God loves you just the way you are

Last night I was at a class that was very interesting. While its purpose was to be a question and answer session with the relationship counselor who had been giving lectures for the past few weeks no one was particularly prepared for the questions so we had a sort of improvised lecture instead.  Paz the lecturer started off by reviewing the story of Purim (its a little after but we're not so far off from it).  He spoke about the bad guy Haman and how he had everything that he could ever want but for some reason when Mordechai didn't bow down to him that pushed him over the edge. The question asked was how can something so small cause Haman to decide that he is going to destroy the entire nation of the Jews?

The answer to this question is quite simple. Haman had everything. He was rich, had many wives, many children, he was second in command to the king and had free reign in the kingdom.  But there was a problem, see even though he had everything that one could ever want, those who have everything will always want more.  It says in the Talmud that "who ever gets one hundred will want two".  This is true. How often in our own lives do we think that we'll just want one and that will be enough, "I'll just have one cookie" "I'll just win this one lottery and everything will be fine."  The problem is this is not true, someone who wins the lottery and thinks that the money is enough will find themselves wanting more.  This was Haman's problem he had everything except for authority over Mordechai and that is what pushed him over the edge.

Now to apply this to our own lives Paz told us how we can get over this obstacle and be happy with what we have. There are only three things that one has to keep in mind in every situation in order to be satisfied with their lives. It sounds easy enough but I'm sure that it sounds easy in theory but it can be very difficult in practice.

1. recognize that God created the world
2. God loves you
3. Everything that happens to you is for your benefit.

Since God loves you he is trying to make things happen for you to benefit from them. For example, a father buys his son ice cream because the son got hit in the face by a ball, in this scenario the ice cream is to benefit the son, the cold will keep the swelling down and the son gets the sugar to make his feel better.  Second scenario is the father takes his son to the dentist to get a cavity filled. The son is not going to enjoy this experience but because the father loves him he is doing something for the son's benefit. If we were to start looking at the world this way, as maybe what I'm going through now is difficult but God has a plan. Then we should be able to be happy with our lot and not let all the little things get under our skin.

This is my next task. To try and keep these three thoughts in my mind and try to find the benefit from what is happening in my life and not to get angry about every little thing.

Lonely

In my opinion lonely is the worst word in the dictionary.  Earlier today I was on stumblupon and came across a quote that said, "the girl who is constantly surrounded by friends is falling apart inside." I just want to know what they have to say about the one who is nit always surrounded by friends?

Being alone is hard. Not having anyone to talk to about it makes it even harder. While I could talk to my boyfriend he is just not understanding how I feel. I have spoken to him but he is just not getting it. The hardest part is being in a long-distance relationship and knowing that he has been in the area for the past week but I have only seen him once.  In usual circumstance anyone would be able to fill this whole that I'm feeling, but I just want to be with him.

The hardest part of this whole situation is my roommate has a boyfriend that she studies with and spends all day every day with.  My boyfriend has told me time and time again to not be jealous of them, but the truth is I envy them. For many reasons not just the amount of time that they get together.  On occasion I wounder how different things would be if we weren't going out. Would I have more friends? Would my social life be different? These are really tough questions to ask and I don't want to know the answer.

This is something that I'm going to have to work on. But I don't feel that I am the only one that has things to work on. My boyfriend has to work in growing up and prioritizing, not that I think I should be a bigger part of his life, I'm thinking of things like more maturity and independence. Everyone has things that they need to work in I just wish that we didn't have to go at it alone and it weren't so darn hard.

Everything I need to know about life I've learned from the Gilmore's

I was going through some of my old documents on Google Docs and came across this one that makes me feel like I should be watching old episodes of Gilmore Girls when I'm bored because there is nothing like it.

Everything I need to know about life I've learned from the Gilmore's

• Almost anything can be 'Dirty'
• The four food groups consists of: Fast food, Junk food, Frozen food, and Take-Out
• Always carry a book you never know then you'll need it.
• Oy, with the poodles already!
• God lives in London
• Coffee is essential for survival
• Swans are vicious birds.
• Snow is magical
• The difference between cows and humans is hay
• Childbirth is like doing the splits on a case of dynamite
• The fish flies at night
• If you walk with a Harry Potter book on your head and drop the book, Harry will die.
• If men can name their kids after themselves, why not women?
• Never buy something because it's furry.
• Backwards baseball caps and flannel never go out of style.
• Copper Boom!
• It's much better to have a haunted leg than a cold
• You can never have too many Thanksgiving dinners.
• Booze is grown-up milk and cookies.
• A lap is an illusion
• If you're frustrated with someone try pushing him into a lake.
• When stuck in a hopeless situation climb out the balcony window
• The answer to problems in the mid-east is, "I have the poop".
• Dressing up in a cute little maid costume is as close as any self-respecting girl needs to get to cleaning up.
• Answer the pepperoni.
• Roombe= vacuum and entertainment in one nifty package.
• Beware of Jeep-hitting deer.
• Keep that horoscope it may bring you luck.
• Stay away from windows when drinking.
• The last supper can be funky
• Sometimes you just gotta deviled egg a car.
• The greatest bonds is that of a mother and Daughter.

This is quoted from a t-shirt that I was lucky enough to have been able to find on online. Yes it still exists!

http://www.cafepress.co.uk/+gilmore_girls_life_lessons_womens_light_tshirt,508284574

Why I have moved to Redgage

I recently came across a very interesting social bookmarking site. Much like stumble or digg users are able to take websites or content from anywhere online and bookmark or share it on the redgage community. What is even more interesting is that they also pay users for their content.

Now getting paid for my content online is an added bonus. My major concern has been trying to find a site where I can post my pictures to share with people and know that they will not get stolen.  I have tried deviantart where I can sell images online but anyone on the web can still just go in, right click and save one of my images to their own computer. Same with facebook, flicker... everywhere.

Everywhere that is expect on redgage. Now I tried this as my own experiment. I went in to one of my own pictures while logged in to my own account and tried to right click on one of my images. Here is what came up:

My mind was blown! Now here is a site that understands me. I can upload as many pictures as I want, in what ever quality that I want, they will pay me for the pictures annnnnnnd no one can take them!  This site is very soon to be on my list of favorite sites.

The image in this post is called "A Rose is a Rose" found at http://www.redgage.com/#rf:/photos/runi1024/a-rose-is-a-rose.html