TOW 24

Based off of my IRB, How to Live, I am going to discuss my own perspective on how one should live their life. Living involves three general principles, they can be applied to most decisions but also disregarded, whenever one so desires.

First, realize that we all will die eventually...and then decide to live anyway. This realization should be applied to every action you do. Never think yourself better than anyone else because in the end, we all share the same fate. Knowing you will die eventually, go out and try to reach what you want. Don't waste your days sitting in the house while the sun smiles outside. Run, jump, play, sing, scream, cry-- anything is better than wasting time.

Second, spend your time wisely. Figure out what it is that you want. Find yourself in the process of achieving your dreams. Make some good friends and some good memories on the way. If you live your dream, the benefits that result will astound you. Don't search for companions, relationships, soul-mates. Work on yourself, for yourself, and the rest will fall into place.

Third, live and let live. Although this is a common saying, do we really know what it means? Once you recognize and accept the two facts listed above, you must acknowledge that these principles will mean different things to different people and will therefore be applied in different ways. Do what is best for you and don't force your opinions onto other people's ways of living. Live and let live. Love and don't ask for anything in return. Don't foster hatred, arrogance, or anger-- they will eat you up and waste your time (the most deadly offense), taking away from the time you have to achieve the ultimate goal: happiness.

Deep down, we all want the same thing. We all want to live before we die. We all want to live out our dreams and be so scarily, amazingly happy while we do it. So, in order to do these things, we have to adhere to the above principles and by following these rules, we will liberate ourselves to live the life we should be living.

TOW 23

     I just had ACL Reconstruction surgery and my brother almost had to have shoulder surgery. In this age, as more and more pressure is put on getting a college education, I have noticed many kids specializing in sports much earlier so that they will have a greater chance of being recruited by colleges. The effect of this is a whole lot of injuries from repeatedly overusing the same muscles. Baseball, specifically, is injuring too many young players.
     Baseball is America's national sport. It embodies the truest and best elements of American culture: food, people, yelling, and more food. However, this great sport has been a detriment to many young players. A study conducted by the American Journal of Sports Medicine found that from 2007 to 2011, about 57 percent of Tommy John surgeries were performed on 15-19 year olds. The teen years are often the ones where student-athletes really focus on one sport and play it all year round. A result of this is a decreased emphasis on resting muscles, and specifically, resting arms. This leads to increased injuries of shoulders and elbows, taking the joy out of the great American game of baseball. A common mindset when dieting is "everything is okay in moderation." This should be applied to everything in life, not just sugary treats. Relationships, homework, food-- even baseball.

TOW 22- visual

     I recently received my driver's license. Upon passing the test, my parents sat me down and gave me a lecture about safety while driving. I was reminded of the rules of the road and the statistics about crash rates of teenage drivers. A recent emphasis has been put on "No texting and driving," as well as "No drinking and driving" campaigns. A recent BMW-endorsed ad focused on the latter. Employing deductive reasoning, this ad effectively communicated that drinking and driving could have more dire effects than a simple DUI.
     The unstated major premise is that people who drink and drive often crash. Then, as supplied by the image, a minor premise is that the result of a crash can be a serious injury, maybe even the loss of an extremity. Another minor premise is that the parts needed to replace these extremities are not nearly as good as the "real thing." Yet another is that people would prefer to have a fully-functioning and intact body. The ad communicates all of these premises in order to come to the conclusion that if you want all of these things, you shouldn't drink and drive. The logical order of the argument effectively communicates and proves the ad's message. Also, to go one step further, because the BMW logo is on the bottom, proving that BMW supports this message, it may persuade some people to shop for BMW cars because it shows that BMW cares. This subtle appeal to pathos will leave BMW in the back of consumers' minds so that when they do shop for a new car, maybe they will consider shopping at BMW.