{"content":{"sharePage":{"page":0,"digests":[{"id":"35732178","dateCreated":"1299867384","smartDate":"Mar 11, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"eli-picado","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/eli-picado","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/pic\/1283475869\/eli-picado-lg.jpg"},"monitored":false,"locked":false,"links":{"self":"https:\/\/davidgarethw-books-b.wikispaces.com\/share\/view\/35732178"},"dateDigested":1531973933,"startDate":null,"sharedType":"discussion","title":"Wiki Response to introduction of examples","description":"As a clumsy and awkward person, I\u00b4m certain of only one thing: whatever can go wrong, will go wrong. People might think I\u00b4m a negative person, but it\u00b4s just what experience has taught me along the years. I\u00b4m the kind of person who drops her muffing and it lands on the side of the frosting. The same thing happens to me with pizza, ice cream, fries, etc. Now, I\u00b4ve learned to be prepared for this kind of situations, but it still surprises me how often my plans are shattered by luck or \u201ccoincidences\u201d, that make them go wrong. Whenever I decide I like a product, they take it out of the market; when I get ready to watch a movie (popcorn and snacks included), power goes out; and whenever I am planning to go out, it rains. One Sunday, my family was planning on going to the amusement park. When I was getting ready, I looked out the window and I saw the day was dark and cloudy. It was, clearly, going to rain. However, my family seemed oblivious of the weather. When I told them, they still decided to go. I was not going to the amusement park just to get wet; the rides would probably not be working because of the water, and the indoor areas would get crowed. So, I decided to stay home. As the family car turned around the corner, the sky cleared and the sun started to shine! They had an awesome time in the amusement park while I stayed home, bored, watching Sponge Bob. It was not the first time weather conspired against me, though. In last year\u00b4s field trip, I had to climb 900 stairs, carrying my bag under the rain just because it had rained a lot during the trip, and we couldn\u00b4t leave the place in a boat. I reached the following conclusion: the weather has some bitter feelings against me, so I always have an umbrella in my bag. I also carry a lot of antibacterial gel, extra elastic bands for ponytails and, imperatively, Kleenex. A lot of them. They are really useful when you don\u00b4t notice the cup they give you at McDonald\u00b4s has a hole in the bottom; or when the antibacterial gel explodes in your bag and ruins your homework and your favorite book. My books are recurrent victims of this conclusion. Especially the ones I borrow from other people, like the one I borrowed last Wednesday, which suffered a little accident with a water bottle. And then when I tried to dry it, I ripped a piece of a page. After a while, I just figured out that I would not change things by just complaining about it. Since, everything that can go wrong goes wrong, I decided just to be prepared for the worst, hope for the best and deal with whatever comes.","replyPages":[{"page":0,"digests":[{"id":"35732280","body":"PD: Mari, Since I know you are reading this, I\u00b4m sorry you figured out about your book like this, I swear I\u00b4m planning to pay it... Seriously...","dateCreated":"1299867455","smartDate":"Mar 11, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"eli-picado","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/eli-picado","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/pic\/1283475869\/eli-picado-lg.jpg"}}],"more":0}]},{"id":"35701276","dateCreated":"1299817200","smartDate":"Mar 10, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"ellagicacid","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/ellagicacid","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/pic\/1343664898\/ellagicacid-lg.jpg"},"monitored":false,"locked":false,"links":{"self":"https:\/\/davidgarethw-books-b.wikispaces.com\/share\/view\/35701276"},"dateDigested":1531973933,"startDate":null,"sharedType":"discussion","title":"Whatever can go wrong, will go wrong.","description":"Wiki Question 16
\nElla Nugent
\n
\nWhatever can go wrong, will go wrong.
\n
\nI disagree most wholeheartedly with this phrase. If you forever have the mindset: things will go wrong, things will go wrong, they will. If you have this horrible pessimistic outlook on life about how everything is going to go badly and things will turn out for the worst, every tiny little dilemma will be taken as "going wrong". If you were to look back for a just a tiny second you could realize that your problems would be a million times smaller if you only had an optimistic, \u201cthings will go right for me\u201d outlook.
\n
\nWay, way back in the fourth grade (when we were still forced to do school plays), our grade was forced into doing "Snow White.\u201d We practiced for months, learned our lines, did dress rehearsals, fixed props, painted sceneries and rehearsed all our songs. The night before the show, every single child was fretting and nervous and expecting the worse. \u201cSomething\u2019s gonna go wrong\u201d was whispered all behind the back curtain. Predictions were made that props would break, the microphones wouldn\u2019t be working, somebody would definitely forget their lines and the play would be a wreck. A million things could have gone wrong for our play, considering we were extremely unprofessional children with no experience whatsoever. Our music teacher stayed positive. Stressed, put positive. How could anything go wrong, she assured us over and over. \u201cWe practiced as many times as humanly possible\u201d she said. \u201cYou guys will be great\u201d she assured and reassured. I adopted a positive mindset. I knew all my lines, what could go wrong? We had worked so hard to get everything perfect and it would go smoothly, I was sure of it. It was my prediction and not anyone else\u2019s that was fulfilled. There was not one forgotten line, not one faulty microphone. The play was a success and our parents in the audience adored us. Anything and everything could have gone wrong for our play, but nothing did.
\n
\nWhen I went to summer camp by myself, a million different things could have gone wrong. There\u2019s always the possibility that you\u2019ll lose your passport or your money or get lost. The thing is, if you hide in the corner saying \u201cEverything ever will go wrong\u201d, it greatly increases your chance that all those things will happen. I believe you make your own luck and if you tell yourself over that everything is wrong, everything will go wrong, everything will suck, the mindset makes it so. If you plant that pessimistic little seed in your brain, it\u2019ll make everything go wrong. Because I have my little optimistic seed, I had an amazing time. Nothing bad happened to me, although tons of potentially bad things could happen when you\u2019re in a foreign city by yourself.
\n
\nIt\u2019s so simple to just say that things will never work out for you and it amplifies your problems and makes you believe everything is going wrong. You cannot live your life believing everything will go wrong for you because if you do, when something good comes along, you won\u2019t be able to enjoy it because you will be expecting the worst lurking around every corner.","replyPages":[{"page":0,"digests":[],"more":0}]},{"id":"35699778","dateCreated":"1299815215","smartDate":"Mar 10, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"marinacoccaro","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/marinacoccaro","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"},"monitored":false,"locked":false,"links":{"self":"https:\/\/davidgarethw-books-b.wikispaces.com\/share\/view\/35699778"},"dateDigested":1531973933,"startDate":null,"sharedType":"discussion","title":"question 16","description":"Due to own experience in those past years of my life, I came with the conclusion that when whatever can go wrong, it will go wrong. Some say it\u2019s very pessimistic to view some things in life this way, and I couldn\u2019t agree more. But each day that passes by seems to prove that this couldn\u2019t be truer. When someone\u2019s mind is set to focus on all that will turn out wrong, it seems to ignore every little positive aspect that may happen as well. When I am usually late for an event or to a simple gathering with my friends, this phrase constantly disturbs me and makes me aware of all little obstacles that might make my ride longer. Every corner I pass by makes my heart beat faster, and the feeling that there will be an accident or just traffic jam nearby brings me to a nervous breakdown. My mom was probably the first person to present me this observation, and as usual, she was right. I am not sure if her intention was to make me have a positive view of life, ignoring all things that might turn out to be not what I expected, or she was just trying to show me that its indeed a wild world. The reality is: the world we live in is not perfect, and it\u2019s much more probable that awful things will happen than good and beneficial will. Just open a newspaper or turn on the TV, and the news you will see are definitely worthy of a \u201cutopia\u201d, or any type of perfect world. Unfortunately that\u2019s the ugly truth, and my mind is already programed to view both bright and dark sides of everything that happens. It\u2019s more likely to end up getting stuck in traffic or facing a big crash then having the privilege of encountering free streets with no trace of life. There are some days in which I woke up with the feeling that I\u2019m about to have the most awful day ever; I went to sleep terribly late the past night, didn\u2019t eat a good breakfast, forgot to finish a couple of home works and ended up getting late to school. All my thoughts are revolving around the idea that my day couldn\u2019t be any worst, and even though I might face some amazing things and experience something completely new, my mind would still be set to view all that lead me to have such a bad humor. There is a famous quote that says, \u201cWhenever you think you can or you think you can\u2019t, you\u2019re right\u201d. This quote was presented to me on a volleyball tournament I participated last year, and provides a more optimistic view than the \u201cWhatever can go wrong, will go wrong\u201d, but basically follows the same ideal. Both quotes depend on what we want to make from them, if we THINK something will go wrong, it probably will. And if we think we CAN\u2019T we are probably right as well. It all depends on what we want to take from all we\u2019ve been through in life. If the first quote sounds too pessimistic, just think that nothing can go wrong, and since all revolves around your mind\u2019s will, you will probably be right.","replyPages":[{"page":0,"digests":[],"more":0}]},{"id":"35695132","dateCreated":"1299810234","smartDate":"Mar 10, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"alabuda","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/alabuda","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"},"monitored":false,"locked":false,"links":{"self":"https:\/\/davidgarethw-books-b.wikispaces.com\/share\/view\/35695132"},"dateDigested":1531973933,"startDate":null,"sharedType":"discussion","title":"You don\u2019t know what you\u2019ve got till it\u2019s gone","description":"\u201cYou don\u2019t know what you\u2019ve got till it\u2019s gone\u201d Many of us do not appreciate the wonderful things we have until they are gone forever. People take everything that they have for granted; but nothing is really permanent. I\u2019ve been practicing snowboarding since I was 5 years old. Soon, it became my passion and consumed all of my free time. I would skip many days of school just to travel 12 hours to the south of Poland for practice. I kept on getting more and more into it with each day that passed by. I thought I would continue doing this for the rest of my life, really. I stared wining some smaller competitions and was ready to finally go for something bigger. This was the way my life was supposed to be, at least for a good couple of years. One day, however, everything changed. Out of the blue, this one sentence twisted my mind around, \u201cWe are moving out; to Costa Rica.\u201d And nope, no snow there. Suddenly, the career I was working on, the effort I put into it and my passion broke apart like a bubble. Again, one small day changed the flow of my life that I lived peacefully for quite a while. I was mad at myself for mot appreciating the chance that I had while I was still living in Poland. I kept on thinking to myself, \u201cWhy didn\u2019t you spend more time snowboarding? Why didn\u2019t you work harder?\u201d I had to change y dreams and goals and I wasn\u2019t ready for it just yet. I enjoyed my life and I never thought that it could change so drastically. Also, the people that we meet in our lives are also underappreciated. My grandma passed away while I was traveling outside of my home country. The death was sudden and unexpected. There was no chance of even saying a good-bye. The love and connection shred with my grandma disappeared like id it was never there. I\u2019ve never suspected that I would never speak to my grandma again. She was always there for so many years that it was impossible for her to disappear. I feel bad not telling her how much I loved her and how much she meant to me. Even if it\u2019s been almost a year that she\u2019s gone, I still feel the emptiness in my heart every time I think about it. Our family members play a key role in our lives and we do expect them to be there permanently. Due to the fact that we, as human beings, take everything for granted we do not appreciate things we have until they are gone for good. I don\u2019t think we will ever learn how to appreciate the present time and the present people around us. Everyone needs to experience this kind of situation before we fully understand it.","replyPages":[{"page":0,"digests":[],"more":0}]},{"id":"35686222","dateCreated":"1299802874","smartDate":"Mar 10, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"luisuarez","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/luisuarez","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/pic\/1302804674\/luisuarez-lg.jpg"},"monitored":false,"locked":false,"links":{"self":"https:\/\/davidgarethw-books-b.wikispaces.com\/share\/view\/35686222"},"dateDigested":1531973933,"startDate":null,"sharedType":"discussion","title":"Punctuality is the Virtue of the Bored","description":"Punctuality is something that seems to be pretty relative depending on the person. Punctuality for some might mean \u201carriving\u201d to a determined place, in a determined time. For others, it might mean that they didn\u2019t arrive \u201cthat\u201d late to the place. But for me, punctuality is to arrive at a reasonable time, not necessarily the time that the host had planned. I have come up with this definition, because of what punctuality is to my family. Punctuality is the virtue of the bored, because if you don\u2019t have anything better to do, it is more likely to be punctual in appointments.
\n Punctuality is the virtue of the bored, for the simple fact that if you are bored, you probably want to do something else than what you\u2019ve been bored on. For instance, if you are going to a party at 8 o\u2019 clock, and you are doing something interesting and \u201cfun\u201d half an hour before, it is more likely that you will keep on doing what you\u2019re already doing; and then go to the party some time after it was originally set. But if you are bored, you will be expecting this party much more than someone having fun, and they will try to arrive at time. Thus, people that are bored will arrive with punctuality to an event; because they have nothing better to do.
\n Punctuality is a side-effect of boredom I believe. And this is because of the 16 years I\u2019ve lived with my family. My mom isn\u2019t the most punctual person in the world. Sometimes I wonder why is that my mother arrives at everything with such lateness. My mother is someone that always has something to do, even in days of boredom. Punctuality is not in her dictionary, she arrives at the time she believes is prudent and \u201ccorrect\u201d.. My mother directly reminds me of this statement, since my mom is never bored and always occupied, she arrives late at invitations. But if she were to be bored at some point, she will arrive early to that date or invitation.
\n In days when I\u2019m bored, things that involve getting outside of my house, is very exciting. So when an event shows up, I get ready in an exaggerated amount of time before it actually is. And this is because I expect this day with much anticipation, and I\u2019m eager to go to this place. SO I sometimes fit with this statement, because when I\u2019m bored, one of my virtues is to attend \u201cpunctual\u201d to wherever I\u2019m expecting.
\n Bored for people might differ, but if you find something more interesting to do than what you\u2019re actually doing, people would be eager to do this, and probably arrive early. In the past, I have experienced that I arrive to things punctually if I\u2019m bored. So punctuality is the virtue of the bored, because they will do things to get out of this state; thus making it a virtue or a quality for them.","replyPages":[{"page":0,"digests":[{"id":"35686382","body":"Punctuality is something that seems to be pretty relative depending on the person. Punctuality for some might mean \u201carriving\u201d to a determined place, in a determined time. For others, it might mean that they didn\u2019t arrive \u201cthat\u201d late to the place. But for me, punctuality is to arrive at a reasonable time, not necessarily the time that the host had planned. I have come up with this definition, because of what punctuality is to my family. Punctuality is the virtue of the bored, because if you don\u2019t have anything better to do, it is more likely to be punctual in appointments.
\n Punctuality is the virtue of the bored, for the simple fact that if you are bored, you probably want to do something else than what you\u2019ve been bored on. For instance, if you are going to a party at 8 o\u2019 clock, and you are doing something interesting and \u201cfun\u201d half an hour before, it is more likely that you will keep on doing what you\u2019re already doing; and then go to the party some time after it was originally set. But if you are bored, you will be expecting this party much more than someone having fun, and they will try to arrive at time. Thus, people that are bored will arrive with punctuality to an event; because they have nothing better to do.
\n Punctuality is a side-effect of boredom I believe. And this is because of the 16 years I\u2019ve lived with my family. My mom isn\u2019t the most punctual person in the world. Sometimes I wonder why is that my mother arrives at everything with such lateness. My mother is someone that always has something to do, even in days of boredom. Punctuality is not in her dictionary, she arrives at the time she believes is prudent and \u201ccorrect\u201d.. My mother directly reminds me of this statement, since my mom is never bored and always occupied, she arrives late at invitations. But if she were to be bored at some point, she will arrive early to that date or invitation.
\n In days when I\u2019m bored, things that involve getting outside of my house, is very exciting. So when an event shows up, I get ready in an exaggerated amount of time before it actually is. And this is because I expect this day with much anticipation, and I\u2019m eager to go to this place. SO I sometimes fit with this statement, because when I\u2019m bored, one of my virtues is to attend \u201cpunctual\u201d to wherever I\u2019m expecting.
\n Bored for people might differ, but if you find something more interesting to do than what you\u2019re actually doing, people would be eager to do this, and probably arrive early. In the past, I have experienced that I arrive to things punctually if I\u2019m bored. So punctuality is the virtue of the bored, because they will do things to get out of this state; thus making it a virtue or a quality for them.","dateCreated":"1299803016","smartDate":"Mar 10, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"luisuarez","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/luisuarez","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/pic\/1302804674\/luisuarez-lg.jpg"}}],"more":0}]},{"id":"35671130","dateCreated":"1299790454","smartDate":"Mar 10, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"fabig1","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/fabig1","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/pic\/1229012865\/fabig1-lg.jpg"},"monitored":false,"locked":false,"links":{"self":"https:\/\/davidgarethw-books-b.wikispaces.com\/share\/view\/35671130"},"dateDigested":1531973933,"startDate":null,"sharedType":"discussion","title":"Things go wrong","description":"2. Whatever can go wrong, will go wrong.
\n
\n If there is something that I think about every time I do something in my daily life, is that something bad or wrong will happen even if the odds are 10000 to 1. I have experienced thousands of events that I knew could happen but expected them not to happen, but after it happens, and happens the next day, and the next\u2026 I tend to think about the wrong stuff that could happen in my life. People call me pessimistic when I tell them that this might happen if they do this or they might lose this if they leave it here, but in the end, I know that I am right because the wrong stuff will happen. A few weeks ago, my mom was telling me that one of her friend\u2019s sons had been mugged and beaten up badly when he was walking around with a few friends at night. Immediately as I heard this, my mind was already thinking, \u201cHe probably knew he was in a place that was very dangerous and bad things could happen to him, but he ignored the bad things and thought that the likely hood of something bad happening to him were too low, so he didn\u2019t worry about it. But as I think about day after day, the wrong will go wrong. And I was right.
\n
\n It is easy to believe that you will have a perfect day any time that you want it, but something will manage to twist it and ruin your day. People need to learn how to avoid the wrong stuff, and the only way to do so, is seeing it before hand and not doing what you want to do even if you think nothing bad will happen\u2026 there is always something bad behind it, and to avoid it you can\u2019t ignore it. Another example that occurred to me in the past years was when I was walking to the corner of my street to wait for a car that was going to pick me up, and I was already expecting something to go out of the ordinary. A car stopped right a few feet away from me, and since I already knew that something wrong was going to happen I, frantically started walking back to my house. They were pointing at me recklessly, but as I was power walking back, the car that was going to pick me up passed, and as soon as they saw it, they rushed forward and left. Another observation that I see that this phrase is true was when my dad and mom were almost mugged going out of a restaurant. They were walking towards the parking spot, and a man steps in their way with a stick and tells them to give them everything. My dad had anticipated this issue already, and he had a couple of bills in his shirt pocket in which he proceeded to throw them to the side. The man went for the money and they could run away safely. Things go wrong.","replyPages":[{"page":0,"digests":[],"more":0}]},{"id":"35624164","dateCreated":"1299739778","smartDate":"Mar 9, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"cecyrodriguez","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/cecyrodriguez","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"},"monitored":false,"locked":false,"links":{"self":"https:\/\/davidgarethw-books-b.wikispaces.com\/share\/view\/35624164"},"dateDigested":1531973933,"startDate":null,"sharedType":"discussion","title":"QUESTION 16","description":"CECIlIA RODRIGUEZ
\nYou dont know what you have until it's gone.....
\n
\nThe feeling of loosing something valuable or watch it disappear from our lives is one we have all experienced. It is then when we realize how much they meant to us or how much we needed it. \u201cYou don\u2019t know what you\u2019ve got till its gone\u201d is a very true statement, because its easy to believe that things will stay with us forever and because \u201cmissing\u201d something, is the same as appreciating something.
\nWhen life becomes a routine, and everything keeps rolling, it\u2019s easy to believe it will stay like that forever. I have had my dog Lucky ever since I was 11 years old. She has been an amazing companion and her being part of my life is something I had always taken for granted. Less than a year ago my family decided to buy another dog, a much smaller one. Everything was good at the beginning, I didn\u2019t spend as much time with him, because of school, and in the weekends I would be with both of my dogs. One day, we found the small one, dead in the back of my house. At first I didn\u2019t believe it and it became hard for me to understand that he was literally dead. Then I realized didn\u2019t really appreciate him being there with us, but after he was gone. The thought of him being with us for a really long time was something I had taken for granted. It\u2019s easy to get used to people or things that have been around for a really long time. When they unexpectedly go, you then truly realize how important they were.
\nMissing something makes you appreciate its value, because you then strive to feel it again, or hear it, or taste it, or even look at it. You start to miss and appreciate, because it\u2019s no longer with you.
\nThe feeling of missing something comes up every time I think about weekends were we had parties where there were pi\u00f1atas with colorful candy inside. Reunions with friends now are incredibly fun, but not the same type of fun. I use to love playing tag with all my friends and hide-and-seek until I we were exhausted. Then we would eat cake but not before getting it all over people\u2019s faces. Parties now are different, because they are a whole new concept. You have to worry about getting the gift; unlike before that it was your parents that took care of. Now you have to spend a lot of time deciding what to wear, where it\u2019s going to be and such. It\u2019s part of growing up and leaving behind your childish side, but sometimes you can\u2019t help and miss that type of freedom and happiness.
\nAppreciation only comes when it\u2019s gone because then you have a point of comparison with what you had before. I now appreciate those moments I had when I was a kid and miss them, something I didn\u2019t do back then.","replyPages":[{"page":0,"digests":[],"more":0}]},{"id":"35623168","dateCreated":"1299736277","smartDate":"Mar 9, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"Josermq","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/Josermq","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"},"monitored":false,"locked":false,"links":{"self":"https:\/\/davidgarethw-books-b.wikispaces.com\/share\/view\/35623168"},"dateDigested":1531973934,"startDate":null,"sharedType":"discussion","title":"You don't know what you have till its gone","description":"Jose R. Martinez
\n3.9.11
\nYou don\u2019t know what you\u2019ve got till its gone
\n
\nThere are stages in life where we don\u2019t grasp the true importance of something until we are detached from it. Sometimes, it takes an event like this for us to open our eyes, and see that which was there all along, but never came to truly appreciate. Frequently, this happens when we are sure about our position in life, and believe that it will not change. The reality is, our status may change, and may adjust when we least expect it. This happened to me not too long ago.
\n
\nThe day started, and everything happened as it usually did. I woke up and went to school. I left school early because I had a doctor\u2019s appointment. On my way to the doctor, I was introduced with the idea that I might not live in La Ceiba anymore. After ten years of living in the same place, I would now have to leave. At that moment, a million things were going through my mind. Curiously, it was probably the things I took for granted the most, which came to my mind first. Obviously, there are some things that come to our minds, but it is not because we take them for granted; but rather because we care too much about them.
\n
\nProbably, what hurts that most is that you can\u2019t take everything with you. I would now have to leave the school that saw me grow. The place where I learned my multiplication tables, and met incredible people, will stay and I will go. This is something I did not start appreciating as much as I should have, until I knew I was leaving. School seemed to be just one more thing on the agenda. But, then I came to realize all of the things school taught me. Valuable and irreplaceable lessons, learned in the most convenient manner, but some, the hard way. This is something I shouldn\u2019t have taken for granted. This was due to the fact that I didn\u2019t think that my position in this world was going to change for a while.
\n
\nOne thing I came to realize, was that I had not been good to people I should have. The sad part is, I only came to realize this in the end. I would now have to ask for forgiveness, when it might be too late to do so. I did not appreciate other people. They probably did not get the respect from me that they deserved. I took this for granted. When I came to realize this, it was too late.
\n
\nWhy did I wait until my time in La Ceiba was up? Why did I not realize what I had and appreciated it from the start? The answers to these questions, I may never find. Fortunately, we can learn from our mistakes.
\n
\nSome things happen for a reason. But, why wait for them to happen? When we finally grasp the significance of our surrounding; that which surrounded us, but never truly appreciated, might have already moved on; without us. Unfortunately, this is a train we might never catch again.","replyPages":[{"page":0,"digests":[],"more":0}]},{"id":"35607476","dateCreated":"1299717312","smartDate":"Mar 9, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"mariangel94","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/mariangel94","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"},"monitored":false,"locked":false,"links":{"self":"https:\/\/davidgarethw-books-b.wikispaces.com\/share\/view\/35607476"},"dateDigested":1531973934,"startDate":null,"sharedType":"discussion","title":"You don't know what you have till it's gone","description":" \u201cYou don\u2019t know what you\u2019ve got till it\u2019s gone\u201d is a phrase we grow up listening. When something is consistently present we ignore its true value. We take these things, people, or abilities, for granted as if they were all eternal, and regardless of how often we hear the phrase, we continue to make the same mistake: Its not until we lose something that we realize the importance of it.
\n Last year I sprained each of my ankles in different occasions and this prevented me from playing soccer for more than four months total. Soccer had always been something I enjoyed playing most of the time, but it was always so available that I never took the time to truly appreciate it. It was just the hobby y resorted to when I had free-time, and sometimes, I even complained about staying afterschool to practice on the days that I was too tired or had a lot of homework to do. Soccer was just my \u201cgo-to\u201d activity, and this did not change until I was forbidden to play for \u201cat least two months\u201d \u2013 as the doctor said. Never in my life had two months gone by so slowly, each one of them seemed to drag on for eternity. It wasn\u2019t until then that I realized what soccer really meant to me; it is much more than a hobby, it\u2019s that one thing that makes my feet itch and my heart ache if I can\u2019t play, its what relieves me from stress and tension, what calms my nerves, its much more than something to fill free-time, its an obsession; and yet, somehow it took a sprain for me to realize this, until the ability to play was taken away I knew what it meant to have it before.
\n Luckily, soccer was something I could get back, but many times we don\u2019t entirely appreciate things or people while we have them and once they\u2019re gone its too late. This is something I learned the hard way. Three and a half years ago I lost my grandmother, on my father\u2019s side, after she suffered from a brain tumor. For most of my life she had lived in the house next door, and was someone I could turn too whenever I needed something, but her over protectiveness was something I found annoying as a child and ignored her repetitive warnings of \u201cdon\u2019t do this\u201d and \u201cgo do that\u201d. \u201cKeep practicing your penmanship, you can\u2019t leave something half-way done\u201d were the things that I would stubbornly get mad about not understanding that she was merely educating me. It wasn\u2019t until she was lying in a hospital bed that I understood the reasons for which she was so insistent, and I began to regret all the times I didn\u2019t tell her how thankful I was for all that she had done for me, and how much I loved her. But by that time it was too late, and this time I did not get a second chance to do so.
\n We should all take some time out of our busy lives to appreciate all the important things and people in our lives. We should not wait to do so, because often we arrive at realization too late, and by then there is no going back.","replyPages":[{"page":0,"digests":[],"more":0}]},{"id":"35606316","dateCreated":"1299716384","smartDate":"Mar 9, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"gmurphy3","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/gmurphy3","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"},"monitored":false,"locked":false,"links":{"self":"https:\/\/davidgarethw-books-b.wikispaces.com\/share\/view\/35606316"},"dateDigested":1531973934,"startDate":null,"sharedType":"discussion","title":"Adults are merely obsolete children","description":"The statement \u201cadults are merely obsolete children\u201d is absolutely true. When we are young, we see the world with limitless opportunities. What makes children so beautiful and na\u00efve is that their hopes for the future are endless and unbelievably sincere because no one has stepped in to crush them yet. As children, our dreams are boundless and nothing is impossible. When asked the common question, \u201cWhat do you want to be when you grow up?\u201d we would answer without hesitation or doubt, because we were sure of ourselves. Children are by far the most creative and outgoing people because they don\u2019t care about other people\u2019s opinions. They have not been exposed to the world\u2019s cruelties and their innocent ignorance is bliss.
\n However, as we get older this unfaltering confidence starts to fade. We start to see what the world is really like. We know that our opportunities are not as immense as we had once thought. We begin to think in terms of money and success rather than in happiness and following our dreams. The pressures of society start to take over and we lose our originality. We lose who we really are, so in a way, growing up is like taking a step backwards. Children become adults, fallen versions of themselves.
\nI have seen this statement at work in my own life. My little sister, who is only nine years old, is already starting to lose her childlike qualities. While she is still young and oblivious, she is growing up as well. Just a few years ago if she was asked the question \u201cwhat do you want to be when you grow up,\u201d her answer was so genuine and sweet. She would go off on a ten minute long speech about how her life was going to be. She knew exactly what she wanted to do and how she was going to get there. Of course, her answer was absolutely crazy and next to impossible to accomplish. But, nonetheless my parents and I encouraged her to pursue being a pop star, a princess, an actress, and a vet all at once. Today, she no longer gives this endearing response. You can see it in her eyes that she is realizing how crazy her hopes were. It\u2019s unfortunate that we all have to go through this realization. The world would be a different place if everyone still thought the way they did when they were little.
\nWatching a child grow up is bittersweet. Yes, they are becoming aware that there is so much more to life, but at the same time they are deserting their childhood, the golden years of their life. If adults could have the same sense of identity and see the world in the same light as they did as children, they would be completely different people. While adults are technically more advanced than children, children have things that adults can never get back.","replyPages":[{"page":0,"digests":[],"more":0}]}],"more":true},"comments":[]},"http":{"code":200,"status":"OK"},"redirectUrl":null,"javascript":null,"notices":{"warning":[],"error":[],"info":[],"success":[]}}