...save my life.

www.postsecret.com

This postsecret reminded me of one of my favorite movie quotes from The Dead Poets Society: carpe diem. This translates from Latin to “seize the day” and tells us to tackle each day as if it was our last.

Most of us think we are invincible, that we are immune to death, and have ample time to carry out our dreams. This leads us to live mediocre lives; to not appreciate each day fully; to not take risks that would make life more enjoyable. Truth is, this is not a good way to live.

I've read many stories and heard many people talk about how cancer, or certain illnesses like diabetes, "saved" their life. By knowing that they have limited time left on the Earth, less than most humans, these people start to do as much as they can in each day. Many people start to complete their bucket lists and start appreciating everything they have. I guess we can say that life-threatening illnesses have one benefit; they allow people to live with a purpose and lead meaningful lives.

So my proposition is that why don't we all live as if we have life-threatening illnesses? We don't know how much time we have here on Earth but since we are "healthy" we think that nothing bad can happen to us. What if life was to end tomorrow? Would we have carried out all our dreams? Would we have lived a life that made us happy?

I think it is important to take risks and to make each day as meaningful as possible. I do not understand how some people can spend all day in their bed sleeping. Time is scarce and it is important to appreciate what we have and try everything once in life because we will not get a second chance.

I think it is very ironic how the burden of having a serious illness can bring about great happiness to a person.

Want Me

http://www.postsecret.com/

"I wish I didn't have to take my clothes off for you to want me"

I think love and sex is not what it used to be; I think that sex has lost a lot of its "meaning." It used to be that when two people were in love and wanted to conceive, they would participate in sexual activity. Now it is just a recreational activity that two people, a lot of the time even two strangers, have sex because they want to feel satisfaction. In my opinion, sex lacks passion nowadays and therefore girls, like the one writing the postsecret, feel a sense of being used for quick pleasure and not for meaningful purposes like love.

Because of this new open-mindedness to sex, girls end up feeling like a "piece of meat" and often feel like guys do not actually want them, they just want their body. Sometimes even when I meet a new guy at a party, I wonder if he is interested in me or if he is interested in my assets. How did this transition from sex being a sacred act to being a common social activity occur? Maybe it’s from the sexually driven marketing techniques that have taken over magazine and billboards. Maybe these advertisements with half naked women made men respect girls less (and the opposite way around) and subconsciously lowered the standards for sexual intercourse.

There is less respect for the other sex, less meaning in sex, and casual sex occurring more frequently. With sex not being as sacred as it used to be, it has become ok to have sex with people that one does not know well. Therefore STDS and pregnancies have increased dramatically. I read an article recently that showed how the US has as many HIV sick people as Africa in 2011.

In conclusion, I think its important to re-evaluate the meaning of sex and the think about the consequences of taking the word and action lightly.

Plasma



http://www.postsecret.com/


Recently, me and my floor mates were talking about buying tickets to Dayglow but we all thought that the $62 was too much money for a concert and we were hesitant to purchase them. Then one night, a friend proposed that we donate plasma in order to go to the concert. By donating plasma we would receive $40, and then the concert would out come out to a manageable $20. The next day we all purchased our tickets.

I'm not sure how I feel about doing "good deeds" for monetary compensation because in a way I feel like it defeats the purpose of doing that good action, but most would argue that you have to do what you can to survive. Keeping this philosophy in mind, I think that sometimes people are pushed into desperate situations in order to pay off their debts. I've heard stories of women donating their eggs in order to pay rent or even people donating kidneys and selling them in the black market for money.

What this Postsecret is saying to me is that times are getting harder; especially with financial situations and more people need an "easy way to make quick money" and resort to situations like these. Is this ethical? In my opinion, no. It will always be more respectable for someone to work hard at a job rather than donate plasma to pay for loans; but as times are getting hard, these types of situations are increasing.

On the other hand of the argument, if more people are donating blood / plasma / organs for money, wouldn’t this also help more people in need? The answer is yes; so in conclusion although ethically wrong, maybe this situation would help out both people: the ones who need plasma and the people who needs money. Maybe it is better to have monetary compensation for good deeds because that way everyone wins.

Rid Myself of You

http://www.postsecret.com/

I chose this Postsecret this week since it is National Eating Disorders Awareness Week. This secret to me, represents a REASON as to why people suffer from eating disorders. Professionals say that eating disorders are not about wanting to become skinny or thin, instead they are a way people gain control of their lives. By starving oneself or by purging food after eating, one seems to have full control over his or her body and therefore they feel in control of their whole lives.

In this secret, thoughts of a bad relationship may have been taking over this person’s life to the point where it was unmanageable. Purging therefore made the person feel like he or she had a new sense of power and that the relationship no longer controlled them.

The ironic thing about eating disorders is that although one might feel like he or she is getting her life back on track and that he or she is in control of his/her life, in reality they are controlled by a destructive habit.

I think it is also important to bring up that people suffering from eating disorders are often misjudged and therefore not given the help they need. Many people will say that these people are trying too hard to become model-thin, and not realize that this disorder stems from issues deeper than body weight. Depression and eating disorders are commonly tied together and many people suffer from both at the same time. By trying to regain control of their lives and get out of depression, they chose to start starving themselves and end up in a vicious cycle.

In conclusion, this Postsecret does an amazing job of explaining why people suffer from eating disorders. I also enjoy the skeleton image on the Postcard because it shows how people SEE others with eating disorders, just skin and bones. But there is more to the story than that...