The Strength of Personal Power
Changing the world only takes realization of the power within.

In our world today, there is much havoc and mayhem. With the news continuously reporting incidents such as shootings and deaths, as well as the crisis on Wall Street, many people are losing their once potent optimism. The war appears to have no end. Citizens are constantly worried and stressed about the amount of money they are losing or how to feed their families in such a troubled time. So where does one look for hope in times of strife and struggle?

Many people look to the skies in the hopes that some invisible – or not so invisible – being will come down and rescue them from whatever troubles they are facing. Others place the blame on certain political leaders. Some lie awake at night puzzling over what they should be doing to make life better for themselves and the world around them. Still others take a more proactive approach and decide to deal with their problems directly. Yes, they might not be able to bring the war to an immediate stop, but they can do something and not just surrender to hopelessness.

The thing is that people do not realize they have more power than what they believe they do. There are so many people in the world that many may feel as though they are merely an insignificant speck on this planet. Whether we are thinking a single person or an entire group, people have the power to change the world. First, they simply need to believe in themselves and the personal power they carry within. Second comes the action behind the intention.

If a person can act on something they believe in, are interested in, or are passionate about, then they have more of a chance to alter the state of the world. Caring is a beginning, but requires being proactive enough to act. If we are to have change, then people need to stand up and speak out about what is important to them, whether this is politics, feeding the hungry, finding a cure for cancer, or something like creating jobs for the thousands of currently unemployed Americans. People need to see they must stand up and hold marches, make phone calls, write letters, and post signs to promote their cause, for a start. The idea of personal power is being able to stand up for oneself and say, “This is what I believe in, and I want a change.”

Without the realization of the power one personal can wield, our world will continue on its downward spiral. An example of personal power in a group is an organization such as the Susan G. Komen Foundation. This foundation was created for research and promotion of awareness of breast cancer. This group has raised over $2 billion in funds to promote awareness of breast cancer as well as for research on this devastating disease. Whether or not these people working for a cause realize their personal power, they are actually doing something to defeat breast cancer and are not merely sitting, wondering what they can do.

In the end, people need to understand that complaining will do them no good. Every action counts. Whether one donates five dollars to a cause, volunteers at the local homeless shelter, or organizes a protest, everything matters. The only way we can promote change in our world is to stand up and fight. The only question left now is what will you do with the power you hold within?

Pickles and Chocolate
By Rebecca Wallace

I’ve always had the strangest of phobias. First and foremost, I’m utterly afraid of sharks. I. Hate. Sharks. When I was about four or five, one of my sister’s friends threatened to play the Jaws theme while I was taking a bath… yeah, that still scares me, even to this day. To this day, I can manage to psych myself into a ridiculous, imaginative horror scene, usually involving a great white shark popping out of the bathroom drain and devouring me. I still have mini-panic attacks if I’m alone in water that’s too deep or too dark. See, I really do believe a fear in sharks is justified, but my fear really does spread to immense paranoia.

But as I said, a fear of sharks is almost justified; my other phobia, however, is not. My other phobia happens to be pickles.

Although I’m doing a million times better, there was once a time that I would run away from pickles. Not necessarily big, slimy, uncut pickles or even pickle wedges. I don’t like sliced pickles. There is just something about… the smell… the texture… the look… the taste that seems to permeate through my senses, even when I don’t eat them.

They’re just awful creations of God, or whatever deity you wish to blame.

During freshman year, I sat at a table with all boys. Now mind you, I really did enjoy the company of all the boys – me being the perverted, foul-mouthed, sarcastic tomboy that I am – but this one day was the ultimate example of boy-ness. I had expressed my distaste for pickles the day or week before, and the boys had fun making sexual innuendoes and cold-hearted jokes. I took it like a big girl, but I didn’t expect what would happen next. Today, my friend B made a crack, but it ended with a certain ominous pause. I looked at him, then down at his ­lap and there it was:

…a cup of sliced pickles.

The next thing I knew, all the boys revealed their own dripping, malodorous, cups of ridged doom. I leapt from the table and scrambled away in a rain of green slime. I ended up almost across the lunchroom, hiding myself next to another friend who so graciously blockaded me from the pickle storm. The boys paid dearly the next week, as I personally rained illustrious insults and never-ending nags upon their sinful little heads.

The unfortunate thing is that the some of the pickles remained on the ceiling lamp, never to be removed until almost the end of the year. I actually believe they fell off, as opposed to being scraped off by the janitor.

It is unfortunate how much the pickles remain an unrelenting symbol of my irritation. I’m not so much afraid of them anymore as I am just thoroughly annoyed. But like any female – because believe it or not, I really am female – when I’m irritated, I turn to my best friend: milk chocolate.

There is nothing like a creamy, melting, mouth-gasmic hunk of Cadbury’s milk chocolate to solve any problem. In some of the worst moments of my life, I always seemed to have a deluxe bar of goodness in hand. Family evicted? Chocolate. Bad break-up? Chocolate. Calculus being a pain? Chocolate. Unless you’re allergic, or one of the inhuman human beings that don’t like chocolate, it just makes you feel wonderful. And there are almost no consequences to “nomming” it like there are with drinking alcohol or spending days playing Sims or Halo.

So there seem to be two random pieces of food that represent my general outlook on life. A culinary duality that is the epitome of sweet and sour, yin and yang: the perfect analogy of my feelings to the three human beings that are W, J, and K.

I always hear that it is the trinity that is the beginning and end of everything. In the religion of Christianity, the trinity of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost is the ultimate. But somehow, in my experiences, the triangle was more like a quadrilateral. Actually, more than a quadrilateral, given the three-dimensional feeling of the situation – it was a box. It was not a cube, because it was not solid, but rather open and often hollow. It only seemed to be hollow because of the number of people that hopped in and out of the box… though I won’t deny the presence of hollow feelings.

They are three other people, a lot like me – intelligent, different, complicated, and utterly fascinating, to each other and to themselves. They started off a wispy triangle together, but I somehow managed to attach myself and tug everything into 90-degree angles. I was another twist in an already twisted trinity, but I felt a certain kinship to each of them.

K and I represented what each other wanted to be: I wanted to be brilliant at schoolwork and organization; K wanted to be in theater and be free-spirited. J and I had immense chemistry that made each other’s blood boil but created a motivating competition not unlike capitalism. W and I had a certain bond, being almost polar opposites in personality but connected by similar experiences and situations. These people were new and incredibly real. I had been used to the wannabe, soap opera drama that was middle school, so these people were a breath of fresh air.

It was obvious that high school drama would ensue. And it did. After a year of a budding friendship, the four of us got closer, and new feelings developed. Two of us even started dating, sparking a firestorm of jealousy and resentment. However, all of us were trying to act mature, so we hid the fire and brimstone, and continued camaraderie for another year. Three of us even left together for “special” school – basically nerd school, which was utterly fitting for us. The last one lingered behind due to the title of valedictorian, which she was not going to waste.

After a while, I had literally spent three New Years’ with two of them, the remaining person present at the last one. But after that last New Year’s, everything crumbled.

One of the guys of the group bounced away with his own love interest, though he still felt rather indignant of the rest of us. The couple in the group split, the guy falling for the other girl in the group. Nothing ever came of them, and they stopped speaking to each other. That left the dumped girl to recoil into her self and to face almost a year of questioning and self-doubt. All in all, it became somewhat of a schism.

I’ll admit it now – the dumped girl was me. Several months later, I still felt anger at the others, almost feeling left behind. What did I do? Did I do something wrong? What happened? Like the young girl I really was, I fell to self-contempt and aggression towards the others.

I really was in quite a pickle.

The four of us stayed in touch, though almost out of obligation. Whether it was through guilt, obsession, or circumstance, the four of us stuck around. We would all love to say it was because we still cared about each other, but I’m sure each of us had our own ideas as to why we stayed together. The saddest part was that the four of us never got together at the same time ever again.

Then after many months, somebody had the urge to change that. I’m going to wave my arms now ridiculously, and tell you straight up that it was me. K had been considering it a lot lately, but was too afraid to set it up. W never spoke about it, but showed interest when I brought it up. J was indifferent, but didn’t mind the idea.

I made the phone calls, and for the first time, we were together again. It was officially one of the sweetest moments I’ve had in my life. We hung out at our old school, revisiting old hang-out spots, seeing old friends (it was homecoming). We talked about some of the most mediocre topics, laughed at some of the most ridiculous things… and somehow, there was a sense of completion.

There is only one picture of us, and it was taken on this day. After about three years of friendship, there is only one picture. It is my background on my computer, and I will frame it with the best frame I can find at Wal-Mart, as soon as I can afford it. I look at it now, and I can’t help but realize something.

I hate them.

But I adore them, and I adore every memory I have with them. Not including the B-movie horror flick that is my family life, never have I loved and hated people before in my life. They have been both the bees in my bum and the candy scents I spray myself with everyday. I have sour, disgusting memories, and I have sweet, tender memories.

They are the pickles and chocolate in my life so far. Not pickle juice-drenched chocolate or chocolate-covered pickles. Pickles and Chocolate. As I think of them, for however long I care to remember them, I’ll complain about the bad times. I’ll complain at who did this, who said that, who typed what in that one Instant Message session. But I’m going to remember how delicious it was, and how much I smiled when things felt right.

I’ve always had a bigger sweet tooth, anyway.

            Need help with getting a girl’s phone number without making a stupid mistake nor facing embarrassment? Congratulations, this directional process will help! Asking a girl for her phone number may appear as an easy task, however; at times it’s the most difficult result to achieve. Surprisingly, this practice consists of easy steps that can be followed by anyone: It’s as  simple as one, two, and three! The process of getting a girl’s phone number consists of three straightforward procedures: prepare, introduce, and interact.

            Before a gentleman asks for a girl’s phone number, he must go through the first major step which, consists of preparation. This prepares a gentleman to give make his first impression. First of all, a young man should cleanse himself. This should include taking a shower, washing his face, brushing his teeth, combing his hair, and applying deodorant. Girls like gentleman who properly sanitize themselves; under no circumstances should a gentleman present himself to a girl if he is not well groomed. Next, a gentleman should clothe himself appropriately. Girls appreciate a gentleman whose attire consists of “fly” objects; they dislike tedious and dull clothing. “Fly” objects are popular name brand clothing and/or shoes that signify lots of attention. This may include stylish name brands such as Nike, Rocawear, or Jordan. Last but not least, a gentleman should add a scent of cologne to his body. He should add one spray each to his neck, left arm, right arm, chest, and stomach. Furthermore, girls love gentleman who have a sweet and manly scent; it’s a major stipulation for them.

            After completing the first step of preparation, comes the second major step, which pertains to introducing himself. First, the gentleman must wisely choose an opportune moment to meet a girl. The proper time may occur at any moment. For example, it may take place between classes, in the coffee shop, during a lunch break, after school, or during a social outing. Second, the young man must stand tall and approach the girl in a calm manner. He should not lean forward nor backwards when he looms toward her; this will seem awkward. Third, he should smile and make eye contact with the girl. Failure to make eye contact and/or smile shows the girl that he lacks self-confidence or that he doesn’t have interest in her. Fourth, the gentleman should greet the girl with “hey” or “hi” and he also should state his first and last name. In return, the girl should state her name immediately, but if she doesn’t state her first and last name then the young man should politely ask for it. Lastly, he should state his pleasure in meeting her; in addition, he should state that he will like to learn more about the girl in the future.

 Now that the preparation and introduction stages are complete, one final stage remains: interaction. In this step background information on the girl’s personality must be researched. First, the gentleman should begin to socialize with a girl, generally by getting to know her.  He should ask brief questions; however, the subjects should consist of basic topics and not contain complex inquiries.  For example, he may ask basic questions concerning favorite hobbies, best friends, favorite colors, extracurricular activities, or favorite television shows. Next, he should begin to “spit game” at the girl. To “spit game”, consists of a gentleman socializing with a girl in a flirty manner. When a young man  “spits game”, he causes a girl to laugh and enjoy his company. This illustrates to the girl that the gentleman is fun and outgoing; furthermore, it quickly grabs the attention of a girl. Later, the gentleman should tell the girl that he enjoys her company and that he will like to speak with her outside of school. At this time, a girl should start having feelings for him and also begin to like him. Lastly, the gentleman should remove either a piece of paper and pencil or a cell phone from his pocket and ask the girl for her phone number.  He should copy her phone digits to his contact list or phone book.

Haven’t you read the perfect process to get a girls phone number? This procedure actually works and it’s no easier way to accomplish this task. This amazing process helps and it has a higher percentage of success than books that are written for dummies! If any typical man who follows these basic procedures may inherit fortune. In order for a gentleman to get a girl’s phone number he must prepare, introduce, and interact.