The responsibility is our own

The responsibility is our own, to become who we want to be.

I feel like often times we ignore our character flaws, our hang-ups, our bad decisions or we blame them on anyone and anything other than ourselves. We blame our peers, the media, our parents, our spouse, religion, someone else’s bad decision, lack of encouragement and support in our lives, the educational system, even God - anything that has an influence on our lives. We take no onus for who we have become or who we are becoming. Although outside influences can either make it easier or harder for us to move ourselves in a given direction, the responsibility is still ours no matter what hand of cards life has dealt us or what decisions we have made in the past. Everyday is filled with countless choices to be made, countless opportunities to do the right thing or the wrong thing, countless moments that will shape who you will be tomorrow. We cannot afford to sit back and wait for someone to come along who will push, pull, or drag us in the right direction. Complacency, apathy, laziness, willfully shirking seeing who we really are, avoiding taking the responsibility to change what needs to be changed – we can’t afford these things. Although God will never give up on us no matter how slow-going or unproductive His work in us may seem, neither will He barge into our lives unbidden and force us to change or do all the work for us. We are required to do our part in this ongoing process.

...I am writing all of this to myself as much as to anyone else. Take a good look at who you are. Who do you want to be?....now what are you doing to do about it?

"Every man must decide who he will be, whom he will serve and how he will love."
-Dr. Albert Mohler

Challenging statement

“Weakness of attitude becomes weakness of character.”

- Albert Einstein

Me :)

I think snow is fun
One of the things that I absolutely love to do is just look up at the stars.
I love the sound of rain on the roof.
My least favourite sound in the world is probably my alarm clock :P.
I cry when people yell.
Children captivate me.
I love crunching through leaves
And the way trees look in the fall.
One of the best sounds in the world is laughter…especially when kids laugh, you know, when they REALLY laugh, as hard as they can. It makes my heart light.
I like making snow angels and tubing
I even like skating. Though I spend more time falling down then moving forward.
One of my most favourite things in the ENITRE WORLD are hugs.
I love being with people
Knowing people
Loving people
Making people smile
Hearing someone’s smile over the phone

I wish I could dance
I wish I had more self-confidence.
I am ridiculously gullible.
I’m a bad liar…horrible at playing games like cheat.
I think mangos are yummy.
I love camp fires
And sitting in a van or on a couch with so many people that you are completely and entirely squished.
Sometimes I avoid thinking about things that make my head hurt.
I kind of like the feeling of the sun baking my skin…but only for short intervals.
I like when I am JUST sunburnt enough that it hurts when I scrunch up my nose.
I love getting mail. Real mail. Letters!!
Looking at photos
I’m a slow reader
I care too much about what people think.
I wish I was better at comforting people and knowing what to do or say when people are hurting.
I wish I was more consistent in my relationship with God.
I am envious of people who can say things like “Been to many places on this planet, but there is nothing like coming home to friends and family”. I long for that kind of relational permanence.
I am excited to be a nurse.
My two biggest fears in life are that I will never come to truly love God, and that my life will be completely insignificant and meaningless.

I long to be told that I have worth.
I am terrified of getting married, but want so much to share my life with someone in that way.
I am the queen of procrastination. I find that stressful.
Sometimes I make people laugh…but mostly I think it is because I embarrass myself more than anyone I know.
I love dogs. They are always happy to see you, even if you've only been gone for 5 minutes.
I want to learn how to play guitar.
I love music. Listening to it. Playing it. Singing it (but only when no one can hear me :P)
I can play the piano.
I like to read fiction novels.
I wish I was more articulate when I speak.
I wish I was a better friend.

I am not a morning person.
But I love sunrises. And sun sets too.
I admire honesty.
I wish I was prettier….on the outside, and the inside.
I wish I wasn’t so selfish.
Vanilla is a great smell. So is the smell of pretty much any pie, muffins, or cookies being baked.
I have eaten pumpkin pie on my birthday for as long as I can remember.
My other favourite pie is probably raspberry, or maybe raspberry custard. (really, I like all of them :P)
I tend to talk really fast. And mumble. Especially when I am excited. I'm working on that.
Old people intimidate me because I don’t like that they can’t hear me unless I talk really loud.
I’m not good at hiding my emotions. But I’m getting better. I don’t know if that is a good thing or a bad thing.
I’m tall. I like standing beside big guys and feeling tiny.
I am afraid of a lot of things…some are silly and irrational, like balloons. Others are not so silly.
My friend Bethany Tulloch thinks that I tell the best stories ever.

I love surprises.
Chocolate
My favourite colours are yellow - because it’s happy and reminds me of sunshine, my dog, flowers, and smiley faces - and blue - because it’s just pretty.
I wear a striped rainbow coloured hat all winter. It’s really warm.
I think Spanish sounds beautiful.
My gut reaction when meeting new people is to be shy. I want to be more outgoing. I’m getting better.
I don’t feel like I belong anywhere in this world.
I often feel confused…I am really quite paradoxical.
I’m a horrible speller. Sounding things out in English doesn’t usually work so well.
I am good at remembering people’s birthdays.
I like to write down my thoughts…though I have a lot of trouble with it.
I think we are restricted by words.
I have a bad habit of staying up too late.
I like to draw. I like to make beautiful things.
I call out for that which I refuse.
I am bad at time-management. Everything always takes me twice as long I had estimated it would.
I have a stuffed panda bear named Ping, whom I’ve had since I was like 4. I still sleep with him every night.
My favourite vegetables are turnip, cauliflower, broccoli, and green beans.
Sometimes I don’t know what’s right.
I am aggravatingly ambivalent

I am Angela
I am a work in progress