Journal #5: The Stranger

Johnstonism
1: Follow your own path, but let others pave it: Learn from others' mistakes. Don't do things because other people tell you to but do it because you want to. That being said, it is important that you don't decide to do something stupid when you have seen someone else do it and ended badly. Learn from what others do and then make your own decisions based on what is best for you, not what other people think you should do.
2: Faith: It is important to believe in some higher power. I believe in God because if you don't have anyone to look to in times of trouble, you will give up. God is there to offer comfort in hard times. When something happens that I cannot control myself, I look to God to help it turn out well.
3: You are not better than anyone: This is very important to live by. Why should people respect you if you don't respect them. Just because you are well dressed and have a good education does not mean you can look down on them. If you do look at them differently, it should be with admiration that, even though they have had a hard life, they are sticking through it and will keep on going.
4: Look to the Future: It is important that you live in the moment and appreciate life as it happens but what is perhaps even more important than that is to look to the future. If you are only living in the moment and not towards the future, you may get stuck in a hard part of life and think there is nothing left to do but end it. Looking to the future will help show that there is always a way around problems if you want to move on.
5: Respect your life and do something great: God has given you the gift of life and it is important not to waste it. Do something that will leave a footprint in the world. Be someone they talk about in 200 years. Be the person who cured cancer or stopped world hunger, not a person who wrote a mediocre paper on some book in high school. Leave a foot print that will help the world prosper.
6: Do things for others, not yourself: Be charitable, help the old lady cross the street, tutor the girl in the back of math class for free. It will pay off for you later on in life and it will help them now. It only takes 2 minutes to explain a concept to someone after class, it only takes 50 cents to make someones day. Or be an anonymous donor, whether you buy a meal for the car behind you in the drive thru or you donate $400 to a local music program. Help others because it is right, not because you are forced.
7: Let others learn from your mistakes: This is the flipside of principle 1. Pave someone else's path and tell them things you have done wrong. Admit your wrong-doings and let them know what you did and how you felt. Help others create an even stronger and happier life than you had.
8: Don't blame others: If something bad happens, assume it is for the best. When your grandmother dies, maybe you will meet the love of your life at her funeral. Don't blame God for punishing you. If you fail a group project, think about what you can do better next time whether it is you should work harder or encourage your partners to help you. It is not always someone else's fault.