Jaime's Blog

http://students.southernlabs.net/jaimejacobson/justuskids/index.html

There’s a church on Ooltewah-Harrison road that puts phrases on their front sign. I see a lot of churches that do that, posting little quotes or short verses, and sometimes I grunt and think to myself how corny it is, but sometimes what it says seems to smack me in the face.  That’s what happened when I drove by last week—it said, “those who throw mud lose ground”.

Alright, alright, I hear you God.

Sometimes people don’t like you. Maybe it’s because you stole something from them, or maybe they think you sound like a parrot when you talk, or maybe they just plain dislike everything about you. You can’t always help that—no one can please everyone. Our responsibility as Christians, of course, is to do whatever is in our power to make things right; apologize if we did something wrong, give them a peace offering, try to talk things out. But in reality, those things don’t always do the trick. Perhaps there was too much damage done in the beginning and nothing you do will ever change their mind—you’ve simply made an enemy for life. What is most unfortunate about that is if that person who doesn’t like you is in a position to hurt you.

Maybe they’re capable of taking revenge or have the authority to punish you.  Hopefully, they’re not looking for that opportunity, but the world isn’t always full of good-hearted, forgiving people.

I have enemies. I have people who want revenge on me. I have people I don’t like and people I think about taking revenge on. When it’s been a really bad day and my mind is flooded with everything that’s bothering me and all I think about is who did this or that to me or how I could do this or that to someone else, I realize at the end that the only person who’s stressed out is me. At the end, I’m the only one still upset. That really doesn’t get me anywhere—it just makes me lose ground.

If you’ve apologized, you’ve tried to make things right, you’ve done whatever you could to correct the situation, then who cares if they don’t like you? Don’t worry about what people think—don’t be the person that loses ground because you’re stuck worrying about someone else’s petty and malicious actions against you. Carry on with your day, don’t think about it, just smile and keep going. There are other things that are bigger and better, things that are more worthy of your time. Of course people will look for ways to hurt you and ways to make you miserable. They’ll do anything they can to get back at you or give you what they think you deserve.  That’s life.

I know lots of people who throw mud. I could choose to throw mud back. Or I could choose to let them throw mud and lose ground while I walk away.

People love tragedy. Americans
specifically. There’s something about the rise and fall, the bend and break,
and the trudging climb at the end that tears at our insides and keeps us
transfixed.

What is it about dramatic lifestyles that keeps us so addicted, so entranced, that we lose
sight of life itself, of things that matter deep down?

One thing I never understood is why people obsess over celebrities. It kind of drives me
crazy. No, actually, it really drives me crazy. I don’t understand celebrity
crushes, I don’t understand following a celebrity’s life news story by news
story, and I definitely don’t understand the fans who get emotionally
distraught because of the occurrences in some celebrity’s life. You do not know
these people. Unless it’s some sort of educational or authoritative figure, why
do you care where they shop or how their divorce is going? I dare to say that
in actuality those fans don’t, but rather they’re just addicted to drama. A few
friends and I were recently discussing the lives of celebrities and why people
care so much. The conversation started after a reference to Chris Brown beating
Rihanna. A few comments were made about celebrities not being real people and
that watching their lives is like watching movies to us, and it’s true. It’s
like everyone forgot about the Chris and Rihanna story—and all I could think
about is that it’s because most people never really cared, it was just an
exciting tragedy. Why do people prefer to live vicariously through someone
else’s live than further their own progress and better their own lives? Don’t
you have your own things to worry about?

It’s sad, really. Not to think that people are pressed over celebrities, that’s a whole
other opinion of mine in itself, but that people thrive on drama and tragedy.
They love a good tearjerker, and I don’t mean the kind that ends happily ever
after. I think, mainly, people love their own drama. We all like to talk about
our own problems and our own lives. Everyone wants to remind each other that
they’ve been through so much in their past, that they had a really hard week, that
they’re dealing with something really awful right now. I’m not saying that
there’s something wrong with telling your friends what’s going on in your life
or venting if something is bothering you, but I think sometimes we get caught
up in our melodramatic lives and forget to let go and let God. Your problems
aren’t there to obsess over. They’re most likely there to teach you, so learn
from them and move on.

It’s sickening to seek out drama and dwell on it. It’s unhealthy to find life dull unless something really juicy is going on. Let’s face it, everyone wants to hear the drama from the weekend come Monday morning. Why is that so interesting to us? I think it’s because the
purity of joy has been perverted by obsession and sin.  We lose sight of what we should be focusing on and wrap ourselves up in the addicting, heart-wrenching excitement that is
better known as someone else’s pain.

This is the Opinion Section

Opinion: a personal view, attitude, or evaluation. Opinions are not supported with facts; they cannot be proved. They are not based on complete certainty—that’s why it’s an opinion and not news or data. It’s like the difference between a scientific theory and a scientific law.

My opinion is my own. It’s my thoughts, my feelings, it need not have anything to do with someone else’s opinion and it need not support two sides of an issue.

When a controversial topic comes to the table there are always two sides, if not more, to view the issue from. One person may feel something is right while another thinks it’s wrong. One person may think something is funny while another thinks it’s lame. I’m sure by now you’re following me.

Growing up, my mom always told me I had strong opinions. She also told me that that was one of the things she loved about me. She taught me that it’s okay to have an opinion that differs from someone else’s and it’s okay to voice it. And you know what, it is. She didn’t teach me that because she’s my mom, she taught me that because it’s true.

Remember that phrase “beauty is in the eye of the beholder”? Well, it’s kind of like that. People have different opinions about what’s in style, which guy is cute, which color looks good with another, which politician would do the best job…etc. No one is wrong for thinking different than you. There is no reason to tell someone they are too liberal or too conservative, misinformed, or out of line for stating their own opinion. Telling someone they’re misinformed for thinking a fact is true that is not is one thing, telling someone they’re misinformed for thinking something different than you is another. And inappropriate.

My job as the opinion editor is to publish opinions. I will publish my own, I will publish yours, I’ll even publish ones of yours that blatantly disagree with mine. A response to someone’s opinion that involves you disagreeing and stating your own is perfectly welcome in the opinion section of any paper. An email or a phone call questioning or bashing someone else’s opinion, however, is unnecessary.

I’ve recently heard criticism through emails and phone calls for articles published in my section about the writer or the article itself. If you ask me, it was a waste of time. I respect the idea that you may disagree with someone else, but criticizing a person for holding his or her own opinion is not respectable.

My section, by definition, is going to be biased. I do not need to write something that supports two sides of an issue if I only agree with one side. If you agree with the other side, you can write that and I’ll print it.

There is a difference between having your own opinion and thinking someone is wrong for having a different one. Having your own opinion is something to be proud of. Speak your mind, voice your thoughts, stand out. If we all thought the same thing the world would be a sad, dull place—it’s the different ways that we see things that keep it all interesting.

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Eating Healthy on a College Campus

A Guide to Make Better Choices In Your Diet

A deli that makes fresh foods daily, all vegetarian substitutes, no caffeine, little to no packaged foods, and organic foods available at your fingertips—sounds healthy, right? But maybe it’s not as healthy as you think.

College campuses can be difficult places to find healthy things to eat, and sometimes Southern Adventist University is no different. Sure, we offer Sam’s vegetarian chicken, but it’s breaded and fried in a vat of oil that is black with a month’s supply of other fried Sam’s chicken slices. Worst of all, with as busy as college students get, we hardly have time to cook a homemade, hearty meal or search for something worth putting in our bodies.

So now you ask, “how can I eat healthy?” Well, here’s a few tips to keep in mind when choosing your meal, whether it be in the five minutes between classes or a sit down dinner with friends.

1. Water only. And more of it. There is absolutely no need to put liquid trash in your body and drink your calories. Put down the coffee, put down the Monster, the Red Bull, the Coca-Cola, and every other form of poison that makes you bloated and dehydrated. Our bodies were made to be mostly of water, so replace it daily to keep your body in its original, best form.
2. Fried foods. Two words: stay away. Coming onto a college campus where things are thrown into a fryer to be heated up because it’s the fastest way to feed a mass of people can be hard to avoid. But please do. They are loaded with oils that make you break out and gain weight. Have a salad instead.
3. 3.     Sugars and desserts. These are dangerous things. Ashley Morgan, junior nutrition major, says it’s best to stay away from sugary foods at all costs. “Avoid foods that are loaded with sugar, because they will cause you to become slow and it also contributes to weight gain.” If you must eat them, eat them in the morning because your body hasn’t had food in six to eight hours and could use the sugar for energy, and even better, make it a fruit instead of dessert.
4. 4.     Limit lactose. Southern makes it easy to avoid dairy products, which is very helpful to your health. This doesn’t necessarily mean to go vegan, but as vegetarians make sure you watch your cheese intake. Milk is easy to replace with soymilk, but vegetarians tend to love cheese and douse everything in it.
5. 5.     Sodium.  Vegetarian meats are loaded with sodium. It is not necessary to add salt to anything if you are consuming meat substitutes because they are saturated in sodium and exceed your daily need. Sodium makes you retain water and raise your blood pressure. Try to only eat vegetarian meat once or twice a day and consume protein products in other ways such as nuts.

It only takes a few small changes to improve your health. As Southern students, we have a jumpstart by living on a vegetarian campus, but be sure to moderate and pace yourself. There are lots of ways to be healthy, but the first and foremost steps are the ones toward eating healthy.

I’m brainstorming for my next accent poll…

Should it be:

Would you ever own a gun?

or

Should worships be required?

or something else altogether? I’m open to ideas!

First draft of a website I’m designing:

I figured out how to make a blog! It was really confusing… but Caleb helped me. Yay!