NOT allowed. You can leave those outside your room because they are not allowed in your work place where you are meant to do great things.

Let's promise each other that we shall not cry alone in our beds over our TEMPORARY "failures" and we shall not consider our life over if something doesn't work out. Let's also not tell everyone about our failures and short comings. Let's stand tall and have respect for ourself, not pity.

I, Elle J, hereby promise to live by this attitude and through this vision.

Do you?

DREAMERS SHALL DREAM

What do you want from life?

That is the question.

It may just be a simple one,

But it takes a lot of contemplation.

Do you want admiration?

Or simply a strong foundation?

Will good health make you content?

Or do you need other fulfillment?

Is your dream just to be better off?

So you can buy a hospital the next time you cough.

Are you longing to be recognized?

So you can be idolized.

Well let me tell you something if you let me.

Dream a dream as big as the sea

And don't just let it stop when reality hits.

Because a dreamer like you can never quit.

If you have a spark, let it ignite.

You will show them you were right.

And when they come seeking your aid,

Teach them how a dreamer's made.

Turn them into dreamers too.

Because the world needs more dreamers like you. :D

Another poem for you guys. Hope u like it <3<3<3<3

~Elle J

They Did What?!---My Reactions to Olympic Sports

As we all probably know by now, these past few weeks have been the Olympic games in Rio and they are about to draw to an end.

Now I'm not a hardcore watcher of the games, but I see them on TV and as i'm watching these world renowned athletes compete in their various sports, many of which I've never sat down and watched before, some very particular reactions to each come to mind.

Now I don't play any of these sports (except ping pong I guess), I wish I did and took tennis for a while, but at the moment my sports include fast typing and the occasional run. So as a non-athlete, these are my unsparklied observations from a non-sport watcher.


----Archery----
-Oh, this is cool, I always wanted to learn archery.
--I tried to make a bow and arrow once with a stick and some yarn in my backyard. That is the type of child I was, you can imagine how that went.
-How come they're not hitting the bulls-eye every time? Aren't they in the Olympics? (This shows how much I know about Archery because I can probably hit the bulls-eye about -100% of the times they can)
-That bow looks really hard to pull back, I bet I couldn't pull that.


---Boxing---
-Yep, that guy is definitely going to win.
-He's a much better player though, why is he letting the other guy beat him?
-That guy is getting more hits but the other one is more strategic with his punches and will probably win.
-Oh man, that was a bad hit, they look like they're going to pass out.
-Be more aggressive! STOP running from him!!!
-Eugh, you can see all the sweat fly off from his face, hm.
-Ouch...good hit.
-The referee is probably going to get punched.
-How do I read this scoreboard?

---Equestrian---
-Oh my god those horses are nice!
-Those horses are like, really nice.
-I wish I could ride the nice horsies.
-There are two types of horses in these games, those who keep their head up and watch the obstacles as they come, and those whose heads are down to the ground and being led around (metaphor for life and whatnot).


---Synchronized Swimming---
-Where are the rest of their clothes?!
-That must be some good makeup to not come off in the water, sorcery. (I know there's waterproof makeup but it still looks like magic, me being a makeup caveman and all)
-They are so good woah.
-Well if they weren't good they wouldn't be in the Olympics I guess.
-Do they not need to breathe or stuff? I knew there was sorcery involved!


---Table Tennis---
-Hey this is a sport? Cool.
-I can play this, alright I've got my Olympics plan!
-I should look into this, I mean I beat my classmates, that counts for something right?


---Weightlifting---
-Wait, 100 kilos is 200 pounds! And they're going higher?!
-How do these people train for this? Lifting up the coaches while said coach scream at him to lift them higher probably.
-What if the weights fell on them? If they drop it it'll definitely kill them and then all hell will break loose.
-Seriously has anyone not died in this yet?
-Their shoulders, and backs, and hands, and organs must be seriously messed up after doing this as your day job.
-I should hire one of these people to follow me and carry my backpack and scare away my enemies. That plan can't go wrong!

---Soccer/Football---
(Depending on if you're in America and like to be special from the rest of the world)
-Not impressed
-Walks away


I only included of the sports I had especially strong reactions to while watching, I hope you are amused :)

Leave some of your own reactions to the Olympics in the comments, I would love to read them!

Why I'm Not Dreading the End of Summer

Summer is almost over, which means the internet collectively whines that they soon have to go back to school.

It's basically tradition to gripe and cry on social media about how you're so not looking forward to school, and then to slap "back to school" on everything because we might as well. Apparently it's cool or something? I must have missed something along the way because personally, I am really looking forward to summer being over so I can get to school again. Even though it can get stressful, I would rather have stress from working than stress because i'm not being productive.

Now I know that some people hate school for legitimate reasons, or they have such a marvelous summer that they are dreading its end. If so, my sympathies to you man :(

I have had an amazing summer and done a ton of cool stuff this year, but at the same time I am ready for it to end and want to leap back into school. Before you burn me at the stake for witchcraft, hear me out, kay?


I Have Amazing Teachers
I lucked out in the teacher department, most of them are amazing and make the class a blast! I have a small class so there's a lot of opportunities for direct interaction with the teachers, which make it a lot more engaging and hands on.In a perfect world ALL of my teachers would be lovely, but I don't live in that world and if you do please give me directions. But the good definitely outweighs the bad and I can't wait to see them again.
There's also the mystery/anxiety of the new teachers you're going to get and i'm praying they're nice! 

I Love My Classmates
We've all been in the same class for a long time and are basically a defunct squishy family. We all are really laid back and comfortable with each other and have a ton of fun, which makes it a nice environment to be and learn in. I can't wait to see them because they are all amazing. (I am melting from my own mushiness)

I Get To Learn!
I love learning and it is one of my favorite aspects of school. At school I get to go all day and learn while in the summer I don't learn as often (depends on your definition of learning but, you know). The classes I take (especially science!) are challenging and make me work my brain to solve the problems and I get to see the results of my work as a grade. For 8 hours I get to devour interesting information from my books and teachers, having discussions and asking questions. Plus sitting in school and learning things all day makes me feel smarter haha.

It Keeps Me Motivated
Now I know every summer I sign up for and say I'm going to learn and work on all these things (please tell me I'm not the only one who does this!), but when there's no deadline to crunch and I've gotten out of the swing of school, I end up piddling around and become horribly lazy and achieve maybe one or two of said goals when, if I had more than enough time to do more.And during school when I am used to coming home and working, it's easier for me to jump right into other projects that don't have to do with school and get stuff done, even though I have less time.

I Feel More Awake
This is ironic but very true. In the summer progresses I find myself feeling fatigued, as if I did a whole workout, but the problem is that all I've done is lay around all day and still I feel sluggish and heavy.When I have school I have to constantly work my brain and walk up all the stairs in the morning (they are no joke) and stay out doing stuff all day. (This is where it gets contrary) So because I go out and work all day, I feel less tired. It's not exactly tired I feel in the summer though, it's lethargy, not a satisfying tiredness from working hard all day.

Because I'm a science geek and we have this marvelous thing called Google, I researched why we feel tired when we are inactive and (ignoring some sketchy yahoo answer threads) it turns out that lack of exercise slows down the flow of oxygen in your body, making you feel sluggish and slow.Which means that I (and you too if you have this problem) should work on exercise to fix this.

I'm Done Vacationing
I have had my fill of relaxing, time for some stress!