Obama!

     For some reason, Blogger was not working yesterday so unfortunately I didn't get to post my feelings on the inauguration.  So, I am posting today.  Yesterday was an important day in history for many reasons, and it was a privilege to be alive during this time.  Thankfully we were allowed to get out of our fifth period class to watch it live from the auditorium and the gym.  Unfortunately, I have lunch fifth period so I had to hurry up and eat before coming in late to the already crowded gym.  Not only were the people around me uninterested, bored, and talking, but the computer kept on freezing while Obama was making his speech.  I felt it was a great honor to get to watch, but for some reason I expected more, even though I knew it wasn't going to be exciting.  I do have to say that Obama did make a great speech in my opinion.  I find it very interesting that the person who helped him write his speech is only twenty-seven years old and Obama and the speech writer collaborated as nicely as written in a newspaper article.  Overall, I am looking forward to the next four years because I think the US need some of the changes that Obama is promising.  I do know that it's going to be very difficult and we shouldn't expect results right away, but I hope Obama is going to be the change the US needs and that we aren't going to be criticizing all of his moves before they all play out.

Guilty Conscience?

A guilty conscience can eventually make a person go crazy with all the guilt they are keeping inside. I know that I personally tend to feel guilty about everything, making it really hard for me to keep "bad" secrets to myself. I'm not saying that I share them to the world because I do understand that when someone tells you something in confidence you have to keep it to yourself, but when I personally make a stupid mistake I usually end up confessing. I never end up losing sleep over a secret and I certainly don't stop eating or talking to the person, but I probably do act a little differently. I like people to trust me and when I know that I have done something wrong I want to make sure that the lies don't end up making it worse in the end.

Because I know how I personally am with guilt, I do feel like I understand where Dimmesdale is coming from. I know I don't have a big of a secret as he does, but he is put into a terrible position. Everyone is allowed to make mistakes because we all are human, but in his society they handle mistakes very harshly. Especially because Dimmesdale is a minister, the punishment for his actions would be tremendous. Plus, he would have to deal with the disappointment he caused the entire community. This causes him to go crazy and start physically and mentally beating himself up, which in the end could be worse than actually confessing to his sin. In Hester's case, she was at first shunned by society and is forced to wear her scarlett A on her dress for the rest of her life, but now everyone sees her as a person who is trying to make up for her mistakes. She helps everyone out and they are beginning to trust her again, which is most likely better than a guilty conscience. She dealt with it and now she can move on. Dimmesdale has to hold onto this secret for the rest of his life. This also means that he can never be with Hester, which if they are really in love is upsetting for the both of them.

Overall, guilt is a powerful thing that effects everyone in different ways, which makes me believe that the best thing to do is to always tell the truth.

New Year's Resolutions!

     This year I decided I wasn't going to have a big and important New Year's resolutions because I always seem to either forget them right away or I break them in the beginning, which discourages me to continue.  Also, sometimes I think it is more fulfilling to set a goal on a random day because it's not something in a way forced, but more of a choice for self betterment.  However, recently because of the spirit of New Year's I have tried to think about things that I need to personally work on.  One thing in particular I want to concentrate on is to stop my negative behavior.  Whether or not it may be talking rudely about someone or not believing in myself, I feel that I need to work on my optimism.  I always think the worst of a situation or about my abilities, and I sometimes blow it out of proportion.  I think to accomplish this I need to make sure that I always think before I speak out loud.  ANd I should think about my positive qualities rather than my negative ones.  On a smaller note, I am going to try and wear my retainer more often because I know I couldn't stand having braces for a third time.  To accomplish this I have to try and not be as lazy, which could be considered another personal goal of mine.

     Happy Belated New Years!