Maturity

“The weakling gives more evil than he gets. The weak gives an eye for an eye or the same amount. The strong gives good for evil.”

- Kevin Everett FitzMaurice

Maturity doesn’t come with age, but with awareness and understanding. It develops from an individuals perception and cognitive experience. In an individual, it develops to the extent he organizes his consciousness on the basis of his empirical experience and verification of facts and to the extent he is free from his irrational thoughts, beliefs, prejudices, ideas and emotions. To be mature does not mean to be fully grown; it’s a combinations of many things including age, awareness, intelligence, decision making ability and other factors. To be mature means:

• To be realistic–to be in touch with reality and be guided by facts
• Being responsibly of one’s self and others and to accept responsibility
• To be willing to look at  one’s beliefs, faults, prejudices, and assumptive behavior in an objective way
• To be guided by reason rather than emotions, to be able to distinguish the two and also at the same time accommodate them appropriately and intelligently in one’s life and priorities
• To be assertive without being aggressive, to be friendly without the need to get attention, to disagree without the need to compete, and to seek without the fear of failure or rejection
• To be flexible and open-minded rather than rigid and judgmental, to be amenable to new situations and receptive of new knowledge, to be willing to learn new skills and new responses
• To be inquisitive and exploratory, seeking answers to questions one does not know, gathering information before arriving at conclusions, stretching the mind to explore hidden possibilities and hidden potentialities
• To act spontaneously to an occasion or situation, free from preconceived ideas, the compulsion to be perfect or correct, habitual or mechanical reactions
• To be in touch with the present and enjoy the passing moment
• To know what is possible and achievable and to acknowledge what is not

Obviously not everyone has all those qualities and are still mature. An easy way to become more mature is just to be realistic, to challenge one’s assumptions, to be inqusitive, to understand your emotions, to decide the right way and to take it, and to also practice detachment.

Personally, the hardest one is the last. It’s hard to remove yourself from a situation you’re in to look at it in a different way and to get a different perspective on it, especially when there’s so many emotions for yourself just being in that situation.

Maturity is accepting what is, willing to change what can be and knowing what can’t be. Maturity is agreeing to be guided by reason and to be aware of one’s emotions.

“Last Texter”

I was wondering around on Urban Dictionary today and I came across the word “last texter.” I thought this was funny because I know many people who would fall under this title.

Last Texter: That friend that always sends you a meaningless text after the obvious end of a text conversation, just to get the last text. They do this while totally oblivious to their uncontrollable habit.

Ex: OMG, Jan is SUCH a last texter it drives me crazy. The other day, she sent me a text “K” back after I texted her “don’t text me, in a meeting.” So then I had to dig out my phone again to clear it so it wouldn’t keep vibrating for the rest of the meeting!

Ah, some people are so annoying.




Source:

• http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=last%20texter&defid=3661695

 

Karma

“How people treat you is their karma; how you react is yours.”

-Wayne Dyer

Karma is a law in Hinduism which maintains that every act done, no matter how insignificant, will eventually return to the doer with equal impact. Good will be returned with good;  evil with evil. Since Hindus believe in reincarnation, karma knows no simple birth/death boundaries. If good or evil befall you, it is because of something you did in this or a previous lifetime.

Karma is sometimes referred to as a “moral law of cause and effect.” Karma is both an encouragement to do good and to avoid evil, as well as an explanation for whatever good or evil befalls a person.

On one level, karma serves to explain why good things happen to bad people and bad things happen to good people. The injustices of the world, the seeming random distribution of good and evil, are only apparent. In reality, everybody is getting what he or she deserves. Even the child brutalized by drugged adults deserves the horror. The mentally ill, the retarded, the homosexuals, and the millions of Jews killed by the Nazis deserved it for evil they must have done in the past. The slave beaten to within a breath of death deserved it, if not for what he did today, but for what he did in some previous lifetime. Likewise for the rape victim; she is just getting what she deserves. All suffering is deserved, according to the law of karma.

Despite the fact that there could be no evidence for a metaphysical belief in karma, the idea of karma is popular among many in western cultures where it has become detached for its Hindu roots. The theosophists, for example, believe in karma and reincarnation. So does James Van Praagh, who claims to be a psychic conduit for all the billions of people who have died over the centuries.

“Let’s say someone kills someone…at a bank machine… It could be two things. It could be, the person who committed the crime used their free will to do that. Or this might sound weird, but ti could have been a karmic situation where that person who was murdered had to be paid back for murdering the other person in a previous incarnation.” –Amazon.com interview with James Van Praagh

Van Praagh makes it clear that he thinks it is karma, not free will, that leads people to kill one another. If Van Praagh is right, we may as well dismantle our ethical and criminal justice systems. Everybody is just play out his or her karma. Nobody is really good or evil. Nobody is really responsible for anything they do. We’re all just karmic pawns doing a dance with destiny.

Why would such an amoral principle such as karma be paraded forth as if it explained the ultimate justice of an indifferent universe? Because, says Van Praagh, “We are on this earth to learn lessons. This is our schoolroom here…We must go through certain lessons in order to grow.” According to Van Praagh, life on earth is actually life in purgatory. We are here working out our sins, evolving our souls, burning off some karma. These are the same feeble reasons given for the existence of evil in a world allegedly created by an Omnipotent, All-Good God. Van Praagh’s verion of karma is not likely to be accepted by Hindus or Buddhists. They would maintain that when a person does evil, they are acting freely. And when a person suffers evil, it is because of some evil freely done by that person in the past.

Karma is understood by Van Praagh seems to make life trivial, a mere working out of a metaphysical “law” which reduces all humans to dehumanized creatures, devoid of morality and responsibility, mere causes and effects in a pointless system. Karma does not allow that the evil which befalls you may be undeserved.

Karma is a law for sheep. We should not wonder that the shepherds advocate it. It is a law for the passive, for those who will not disturb the status quo, who will accept whatever evil is done as “natural” and inevitable. Karma is a law for slaves, for the vanquished.

Christians wonder did Adam and Eve have navels; Hindus wonder did the first beings have karma?

Source:

• http://www.skepdic.com/karma.html

*I do not claim this to be my own work. I simply re-wrote it onto this blog because I found this article to be interesting. It’s not like most articles you see on karma.

Drama

Drama. Everyone deals with it. It mostly happens among females, which is one reason I highly dislike the sex I belong to. According to www.urbandictionary.com, drama is “something women and especially teenage girls thrive on. Consisting of any number of situations that have an easy solution, which would bring a fairly good outcome, but these girls choose another, shitty, bad way to deal with it, again consisting of backstabbing, blackmailing/gossiping/betraying their friends, or the all-too-common ‘I want to break up with him but i still love him!’ It drives men and what I like to call ‘normal’ girls nuts.” Someone named Jim posted that.

I would have to say that I’m one of those “normal” girls. I don’t go out of my way to get involved in drama, never have, but somehow girls seem to focus all of their drama around me. Lovely, right? It honestly makes me think, “how boring is your life that you have to talk crap about others, along with hurting them, just because you have nothing else to do with yourself?” And what’s the point? It never solves anything.

Honestly, some people need to grow up. It’s all just a waste of time and these people could do more productive things and would probably benefit this world so much more if they got over themselves and all the little games they play. By the way, this was just a rant. It seems a girl I know has started all this drama centered around me.




Source:

• http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Drama

Statutory Rape

I’m a 17-year-old girl, who lives in Minnesota, and I happen to be having a relationship with a 22-year-old guy. We’re not public about our relationship simply because too many people around us would look down upon it, because of the age difference, and would most likely do something to prevent it.

The two of us do have sex, not just intercourse either, and we both consent to it. The only people that know about our relationship, besides the two of us and of course all who read this, is a girl who only knows that him and I have just kissed.

This past night, this girl got mad at me for being friends with her boyfriend, so she figures the only way I’ll stop talking to him and her is if she “attacks” me by accusing me of trying to get this guy I’m with in trouble. She texts me to inform me that kissing is considered statutory rape. She is sadly mistaken. And even if kissing were some form of statutory rape, I am above the age of consent in the state of Minnesota, therefore, I’m able to have a physical relationship with this guy without him getting in trouble regardless of the five year age difference. The only trouble him and I could get into is fornication, which is a misdemeanor in the state of Minnesota. I’ll explain; any single man and single woman having sexual intercourse is considered fornication. Since him and I are not technically dating, this applies to us.

I swear, some people should really learn about things before they go running their mouth about it. This is a perfect example. I also posted some things regarding statutory rape directly from the source and then listed the source for more information. Enjoy!




In accordance with the FBI definition, statutory rape is characterized as non-forcible sexual intercourse with a person who is younger than the statutory age of consent. The actual ages for these laws vary greatly from state-to-state, as do the punishments for offenders. Many states do not use the actual term “statutory rape,” simply calling it rape or unlawful sexual penetration among a variety of other titles. These laws rarely apply only to intercourse, but rather to any type of sexual contact. Dating someone without sexual contact cannot be considered a form of statutory rape, and is almost never illegal. All states have an “age of consent,” or an age at which a person can legally consent to sexual activity and can then no longer be a victim of statutory rape. Some states also have laws that take into consideration the “age difference” between both people involved. In many states, the more years there are between the adult and the minor, the more serious the offense. All states have laws with special consideration and age restrictions where a relationship involves a person of authority over a minor; this includes but is not limited to, teachers, coaches, assistant coaches, or tutors. Generally, the age of consent is 18 in these situations and the penalties for violation of these laws are more severe. These laws change, and can vary depending on other circumstances.




The following laws are the ages for sexual consent in the United States only. The age of sexual consent is the age when the law says you can agree to have sex. This means that until you reach this age, you can not legally have sex with anyone, regardless of whether or not you or your parents consent. Sometimes the law is different if you are female or male. Some states also have different ages of consent for homosexual intercourse. As with any laws, these are subject to change. If you are younger than age 18, please check these laws in the state in which you reside.

These laws exist because some teens are not mature enough to know that their actions have consequences. The law makes sure that young people are not exploited by adults.

Statutory rape is the crime committed when an adult has sexual intercourse with someone under the legal age of sexual consent. If the crime is reported (even if your partner is your boyfriend/girlfriend), that person may be arrested, tried in a court of law and sent to jail.

Age of Sexual Consent in USA
State Age Law on Same-sex Intercourse?
Alabama 16 no law on same-sex intercourse
Alaska 16 f/m, f/f, m/m intercourse
Arizona 18 no law on same-sex intercourse
Arkansas 16 no law on same-sex intercourse
California 18 f/m, f/f, m/m intercourse
Colorado 17 f/m, f/f, m/m intercourse
Connecticut 16 f/m, f/f, m/m intercourse
D.C. 16 no law on same-sex intercourse
Delaware 18 no law on same-sex intercourse
Florida 18 no law on same-sex intercourse
Georgia 16 f/m, f/f, m/m intercourse
Hawaii 16 no law on same-sex intercourse
Idaho 18 no law on same-sex intercourse
Illinois 17 f/m, f/f, m/m intercourse
Indiana 16 f/m, f/f, m/m intercourse
Iowa 16 no law on same-sex intercourse
Kansas 16 no law on same-sex intercourse
Kentucky 16 no law on same-sex intercourse
Louisiana 17 no law on same-sex intercourse
Maine 16 f/m, f/f, m/m intercourse
Maryland 16 no law on same-sex intercourse
Massachusetts 16 no law on same-sex intercourse
Michigan 16 no law on same-sex intercourse
Minnesota 16 no law on same-sex intercourse
Mississippi 16 no law on same-sex intercourse
Missouri 17 no law on same-sex intercourse
Montana 16 f/18 m 18 f/f, 18 m/m
Nebraska 17 no law on same-sex intercourse
Nevada 16 16 f/m, 18 f/f, 18 m/m intercourse
New Hampshire 16 16 f/m, 18 f/f, 18 m/m intercourse
New Jersey 16 f/m, f/f, m/m intercourse
New Mexico 17 f/m, f/f, m/m intercourse
New York 17 f/m, f/f, m/m intercourse
North Carolina 16 no law on same-sex intercourse
North Dakota 18 f/m, f/f, m/m intercourse
Ohio 16 no law on same-sex intercourse
Oklahoma 16 no law on same-sex intercourse
Oregon 18 f/m, f/f, m/m intercourse
Pennsylvania 16 f/m, f/f, m/m intercourse
Rhode Island 16 no law on same-sex intercourse
South Carolina 16 no law on same-sex intercourse
South Dakota 16 no law on same-sex intercourse
Tennessee 18 no law on same-sex intercourse
Texas 17 no law on same-sex intercourse
Utah 18 no law on same-sex intercourse
Vermont 16 no law on same-sex intercourse
Virginia 18 no law on same-sex intercourse
Washington 16 f/m, f/f, m/m intercourse
West Virginia 16 16 f/m, 18 f/f, 18 m/m
Wisconsin 18 f/m, f/f, m/m intercourse
Wyoming 16 f/18m no law on same-sex intercourse




Sources:

• http://www.sexlaws.org/what_is_statutory_rape
• http://www.livestrong.com/article/12483-age-consensual-sex/
• http://www.moraloutrage.net/staticpages/index.php?page=Minnesota