Work: Privilege or Punishment?

“For me life is continuously being hungry. The meaning of life is not simply to exist, to survive, but to move ahead, to go up, to achieve, to conquer.”

-Arnold Schwarzenegger

Most of us were forced to sweep the floor or do the dishes when we did something bad in the eyes of our parents. We were taught that work is punishment. Arnold Schwarzenegger learned the complete opposite. At age five, Arnold was required to complete two sets of five push ups before receiving his breakfast. He was instilled the idea of work being a privilege.

Throughout his life, Arnold accomplished pretty much everything he set out to achieve:

  • Arnold Immigrated to America (People said he could not move to America)
  • Arnold moved to California (He had dreamed of living in California)
  • Arnold became the #1 bodybuilder of all time by age 25 (Worked out 6 hours a day)
  • Arnold became a millionaire (He taught himself about real estate and investing)
  • Arnold became the #1 actor in the world (People said his name and accent would not allow him a career in acting)
  • Arnold was elected Governor of California (5-10 hours a day teaching himself politics)

Arnold, from the age of five, learned that work offers reward. He accomplished five majo life goals; these goals aren’t even dreamed of by some people because they are so prestigious and require so much work. Arnold lived to compete, not just to survive.

Today’s lesson: Work is a privilege as long as it leads to something you love.

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Too Many Voices

“There are, it may be, so many kinds of voices in the world, and none of them is without signification.”

-1 Corinthians 14:10

My most recent piece consisted of a possible reason for the decline in religious worship in America. This reason was the absence of firm truth and doctrine within some churches.

Today, my church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, started our semi-annual General Conference. General Conference has sessions on Saturday and Sunday where our church leaders speak to members across the world. I was only able to watch one of today’s sessions and “strangely” enough, the words spoken in this session were related to my last post. Here are some of the words and ideas spoken in today’s last session of General Conference.

While majority of my readers are not of my exact faith, I do know that many of my readers believe in the Bible (King James Version). 1 Corinthians 14:10 states that there are many voices in the world. Scripture is applicable to all cultures, all time periods, and all locations.

We live in an age in which the adversary is committed to our failure. Satan is relentless in his work; we must also be relentless in ours. We must realize that God’s commandments are not obstacles to our happiness; rather, they are the complete opposite. Following God’s commandments is as difficult as it has ever been. In today’s world we have seen a plague in abortion, drugs, alcohol, pornography, etc. All of these are promoted in everyday life as they serve as a voice for satan. As stated in 1 Corinthians, each and every voice will have a level in significance. In other words, each voice will seem relevant to an extent.

As a teenager I know that many are influenced by social media, teachers, friends, parents, celebrities, and others. It is challenging to decide which voices we are to follow. The first step is to acknowledge that the adversary is present, and that we will be tempted to do things that are immoral. Then, we must simply strive to better.

No matter which church you attend, or even if you do not attend church at all, it is important to remember that we must evaluate our sources and decide for ourselves whether we think they are reliable or not. Do not take another person’s word for it because, they are not you. As individuals, we have the luxury of free agency; we can hear what we want to hear and think what we want to think. The key however, is to know when you are hearing the truth.

This is a complicated subject and I would like to ask that my readers do not assume any part of my beliefs. If you have any questions or thoughts PLEASE contact me. I would love to discuss this more and clear things up if I can.

-Drew

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Religion in America

“Religion is part of the human make-up. It’s also part of our cultural and intellectual history. Religion was our first attempt at literature, the texts, our first attempt at cosmology, making sense of where we are in the universe, our first attempt at health care, believing in faith healing, our first attempt at philosophy.”

-Christopher Hitchens

America is seeing a decline in church attendance and in the amount of faith being displayed. There were 30 catholic churches closed in New York; there were also 200,000 Baptists lost as of 2014! These numbers and incidents are just a few examples of secularity. Frankly, it is sad. The reasons for the loss of faith are a lot more complicated then one might think; as are the solutions.

Are people leaving the churches, or are the churches leaving the people? 

Is it possible that the reason people are leaving their churches is because of an absence of firm truth? The people want a faith that will stand and abide by their beliefs; not a church that is going to alter doctrine according to what is popular at that time.

By no means am I saying that the Catholic or Baptist churches are changing their doctrine, resulting in their current decline. What I am saying is that holistically, churches may be trying to preach according to what they think the people will like; when in reality, the people look at what is being preached as unstable and untrustworthy word.This is more of an underlining reason for the decline in faith.

The more overt reason would be the uprise in modern atheism. Many have turned to science believing that it disproves the existence of God. Others claim that they do not need God in order to succeed. This subject matter will remain to be heavily studies as Religion is one of the biggest factors in America.

If you have any thoughts please leave a comment!

Wish you well,

-Drew

 

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Leave Nothing but Footprints

“Man did not weave the web of life, he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself.
All things share the same breath – the beast, the tree, the man… the air shares its spirit with all the life it supports.
Take only memories, leave nothing but footprints.”

-Chief Seattle

The city of Seattle is named after Chief Seattle, a prominent figure, who has been attributed a speech speaking in favor of ecological responsibility and respect for Native American’s land. This quotation was presented to my english class as we were assigned to respond to these words. The responses from my classmates were eye-opening as we all had valid points. Some alluded to the concept that everything is connected, which is something I believe to the be true. Everything that occurs in our world has a never-ending ripple effect. Other classmates reflected on the idea that we should only take memories, and only leave footprints. They said that we should take what we learn and use it to make an impact on the world.

Quotations from historical figures like Chief Seattle can offer valuable insight. Hopefully after reading this quote, you feel the motivation to leave a legacy as well as appreciating every man, women, plant, and animal along the way. Stay tuned for more quotes, books, sports, ideas, and more!

Wish you the best,

-Drew

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Give Back. Give Hope.

Tonight my family and I had a nice dinner at Chili’s in Lenwood, California.There were cops, in uniform, running around the restaurant serving food, filling drinks, and bussing tables. The reason why Barstow Police Department decided to help out tonight was to help raise donations for the St. Jude Children’s Hospital. The envelope shown above was where many guests made generous donations for the hospital conducting research to “tackle” cancer. Yes, that’s right; it was the NFL’s 2015-2016 season kickoff tonight as well.

The night was jam packed with cops assisting in any way they could, many guests contributing to the fight against cancer, and football fans having a blast!

I wish you the best,

-Drew

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College Football: Week One

Football fans were in Heaven yesterday as the 2015-2016 college football season began. Saturday revealed some Heisman hopefuls, some possible busts, and couple of teams looking to prove the critics wrong.

Josh Rosen, the Quarterback for UCLA, did not fail to impress throwing for 351 yards and 3 touchdowns. Many sports analysts even compared Rosen’s debut to Jamies Winston’s first start ever. The Bruin’s roster is full of playmakers who are looking to make their way into the playoffs.

BYU managed to pull off the last second hail mary win over Nebraska. Unranked Northwestern upset No. 21 Stanford. Oregon’s high flying offense put up 61 points (Although to a not so good Eastern Washington Eagles).

The bottom line is that yesterday was jam packed with action; too much to fit into one post. It feels good to turn on the T.V. and see football taking over!

Have a good Sunday everybody,

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Being Proactive

“In fact, our most difficult experiences become the crucibles that forge our character and develop the internal powers, the freedom to handle difficult circumstances in the future and to inspire others to do so as well.”

-Stephen R. Covey

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People is a well respected book. Although being published over 25 years ago, the book’s content remains to be the focal point of schools, businesses, and families. I recommend this book to everyone!

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Introduction

Hello everyone,

I am Andrew Espinoza, although most refer to me as ‘Drew’, and I am very excited to begin my first blog.

I am an athlete, a junior in high school, and love spending time with friends and family. I love to play football, which I am currently playing right now, and basketball. I am also a drummer in the Barstow Aztec Marching band and Wind Ensemble. I have maintained a 4.0 GPA my entire life, and have been taking college courses at Barstow community college since 8th grade as I love to read and learn.

My posts will consist of a variety of topics such as the books I read, professional sports, my athletics, politics, celebrities, television and probably much more.

Stay tuned!

-Drew

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