Karma

On the way home from university today, Karyn and I saw a car pulled over on the side of the motorway with its hazard lights flashing. Since the traffic was fairly slow, I asked Karyn if we should stop and help. After some discussion, we decided that, for many reasons, we shouldn't, mainly because there was nothing we could have done.

Upon arriving home, I received a phone call from my mum. Her voice was full of distress as she told me that her car had stopped on the side of the road. She explained to me that the car was out of petrol, and she needed me to come rescue her with a spare tank we had sitting at home.

With much thought about the situation, I wondered to myself if this was the law of karma at work. Was it because I didn't stop to help that car on the motorway so my parents' car got stuck on the road?

We had been talking about diffusion of responsibility in our social psych class. When there are many people present, it is less likely for one individual to stop and help someone because everyone thinks that someone else can help. After these lectures, I had decided that in order to do the 'right' thing, I should help people out when there are large populations and no one would stop and help.

Maybe karma doesn't have anything to do with it at all. My mum could have called me any other day and said she had run out of petrol and I wouldn't have thought karma had anything to do with it. Subconsciously I felt guilty about not doing what I morally thought was right to do, which is why I linked my mums car incident with the one we saw on the motorway.

Religion

At dinner one night, my dad asked me if I believe in God. A girl who use to be a Sunday School leader is now unsure of how to answer this question.

Do I believe in God? As I grow and learn more about people, society, history, and the world, more and more evidence has appeared on the subject of religion. How do I know what to trust and what not to?

Sure, I believe in a higher power. I believe that there are things in the world that is out of my control. I believe that someone is in charge of everything. I also believe that everything happens for a reason, good or bad. We don't always know what that reason is, but there always is one.

There are psychological research done on epilepsy and how it is related to religious beliefs. I know that The Da Vinci Code is fictional, but it makes people unsure of what's really there. It makes me wonder if the Christian religion actually exists.

When I heard the song Doubting Thomas by Nickle Creek, I felt so connected to it. Almost like it was exactly how I felt. Especially the bridge. "Can I be used to help others find truth when I'm scared I'll find proof that it's a lie? Can I be led down a trail dropping breadcrumbs to proof I'm not ready to die?" And the chorus "I'm a doubting Thomas, I can't keep my promises, cause I don't know what's safe. Oh me of little faith."

Oh, me of little faith. I want to have faith, but I don't know what I can and cannot believe. How do I ever know what's real and what's not? How do I decide? Or is that just what faith is, to believe something even without proof of it's actual existance? To trust, to worship?

Doubting Thomas

What will be left when I've drawn my last breath

Besides the folks I've met and the folks who've known me

Will I discover a soul-saving love

Or just the dirt above and below me

I'm a doubting Thomas

I took a promise

But I do not feel safe

Oh me of little faith

Sometimes I pray for a slap in the face

Then I beg to be spared cause I'm a coward

If there's a master of death

I bet he's holding his breath

As I show the blind and tell the deaf about his power

I'm a doubting Thomas

I can't keep my promises

Cause I don't know what's safe

Oh me of little faith

Can I be use to help others find truth

When I'm scared I'll find proof that it's a lie

Can I be led down a trail dropping bread crumbs

That prove I'm not ready to die

Please give me time to decipher the signs

Please forgive me for time that I've wasted

I'm a doubting Thomas

I'll take your promise

Though I know nothing's safe

Oh me of little faith

Dream Come True

Saturday night, May 10th 2008, will go down as one of the most memorable nights of mylife. A concert that my bestfriend, Karyn, and I had been waiting for for almost 10 years, finally happened. Westlife came to New Zealand! At 8pm, thousands of people gathered in the Auckland Vector Arena, New Zealand, waiting with anticipation, for Westlife to appear on the stage and sing our favorite songs. And Karyn and I were, of course, one of those people.

Sitting in row 13, we chatted to the blonde lady sitting next to us, Renee. She shook as she told us that she had just met Westlife! We couldn't believe it! She told us all about meeting them, and getting signatures from them. Karyn and I were so jealous! But, the night is still young...

Excitement built up in our stomachs as the lights dimmed in the arena. Screams started roaring in the stadium, coloured spot lights beamed and bass beats drummed. A large curtain appeared on the stage, and purple lights shone on it. We could see tour slim shadows behind the curtain, and suddenly... "WHAT! Like HOW! Like WHO! Hit you with the real thing!" The curtain dropped, and our four Irish boys appeared just 30 metres in front of us! Everybody screamed. The opening of the show was breath-taking.

The first person to say their greetings was Kian. We all wondered if Kian would say Hello New Zealand, or would he be personal enough to say Auckland. "Hello Auckland!" Kian shouted. "How's everybody feeling tonight, alright?" Kians four best words from every dvd. The crowd screamed with excitement! During one of the songs, Nicky gave us his signature salute. We've watched all the Westlife DVDs to know that Nicky does the best salutes, and here he was, saluting at us! It just made me melt.

Shane sang Mandy, and at the end of the song, where the words were "You came and you gave without taking, I need you today, oh Mandy." He sang "I need you to day, oh Auckland"! Mark was pretty cute too. I especially liked it when Nicky was saying "hey Mark, these girls wanna take you to their place tonight" and shyly, Mark said, "I think it's time for another soooong!" and Nicky laughed.

Saturday night was the best night of my life so far. I still can't believe they were really there, standing in front of us, talking, singing and laughing to us!

I bought a westlife T-Shirt (which I plan to frame and put up on my wall) and a Westlife program. In the program, each of the boys wrote a message, in their own handwriting, thanking everybody. At the end of Nicky's message, he wrote "le grā, go deo - Nicky". It was Spanish, and it meant "with love, forever - Nicky". He said with love forever to us!

Age-ism

What is the meaning of discrimination?

I sit in the bank watching people wait in line and I notice a number of people with walking sticks. I wanted to offer them a seat while I waited in line in their place. Suddenly, it occurred to me that wanting to do something different for a person with disabilities than to the others means that I am treating them specially. Doesn’t treating a person differently lead to discrimination?

Everyday, we try to live our lives by doing the right thing. But what is the right thing? Is it right to help those who are weaker than us or is it only fair to treat them like any other person standing in line? If you wanted to help the disabled because you think they are weaker than non-disabled people, are you guilty of ableism? If you helped the disabled, and not anybody else, are you discriminating against the disabled, or the non-disabled people?

When you walk past someone in a wheel chair, do you look at them and try to figure out why they’re in a wheel chair, nod and smile as they pass you, or do you ignore them and pretend you never saw them? How do you ever know what’s the right thing to do in order to not discriminate against anybody?