I was digging through all of my school folder this morning and I found this poem by Taylor Mali, and I realized that our country is falling apart from the smallest least important things like our speech!! Even though we don't know it we're losing our ability to speak our thoughts and our ideas with other people. So please read this and comment your ideas and teach me something new.  

Totally like whatever, you know? 
By Taylor Mali
www.taylormali.com

In case you hadn't noticed,
it has somehow become uncool
to sound like you know what you're talking about?
Or believe strongly in what you're saying?
Invisible question marks and parenthetical (you know?)'s
have been attaching themselves to the ends of our sentences?
Even when those sentences aren't, like, questions? You know?

Declarative sentences - so-called
because they used to, like, DECLARE things to be true
as opposed to other things which were, like, not -
have been infected by a totally hip
and tragically cool interrogative tone? You know?
Like, don't think I'm uncool just because I've noticed this;
this is just like the word on the street, you know?
It's like what I've heard?

I have nothing personally invested in my own opinions, okay?
I'm just inviting you to join me in my uncertainty?

What has happened to our conviction?
Where are the limbs out on which we once walked?
Have they been, like, chopped down
with the rest of the rain forest? Ya Know?
Or do we have, like, nothing to say?
Has society become so, like, totally . . .
I mean absolutely . . . You know?
That we've just gotten to the point where we’re the most aggressively inarticulate generation
to come along since . . .
you know, a long, long time ago!

So I entreat you, I implore you, I exhort you,
I challenge you: To speak with conviction.
To say what you believe in a manner that bespeaks
the determination with which you believe it.
Because contrary to the wisdom of the bumper sticker,
it is not enough these days to simply QUESTION AUTHORITY.
You have to speak with it, too.

Speech I gave about Habits

Who am I?

I am your constant companion.  I am your greatest helper or heaviest burden. 

I will push you onward or drag you down to failure. 

I am completely at your command.

Half the things I do you might just as well turn over to me and I will be able to do them quickly and correctly.

I am easily managed- you must merely be firm with me.

Show me exactly how you want something done and after a few lessons I will do it automatically.

I am the servant of all great individuals and, alas, of all failures, as well.

Those who are great, I have made great. 

Those who are failures, I have made failures.

I am not a machine, though I work with all the precision of a machine plus the intelligence of a human.

You may run me for a profit or run me for ruin- it makes no difference to me.

Take me, train me, be firm with me, and I will place the world at your feet.

Be easy with me and I will destroy you.

Who am I?

A Habit

What exactly are habits?

Habits are things we do repeatedly. But most of the time we are hardly aware that we have them. They’re on autopilot.

Some habits are good, such as:  exercising regularly, planning ahead, and showing respect for others.

Some are bad, like: thinking negatively, feeling inferior and blaming others.

And some don’t really matter, including: Taking showers at night, eating yogurt with a fork, or reading magazines from back to front

Depending on what they are, our habits will either make us or break us.  We become what we repeatedly do          

Watch your thoughts, they become your actions;

Watch your actions, they become habits;

Watch your habits, they become you character;

Watch your character, it becomes your destiny.

Luckily, we are stronger than our habits.  Therefore, we can change them. 

For example try folding your arms.  Now try folding them in the opposite way.  How does it feel?  It feels pretty strange. But if you folded them in the opposite way for thirty days in a row, it wouldn’t feel so strange anymore.  You wouldn’t even have to think about it.  You’d get in the habit.

At any time you can look yourself in the mirror and say, “Hey, I don’t like this about myself,” and you can exchange a bad habit for a better one.  It’s not always easy, but it’s always possible.’

Here is five short verses from “There’s a hole in my sidewalk” by Portia Nelson:

1.  I walk down the street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I fall in. I am lost…. I am helpless. It isn’t my fault. It takes forever to find a way out.

2.  I walk down the same street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I pretend I don’t see it. I fall in again. I can’t believe I am in the same place. But, it isn’t my fault. It takes a long time to get out.

3.  I walk down the same street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I see it is there. I still fall in. It’s a habit. My eyes are open. I know where I am. It is my fault. I get out immediately.

4.  I walk down the same street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I walk around it.

5.  And lastly, I walk down another street.

What are some holes in your sidewalk that you keep falling into? 

Do you brush your teeth and make your bed every morning? 

Do you give your all when doing chores?

Do you study to learn or just enough to pass the test?

Do you get up on time and go to bed early?

Do you waste time doing things that aren’t important?

I challenge you to go home and write down in your journal your bad habits and exchange the bad ones for better one’s before you get stuck in your own hole.

My story

Ok I'm going to have to explain a little bit. I don't really have a reason for starting this, besides that fact that something has been nagging at me for a long time to start telling people what my opinions are, on life and the world. So hopefully I'll be able to get across to you what I believe. It might not be true, and if it's not, please look it up and comment.