Elderly Couples

               I think that old couples are just one of the most fantastic things to see. Like, "Yay! You've made it through so much together and you are still going strong! Awesome!"  This is basically a rant of how much I love elderly couples and how amazing I thing they are! They have had kids together and then got those kids out of the house and on their own and then they got to rediscover who they are without kids, together and then grand children came along and they get the joy of playing with these kids but also get to hand them back when they are tired! They have spent the majority of their lives together and didn't give up when things got difficult! They stuck it out and came out better people for it. Old people are cool.

Active Parenting

I believe in the importance of being an involved parent. Can you name your child's friends? Or their teachers? Do you know what subject in school they enjoy the most? Or what subject they struggle in? What do they want to be when they grow up? These answers will most likely change through out the years and even though you may not see them as important now we must remember that children don't often see much farther then a week from today so it may be very important to them. Some things children view as important can in fact be very trivial and ridiculous but they will remember if you didn't cherish their stuffed tiger as much as you did.  Active parenting describes the role of a parent who is engaged with his child's development. Although this role might seem commonsensical, this term is applied to parents who want to participate in their children's lives and know what is happening with their children on a day to day basis. Being an active parent gives you the opportunity to grow closer to your children and you will be more likely to influence them in a positive manner if you show them that you love them unconditionally and care more about their well being then anything else.

Communication

     Good communication is key for any relationship at anytime to succeed. Communication happens quite literally at all times. You know when you have both headphones in and you aren't making eye contact with anyone...that is actually communicating quite a lot.  When you wave your arms like a mad person after someone cuts you off on the highway that communicates quite a bit to the scared passenger you have in the seat next to you.  A better way to communicate is just to be 110% accountable for you words. Don't say "Oh, what a great idea to buy a new tv." Not even in a sarcastic tone if you don't mean it... people will take what you say over how you say it. One of the most frustrating things someone can do is say "Do what you think is right, or good or whatever..." That isn't an answer. If they wanted to do whatever they wanted they would have! The person wants to know what you think or how you feel or maybe wants to see if you have thought of something that they haven't yet.  Be clear and honest in every interaction you have, this will leave little to no room for misinterpretations.

Fidelity.

 

        A lot of people believe that cheating begins when someone begins to act or plan on acting on their feelings with another person who is not their spouse.  I believe that it starts when a lustful thought comes into a person minds and they don't immediately stomp it out. Those thoughts slowly progress into your actions. It may be a slow process or it may be a very fast paced process but it does happen. Infidelity is a growing problem in today's marriages and all this can be prevented if you are willing to put forth a honest effort to keep those thoughts out of your mind and work on the problems in your relationship.

        How do you view dates versus dating? For me dates are going out and doing anything from hikes, picnics, seeing a movie or going out to dinner and dancing. Dating is taking the opportunity to get to know people and get involved with others around you. Some people, like a lot of people I went to school with, think that one time hanging out at someones house watching television is a date and after that 'date' they are exclusively dating and that was the pattern they followed. Dating, for me, is seeing someone exclusively and seriously considering them as a potential life companion. If you were to consider dating someone exclusively why would you do it? Do you have lots of similar interests and values? Do you deem the same things important? Don't you think you should? Why did you start liking them initially? Was it mostly physical attraction? Don't get me wrong I will definitely do a double take at those tall,dark, handsome, boys with brown eyes...those are my favorite; but is that our main motivation for wanting to date someone? What happens when you are old and looks fade? Unless you are lucky enough to get one of those people that still look fantastic even as they get older (George Clooney!), but even then, what will you do with all your time together? What do you value in a relationship and and are you willing to sacrifice and compromise for your significant other? In my opinion, in order to make a relationship work, you will have to start thinking about the other person before you think of yourself. Isn't it important to be selfless in a relationship? Wouldn't that be right up there good communication? Isn't that what you would want out of a relationship?

Boys and Girls

                 
                So today my roommate and I had our friend Saul (who is a male) over for a bit, and we really had the opportunity to see the difference between males and females. He told us when he was having issues with his roommates he would come right out and say it and if that didn't work then he would escalate things by doing what was bugging him on a bigger scale back to them, which is a little ridiculous in my opinion! Then again when we have trouble with our roommates we simply don't say anything to each other and let things fester a bit, brilliant I know. Why are boys so willing to say whatever they want without worrying about the consequences and girls always consider what everyone else is thinking and feeling and how they might respond to something? It is a little frustrating!

Are all cultures valid?

This week we spoke a bit about culture validity.According to Culture Relativism, yes. Cultural relativism is the view that all beliefs, customs, and ethics are relative to the individual within his own social context. In other words, “right” and “wrong” are culture-specific; what is considered moral in one society may be considered immoral in another, and, since no universal standard of morality exists, no one has the right to judge another society’s customs, right? Even if they believe in self-mutilation or eating cats or human sacrifice or other strange, or in our culture bad, things? 
 They are allowed to do those things because of their culture and we don't believe in interfering or stopping someone from practicing what they believe. While we cannot and should not tell other people how to live, we can share with them what we believe.  When it comes to culture we tend to see things only our way and vice versa.  While we may think that what the other is doing is crazy and makes no sense.. they may see the way we do things to be even crazier. I don't believe that there is a temporal way to answer this question, spiritually though we know differently. We will all be held to the same standard in the last days.