To truly know one's self is difficult to achieve. It means to know every thing about yourself and the way that you are. You know what you purpose is in life and have fully realized what you are meant to do in life. This pilgrimage to self knowledge can become a very long one, consuming the person until they finally realize who they are and what their purpose is in life.

It is almost always an easy task to pick out one's faults. Human nature causes us to strive to be better and try to change what we believe to be our imperfections. I, like many people have a problem with procrastination. It has been haunting me for a very long time, following me year after year with no end in sight. This problem of mine began in elementary school, when I would begin long term projects the day before they were due. My late nights of typing and skimming through chapters happened regardless of the amount of time I had from when it was assigned. Lately I have tried to correct my procrastination problem. I schedule out time fro when I can work on the projects and even go as far as writing down earlier due dates to enable more time to finish them in. These tips have been working out fairly well, but I do have the occasional slip up and end up spending the entire night hunched over the computer.

Ever since I was little I have always been making things with my hands. it stated as simple drawings and pictures pieced together with colored construction paper, but have recently progressed to complex buildings in perspective and throwing bowls on a potter's wheel. I've always had this creative intuition that has let me produce some nice pieces of artwork. This strength has enabled me to progress throughout the art world; picking up new techniques and learning the skills that let me be able to create something that I am proud of.

It is often difficult to be able to pick out ones strengths and be able to talk about them without feeling as if you are bragging or boasting about one's self. Most people feel if they talk about themselves then they aren't being humble or modest, which is a value that is generally taught at a young age. Personally I hate talking about my qualities and characteristics. I dread having to fill out those "get to know you" worksheets that seem to be mandatory at the start of every school year. The best way for some one to get to know you is to see what others think of you and say about you.

Talking about your weaknesses is much easier to do. Everyone believes that there is something "wrong" with themselves and most wish they could change something about themselves. It becomes much easier to have to pick out the faults in one's self in today's society where finding faults and changing them has become the basis of numerous television programs.

Baby its cold outside

It had recently become a weekly tradition for my father, my sisters and I to drive up to my grandparents house and help them rack the leaves. Everyday the leaves rained from the trees covering the browning grass. The racking seemed endless and had become too much for my aging grandparents.

When we finally reached my grandparent's house we were greeted by the smells of beets and cinnamon. Although it might have been an odd combination, it was the result of hours of cooking over the wrought iron stove centered in a tiny kitchen. To me this was the smells of home. My sisters and I raced to the crumbling cement stairs located at the back door. I stretched as far as I could reach and rang the door bell. The faded blue door opened slowly and I immediately saw the warm smile on her wrinkled face. She said, " What are you doing here? Come, Come in its cold outside. You must be freezing." Shortly after I was being embraced by her arms in a loving hug. My grandfather was sitting at the kitchen table reading the sports section of the newspaper. He tipped the corner down and uttered, " Hello Ashley, Catherine... Bridget." I darted toward him and leaped into his arms asking, "Whatcha reading Pop." I pulled the paper from his hands and pretended to read the text.

As my dad and Pop were working hard outside racking, the rest of us were inside making paper dolls. Forming intricate lace patterns from our well planned cuts. When the stack of dolls piled up and the scraps of paper scattered on the floor like snow, we decided to go play in the leaves.

Before we were able to bolt out the door, we were stopped by the voice of my grandmother. Said in a stern voice, "Freeze! you have to put on your jackets." Instead of going out the door we gathered our jackets and scarves. She knelt down in front of me and looped the hand knit scarf around my neck. With a smile on her face, she said,"Hold on to your cuffs." I gripped my long-sleeved cat patterned shirt with great force and slide my arm into the jacket sleeve that my grandma was holding open. The look in my grandma's eyes as she helped me get ready to go outside truly showed how much she loved me.

Although this is a very simple trick that doesn't seem like it would be earth shattering, it has impacted my life. This piece of advice was given to me by a loving relative that makes it a valuable piece of information. Now with the the weather getting colder, I find that I am following this everyday and I am doing it unintentionally.

What is the Value of your Life?

What determines if a life has value? When it all boils down, your life is not judged based upon the money and material objects that you have accumulated throughout your life, but by other factors. Fancy cars and lots of money doesn't necessarily bring value to your life. What you have done to contribute to society, how you have impacted the lives of others, and what decisions you have made within your life are things that bring value to life.

It is hard to say when we fully evaluate our own lives. In some cases people realize that they are making poor decisions and aren't happy with the person that they have become and decide to change what they are doing. These people have decided that they aren't living to their full potential. For others they evaluate themselves at the end of their lives. When they do this they reflect upon what they have done as a individual of society and the memories they have experienced throughout their lives.

When looking back over my life I would like it to be seen as having value. In order to achieve this I will have to experience several things. Along with the memories of my live I would like to include those of having a successful career, contribute to society, have a family, achieve happiness and impact others lives. By having all of these throughout my life I would truly have a successful life.

Success within the career that I eventually go into is something that I hope to achieve one day. This would be an accomplishment that I will have to work towards and put a great deal of hard work into a achieving it. The work will be hard and strenuous, but the pay off would be much greater. I would be able to know that my hard work accomplished something.

For a lot of people the most important thing to them is their family. Their family acts as a support system that stays by you through the good and the bad. My family is very important to me. They are their to help me though problems and cheer me on toward accomplishing my goals. In my future I definitely see my self having a family. The ability to create a person that embodies a part of you is alone an amazing thing, but being able to teach them everything that you know makes it so much more rewarding. Having children really changes you as a person. They bring out your innate parental qualities that transforms you. Having children isn't always for everyone. There are some people in the world who cringe at the thought of having children, but most people experience this joy throughout their lives.

Contributing to society is a pretty general topic that can mean anything from recycling to various volunteering projects. No matter what it really entails it is working towards and improvement in the world. There are many groups that focus on volunteering to help nearly everything and everyone in the world. With the participation in one of these groups is just one way that you can leave an impact on the world.

People probably don't realize how often the impact the lives of others. Every day even the smallest gestures like a smile can really leave a lasting effect on other people. When most people think of impacting someone Else's life they might automatically thing of saving their lives or something that is really extreme, but it is actually the smaller things that impact people. By helping a friend with a project or giving them advise on their problems you are going to make an impression on their lives. So the next time you help someone out with a problem they are having just think of how you are really impacting them.

Some people say that you make your own happiness. I really don't believe that this is true. Happiness is something that just happens. When everything around you finally falls into place and everything in your life is working together, you might be able to achieve true happiness. Since we live in a culture that is becoming more and more dependent on prescription drugs that help you with depression it is easy to lose sight of what happiness is. this true happiness is more then just a few occasions of feeling happy. It is if you were to look back over your life and be satisfied with everything that you lived through and know that you lived a happy life.

The meaning of life is something that people spend most of their lives searching for. No one really seems to know what the purpose of human life really is. Within every religion there seems to be a different explanation for the mean of life. I remember within religious classes we were taught that we are "God's Pawns" in God's game of life. This never really seem right to me. I think that we are here for much more then a game. Maybe we are only here to live our lives to discover the individualized version of what life really is.

Life is too short

Death is a part of life. Even at a very young age children at exposed to death. they are taught about life's impermanence through the death of a pet or a relative, but no matter the way, everyone learns about it. When we are young we don't really understand death, it is just the reason why our grandparent or goldfish are no longer around us. Even when we are in our twenties and even thirties most people don't truly have a sense of their own immortality. At this age people are reckless and aren't as aware of the dangers they face.

Within Gilgamesh, The character Gilgamesh doesn't understand death. He goes through life without realising that he will eventually die one day. Gilgamesh does reckless things, because he doesn't think that he will die. At one point he and Enkidu go kill the Bull of Heaven for no apparent reason. When they kill the bull this results in the mortality of Enkidu. When he dies Gilgamesh learns a little bit about death and begins a search to gain immortality.

Gilgamesh's search for immortally is sort of his "mid-life crisis." With a "mid-life crisis" people begin to fear death , because their lives are about half over and they drastically change their lives in order to stop their feelings of doubt and lack of accomplishments. Gilgamesh picks up and leaves to find Utnapishtim, to give him the secrets of immortality. This is a drastic change in his life, which in today's society might be equivalent to buying a sports car. After this journey Gilgamesh becomes closer to death. When his is about to die he finally understands death. He excepts that he is going to die alone and not in battle, what he believes to be the noble way to die. This is when he truly understands the meaning of death.

Throughout most of your life you probably aren't going notice how short life really is. I dont think that you are really aware of your own moraltiy until you are about to die. Everyone realises that life cant go on forever and know the concept that you will die one day, but I don't think that you understand death truly until you have come to terms that you are ready to die. Gilgamesh doesn't fully understand death until he except his mortaily and made peace with his own death, right before he dies. When people are about to die they reflex on their lives inorder to except what they have done. With death you have to except the life you have lived to except death.

Heroes

Throughout literary history there have been heroes included into some of the most recognizable pieces of work ever created. Within the novel Beowulf, the lead character is considered to be a hero. He protects the village from dragon like beasts on numerous occasions, risking his life every time. In Beowulf, as well as many other novels the main character is faced with a problem and has to defeat an evil figure that is working against the protagonist. Sometimes the lead character has a journey that they go on in quest for something. What they are searching for is usually something to defeat the evil figure, the evil figure or something that will ultimately benefit the protagonist. Within most of these stories they seem to have a common underlying structure that the hero follows. He or she will eventually have to prove themselves going against something. Along the way they will teach the reader a moral that is usually about right and wrong.

What defines a hero? To most people a person is defined by his or her actions. It is the same when it comes to heroes. They are defined into the category of "Heroes" by their actions. What actually qualifies a person to be a hero? Some might say that it is someone who puts others before themselves and others might say that it is if you protect others from being harmed. These qualities can almost always be found in a hero, but they can also be found within a parent who does everything to help their child do great things in life. They are found within our forces that protect and serve us, such as police officers, firefighters, doctors, and many more. Essentially heroes are everywhere, they are just regular people who have done great things.

Men seem to always be depicted as the heroic figure. This doesn't mean that women can not be heroes as well. Throughout history women have played a large role in sculpting our society by their heroic acts. Harriet Tubman was one of the leader of the underground railroad, a trail that secretly brought slaves from southern states into northern states where they could be free. She risked her life in pursuit of helping others. She did not worry about the consequences for if she got caught, but put the others ahead of herself. What she did was a noble act that classifies her as a hero. Harriet is not alone, there are other heroic women that cast aside their own well being to help others and fight for what was right.

"Unhappy the land that needs heroes" is a quote from Bertolt Brecht, a German poet. This can be interpreted as that we needs heroes to shape our society. Heroes give every everyone something to aspire to and believe in. They teach people lessons and emphasise on the morals between right and wrong. The stories of heroes defeating the negative figure, it give hope that people can be the hero in their own lives and defeat whatever they are struggling with.Without heroes it leaves people without hope for better things to occur.