"Lost" by G.

It's a feeling that comes often now. It seems like everyone is so sure of what they want to do in life, and then here's me without a concrete plan. Is this wrong? Not wrong, but it could be problematic. It's nice to know that your feet have a solid path to walk on in life. But with that set path, that routine, there isn't much novelty or newness. I want stability as much as the next person, but I don't want my life to just be average. Two sides are always in this constant clash. The rational side, who wants peace and security, and the dreamer side, who wants excitement, discovery, even a little surprise.

We all feel lost once in awhile. We'll sit down and just lounge in our mind's fog, wondering what will happen next. We might even go through our past for a little bit, relieving old times and good memories. But it all comes back to that same point. Uncertainty. And we are always a tiny bit afraid of the unknown. But if we don't try to delve into the unknown at some point, we will never discover what potential treasures lie in wait there.

So we can't stay lost forever. Eventually our compass starts pointing us in a certain direction. We decide to take some course of action, and our lost-feeling-induced siesta is finally put to a calm end. There is nothing wrong with being lost once in awhile. As long as you eventually think things through and continue moving onward. We are going to lose our way often as we go through life; it is our ability to pull out the maps and chart a new course that determines what fate we receive.

"Perception" by G.

Perception; how you view the world. Not the official psychological definition, but good enough for my purposes today. But how you view something isn't necessarily what it actually is. If your in a dark room, you would say the room is dark. If a lamp decided to turn itself on, then you would say the room was well-lit. Yet nothing in this room actually changed, only our perception of it. And as we all eventually find out, perception is everything.

Your perception is very easily shaped; almost like some really soft Play-Doh. You probably have some assumptions behind perception too. If it's nighttime, then you would perceive things as dark. But what if that fake Rolex watch your wearing says that it's 9 A.M, and it was pitch black? You would probably be a bit confused. Well for one thing, if you didn't go off buying a fake Rolex you wouldn't have this problem. But the point is, as we live and learn, the rules that guide our perception change and grow bigger in number. But perception isn't just your physical sight you know. It's how you view the world with your eyes and in your mind.

So... how's that economy doing? Most of us would probably give a negative response. But why? It's not just because of prices or our job security. The media has a huge say in our perception of things, whether we like it or not. They can dictate which things will be shown in a positive or negative light. And even with gas prices down, all they need to do is send some impressive looking analyst from Harvard to tell everyone that the Apocalypse is coming, and even YOU will jump out of your pants. Well, isn't that just wonderful? But the Media, like many external influences, shapes your perception of many things.

Is there a "right" way to perceive? Not really. Are there things you can do to improve? You bet. The best thing you can do is to stay open. There are many ways to perceive something, and each way can teach you something different. But perception really is everything, and if you aren't careful then it can be easily manipulated. Thanks for reading; comments are always welcome of course!

Blogger'sUnite Special: "The Plight of the Refugee" by G.

Is is once again the start of another Blogger's Unite Day, in which the power of the web's numerous blogs is put to good use by spreading a powerful message for a noble cause. Now, let's begin.

One cannot easily think of the trials the refugee has to go through. But we can at least try to walk in their shoes. Imagine having to pack up and leave your home, on the spot. You don't know when you will ever see your home again as you walk away. You don't have a real place to go, and your possessions consist of the clothes on your back and little else. Staying would mean having to face persecution of many kinds, or being caught in the crossfire of conflict and war. You might even be separated from your immediate family. How would you deal with this situation?

This is the plight of the refugee, and many of them do not get the help that they so desperately need. As a refugee you would want to find safe haven by fleeing to another country and applying for asylum. However, not everyone will be able to get to a host country. Even more refugees are separated from their friends and family in the process of having to leave their homes.

People don't ask for war to show up on their doorstep. People do not request to be persecuted because of their beliefs and religion. These things happen beyond their control and tear the lives of normal people apart. They say home is where the heart is, but refugees are missing that part of their soul.

The worse parts of Humanity are what come out and displace these unfortunate people. But maybe the best parts of Humanity can redeem the world a little bit for what it has done to these refugees. As long as conflict and discrimination exist in this world, the existence of refugees will continue to be a sad reality.

So, what can you do? At the very least, arm yourself with some information. Check out the U.N Refugee Agency, or take a peek at this list for fifteen other organizations that help out refugees. You are sure to find some way that you can contribute to this effort.

I conclude this post with a simple message. Having a home is something that many of us take for granted. These people have been given a very unfortunate situation and are doing their best just to survive. Whether by spreading the message, donating time and money, or directly finding ways to help, the citizens of the world have a duty to at least be aware of problems like these and try to do something to help out our other human brothers and sisters. I thank you for reading this post, and hope you took something useful from it.

If you are interested in Blogger's Unite, visit their webpage here.

"Exertion" by Shinji

Hey everyone! Did you think you would ever see me again? Well here I am with another article. Here goes:

Every day we push ourselves to the limit one way or another. Exertion is just an everyday thing. We stress ourselves physically and mentally to do much more than we are capable of. I know I've even done it today what with getting a week's amount of programming done in one day. The after-effects can be horrible. You feel tired, you don't want to do anything... I'm surprised I'm even writing this article after being unable to write for so long! I suppose exertion unlocks what's hidden inside of you as well. Never before did I think I could write about exertion, much less exert myself at all. But the key to it is to keep pushing yourself all the time. Keep going until you can't take it anymore and then keep going some more. What I've noticed is that if you exert yourself, your limits expand. When your limits expand, you can do much more in less time because you don't have to take breaks or anything of the sort. I'm sure you all know what I mean - athletes exert themselves to train for events by running until they can't anymore. This, in turn, allows them to gradually run longer and faster without stopping or slowing down. That's the way it is for us as well. If you're not the physical type, much like myself, then go for mental exertion - get a hobby or something that is mentally intense and keep working on it. Quite a few times you'll get a headache or you'll develop a mental block but the key here is to rest very shortly and keep going at it. In no time at all, you will notice that you are capable of doing more than what you started off doing. For example, if you worked on a puzzle (let's say sudoku) and you kept going until you couldn't do a single one, in time you would be able to do the toughest sudoku puzzle possible in a matter of minutes. It's all about pushing yourself past your limits, exerting yourself that is, to realize and broaden your potential and ultimately make yourself a better person in the end.