One Pimple is One Too Many - Love

Helloooo everyone! :)

Today I want to talk about love. Valentine's Day was a week or so ago and it got me to thinking about love in all it's various forms.

What is love?
((Baby don't hurt me. Don't hurt me. No more. LOL I had to. ;) ))


According to the first web definition, Love is:
"a strong positive emotion of regard or affection"


The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines it as: A deep, tender, ineffable feeling of affection and solicitude toward a person, such as that arising from kinship, recognition of attractive qualities, or a sense of underlying oneness.


And my favorite definiton:
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.


Now that we have an idea of how love is defined, let's take a look at the different forms of love.

There's friendship love:

Family love:

And romantic love:

Love is a beautiful thing. 

Sometimes, in seems too many focus on romantic love. While romantic love is wonderful and special, let's all remember that friendship and family love is just as important. 

Be encouraged my friends! If you were single this past Valentine's Day, remember that there's more to love than just romance. If you are currently dating someone, don't forget to love your family and friends ((and your single friends!))

Love,

Ariel

((all photos taken from Google and I do not claim ownership to them))

One Pimple is One Too Many - Identity

"I don't ever want to go back to believing life is meaningless. I know there are biochemical causes for some forms of depression, but I wish people who struggle against dark thoughts would risk their hopes on living a good story - by that I mean finding a team of people doing hard work for a noble cause, and joining them. I think they'd be surprised at how soon their sad thoughts would dissipate, if for no other reason than they didn't have time to think them anymore. There would be too much work to do, too many scenes to write." - Donald Miller


What defines you? 
Is it your job? Your family? Your talent? Your appearance?


While all of those things are important, they are not the most important. 


Change is the only constant in life. How you look, where you live, what you wear etc., is always subject to change. Instead of wrapping up your identity in what you do or how "popular" you are, choose to define yourself by your character. 


Also, surround yourself with people who are grounded. Oprah once said, "Everyone wants to ride with you in the limo, but what you need is someone who will take the bus with you when the limo breaks down." Whether you are a world-renowned superstar or you clean the floors of an apartment building -- your attitude, and the attitudes of those you surround yourself with, can change the way you view life. That's why it's so important to remember the important things in life -- not what you own, wear or know -- but how you treat others. Do you show respect to everyone, regardless of what they believe in or how they act? Do you take the high road, realizing you don't have to prove someone wrong to do what you know is right? In the end, that's what matters.


People will forget what you said, but they will never forget how you made them feel. Make that feeling be love and the feeling of being cherished, not anything ugly or rude. 


There's also no excuse. You may say, "Ariel, I don't have a strong support system. My family isn't there for me and the people at my school aren't anything like you described..." In that case, you be that person. It might be a little harder, especially if you think you're alone, but trust me -- you are not alone. You will never be alone. More often than not, there's someone out there who believes in the same principles as you do and lives them out. Maybe they're afraid to, for fear of being made fun of. Take the initiative and see what happens. 


Keep dreaming, keep believing and remember -- you are a peculiar treasure. You're special, loved and worthy of everything good in the world. :)


Ariel

Political Drama by Thomas-All we need is Love

There is something terribly wrong right now that all of us can do something about. What I am referring to is the killing of the doctor in Kansas and the incident that occurred in Washington DC. Two men so consumed with HATE that they had to unleash their venom on innocent people. I will not mention them by name but only say that what they did goes against every thing that we have learned growing up. All of us have learned to respect and love all human life and to treasure and nourish well being towards others. We learn that from our parents and grand parents, our teachers and clergy, everyone we come in contact with. Our social interaction with everyone is the essence of human life. That is what makes us so unique. Our social interactions can be good or bad, positive or negative. Unfortunately there can be extremes. This is the case with these two incidents. All of us need to reach out in times like these and show one another how much we care, need, and enjoy our lives with each other. Just like the Beatles said, "All we need is Love". And, that is what Jesus has tried to teach all of us. We all need to love one another.