Fortune Favors the Bold

-
I am reading Wonder by R.J. Palacio with my 7th graders right now, which is an awesome young adult novel that focuses on the importance of kindness. The response to this book is overwhelming and it has sparked a movement across the nation. Children are encouraged to sign the pledge after reading the novel and choose to be kind.

I'll admit that this simple young adult novel is one of my favorite books, not only because of the overall message it sends to children and adults alike, but because it is filled with tons of awesome mini-messages. One of the teachers in the book, Mr. Browne, introduces precepts to his students once a month to help his students recognize what is important in life.

The reading from last night included one precept that I found especially important:
"Fortune favors the bold."

I appreciate this precept because it reminds us that if we want to reap the rewards that life offers us, we have to be willing to take risks. We have to take action if we want to be successful.

This isn't news to me. I took a risk this summer and spent the entire summer working in another state, and it was arguably one of the best decisions of my life. In fact, this precept seems particularly fitting for my current life because with graduation looming in the future, I'm trying to decide if taking a risk will be worth it. There are so many decisions coming up, and sometimes it seems like I would be better off playing it safe, but this precept reminds me that if I take a risk I will be rewarded.

I hope that you can take this precept and apply it to your life. I hope that you can go and live your life bravely. I hope that you remember to BE BOLD.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

See ya, 2016.

-
I should have just gone to bed the night before I flew back to Minnesota for Christmas Vacation. Instead, I read through my journal for 2016 and then I spent the whole night digesting every thought I had over the course of the year and got ZERO sleep. Sometimes it feels silly to have a journal. It feels like I'm reverting back to the 6th grade girl who writes about the boy she likes and the fight she had with her dad. But mostly, it's a great way to remind myself of my experiences and my feeling about those experiences. My journal is filled with memories, ideas, quotes from books, tidbits from conversations with the people I love the most, lists, and life plans. Much like running, writing things down helps me try to understand life. (Way cliche, but way true.) As I reflected on this year, I relived my feelings. My heart hurt thinking about my most recent heartbreak, but it also swelled with joy as I read the list of people who helped me through it. I remembered the incred...
Read more

Thoughts on Expectations

-
The world would be such a different place if there were no expectations. There would be so much less disappointment. When you think about it, most disappointment stems from some sort of expectation. We wouldn’t fail because we couldn’t expect something to be better than reality. I know that this is fairly negative thinking and there is a completely different side to the idea of expectations but I challenge you to look at things in a different light. Imagine life as a child who knows nothing, expects nothing of the world. They live their lives in constant wonder. Life is a one big surprise to them. How cool is that? If we expect nothing from a day, then waking up is a miracle in itself. If you don’t expect anything, then every moment is a wonderful surprise and we can’t help but to be filled with joy. “Instead of filling with expectations, the joy-filled expect nothing and are filled.” If we learn to control how much we expect from the world, then every good thi...
Read more

Adventure Time

-
As I sit in the airport, by myself, after a few weeks of relaxing at home, I’m pretty excited to take off on my next adventure-- excited and also incredibly terrified. On one hand, this is a great opportunity and I’m sure it is an experience I will cherish forever. I get to take a break from the norm. I get to spend a significant amount of time across the country surrounded by people who are presumably fun and outgoing (I’m making this assumption based on the fact that we all want to spend our entire summer hanging out with kids). I get to try new things. I get to eat fresh lobster. I get to try logrolling. I get to hang out with kids and play volleyball on the beach of a gorgeous lake. Not only is Maine supposedly breathtakingly beautiful, but it’s different from everything I know. It’s outside of my comfort zone.   On the other hand, leaving your comfort zone is a terrifying thought. I’m leaving everything I have ever known. Although it is only for two months, this is tw...
Read more