The 7-Point Creed: Setting the Moral Compass

I keep meaning to explain this to you in a very conversational way, but somehow there never seems to be enough time to be able to really just "talk" to you. Lang, lang everywhere and that's great, but it is a tad time-consuming. So, once again, I rely on the blog for the more meaningful endeavors, and in an effort to make better use of time, I have relied on the wonders of the internet to be able to explain the 7-point Creed, which is the integral foundation of this week's blog question.

Without furter ado--

John Wooden's Seven Point Creed,  given to him by his father Joshua upon his graduation from grammar school:

* Be true to yourself.

* Make each day your masterpiece.

* Help others.

* Drink deeply from good books, especially the Bible.

* Make friendship a fine art.

* Build a shelter against a rainy day.

* Pray for guidance and give thanks for your blessings every day.

If you don't know who John Wooden is, look him up--his story is quite remarkable. As a coach, I deeply admire him and the things he has accomplished. As a human being, he is amazing in every sense of the word and one of the few people I can honestly say I aspire to emulate. As you know, I don't say that about very many people.

In any case, your task for this week is to come up with your own 7-Point Creed and share it here. I know that I am asking a lot of you. I know that this is not something you can do in two days. And this is why I am extending the deadline, once again until Saturday (November 2) night. You will really need to put a lot of thought into this. Ask yourself these questions to help you along:

What do I value?

What are my morals?

How do I want to be perceived by others?

What do I want my legacy to be?

What have I learned in my life?

What else do I want to learn?

Now, I certainly don't want you to answer those questions and consider that to be your creed. Remember, a creed is a sort of guideline for living, but it is also completely subjective. Look at Wooden's creed again. The statements there are kind of ambiguous and can be open to interpretation, don't you think? So, when you are doing this, try to keep that in mind. However, it is precisely BECAUSE the statements are ambiguous that you will have to explain what you mean by them, what they mean to you and why you chose them. Always the why.

What you are basically doing is creating a blueprint by which you can live your life. YOUR life. Nobody else's.

After all, who is more important than you?

A Different Direction

Hello, scholars!

This week's blog posting will align closely with some current events of our days. We don't get enough time during our class periods (yet) to really do justice to some of the topics I think are important enough to have a voice, specfically Sexuality and the Cultural and Societal Expectations Wrapped Around It.  (sounds very official, eh?)

I've posted links to three different articles--technically 8 because the Huffington Post link contains 6 different articles on related topics (Robin Thicke/Blurred Lines controversy).  You are to read at least TWO of these articles and respond to the ideas, subjects, theories or opinions contained within them.
Follow up with your own thoughts--AND respond to at least three other classmate's responses.  You will not receive credit if you don't respond to other posts.

RULES

1. To disagree is NOT to disrespect
2. It is not enough to say "I agree" or "I disagree" as a response.
3. To keep you honest, you have to directly quote from an article you are responding to.

Keep making me proud.

That Mirror Moment...

We've been together for...what? Approximately 6 weeks or so, right? So, I think we have reached that point where we can really start to do some introspective reflection. (I'm being a bit facetious here, intentionally. I really do know all your blogs require introspection, and that you have willingly (I hope) given yourselves over to that.)
So, although I cannot make you do this, I would like you to minimize all distractions while you think about this blog. Exercise your right to have "You" time; put away your iPods, cell phones and Wii remotes and for the sake of all that's holy--close Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, ESPN, POLITICO, the Onion (my personal weakness) or whatever time suck application/site you have open.  I know those things are necessary to, in some cases, restore sanity, unwind or engage in healthy social discourse--but for now, maximize the "quiet."

Every day, you wake up, go through your morning rituals, come to school, do your thing(s), go home, go through your evening rituals and then go to bed.
There are obviously some variations to this routine from time to time, and I am not trying to downplay your life in any way by making it sound mundane; that is not the idea here. What I am saying is, that through all of this, these daily activities, rituals and routines people interact with you.
They talk to you, refer to you, question you, yell at you, soothe you, talk about you, defer to you or, in some cases, though hopefully not many, ignore you completely. The point is, they KNOW who you are, at least enough to do one or more of the previous things.

But, when you stop to think about it, do they really know? And, more importantly, do YOU?

Beyond names, job titles or academic accomplishments, beyond labels given by yourself or by others, who are you? Who are you inside? If you had to write your name, and then your definition, what would it say?  Would it be a collection of traits, hobbies and virtues? Would you be able to strip yourselves cleanly of those three things and still define yourself? Why or why not?

Ready, set, GO....

Deep Thoughts and Other Valuables

Every once in a while,a situation presents itself to you, and in so doing, however unwittingly, that situation tests your resolve, challenges your moral fiber and forces you to examine (or re-examine) your values.

When things like these happen, one of two things may be the result: you will try to ignore the situation until it absolutely HAS to command your attention, or you will rush to a decision so that you don't have to think about it for too long. I have a theory about why these two possible reactions are so prevalent. And here it is:
There are simply not enough moments in a teenager's day to give the appropriate attention to the notion of what he or she values. Not to mention the word itself, values, is such an abstract term that who really has to time to ponder its meaning AND the implications AND live the life of a carefree kid?

So, as a result of my theory, this blog question was born. I would like you to really let the questions I am presenting here have some time to marinate so that you can reach a deeper level of understanding.  So, as I am posting this late AND asking  you to take your time with it--your due date for this post has been moved to FRIDAY, OCTOBER 11th.

What DO you value? Please don't say things such as "friends, family, cell phone or iPod." Those things are just that--things (yes, even the people). While they have surface value, they are not what I am talking about. Why? Because, in order to get to the deeper understanding of yourself and your actual values, you have to ask yourself WHY you consider those things valuable. And then, you have to ask yourself a two-part, very fundamental question:
1)What makes you so mad you could scream? What fills you with unabashed joy?
and
2)Why do you have those reactions to what you listed?

The sum total of those answers is the amorphous notion of your values.

These are hard questions, and like all hard questions, the answers may take a while to come and you may have to write it as you're thinking about it. Please do so, because I would be willing to bet that all of us could benefit from your thought process as well as your answers.

Buena Suerte.