Driving

Today, I was supposed to go down to get my drivers permit. But after further reading, I realized that I am ineligible because of the fact that I haven't had an official driving course, which is quite annoying, especially since the permit test is a written test. Although I do believe in setting people up for success, this approach sets up a small group of people up for success; therefore, the rest are set up for failure.

Instead, it might be better we only provided resources to the people that take an active part in learning to drive, instead of those just skating by to get their license. That will help put more responsible drivers on the road, as well as put people that need to be on the road driving.

Going kind of back to my previous post about measurements, the state shouldn't say that when you're 15 years, 6 months old that you will become an instantly safe driver. Because any person can be a good or bad driver, and age is an inaccurate measurement of that.

To solve this, the state should give the drivers license test to anyone, regardless of age or previous driving experience (of course we still should have things like vision tests and background checks), because if a person is a plenty good driver, does it matter their age or driving experience? I don't really see why we should hold these drivers back and other drivers with less skill be on the road with more qualification.

How to Make the World Better

Well, while I'm on a roll here, I've been thinking of some things that we should all have more of. Of course there are all counterparts of things that we really need less of. Make sure that when you read the list, make note of the things that you do right too, because then you can see how to make the world around us better.

-More hugs, less drugs.
-More family room, less bedroom.
-More understanding, less violence.
-More designing, less pirating.
-More chess, less video games.
-More doors, less locks.
-More photography, less pornography.
-More friendships, less boundaries.
-More culture, less racism.
-More moments, less possessions.
-More love, less hate.
-More welcoming, less bitter.
-More suggestions, less arguments.
-More forgiveness, less grudges.
-More smiles, less apathy.
-More truth, less lies.
-More empathy, less pickup lines.
-More hikes, less television.
-More contribution, less vandalism.
-More discussion, less arrogance.
-More information, less celebrities.
-More appreciation, less taking things for granted.
-More radio, less iPod.
-More ethics, less profit.
-More cooperation, less greediness.
-More team, less I.
-More genres, less repeat-song.
-More abstinence, less sex.
-More trust, less secrets.
-More hanging out, less MySpace.
-More phone calls, less texting.
-More today, less procrastination.

Every one of us has at least a handful of these things on the list that we're already doing, at that's great, because everything on the less side makes us feel 'better' about ourselves, and I've been in both places and I'd have to say that the more column is by far true happiness. You want to be happier right now? Try the less side. You want to be happy for a long time, make friends and be seen as a good person? Try the more.

Yay! I'm back!

Hello, I haven't posted in a while, and that's my fault. I guess that I was confused about a lot of things, and the worst part is that I didn't even think that I was confused. As John Locke from LOST said "Insane people think that they're becoming sane", and I realize how that applies here.

But I'm glad that I went through this phase, it helped me realize when there is a problem in my life. We can't all learn the easy way, and sometimes it just is better to learn from bad experiences, it is what makes us appreciate the better moments more.

Hopefully, some of you are interested in what actually happened. For the most part, it was my just plain crappy attitude. It all started when this year, a lot of good things started happening. I got a job, I made the top band in the state, I made Varsity tennis, I got worlds better at programming, and a lot of things just worked out. And its these things that get us off the most, because we can draw conclusions from this that lead us to think things that aren't true.

When these good things happen, there is an overwhelming feeling of "I did something well," which makes us feel good, and is great for optimism, but we can focus too much on the "I" part than the "something well". And that can lead to arrogance.

Arrogance is an interesting thing because a lot of the time, you can be arrogant about something that you did that deserves credit. And we can get stuck on this, and when people mention your arrogance, you can just think to yourself that you have the right to be arrogant, which belongs to nobody. Its just something that we can all be so much better about.

And wow, what a great life everyone has today. This sounds so cliche, but its true. It is so true. We have so much to experience, so many people to meet, people to love, people to forgive, people to thank, people to help, that it makes every part about our lives just great.

And we can all take something from this. Arrogance is such an awful thing to have going around, because it feeds itself. Instead we need to be optimistic about ourselves and appreciative instead of pessimistic and expectant. Because that's what makes people truly happy; it makes people around us happy.

I just hope that everyone can see how we can see less of ourselves and see our friends, the ones that have stayed with us, the people that forgive us, the people that put up with you every day of your life, the people that are so great for us to have in our lives, and to never see ourselves above any of these people, because there is so much more to our lives than just us. So much more.