What Do I Stand For?

Have you ever read something and just been like "Whoa."  You're brain-dead for a couple seconds because you have just had your mind blown, or perhaps you've had like a mini EUREKA moment in your life.

I think I may have had one of those today...

Part of it is with the whole I WILL BE HEALTHY conquest.  Yeah, I'm still trying on that.  Annnnnnnnd I have a bit of work to do, considering I slept past my alarm to go running this morning and the fact that I ate like, a boatload of food today... (I REFUSE TO REGRET THAT AMAZING CRABCAKE, THOUGH)
Sigh.  I'll work off some of it later tonight before sleep... XD  But anyways.  I am a teen. Teens go through the whole "I must find out who I am, what am I here for, GAH why is life out to get me, please tell me what's going on in my life, oh goodness I'm a fail, wait no I'm not" thing.

The generic title of this post is also a lyric from one of fun. 's songs, "Some Nights." But it's true.  What is it exactly what I stand for?

 Well.  This might be the first serious post I put here... But after some living, reading, experiencing, and other trials, I think I've had this blast of reality and things are becoming a bit clearer.  What's important in life, what's not, etc. And where I stand.  The world is a full of good, bad, evil, justice, and everything in between.  Different opinions, different ideas, different morals.  Diversity is thrust upon us, and we must learn to cope and try to fit in there somewhere.  If we even have to "fit in", that is.  Who says we must conform to our society? Sure, there are some things that society keeps us from doing, for good reasons.  Otherwise we'd be a bunch of crazy people gallivanting over the countryside.  (isn't that a fun word? HA let's say it ten times to wear it out-- gallivanting gallivanting gallivanting gallivanting gallivanting gallivanting gallivanting gallivanting gallivanting GALLIVANTING!  (FYI- all of that gallivanting was hand-typed. No copy/paste was had that day.  It was hand counted, too! Done three times just to make sure I had ten...  :P ) BUT ANYWAYS.

Everyone is unique, everyone's got a voice.  I'm unique, and I've got a voice.  Consider this as an "honesty hour" where Steph covers all the basic topics of human existence, and claims her little spot of opinion in the world.  Heck, I could call these kinds of post "peanut galleries" or something to that effect.  But as I was saying... Let the fun begin, right?

Religion.
Ah, the big topic.  I was baptized young as Episcopalian-- my dad was Episcopalian and so was my mother after her father converted from being Methodist (he was Methodist as a child before he met my grandmother).  I do believe in God, and Jesus, and everything they taught us in Sunday School, as it has all been a big part of my life and where I am today.  I have not been to church in a while, and I know "too busy" is such a lame excuse... But with a family of eight and getting up every morning, I won't deny it's a chore.  Not to mention I don't like (and my mom agrees with me on this one) where our church is headed.  The people in it are extremely liberal and have a habit of making a big deal out of everything, not to mention the fact that the church I had attended for all of my life is loosening its grip on set in stone morals, which annoys me a bit.  I also don't like the fact that a LOT of the people in our church are so focused on image and superficiality.  What was it again, that verse that goes something like

"Therefore when you give your alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. " -Matthew 6:2

This quote talks about helping the needy, but really, in anything you do as a Christian... shouldn't it be quiet and humble and just for the pleasing of God?  Do you necessarily need to prance around saying "Look at me, ain't I a good person I done gived food to the poor peoples!"  No.  That's not what being Christian's about.  And that's what I have an issue with. But enough of that mini little preaching session...

Politics.  
Oh, goodness me.  This is always a sticky topic for people, and can turn the best of friends against eachother in heated argument, but...  I must say.  Back in eighth grade, I had this class called "civics" where we learned about the government, the election process, how to look at propaganda properly, how/when/why/where people vote, basic law things, and other stuff I know I can't remember.  (To be honest, I think this was the most 'this actually applies to real life' class I've ever taken next to that family and consumer sciences and keyboarding class they forced at us).  But anyways, in that class, I remember taking a little survey thing to find out if you were of the Republican party or Democratic party in your beliefs based on how you think our country should be run.  There were 15 items you had to answer "Yes/No" to, and after I did the whole "Tally up your answers and see whatcha got!" thing, it was funny.  7 of my answers were things a democrat would support, leaving my other 8 answers... to be things a republican would support.  I showed my dad the results, and he said that most people in America would be on the fence of 50/50... Like one side is a deep shade of blue and the other is a fiery red and then you get the people in the middle who are kind of like... Purple, I guess.  My parents are both conservative, and the stuff they say and reason about makes sense to me.  I've grown up coming home in the car after my dad/mom has picked me up from certain activities and hearing the radio shows of Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity (he's funny, I like him) and Mark Levin.  Now these guys are EXTREMELY conservative and sometimes I don't agree with what they say, but I do agree with a large part of it, so I guess that's where I am. I also don't like the fact that just because I didn't (well, I can't... I'm not old enough) vote for Obama people say you're racist.  What?!

What is this?! No.  I don't care if the candidate running is pink with purple stripes.  I look at what they want to do with the country and how they view certain things.  And it's not a war between the two parties, either.  I'm not going to NOT vote for someone just because of the party they belong to.  And the fact that Hilary Clinton was in the running there for a while... (man that was a long time ago! I was like, in elementary school when that was happening!) I remember when someone said to me "Yeah, I bet all the women want her to win." What?! No. Gender has NOTHING to do with it.  I just want someone who will help run the country in the way it's supposed to be run, based on the principles our Founding Fathers have set before us, stick to them, and do what is in the best interest of the people.

 And, as you know, you can't have a talk about politics without stumbling across

LGBT Rights, Abortion and Immigration.
 So HA! Segue time!  Well.  Here's my take on this.
Am I, Stephanie, gay, lesbian, transgender or bisexual? No.  Will I hate on people because they are? No way.  That's just rude, insensitive, and unkind.  It's like being racist.  All people are created equal.  When I meet someone for the first time, you can bet they have my respect 100% unless they give me a reason not to.  It's your body, you can do what you want with it.  I may not support it or agree with it or be it myself, but I certainly still treat those people with respect because they're still people and do not deserve hate.  And abortion.  I guess I am categorized under "Pro-life".  I don't like killing, I'm not into killing babies. I'm against killing in general, unless it's for "right" reasons... (like fighting to protect our country, etc)  But then again, what if the person didn't want to have a baby in the first place?  Like if they've been raped?  That's where things get foggy, and I normally try and duck out of the conversation. I would like to say "well, think about the child.  It doesn't deserve to be killed because it wasn't wanted/expected." But then again, it wasn't fair that a girl got raped and has to take care of a baby she was totally unprepared for, either.  So it's a hazy line.  Annnnd lastly immigration.. Let's face it-- our dear America was built off of immigration.  Christopher Columbus was not American, he was European.  Years later, millions of people flooded into Ellis Island in search of a new and better life-- a life in a country that accepted who you are and where you came from, and would let you start over from nothing.  America, "where the streets are paved with gold" it was said.  Some people took that literally, and could not find gold.  Instead they found work and jobs and did the hard work in order to make that gold appear.  America is the land of opportunity, not privilege.  I believe that if you want to come here to start a new life, great! Awesome!  You come here and you bring your willingness to work and be a good citizen and play by our rules, and you'll be fine!  You can keep your heritage, just as long as you accept the title "American" that goes with it.  In fact, this girl sums it up perfectly. (she's great-- I love her blog) (: So I guess, moral of the story, you better not just be coming to our country for free handouts and looking to sell drugs and terrorize our people.  And I don't like illegal immigration, either.  Don't get me STARTED on that, lol.

I stand for Justice.  I stand for Peace.  I stand for Love, and I stand for my Country.  I stand for Truth, and I stand for Freedom.  I stand for Life, and I stand for Liberty.  I stand for People. I stand for Friends, and I stand for my Family.  I stand for What I Believe To Be Good and Moral.  I stand for God.  I stand for myself.  And I stand up, uncowering, to everyone else.

~

....That was totally deep, man.  LOL.
 Well that's most of the hard-core subjects in life, right? Those are the bases everyone learns to cover, right?  And thanks to America being America, I can cover these topics however I wish, and me having an opinion is okay.  I respect the opinions of others, and I definitely won't hate on a person for having their own point of view.  It's a free country, after all.

What about you guys?  How do you feel about those topics mentioned above?  Have you ever gotten someone who didn't respect your opinion? How did you deal with it? Let me know in a comment-- perhaps I can apply your strategies to my life and use them calmly in situations where the respect is being shattered.  (:  Fun fact number (whatever number I was on) about me-- I kinda have a quick/hot temper...but then again I avoid fights and confrontation.  But I could still use the advice on handling these situations better... XD

So. After that mini 'Murica/politics/religion rant... XD  I guess I could tell you about my day... That is, if you think you can stick with me a little longer (:

Well like I mentioned earlier, I missed my alarm to get up and go running... hopefully I'll do better tomorrow morning.  Soooooooo I ended up sleeping in.  And then I went on errands with Mom, Boo and Joy later in the day.  Joy has a friend who's having a birthday party so we needed to stop by good ol' Toys R Us to pick up something.  And the post office. And the middle school to drop off Bubby's shot records so he can do the 6th grade.  And then we went out to eat (which is rather unusual nowadays, because Mom's trying to save and not spend money going out... money's tight, and we're surviving on her wit and frugality.  Thanks, Mom! <3)  We basically spent the whole time out and about, and then came back to relax and just do summer-y stuff... And then we ate this incredible seafood that Mom got from the store a little while after we had gotten home.  It was a family day, just relaxing in general... OH and I believe today is the 5th Day Without the Boys. I believe they get back tomorrow...? Or Saturday? I'm not entirely sure... But I'll find out.  Tomorrow I may go fishing with Ruski (wow, never thought I'd do that) and one of his friends, and I'll see if I can bring Blye along just because I want someone my actual age to talk to and not be awkward around... XD.

But until then, I shall bid you goodnight, and I hope I can score another point against that almighty Procrastination in the day ahead.
xoxo