Life Lessons @ MindSay 
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*Oskar: He was more than a number.
I only met *Oskar once, but the impact he made on my life was profound. I don't even know if his name was really Oskar, but I decided to name him Oskar because I think it's a kind name. My great-grandfather was named Oscar and Oskar seemed very nice and grandfatherly.
I may have been around five or six years old when I met Oskar at the doctor's office. I can't remember why I was there, but more than likely it was because of tonsillitis since I seemed to get it every year until I was about twelve. That day I remember there were a lot of people in the waiting room and Oskar was sitting across from my mother and me. He seemed to be impressed by my vocabulary and language skills and told my mother that he thought I was a very bright girl. He continued to ask me the general questions that adults ask kids when they are chatting with them and he was pleased when I told him that I liked school and I wanted to be an astronaut.
As we were talking I noticed that he had numbers tattooed on his forearm. I'd seen tattoos before -- my Pa-pa James had a tattoo of a naked lady on his bicep (he was in the merchant marines), but I never seen anyone with numbers on their arm. When I asked him why he had a tattoo of numbers on his arm, he smiled and said something like, "It's a long, ugly story that I'm sure you'll hear about someday when you are older. Right now, you just concentrate on being a good girl and making good grades, yes?" I nodded. I remember that for some reason I really liked his accent.
He got called in to see the doctor and eventually I did, too. I left the office and never saw him again.
I may have been around five or six years old when I met Oskar at the doctor's office. I can't remember why I was there, but more than likely it was because of tonsillitis since I seemed to get it every year until I was about twelve. That day I remember there were a lot of people in the waiting room and Oskar was sitting across from my mother and me. He seemed to be impressed by my vocabulary and language skills and told my mother that he thought I was a very bright girl. He continued to ask me the general questions that adults ask kids when they are chatting with them and he was pleased when I told him that I liked school and I wanted to be an astronaut.
As we were talking I noticed that he had numbers tattooed on his forearm. I'd seen tattoos before -- my Pa-pa James had a tattoo of a naked lady on his bicep (he was in the merchant marines), but I never seen anyone with numbers on their arm. When I asked him why he had a tattoo of numbers on his arm, he smiled and said something like, "It's a long, ugly story that I'm sure you'll hear about someday when you are older. Right now, you just concentrate on being a good girl and making good grades, yes?" I nodded. I remember that for some reason I really liked his accent.
He got called in to see the doctor and eventually I did, too. I left the office and never saw him again.
*******
In seventh grade I had a really great history teacher named Mrs. Sullivan. During the course of our discussion of World War II, she was really animated and you could tell that she really liked teaching this part of history. One day when we walked into class she had the film projector set up. Now, whenever we saw the film projector we prayed it was a film that was long enough for us not to do any work. We saw it as goof off time. What twelve year old wouldn't? However, there was no goofing off while watching this film, it was actual footage of Nazi concentration camps filmed by Allied Forces. Some of the footage was actually retrieved from some of the Nazis' own private film collection. It was absolutely horrific! There was no editing out the gory parts or anything. Of course this was back in the days when "experts" didn't interfere with the school system so students were allowed to learn about the horrors of real life and not the watered down version they're fed today. The anti-drug film we saw in sixth grade called "Dead is Dead" was banned by the school board for being to graphic. *rolls eyes*.
Anyway, as I saw the skeletal men and women in black and white striped uniforms, I noticed the numbers tattooed on their forearms. I remember my entire body went numb. I immediately thought of Oskar. I couldn't believe that nice man I met experienced such horror. I managed to make it through class without wigging out, but when I got home I went into my room and bawled my eyes out. I couldn't sleep for a week without seeing his face and the faces of the other people I saw in the film. Did Oskar face that type of cruelty? Was he my age when he was in the concentration camp? Did his family make it out? I was truly traumatized. I don't think it was the footage, although very disturbing, that caused this reaction. I think that it was the fact that I connected that horror to an actual human being -- a very nice man who was probably the same age I was at the time when he was in a concentration camp.
Because of Oskar, I have the hardest time watching movies or reading books about the Holocaust. It took me a while to get the image of the girl in the red coat out of my head after I saw Schindler's List. I wouldn't read or watch Sophie's Choice and I just can't bring myself to watch The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. I have watched movies about slavery and segregation that have pissed me off royally, but they never invoke the type of reaction I get whenever I see things about the Holocaust. Isn't it amazing how a total stranger can have such a impact in our lives? Oskar, wherever you are, you are more than just a number!
Anyway, as I saw the skeletal men and women in black and white striped uniforms, I noticed the numbers tattooed on their forearms. I remember my entire body went numb. I immediately thought of Oskar. I couldn't believe that nice man I met experienced such horror. I managed to make it through class without wigging out, but when I got home I went into my room and bawled my eyes out. I couldn't sleep for a week without seeing his face and the faces of the other people I saw in the film. Did Oskar face that type of cruelty? Was he my age when he was in the concentration camp? Did his family make it out? I was truly traumatized. I don't think it was the footage, although very disturbing, that caused this reaction. I think that it was the fact that I connected that horror to an actual human being -- a very nice man who was probably the same age I was at the time when he was in a concentration camp.
Because of Oskar, I have the hardest time watching movies or reading books about the Holocaust. It took me a while to get the image of the girl in the red coat out of my head after I saw Schindler's List. I wouldn't read or watch Sophie's Choice and I just can't bring myself to watch The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. I have watched movies about slavery and segregation that have pissed me off royally, but they never invoke the type of reaction I get whenever I see things about the Holocaust. Isn't it amazing how a total stranger can have such a impact in our lives? Oskar, wherever you are, you are more than just a number!
People Who Have Come and Gone in My Life, but Have Made an Impact
I decided to post about lessons I've learned from people who made an impact on how I see the world and myself. For the most part these people are people who I see as "lessons and experiences". Most of them are people with whom I no longer have contact, but who made me see life in a different way.
I truly believe that most people I have met, whether they've been friends or enemies, were sent into my life for a reason. It may not seem like it at first, but hindsight is 20/20. After some time, if you are introspective enough, you'll find that they made little ripples in the ponds of your self awareness and your world view.
I truly believe that most people I have met, whether they've been friends or enemies, were sent into my life for a reason. It may not seem like it at first, but hindsight is 20/20. After some time, if you are introspective enough, you'll find that they made little ripples in the ponds of your self awareness and your world view.
living life to the fullest
When I was 5 years old, my
mom always told me that
happiness was the key to life.
When I went to school, they
asked me what I wanted to
be when I grew up.
I wrote down "happy."
They told me I didn't
understand the assignment
and I told them they didn't
understand life.
The amount of money spent
on anything you try to do
in no way can be correlated
to how much fun a person can have.
This realization of this in
its self is one of the best
or most important lessons
in life one can have.
When I was 5 years old, my
mom always told me that
happiness was the key to life.
When I went to school, they
asked me what I wanted to
be when I grew up.
I wrote down "happy."
They told me I didn't
understand the assignment
and I told them they didn't
understand life.
The amount of money spent
on anything you try to do
in no way can be correlated
to how much fun a person can have.
This realization of this in
its self is one of the best
or most important lessons
in life one can have.
If I was going to be alive, then I might as well be incredible.
There will be moments where you break. There will be moments where you fall apart, where you struggle to find the pieces, where you gasp as your lungs search for air on the darkest, coldest nights. There will be times when you scream "no more, no more!" and you feel as if you cannot take one more step forward. There have been these times before, and there will be these times again.
But no matter how much pain you endure, no matter how many tears you have shed or how much your heart literally cries out with sorrow, it will not last.
You will rise above. You will learn, you will grow, you will change. You will slowly evolve into the person the universe always intended you to be. And you will be better than you had ever before imagined yourself.
Get to know everyone around you, embrace conversation.
Explore words; shout them, sing them, whisper them, but mostly use them.
Forgive those that hurt you the most, for they are the ones who you love the most.
Burn bridges that need to be burnt; leave behind people that treat you badly.
Never go to bed angry.
Don't take tomorrow for granted, work for your dreams today.
Face your fears head on, you'll be stronger because of it.
Give your heart away, in small pieces, in huge chunks, as a whole.
Don't over think things. Chances are, you'll miss out on something.
Take the opportunity to say goodbye when it comes, you might not get a second chance.
Capture the little moments any way you can. When you look back, they'll be your best.
If you're going to cry, cry. Don't go halfway with it; let it out full force.
Be the leader of your own life, never follow the path someone else wants for you.
Dance when the opportunity arises, blast the music every chance you get.
Get silly.
Admit when you're wrong, but stop apologizing for something you didn't ever do.
If you say it, better be capable of backing up what you say, every time.
Time machines don't exist. It's normal to regret things once in awhile, but deal with it and move on.
"i hope you live a life that you're proud of, and if you find that you're not, i hope you have the strength to start all over again."
There will be moments where you break. There will be moments where you fall apart, where you struggle to find the pieces, where you gasp as your lungs search for air on the darkest, coldest nights. There will be times when you scream "no more, no more!" and you feel as if you cannot take one more step forward. There have been these times before, and there will be these times again.
But no matter how much pain you endure, no matter how many tears you have shed or how much your heart literally cries out with sorrow, it will not last.
You will rise above. You will learn, you will grow, you will change. You will slowly evolve into the person the universe always intended you to be. And you will be better than you had ever before imagined yourself.
Get to know everyone around you, embrace conversation.
Explore words; shout them, sing them, whisper them, but mostly use them.
Forgive those that hurt you the most, for they are the ones who you love the most.
Burn bridges that need to be burnt; leave behind people that treat you badly.
Never go to bed angry.
Don't take tomorrow for granted, work for your dreams today.
Face your fears head on, you'll be stronger because of it.
Give your heart away, in small pieces, in huge chunks, as a whole.
Don't over think things. Chances are, you'll miss out on something.
Take the opportunity to say goodbye when it comes, you might not get a second chance.
Capture the little moments any way you can. When you look back, they'll be your best.
If you're going to cry, cry. Don't go halfway with it; let it out full force.
Be the leader of your own life, never follow the path someone else wants for you.
Dance when the opportunity arises, blast the music every chance you get.
Get silly.
Admit when you're wrong, but stop apologizing for something you didn't ever do.
If you say it, better be capable of backing up what you say, every time.
Time machines don't exist. It's normal to regret things once in awhile, but deal with it and move on.
"i hope you live a life that you're proud of, and if you find that you're not, i hope you have the strength to start all over again."
Life Lessons
Work like you don't need the money
dance like no one is watching
sing like no one is listening
love like you've never been hurt
and live life every day as if it were your last
~Mark Twain~ (I love this quote, but its easier said than done sometimes 
)
________________________________________________________________
Here are a few lessons I've learned in the last 29 years...
Try it. You might like it.
If you screw up, stand up and take the bullet. Don’t bother with excuses; no one wants to hear them anyways.
We get one shot at life so make it fun. Remember, everything is a once in a lifetime opportunity.
Be polite. It makes such a difference.
Make sure you always care for someone else — another living thing. It could be a plant, a pet, a relative, or significant other.
Play regularly.
Try to read more.
Laughing is good exercise. It's like jogging on the inside.
Say what you mean and mean what you say
Think big thoughts, but find pleasure in the small things
Sing and Dance when you are cleaning house-it won’t feel like work (but close the curtains first or your neighbors will think you're a nut case)
Roll down the windows when you drive, turn on music and sing your heart out—don’t worry about what others might think, they’ll be gone by the next light
Cookies always taste better uncooked and in the tube
Always sing in the shower
The nine minutes of extra sleep you get when you hit the snooze button are so worth it
Everyone learns their own life lessons at their own pace—some things can’t be rushed
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