Be the change you want to see in the world

It has been an interesting and eventful weekend and gave me a lot of
time to do some thinking. As you can probably tell, when I think a
lot I write a blog and give y'all a look inside the head of Cale
Bloskas. So here it goes.
I dont that most people realize how fragile life really is. One small
thing can change your life or how look at life. One person can change
your life forever for better or worst. Which ever way it is changed
you cannot deny that this person has changed your life forever. It can
mean the world to someone just by you being there and caring.
Sometimes all we need is someone to be there and be your shoulder to
cry on. The person that is there when you need someone most will never
quite know how much that meant to you and how your life is changed
because of them.
Still sometimes we must goodbye to someone that we never thought would
be out of our life. We are left with two choices, focus on all the
wrong they have done to you or forgive them and focus on all the times
they were there. Hopefully we forget the wrong they have done and
focus on the times they were there. Act like the wrong they have done
you is written in the sand and let it wash away with the waves of
friendship and winds of life. But engrave the times they have been
there in a rock, always there to dwell on and no matter how much time
passes is never forgotten. Sometimes I feel that we are the exact
opposite and focus on the wrong and hold grudges. But if we do that we
could end up missing out on a great friendship and losing that person
forever.
We never know if we are going to be here tomorrow or if someone in
your life will be here. Why focus on the little things in life when we
should be living life to the fullest? I remember being a little kid
and not having a worry in the world. I played all day with my friends,
built forts, played hide and seek, and had snack time. I didn't have
to worry about a thing in the world because I knew my parents would
take care of me. I was completely happy and yet I couldn't wait to
grow up. Now that I'm older I realize how much responsiblity and
worries I have in my life. Growing up is overrated and i think we
focus to much on tomorrow and not on today and the moment. If i got in
a fight with a friend this morning we would be best friends again this
afternoon. I really think that we had the concept of life right as
kids! Forgiveness, snacks, naps, building forts, and being carefree is
what we should be doing. Just like we knew that our parents would take
care of us we should realize that God will take care of us.
I leave you with one last thought. As we start a new weeks let's work
on not focusing on the little things in life and focus on living life
to the fullest. If you have a chance learn a lesson from a young child
on how to be happy with life. And always be the friend to someone that
you would want them to be. Because of we lived our lives the way we
were taught as kids this world would be a much better place. We would
focus on the "golden rule" and treat others how we would want to be
treated. We would have a world full of happiness, peace, and the world
would be a better place. But in order to do that me must remember the
words of Mahama Gandhi. "Be the change you want to see in the world."

People that we encounter

"There are people who you never thought would be in your life but honestly care about you and are happy to be in your life. Then, there are people that you never thought would leave your life and now just try to tear you down. Sometimes you have begin with a new chapter in life and leave the old memory's behind. Because ...what good is a book if it doesn't have the chapter where everything ends up how it was suppose to?"-Cale Bloskas
This quote above was one of my facebook statuses over a month ago. People that had always been in my life and been there for me were not there anymore, and new friends were starting to take their spot. It made me realize that sometimes in life one door might close but there is always another one that opens. Sometimes we focus mainly on the one that is closing that we dont notice the open door right in front of us. Life has been compared to a book several times and I think that it is a very accurate comparison. In every book there are chapters that everything doesn't go as it is planned and should go. Sometimes there is a character that encounters hardship or something drastic happens. What good is a book if it does not have these ups and downs, in the same way, what good is life if it is not filled with excitement and trouble to overcome. In order to start a new chapter in our lives we have to accept our life as it is and close the current chapter to begin a new chapter and a fresh start. People that we might not want out of our lives could be gone but we have to realize that we are the people we are today because of those people. Instead of being upset and sad about not having this person anymore, I think we should be glad that this person was in our lives and focus on the positive impact they had on our lives. These people might not be in our lives but the memories will last forever.
Lately I have been thinking about the cycle of life, and this theory of one door closing and another one opening. I have come to realize and think about how this has been very correct in my life. I can remember countless times that something has happened and I thought it was the end of the world only to realize that something way better happened because of it. I think that this is true in a lot of peoples lives.
Another thing that I have been thinking about is how sometimes people say that only the good die young. This could be somewhat true. I know several people that come to mind that have had a positive impact in my life. Jacob Williams, a guy here from Anton that died a month after he graduated that show a lot of people not only how to live but also how to die. Alex Brown, her dieing in that car accident and the story her family is telling has prevented several other crashes like hers from happening. I think that I would be okay with dieing if i knew that more people would be saved because of it.
Finally the last thing that has been on my mind lately. A lot of people focus on the future and what could happen and don't enjoy the happiness that they could be enjoying right now. I think that we could all live better lives if we focused on the present and not on the past or future. If we only learned from our mistakes and didn't dwell in them, and take advantage of today and let tomorrow worry about itself.I'm sorry that I have not stayed on one topic but i felt like all of this could fit together and it has all been on my mind. And so I leave you with one of my favorite quotes and it is even painted in my room by Calvin and Hobbes, and is a quote i try to live by everyday.“We're so busy watching out for what's just ahead of us that we don't take time to enjoy where we are.”

Never judge A book by its cover

“We can never judge the lives of others, because each person knows only their own pain and renunciation. It's one thing to feel that you are on the right path, but it's another to think that yours is the only path.”- Paulo Coelho (Mystical author, one of Brazil's most successful novelists)
Lately I have been thinking a lot about how I look at other people and how a lot of times you may have no idea what someone could be dealing with in their life. I think that a lot of times we see someone or how they act and instantly judge them and think that we know all about them. In reality, someone could be dealing with something that we have not clue about and that could be the reason they do certain things. A lot of people in the world deal with some serious issues and pain, and sometimes I think we are quick to judge people and think that their is nothing wrong. The truth is, everyone has a "secret" and they have a reason they act the way they do. A person may be full of smiles but in reality be hurting and dying on the inside.
When thinking about this I am reminded of a kid last summer. Our church does a thing that we call Opportunity Camp. Op Camp is a camp that we try to get the kids in our community that would not usually have a chance to go to summer camp, and also to minister to these kids and offer them something that they may not usually get. Our teens at our church were the counselors and the adults did most of the cooking, teaching classes, crafts, and activities. I remember one kid that everyone was afraid of coming to the camp. We had a lot of his teachers warning us and making sure that we understood how much trouble this kid could be. Even us teens were worried about who would get this kid to be one of our campers. Because I don't want to use this kids name I will refer to him as Sam. Sam was known for causing trouble and their were quite a few stories about him doing very intense and disturbing things at school. After we got out to the camp I was informed that I was going to be one of Sam's counselors. At first I was very nervous and scared of what might happen and how I would handle this kid. To tell you the truth having Sam be one of my campers was probably one of the best things that could have happened to me and it opened my eyes to a lot of things. It turns out that Sam really just didn't like being locked up in a classroom and just wanted to be able to run around and be in nature. Sam loved lizards and all types of reptiles. There were several times at camp that we saw a snake, lizard, or frog and Sam wanted to catch it. Sam and I built a relationship really fast and started to have a lot of fun. One night i noticed that something was wrong with Sam and he started to act up a little bit. I took Sam to the side and we had a very good talk trying to figure out what was bothering him. After talking to Sam, I found out that Sam was abused at home by his mother and does not get the attention that he wants and deserves at home. That is why Sam always got in trouble, he did not know any other way to get the attention at home or at school other than him acting up and getting in trouble. Having this happen to me was a very eye -opening experience and made me realize that we are quick to assume that we know all about a kid when in reality it wasn't his fault that he acted the way he did. Sam just wanted the love and attention that every kid wants and didn't know any other way to get it.
In the last year, I have realized that a lot of things happen in peoples lives that I don't know about and probably will never have to encounter. I have come to realize that I am very lucky and need to do my best to try to understand why people act the way they do. I have been trying my best to be there for everyone who needs me and to build a trust with everyone around me. I have a friend who is 17 and has been abused since she was 6. I have known this girl for years and had no idea until this year of what was going on. I have done my best to try to protect her from being abused and she knows that anytime she needs to get away from the house she can call me. I have had to pick her up a few times and it makes me glad knowing that people trust me and I can make a difference in peoples lives. I leave you with a common quote that we hear everyday "Never judge a book by its cover." We never know what kind of stories and trials there might be inside. It might be a mystery, action, or love story but we can never be sure until we open the book up and give it a chance.

Mothers Day

Last night our family stayed up late watching old home videos. We watched all sorts of videos from the time my head bounced against the ice while ice skating, and even my older brothers Jr. high sports (which we had to relive because he had the remote). And there was one video that all of us kids and our parents remembered. It was Christmas eve of 1999. That was our favorite Christmas of all time and after watching the video we relived it and talked about what all of us remember about that Christmas season. That December our parents decided to make a rule that in order to open our gifts we had to do something really nice for a non-family member. I remember almost crying because my brother almost didn't get to open his present with a PlayStation in it because he didn't know the non-family member rule and had done something nice for me. In the video it shows me opening my Gameboy Color, the most popular gift that Christmas season. On the video it shows something that I had forgotten about and that was how hard my parents had worked to get the gift for me. The Gameboy Color was completely sold out here so my parents called a friend from an another state to see if she could get. After looking all over her area her boss ended up driving a far way to get the gift, who gave it to her, who flew down here (to see family for Christmas that lives here), and gave the gift to my parents. This act and determination showed me just how much my parents wanted me to be happy and the excitement and joy that I showed that Christmas eve was all worth it for them. It made me realize how much my parents have done for me over the years. They have always worked hard and tried to give me everything I could ever want and never have asked for anything in return. They worked hard that Christmas just to see the joy on my face and have worked all my life just for little joy in my life. It made me realize that a lot of us have taken advantage of what people do for us and don't appreciate all the people in our lives as much as we should. I know that I will be giving my mother an extra hug today and the same for my father next month. And I hope that not only today and fathers day I make sure that my parents realize how much they mean to me, but i make it my goal to try to show them everyday how much they mean to me and how thankful I am to have them!