Advice to 13 year old girls

My advice for thirteen year old girls, The most important thing to remember is to work hard and study in school, because working hard now is how you can make sure that your future is full of good opportunities. You also can ask your parents for help and follow their advise because they lived long lives and know what is better for you at this age.

 It is important to have good friends that you can trust and who can help you and give you advice if you need them to.

 It is important not to waste your free time and to use it wisely , you can read literature, play music, or even go to the cinema with your friends. You should help you community and family by volunteering or helping your relatives. I used to help the lonely elderly people with cooking and cleaning.  Make the right decisions and choices. You can learn from and teach your siblings.

 When I was in grade eight or nine I used to volunteer and help the younger grades put on and prepare performances for their friends and family. I helped teach them stories, poems and songs and even some plays.

Purpose Driven: Notes to my 13 year old Self.

By Amalia Tauber

This video was made in the blogging class with myself, some students and Mariette.   It came from the conversation I had with one of the young students about what I would tell my younger self.

The transcript, I started below, as well

The first  thing I  would tell myself at 13 is to study... not just for professional life but for learning about LIFE... about mankind, about how things came to be and where they could go.

In 1939 the war started, with that my life changed.  And my perspective about life was completely different then.

Before those days I knew there were rich people and poor people, people who would like to achieve thinking that they couldn't achieve in life but that life could be so hard and people could regress to acting like savages, that was something completely new to me.

War can change everybody.  BUT it is not just the war but it was the things that led up to the war... it was the unfinished work that lead up to the war, the treaties, the fallout from WW1 and the economic pressures, the changes in the country lines and the economic pressures that followed after the first ww - the consequences... in particular what happened in Germany.

How the National Socialist Party could take hold there was because the economic situation was so bad there.  There was inflation and unemployment.

If you know how people came to their circumstances, how they came to live you can understand and anticipate the future.   You can only do this if you LEARN about history, human behaviour, and life situations.  You can learn in many ways

You can learn from experience, from other in your surrounding and life, and you can learn from books and other resources.

Learning from life experience for me meant living in a concentration camp.   I was a teenager, I didn't anticipate this kind of cruelty and horror in what I and many other experienced.

You need to know what is happening in the world and if you want to change it you need to fight for better conditions for living, not just for yourself but for all people.

There are many distractions, especially now, for a young person.  There are many ways to get knocked of a helpful path.  Our cultures encourages us to be shallow.   I am not saying don't enjoy your life but a young person needs to have ideals, a purpose.  You may not know your purpose exactly, but if you read and you explore the failures of humanity through learning, (not through personal experience, I hope for you) and you can find your way to your purpose.  I

Its very important for younger people to go on the path of ideals, it is much harder to find as you get old.  When you are young you are more enthusiast and believe more in the goodness of others.  As you age you can become more cynical, so to capture you ideals and enthusiasm and hold onto it as you grow.

After all I have been through, and it has been much, I still believe in the goodness of mankind.  There are more good people than bad.

What would you tell yourself, leave it in the comments below

Gratitude: How to Recieve.

By Bob Peterson

Amalia's lovely story of Westjet kindness reminded me of blessings I received a few weeks ago.  Friends from Vancouver Island had visited me over the holiday and their daughter, Teresa, at some point in our conversation had heard me tell my friends about difficulties I have with my computer and a recently purchased Ipad. I can now remember Theresa saying "my husband Tom can help you and I'll have him contact you".

Friday Jan 3, 2014 was a cold day, and I knew that I would have to brush the snow off my car so I could drive to my 9:45 ultra sound appointment. At breakfast my table mate Phil said he would brush the snow off the car for me. I knew that would be a real plus for me. Then when I returned to my room, a call came in from Theresa asking what I was doing that day, and when I told her, she said "Tom & I will drive you to your appointment, & we’ll wait for you and bring you back to your seniors residence, and then Tom will help you with your computer while I go and pick up food for lunch.  I was delighted, and things went as planned. 

Tom & Theresa were both a great help to me. Before leaving, Theresa said "We’ll also shovel the snow from both sides of your car so you'll be able to drive out of the parking lot easier".   They were cheerful, encouraging and just bubbling with kindness.  

As we age, our pace slows down and we require more time to complete our tasks.  When faced with our limitations it is often difficult to remember to be grateful for the support or help that often comes from the most unexpected sources. The help I received was a wonderful act of kindness, and it reminded me that there have been many times when I have just taken these things so much for granted.   Amalia's story is another example of a situation that will remind me to focus on being grateful for the many blessings I receive, to be thankful & appreciate each day the Lord gives me, and not to focus so much on my difficulties & losses.

Blogging & Seniors: How did that Happen?

How have we changed?

Mariette Sluyter

We thought we would take a moment to share with you how this project has changed folks.   I would like to provide some perspective and then Bob will take over and share the changes he has seen.   Our group came together with a mix of hesitant interest and skepticism.   When I told folks that I believed people would be interested in their stories they hardly believed me. As the post grew and our team saw the stats they started to understand that maybe, just maybe younger people were interested in what they had to say.  Over 2000 individual blog views in just 3 months has reassured them that their voice is welcomed in the blogosphere.

Now, about half of our team came on board having little or no computer skills whatsoever, and no experience blogging at all.  Through a process of in class lessons, peer tutoring and online cheerleading and support all of our group have gained the necessary computer skills, have started honing their storytelling capacities and are transitioning to moderating the blog themselves. 

As for myself I have been thrilled to see how quickly this team from 66 - 87 have taken to their individual roles as needed.  Moving from tutor to student to cheerleader they are willing to do whatever it takes to support each other.   It is moving to watch people continue to push and learn a very challenging skill in their lives at a time when many would be choosing to not participate.   Thank you Bubbies & Zaidas for reminding me to always keep learning.

Now for Bob's perspective on the changes he has seen in our group.

How Blogging Has Affected People in the Class

By

Bob Peterson

1) It has allowed seniors an opportunity to reflect on topics presented by our instructor and encouraged seniors to share how their own lives were lived or shaped dealing with that particular situation.

2) Recently Blogging web site contacts have chose to make comments about the seniors stories, and we have instantly become part of a much greater community.

 3) It is interesting to read about the paths that others have walked before us and it broadens our knowledge of history that was often overlooked in earlier times.

4) Blogging has encouraged us to learn computer skills which have opened up so many opportunities for us to access information instantly




5) it has made us realize how mind boggling technology has been progressing from year to year, and we wonder what the possibilities are waiting for us in the future.