complaints.

 

Complaining is the absence of thankfulness. –Dale Partridge

So occasionally in my pointless time on the internet, I will find something worthwhile. I like to stalk read Dale Partridge’s blog. He started up and is the top guy at Sevenly. Sevenly is basically a company that features a different organization every week, each week, there is a new shirt/tote bag/sometimes iphone cover design and $7 of every purchase goes towards said charity.

Also he’s really good at pinterest.

Anyway, so I was reading the other day and saw this post: http://dalepartridge.com/sevenlys-complaining-room/

At the Sevenly offices they have a complaining room, which according to that post is actually more of a big closet.

Whenever someone complains they are sent to the complaining room and have to write their complain on the walls.     All over the walls are covered with pictures of people in developing countries, fighting diseases, suffering oppression, etc.

I know writing my “first world problems” on the face of a malnourished child would make me stop and think. Now I’m wishing I had a closet to convert into a complaining room…I could just make a big canvas collage of pictures to make more portable “room.” hmm..

But you know, we like to complain about how bad life is.

Look around.

Yes, there are terrible, horrible things.

But there are also a lot of great things.

Such as:

Beaches and sunsets.

Travel opportunities, mountains, volcanoes.

Tea, Christmas.

Joy, laughter, beauty amongst struggles.

Water, boat rides, great views, mountains.

Water, waterfalls, taking walks, autumn.

Monopoly games, camera remotes, self portraits, family.

 

Fall, comfy dresses, sunshine.

Cameras, comfy jackets.

and of course, cupcakes.

Life isn’t perfect, but there is always something to be thankful for. Always.

 

Also Sevenly is doing a 7 days of Christmas thing where for a week they bring back an old tshirt every day…I wouldn’t mind if anyone bought me one.

Counting Blessings.

Blessed. We really are, aren’t we? We like to pretend we are not, but we are, we really are.

I’ll go ahead and venture to say that most anybody reading this is blessed in the following ways:

1. A place to live. An estimated 100 million people are homeless worldwide. That doesn’t even include people living in bad conditions, or substandard housing.
2.  Access to clean water. 780 million people lack access to clean water. That’s over 2.5 times the population of the United States.
3.  Food. 15 million children die, each year, from hunger. 800 million people around the world suffer from hunger and starvation. An estimated 20,864 people will starve to death, today.
4.  An education. Almost one billion people entered the 21st century unable to read a book or write their name.
5. Freedom. Almost 1.5 billion people today live in Communist countries.

We too easily forget. If the internet is out for a day, I will complain. If I have to buy a tank of gas, I will complain. I should be thankful that I even have electricity—much less the internet. I should be thankful that I can afford to buy a tank of gas.

1 Thessalonians 5:18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

This is the time of year when we all pretend to be a lot more thankful for things than we really are. Let’s make it real, and let’s make it last. Thankfulness should not be confined to one month of the year.

 

 

sources: http://water.org/water-crisis/water-facts/water/, http://www.statisticbrain.com/world-hunger-statistics/, http://www.globalissues.org/article/26/poverty-facts-and-stats, http://geography.about.com/od/lists/tp/communistcountries.htm,

An Open Letter to Women.

 

Dear women of the internet,

I’m a skinny girl, and the truth is, I don’t work for it. Never have. It’s natural. I’m sorry that the fact that some people are thinner than you really upsets you. It’s not my fault. But you know, in some people’s cases, it is their fault, because maybe they worked for it. It’s all over facebook, pinterest, and the rest of the internet. People are bashing girls because they are “too thin” or “too skinny,” automatically diagnosing random girls as anorexic.

Things like this are popping up:

Awesome. I’m going to make a t-shirt that says, “18 is not a size.” I’m sure that would go over well. No, it wouldn’t---and I’m glad it wouldn’t. That would be totally wrong and offensive, to discriminate against larger people. But hey, if it’s a tiny girl, it’s totally cool, right? There is something wrong with this picture. If I commented on photos on the internet of big women and said things like, “nasty.” “gross” “quit eating sandwhiches.”  But if it’s a girl who is smaller than average, or hey, just smaller than you, it’s totally acceptable to bash. Awesome.

Here’s me, a size zero girl:

Does that disgust you?

My thighs don’t touch when I sit. I don’t have rolls in my stomach. My arms don’t spread out against my side. I have knobby knees. I have a flat stomach (not abs, believe me, there’s a difference.) I can touch my fingers around my wrist. I went to a summer camp one year when I was 10-11ish, and some random girl came up to me and asked “Are you anorexic?” um..no.. Anorexia is a psychological disorder, not something you, a random girl, label another little girl, because she is smaller than you.

Does that bother you? It shouldn’t.

Skinny girls aren’t disgusting. Overweight girls aren’t disgusting. Judgment for something as stupid as size is disgusting.

If you want to be bothered by a thin person, be bothered by the starving child, not by the teenage girl with a high metabolism or the girl who worked her butt off to look that way.

Why do you feel like you can weigh in on other people’s body type and weight, anyway? Insecurity?

 

but really, just because you are insecure about yourself, whether you be 300lbs over weight, healthy, or underweight, you don’t get the right to bash other people.

A person’s a person, no matter how small, big, skinny, pretty, ugly.

Sincerely,

Bekah

21 things you don’t need to know.

 

So. If you know me halfway well, you know I enjoy a good random fact. Dead or boring conversation? “FUN FACT! Did you know….”

Here are a few of my favorites:

1. The real Maria Augusta Trapp has a cameo appearance in the Sound of Music. She’s like a little blur walking by, but hey, she’s in there.

2. Bubblegum is pink because the guy who was making it didn’t have any other food colorings left.

3. None of the cast of the Cosby show really liked Lisa Bonet.

4. In Virginia, it’s legal to marry your first cousin. [um…ew.]

5. Ronald Reagan loved jellybeans and always had a bowl on his desk in the White House.

6. Air travel is 22 times safer than riding in a car.

7. Alfred Hitchcock had his bellybutton surgically removed.

8. [some] Crayons are made from cow fat.

9. About 150 million hotdogs are eaten in the US on the 4th of July

10. Divorces and new marriage numbers dropped during the Great Depression. They spiked back up after World War II was over.

11. Mohammed is the most popular name in the world.

12.  Elephants can’t jump [imagine it, please, it’s hilarious.]

13. The guy who wrote Jaws, Peter Benchley, was a speechwriter for Lyndon Johnson.

14. The Mad Hatter in Alice in Wonderland is mad because in the 1800s, the felt hatters were using to make hats had lead in them, which eventually lead to brain damage in the hatters, making them go “mad.”

15.  Squirrels have a 44 day gestation period.

16. Finding Nemo is the most sold DVD. Ever.

17. China produces the most tea of any country.

18. Gerald Ford was president and vice president, but he was never elected.

19. The multicolored horse in Wizard of Oz? That’s not paint, thanks to an animal rights group, it’s gelatin.

20.  The dots on dice are called pips.

21. Wednesday is the most popular day to be born on.

And now, you are a wee bit smarter.

You’re welcom.