9 Days

Well, I mentioned earlier that I was going to post my thoughts on my upcoming birthday. Why you ask? As some of you may remember (or not, that's fine) I am turning 19. The big 1-9. The day when I can legally become a chain smoker and an alcoholic. Whoohoo! *note sarcasm. A couple of you posted awhile back about drinking and Christianity and the such. I don't believe I ever contributed to the conversation/debate, and since I'm going to be 19 in 9 days (hence the title), I figured I'd tell you firsthand my thoughts on that and why I came to my decision.

First of all, no I'm not going to smoke. That's like sticking a sign on my forehead that says, "Cancer welcome here!". My parents were both very big smokers up until about 30ish and I've learned from them that it's a waste of money (especially since it's up to like 8-9 dollars a pack....talk about an expensive way to kill yourself!) and it's definitely not worth the health risks and the horror of trying to quit if you ever wanted to. [Trust me, it wasn't fun when my parents quit ;)] Anyways, so don't worry about that.

About the drinking. Now this is a big one. Maybe none of you will be surprised to hear this, and maybe you will; knowing my parents and what they think of drinking, it's not surprising to me. But personally, I have no problem with drinking. It's not as simple as that though. I wouldn't go out and get plastered or anything like that because I think that is fairly irresponsible on my part, especially being a girl since so many guys nowadays are, well, jerks. I've heard too many stories from friends about how guys would be extremely forward with them, to say the least, at the club. Therefore, if I ever went to a bar or something, I don't think I would go without a trusted male escort (i.e. my boyfriend) because I think it's a good protection.

My parents don't have any problem with drinking repsonsibly (like I said before, not getting drunk or something) and I also share that value. They drink beer and wine and stuff around the house and it's very casual. I grew up with beer in the house, in fact, there's a 12 pack downstairs, so it's nothing new to me. I already told my parents that I'm going to drink, but I also let them know that I'm not stupid either. For instance, I have my G2 which means that I cannot drive under any circumstance with a blood alcohol level higher than 0. And I never would. "I'm fine to drive" will never EVER come out of my mouth unless I haven't had anything to drink because that would probably be the stupidest thing I could ever do. My friend crashed his car in high school because he was drunk and I was furious with him for making such a STUPID decision. He's lucky no one was hurt, except for the tree he hit.

Many of you have your reasons for not drinking and you know what? I'm very respectful of that because it's hard to do in this day and age and I'm very proud that you guys have stuck with your decision and stood up for yourselves. I am not going to drink to conform to the rest of the world, which is, I guess, what I am doing. It's just that personally, I don't see a problem with responsible drinking. There have been alcoholics in my family in the past, but I don't fear that happening to me because I truly believe that I'm responsible enough to control the amount I consume and my behaviour. One of my friends told me that on my 19th birthday I have to drink so much that I puke. Why? I can't even comprehend the reason for trying to throw up! I don't like the fact that if I drink too much, I'm not in control. If you all know me really well, you'll know that I can be very controlling (just ask my dad about the TV remote!) and to let something control me in that way is completely out of character.

I also don't think drinking is against the Bible or anything like that. Like some people have stated, Jesus turned water into wine and the such. But I don't think that Jesus was out back getting drunk with the 12 disciples! Therefore, I believe it's all about responsibility.

I hope that my thoughts are clear, and if not, feel free to state your opinion or to ask questions and stuff because if I can't argue my side, then obviously I'm not completely sure on why I have made this decision.

Reflection

While out the other day with a friend, we got on the topic about people's gifts/talents, etc. It got me thinking. I think that everyone should do a reflection of themselves to figure out what they're good at, what they like doing (even if they suck at it) and what others see in them. It can be fairly difficult to assess yourself completely because there are probably many areas in one's life that they never thought of as a gift, or a talent. For instance, this friend was talking about all the gifts that they saw in someone else, but said that they, on the other hand, only had three. I was a little surpised that they could only come up with three, so after they listed the three, I was able to say several others just off the top of my head. The biggest one being that that person is very good at encouraging others and seeing the good in people. They did not think, or realize for that matter, that that could be a gift/talent. So, my point is, it's important for everyone to think about and know what they are good at, and for others to tell them if they notice a talent in someone else.

Our Faith "group" used to do blessings and things for people. At first, I thought that it was kind of "churchy" and not really my thing. But after the first one we did, I realized that it was a pretty good idea. Why don't people do these all the time? It's amazing that a group of close friends and family can get together and encourage a person and tell them how special they are and the good in them. When we did one for the four of us who were graduating, I found it very uplifting, and actually really surprising. Some things that people mentioned about me I never thought of before, or I never really realized that it was a gift unique to my personality.

Something I think is as equally important as constructive talents (that's what I call them...not really sure if there's an "official" title) such as welding, building things, fixing things, etc. is abstract talents (again, that's my labelling) such as being nice, encouraging, helping, listening, etc. People don't seem to think about these things very much, or even think that they are talents given to them. To me, these abstract qualities are really important to focus on. For instance, noticing the good in people. Not everyone has this talent. Sometimes it's difficult to think of something positive about someone you hate, and some people aren't good at saying something positive about people they love. But then there are those that can see the good in everyone, even if they haven't known them for very long. I think this is an extraordinary talent, because I tend to be, er, not very good when it comes to thinking positive about certain people, or expressing how I feel for that matter! But my point, if I have one even, is that we should focus on our personalities, or abstract qualities, just as much as focusing on the constructive talents we have. I think people notice these more.

So, think about being positive today and encouraging someone in something they are doing. Chances are they don't even realize they are good at it. Like really, what bad can come out of being nice?

Have a good one! :)