Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Was it worth it?

Using the prompts on your sacrifice handout to guide you (those prompts are also listed on our class website if you need an extra reference), capture your "sacrificial experience" in a well-developed paragraph.

Be sure your response is completed prior to class on Tuesday, February 19th when we'll be discussing this assignment.

29 comments:

  1. 1. This year I'm going to tryout for track and field. I really want to make Varsity and in order to do that, you have to really push your body to stay hydrated and get the nutrition you need throughout that day. I train (most days) of the week to get in shape for the upcoming season. Recently, my Biology grade has flunked down a bit. I have to sacrifice Biology so I can train after school. Because I train after school, it cuts down on my studying time for biology, and have to devote my only two off hours to studying and keeping up with my homework

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  2. *my computer was freaking out and wouldn't let me type a lot
    2. My best friend that lives in California had news to tell me about a boy she likes a lot. I was very busy this weekend and I was dying to know how her Valentines Day went with her now new boyfriend. It's hard enough not talking to her because I never see her; But sometimes over the summer if I'm lucky.

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  3. As of Thursday night, February 14th I decided to give up television. I gave it up because I probably watch too much so it would be a good thing to try and give up. At first giving up TV was hard especially since we were off for the long weekend and I was just home most of the time. On Friday, I kept wanting to go turn it on and just zone out so instead I would listen to music or play computer games. I even worked on homework Friday night. Saturday was easier because I had plans with friends so it didn’t really bother me then but that night when my mom had the news on I had to leave the room. I thought Sunday and Monday would be harder but I didn’t really miss it as much as I thought that I would. I learned that I don’t miss TV as much as I thought I would and that a lot of times that I have it on I’m not even watching it really. If I had to give up something important to me I think I would have to know that it was for something more important in the long run. To make a big sacrifice I think you would really have to think about someone else’s’ needs more than your own so that person would have to be very important to you. I think you would have to love somebody to make a change that important. I don’t know that the world would have to look that different but that there would only be a few people that I would be willing to change that much for.

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  4. I sacrificed facebook. For a couple of months I have been talking about deactivating it but never did. So this week I finally decided to it. This experience affected me by showing there’s more to life then wondering what friends are doing or thinking every minute. I learned that I don’t need a social network to feel connected to others. It also showed me that I’m worth more than how many facebook friends I have. It takes a lot of will power to give up facebook especially if you have progressively become addicted to it over the years. A person would have to prioritize and figure out what really is important to them in their life if they were willing to sacrifice something. Facebook has become more popular among teenagers. It’s becoming the new “normal.” But, people have to see that facebook is just an online world, it’s not real life and you don’t have to know what people are doing every minute. People let how many friends they have on facebook define them as a person and how popular they are. Facebook was a hard thing to give up, but it changed my perspective about life and it opened my eyes to new opportunities.

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  5. I gave up twitter for almost a week because i use twitter everyday and i'm always on it. This affected me because i had nothing to look at on my phone anymore and i couldn't see what other people were tweeting and it drove me crazy. I think it was worth it because now i'm not as obsessed with twitter anymore. I learned that i don't need twitter and that its more fun to talk to people in person than on twitter. It took a lot to give it us and its what i use everyday and i had to take it out of my daily routine. I don't think i changed as a person at all, it didn't really affect me that much. Not using twitter made me realize that there are better things to do out there other than social networking stuff.

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  6. I sacrificed coffee for a week because its something I have almost every single day. This affected me because I was always craving it and was really tired all week long. It also affected me by helping me save money which was the positive affect. It definitely was not worth it because I love coffee and was falling asleep in half my classes most of the time! I learned that no matter what I am always going to be addicted to caffeine because I ended up replacing coffee with redbull. It took me alot of patience and strength to not walk over to starbucks and grab a quick cup of coffee. I think without coffee I became a little more bitter with waking up because I never had anything too look forward too. Not having coffee made me realize how much I actually appreciate the little stuff in life!

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  7. I sacrificed skiing for a week because every time that we have a long weekend or maybe just even a normal weekend, i always go back home to Leadville and go skiing. This effected me a ton because a lot of my old time friends had decided to go this weekend, however, I was unable to attend because I stayed at my grandparents house and redid their basement. Also, I hadn't seen my friends from there in a long time, and this was one thing that we all used to do. SO it was hard not seeing them at all when I had the opportunity to do so. It honestly was not worth it because i regretted it as soon as we left the mountains today. I should have gone and had a good time with them like we used to do a long time ago. Then again, it did feel good to help out my old grandparents with something that will make them happy. What I learned from this happening to me is that family does come first in almost everything and you will always have another chance to go skiing again and reenact good old memories. What it would take for me to never go skiing again is a lot. I used to compete and I just love to go out in the mourning and not come back till sundown. It is just an old habit. How i would have to change as a person is that I would have to just hate the snow to never ski again. I would, honestly, have to be scared of it to never ski again. The world would have to completely get rid of snow forever. The reason for that is because I can always wait and go skiing when we go to England and see my uncle. Participating in this activity and not going skiing made me see that doing something for the family can actually be better than skiing and hanging out with friends.

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  8. 1. I chose to sacrifice music, everyday I listen to music whether its on the radio or my Ipod. After giving this up I felt like all my emotions were bottled up. Sacrificing music, to me was not worth it at all. I learned that music is my outlet to everything, it helps me get my emotions out. I don't think I could ever give up music for good, theres nothing else I could do to improvise for music. I would have to find a different serious outlet to make such a huge sacrifice. The world in my eyes with no music would look drastically different.

    2. I sacrificed my friend, I love to hang out with my friends. I felt like I was missing out on all the fun, I also felt alone with nothing to do. To give up my friend I would have to make a busy schedule for myself, so I wouldn't feel alone and feel like I was missing out on things.

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  9. I have sacrificed playing my X-box 360. There are multiple reasons why I had chosen this to give up. I feel that I play too much during the weekend and that I need to spend more time off the X-box than on it. So, all Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday I didn’t even go near my video games. This experience affected me with boredom, lots and lots of it. So I looked for an alternative to video games. That’s when I turned on the television. At that point giving up the Xbox was not worth it, I hadn’t learned much from this sacrifice. I just turned my habit into an even worse habit. But, the one thing I had learned from this is that I have a very addictive personality. If something gets taken away from me I tend to just replace it with something quite similar. To sacrifice something very important to me I would have to get some reward at the end. Like when someone goes on a diet but they get the reward of being healthy. If I sacrificed something very important to me I would have to change my whole routine. Say I turned off my phone for a week. I would have to change how I talk to people and how I contact with people. In the real world sacrificing Xbox won’t do much for any person. Only I would eventually change myself.

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  10. I have sacrificed drinking soda. It may sound like something that anyone can do, but I have grown a small addiction to soda. I knew I had to give it up just to see if I could handle the change. I also need to keep my teeth clean to prevent cavities, and the only way I could do that was to stop drinking soda. The alternative to soda was something simple that all humans need to drink in order to survive, and that would be good quality H2O. However, mid-way through giving up soda I was having some withdrawals. At one point I believe my nose contracted back inside my body. So I was unable to withstand the full week, the ice cold Pepsi was just too good. Going into this, I thought it would be an absolute cake walk, I know realize the only way I could give up something for a while would be if I could get some sort of reward at the end of it. Also, I might as well go big or go home when giving something up; if you give something up it shouldn't just be for a week because it wouldn't change my nature. If I were to give something up It'd have to be a life decision, maybe not something as drastic as what the nuns and the priests vow, but something big enough that it will truly change how I live my life. One thing I learned is that I'm much more addicted to soda then I thought I would be and I should probably see a doctor.

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  11. I sacrificed tv. I usually watch it every day, especially on the weekends for copious amounts to time. I struggled finding things to occupy myself. If it were a life or death situation, or it would improve a situation, then that's what it takes for me to sacrifice something. When it involves sacrificing a person or animal, it depends on the situation. I couldn't sacrifice my friends or family for anything. They have a priceless value to me that can't be replaced. I'm not sure of how my sacrifice could change the world. I don't see tv watching as huge as a problem as being connected to mobile devices like iPods and phones and gameboys. My sacrifice most likely won't start a rebellion, but maybe awareness of how much time is "wasted".

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  12. I chose to sacrifice my X-box, because I go home and play it everyday. I chose to give this up because I usually play it for about an hour or two almost everyday. I get home do my homework and done with that around four and then head straight done to my basement and don't come up until around diner time which is about six o'clock. Over the four day weekend (Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday) I didn't play on my X-box. Instead I went outside and hung out with my friends and played football. It was hard to not play on my X-box when I would go downstairs to get something to drink. I would look over at the TV, and would stare at her (and yes and said "her" because she is my baby) for about a minute. But instead of caving in like I use to do, I slapped myself and ran upstairs before anything could happen. This went on for the whole weekend. Well what do you know... I made it and entire four days without playing on my X-box and I still haven't played her for the beginning of this week.
    Next I am sacrificing talking to my cousin for this week. I chose my cousin Tyler because we aren't really cousins, we are more like brothers. That's how good our relationship with each other is. We literally hang out every weekend or break we get. Its normally for about a good 10-12 hours when we hang out. Basically from about 9pm till about 12pm the next morning/afternoon. We basically live at each others' houses. We know where everything is. It is going to be hard to not hang out with him for this assignment. I am going to have to force my self to let him know that I can't hang out with him until this assignment is done. Man oh man is this going to be hard.

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  13. I chose to sacrifice my ps3. I usually play it almost every day. Instead I go home and do my homework now. I think my grades shoulf improve because it it feels good to stop a habbit that is bad. I have never done something like it before. It is gonna be hard not to go downstairs and turn on the ps3. It is going to be a relief once this assignment.

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  14. I gave up my writing. I went one day without looking at it, without seeing it, without reading it through - it was much harder than it sounds. I rely on my writing daily to keep me sane and my incredibly big imagination at bay. Going even a day without it, I didn't know what i'd do. I nearly went insane, I wasn't able to get any of my thoughts and ideas down fast enough by just drawing so they were all cramed inside my head with no available excapes route. I stayed up until the clock hit 12:01 a.m. just so I could look and write something down. I had decided to practice my cello instead of write, but it just felt like I was trying to do something that isn't me, or be something that i'm not. I like playing the cello and I love the sounds it makes, but all I felt was a kind of ache or twinge that was telling me something was wrong. I finished practicing and I was the better player for it, but honestly that outcome was not worth giving up my writing - not even if just for one day. I never realized how much I depended on my writing, how much of ME of my identity it really was. I don't know if I could take doing that again.

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    1. Personaly I love to write I don't do it often but when there is something to complain or even on my mind it's what I do, If the world didn't have writing it would be a different era no writing no education not imagination no language.

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  15. I sacrificed talking to my Grandma. I tell her almost everything ans she has alwasy been there for me. I sacrificed her because I feel that mabey I dont need her to listen to me and I can tell someone else. This was really hard because I felt as if I could only trust one other person and I barley talk to them, so this we really difficult. I felt that giving her up I gave up everything. With out her I feel my life would be alot crazyer then it is now. I am so happysh eis in my life, i dont know what i would do without her.

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    Replies
    1. That last one was from me and not Alex J. i forgot to log out of her account.

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  16. I chose to sacrifice soda because I'm addicted to it even though I know it's not good for me. I found this sacrifice quite challenging because I almost drank soda every day or every other day and when I'm thirsty, that's usually the first thing I crave. Even though it was difficult, I know it was a good decision and worth it because it showed me that soda is not the only beverage to drink and that it's probably the worst choice of beverage because of how unhealthy and worthless it is. It helped me learn to drink more water, and I felt more hydrated throughout the day. Since Friday, I haven't had any and I have become a stronger character by making better meal decisions too(salad over french fries etc.). It didn't take that much for me to sacrifice it but at the same time I wouldn't have chosen to do it by myself. All it takes is good will and smart decisions.
    I feel better as a person on my volleyball team too because now I don't have to worry about my coach or teammates telling me that I should stop drinking soda. It was definitely worth it.

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  17. I chose to sacrifice soda. Soda can give you a lot of energy and tastes really good, but I realized that I do not need it and it is not good for me. This sacrifice was challenging at times because it is tempting to see so many people drinking it and enjoying it. Soda has been known to become addictive to many people and they aren't able to break free from that addiction, but I did. I wanted to sacrifice this because I know soda is not good for me, just like anything that has an absurd amount of sugar in it. Instead of drinking soda like i usually do, I drank other very good beverages such as water, juices, and milk. This sacrifice helped me a lot because I know know of all the better drinks I can drink in the future. I made it a whole week without drinking any soda and that is an accomplishment. I am now going to continue to sacrifice this in order to better my health. A sacrifice should not just be for a week because if you are truly serious about it, you will be committed to sacrifice it forever for your benefit.

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  18. I gave up eating sugar from Thursday February 14, until hopefully my forties. I chose to give this up due to the fact of sugar’s unhealthy properties. Sugar causes faster aging, blemishes, and a artificial, euphoric feeling that can be experience through natural means. When I stopped eating sugar, after three days I started to feel more energized and I didn’t crave it anymore. I could actually see my family and other kids eat/drink sugar and not want it! It was completely worth it because I know I will have an increased energy level, and I will age a lot slower as I grow older. I learned that sugar grants you nothing bedsides temporary satisfaction, and short term increased hear rate. Life can definitely be lived without sugar. It really just takes the will to be healthy in order to give up sugar. Besides extremely short term withdraw, not eating sugar has no negative consequences. The only change an individual would have to make to give up sugar would be to clear the mindset of sugar being so “good”. This change can be materialized through a genuine desire to be healthy and look young and amazing. If everyone in the earth quit eating sugar, than a major economy would be lost; however, many people would look better and have a longer more energized life.

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  19. I chose to sacrifice my ipod. My ipod tends to be a source of distraction to me when I need to get things done. It was definitely hard to give up my ipod, but I felt like I could accomplish so much more without being tied to it all the time. So from now on, I will try to be much more consciencious of how I spend my time. It doesn't always have to be spent with technology. Over the long weekend I spent my time skiing and just being outside. I realized how nice it was to be outside and get exercise.(Peter Fleming)

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  20. I chose to sacrifice soda because even though it tastes good, it is unhealthy and causes me to lose energy very fast. Soda is also really bad for braces because it leaves stains on your teeth. This affected me becasue I am so used to drinking it, that I feel like I acomplished something. It also gave me a lot more energy for my volleyball tourniment last weekend. It was hard at times seeing others drinking it, but I stuck to it because it was what was best for my body. It didnt take a lot for me to give this up just because it wasnt an important part of my everyday life. I wouldnt have to change as a person to acomplish not drinking soda for a long time, but I would have to figure out a way to get rid of my habit of drinking soda. I dont think the world would have to look different if I gave up soda for longer. I would sometimes crave it, but I could get over it because it is enesential to me and my body. This sacrifice will overall help me in my future because without this push, I actually wouldnt have probably given soda up. I might give soda up again if I am training for something or am on a diet in the future but for right now, im a kid and I should be alowed to have soda once in a while because it tastes good.

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  21. I chose to give up the use of my phone for everything except for communicating. With a smartphone, you can download tons of apps and use the web. I decided to give that privilege up for a week. I only used it to communicate with my family when my cousin and I went off skiing hidden glades. I think that it was worth it because instead of playing a game on my phone on the way to the mountains, I watched the road as we went up. Soon I will be getting my licence and I will be going to the mountains a lot. Now, I know the way to get there and where I can stop for beef jerky. I also had a lot more fun by doing this. Rather than sitting home on our phones/ ipods, we went into the town and played Assassin. So, in the long run, I think it was definitly worth it to give up that privilege.

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  22. I gave up candy for three months. This was very hard for me to do because I look for a candy bar every day during the off season of wrestling. I rely on candy to give me some energy during the day so for me to give that up made it very hard to do. This effected me in a big way. I found that I have more energy when I don't eat a lot of candy. This was weird to me but made me open my eyes. It was defiantly worth giving up because it changed my view on candy. I don't need to eat it all the time. If I had one candy bar a week I will survive and still have a ton of energy. It doesn't take much to give something up you just need the will power to do it. This also doesn't change you as a person. You stay the same as you have always been. The world would still look the same to you. The world dosent evolve around you.

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  23. The past is a topic I tend not to dwell on but when I come around to thinking about it I realize I have had some hard things to get through in which quitting one of my favorite sports, basketball, was one of those hard times. Playing basketball was probably the main way that I would work out in 8th grade. But after I quit, due to lack of skill, I had nearly nothing to do so there was a period where I was not being very active at all resulting in me laying on the couch all day watching TV like a literal couch potato. After realizing that I was being a potato I learned that in life you have to make sacrifices and good decisions so I learned that I should give more things a try so I started playing lacrosse and I have “fallen in love” all over again with a different sport. After playing lacrosse through 9th grade I realized that it was definitely worth it to switch sports and give lacrosse a try. Looking back on how hard it was for me to give up basketball I believe that to get me to give up a sport now would take major convincing and telling me that by me quitting would be to the benefit of others. If I were to make another sacrifice regarding sports I would have to change my figure because I love to be fit for the sport that I’m playing and my personality and my style is built of the foundation of the sport I’m playing. It would take major change as a person for me to make such as sacrifice, including my mentality and how I look at things. Ways that I would indefinitely change to make sacrifices of a sport would include, failing grades, bad friends, low social status and last but not least disruptions in my family. The world would not have to look different for me to make a sacrifice that would be on my part but it would take an enormous amount of change in the world to coerce me into making more sacrifices. Right not lacrosse is not the biggest sport and a lot of people do not like it but since it is still a growing sport I love the feeling of being a sort of pioneer of that sport.

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  24. I gave up my instagram because it's something I look at very often and seem to go to at least three times a day. It was odd not going on it and looking at all the pictures because it's something I go in constantly and it was quite hard to not give in and look at. I think it was worth it because it showed me how I can keep myself from doing things even if I really want to. I have the strength to not give in, which is a good skill to have. This also taught me how giving things up that I don't really need to give up can be hard. For example people who lose their homes in fires in short unknown times; they lose tons of things that are important and then some other things that aren't as valuable, but overall they become miserable because of their loss. People who lose all the little things in there life seem to actually lose the most. I would definitely give things up quickly if my family, friends, or myself were in danger or at any risk, but if it wasn't causing anyone harm I don't think I would give it up. If I really were to give up my instagram I would probably have to change my ways a little bit. I would have to delete the instagram app on my iPod and use my electronics less. But, if it came to the point where I was glued to my electronics all the time I would definitely delete my instagram. And if the world didn't have instagram I don't think the world would be very different because there are lots of other picture sharing networks like tumblr and pinterest, but if all the picture sharing networks were gone the world would be less connected to each other and people wouldn't be on electronics as often.

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  25. I gave up chocalate because i eat chocalate pretty much every day. I thought itd be healthier and i wanted to see if the sugar affected my attitude throughout the day. And it did, i was a lot more irritable and was hungry and i couldn't concentrate. I also had less motivation. If i really were to give up chocalate i would probably have to find a new food. I think the caffeine in chocalate also helps me concentrate so id probably have to find a new caffeinated snack.

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  26. I decided to give up my ps3 for a week. I decided to sacrifice my ps3 to focus more on basketball as our season was coming to an end and. I also wanted to give it up in order to focus more on school and grades. Throughout the week when I had down time I did feel a little bored. But easily found fun things to do such as work on home work that were going to be due at later dates and also spend time with friends. I think it was worth the sacrifice because my basketball game did improve and was easily noticed when parents were complimenting me after Saturday's game. My grades also improved in most of my classes. Because of this I actually think that I will sell my ps3 and continue on this path. I have realized that things are sacrificed for a greater cause. For me it was for sports and academics which I saw as more important then video games . :)

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  27. This week i decided to give up soccer rugby and lifting weights and focus on xbox tv and homework. i also decided to give these up cause most of the time i wouldn't come home till 9:30 and when i did i would be super tired and sour and i did get a good night sleep at all. throughout the week i felt well rested and ready to tackle the day, but i also really missed my sports and really wanted to get back to them.

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