I cheated Death... AGAIN!

Throughout life, we have scary moments. We have good fortune and bad fortune. I seem to keep getting one end of the spectrum or the other. Allow me to elaborate.

When I was young, I heard about children having divorced parents, and thought I was happy my parents would never split. Queue misfortune; my father left my mom over a decade ago, and has changed for the worse ever since.

Over two years ago, my family had to leave Goffstown and move here. Not of our free will. My mom didn't have the money to afford a moving company, so, being the oldest, and strongest in my family, it fell to me. I moved everything we had. The refrigerator, the stove, the furniture, everything. I moved it, practically all by myself. Misfortune right there. But even then, there was some good luck as well. Because with all the heavy lifting I did, my body did not suffer an adverse affects. Lucky me. And I was moving stuff that should have been too heavy for me to move.

Back in Goffstown, there was a storm once, that caused the power to go out. My mom, and I with my siblings walked outside, she to see what happened, us to follow her. She saw that the cable had disconnected from the house via a tree. Meaning, the cable was on the ground, still connected to the power lines, meaning it was live. She told me to take my siblings in the house, and here's the thing; me and my siblings rarely listened to my mom back then. But that night, something told me to listen to her, and I herded my siblings back inside the house. I barely escaped death.

Even earlier, before I was even born, my mom was in a car accident. It broke her back, and she had three months still to go with me. She refused any surgery for her back because it risked my life, and I was born healthy and strong. Again, I slipped through Death's fingers.

But recently, I had another brush with death. Just last week, I believe. We moved again, during the fall, to another house. Granted, it is smaller, but it is a place for us to call home. But the man who owned it was a man who did things himself. He spliced wiring, installed certain things. The house is safe, as long as we avoid certain things. My near-death-experience was caused by his haphazard wiring of the house. I had found this lamp, and my mom wanted it in her room. The outlet, while it had a plate, was missing one of those slot things that you plug cords into. I thought it as merely a cover like the plate, not something necessary, as I soon discovered.

I proceeded to try and plug it in. And to my shock, no pun intended, blue and yellow sparks shout out of the outlet, long with the snapping and crackling of electricity. They were beautiful! But deadly. I could have died. As soon as it happened, I jumped back, dropping the cord. Upon looking at it later, I saw that the prongs had been charred and burnt. Again, Death nearly grabs me. And again, I narrowly avoid it.

Then I discovered that the cord I was using to start up the snow blower these past couple of weeks had a break in the rubber insulation. There was exposed wiring, and yet I had somehow avoided touching it, all those times I grabbed it. The break was near the end, too, and I never touched it!

Some would say I have been incredibly lucky. Others that it is mere coincidences. Still others would say that I might have made a deal with the devil to not die. But I tell you, it is none of those things. In fact, it is the exact opposite of the last one; God is simply looking out for me. I give credit where credit is due, and I would not be alive still today if it had not been for Him. In a way, I suppose, that's His way of saying that I have a very important job to do here on Earth. I just can't help but wonder what it might be...

Women Roles

The role of genders. It is a controversial topic. The problem is, people have so many different views that nothing can change at the moment. Another problem is that people want perks without the drawbacks. Don't get me wrong, I fully support gender equality. But there are some things that will always prevent such an ideal from becoming reality.

For example; if a man hit a woman, what would you think of the man? He had no right. He shouldn't even speak to her anymore. He is an asshole. Probably something along those lines, right? But what if a woman hits a man? Now what do you think? He probably deserved it. Go woman, standing up for herself. You are probably pondering why she hit him. That is an excellent example of one of the reasons gender quality will never become a reality. In order for gender equality to exist, both genders must be equal in all areas. The punishments and condemnation applied to a man who hit a woman would also have to apply to a woman who hit a man. But that will never happen, because society, to this day, views men as women's protectors, not the other way around, which makes it worse for a man to attack a woman than the other way around.

Another reason; males are biologically different from females. We can build muscle faster, he have great fighting instincts, and we are less prone to emotional problems. Females on the other hand can attain flexibility faster than males, they have a higher pain tolerance, and their minds mature faster than a man's. We are created differently, and we always will be, and that will always set us apart.

Not Without My Daughter. Sad movie so far. An Iranian man tricks his American wife to move with him to Iran, where he holds her prisoner, beats her a bit, and threatens to kill her. And he says he loves her! He treats her like an item, and that is how most men in the Middle East treat their women; like items, things, livestock, pets. They discipline them so they act in a way that pleases them. Can you say, narcissistic? What is happening over there is just plain wrong. The woman wants to leave Iran, head back to America where she can be free, but she can't because of Iranian laws regarding women. Again, this is wrong! Personally, I am having a hard time imagining them becoming more civilized. But hey, I am open minded. It could happen. But I don't see that being true for the majority for a long while now.

The truth of the matter is, men and women are not created as equals in every field. Overall, yes, they are equal, but no male is created with the same strengths as a female. Each has a head start in certain areas, each is better at certain areas than others. There is a reason we refer to people as either being a man or a women, and that is because there is a difference between the two! They are not the same, unless they go out of their way to make it so.

However, that does not mean that society should set their roles in stone. People should have the choice to be who they want to be. They should have the option of raising themselves up to higher heights than normal. They should be allowed to aspire to greatness, and should be given the opportunity to attempt to achieve that greatness. Who are we to say what a man or woman can or cannot do? We are not God.

My mom was in ROTC, and she was able to meet all the men's standards for physical fitness, except the mile run. But besides that, she was just as strong, if not stronger, than the other men with her. This is proof that if a person puts their mind to it, they can achieve more than what they were originally designed for. We are humans. Adapting, evolving, and improving is all in our DNA.

In case you are confused as to where I stand in this issue, let me point it out. I believe that looking purely from a scientific point of view, both males and females will have areas they will be able to develop easier than the opposite gender. I believe they are capable of going beyond what they may find easier. And I also believe that opportunities given to men should be given to women, and women given to men. I believe both genders should have equal opportunity in life to make themselves better, and they should not be hindered by social expectations. I believe that while each of us may be well equipped for a certain line of work, that does not mean that we have to put up with that line of work. I believe we are capable of forging our own destiny.

I am sure lots of people will view this, so I am curious as to what people have to say about what I have typed here. If you feel I am wrong about anything here, feel free to comment about it, maybe include some examples, or proof, to support your refuting of any of my statements.

Thoughts About My Life

Vibes felt about someone in a certain area can change if that person surrounds themselves with other individuals without changing the way they are. It's interesting to see how high school students may not find many friends within the town they grew up in, and when they are at college find several close friends. Since you can't experience what it is like to be surrounded by every group of people out there it is disappointing knowing that the place you can flourish most at is a place you probably will never find and the people who can be the perfect friends for you will never exist if you choose to go to a school in Michigan rather than Arizona.

I plan on going to Michigan next year for college to run cross country at the Division 2 level. Had I taken a year off and played junior hockey I could probably play at a Division 3 hockey school. That little decision is going to affect the rest of my entire life. The people I meet in Michigan may not be the people that Arizona, Florida, Connecticut or New York can offer me. It pains me when I think about the perfect setting for myself is truly unknown for there are too many opportunities in the world for us to find our exact match of a lifestyle with the right people.

I plan on going out to explore the world when I leave school, for my main goal is shooting to find that place, that person...that life. I don't care how long it takes me but I am determined to find the perfect life for myself. The only thing that is a shame about it is that I have to get good grades in college and graduate with a degree that will help me obtain enough money to be able to find that life.

The difficult thing for me is abandoning those who I care about. I'm not going to be able to do that. If I find a group of people that I can't live without there is no doubt in my mind that I am going to stick with them and/or take them with me and share our experiences and adventures together.