Soar

I fly on great flights and soar to grand heights. 

My passion bears me ahead.

But sometimes it stops and I have to walk, 

Or crawl 'long the ground instead.

Those days, I ask why?

Why can't I be that guy? 

The one who so fearlessly

Flew cross the sky?

Sometimes you fail.

Sometimes you fall.

Sometimes you feel

like you're stopped at a wall.

But keep going.

Keep going through it all.

Because someday you'll be back in the air.

Soaring, flying, you'll get back there.

And this time you'll fly 

even farther than before.

Higher and higher and higher you'll soar!

Keep trying, striving, craving for more

and one day, you will cease flying no more.

A Time to Breathe

     Back in the days when I thought there was still a remote possibility of me going to Harvard (before second term that is) I was reading some of it's suggestions for seniors and I thought it was really interesting. Basically they said don't load up with a bunch of crazy classes senior year. If anything lighten the load. Give yourself some time to do what you love, some time to think, some time to breathe. So I decided I'd take their advice, and I've got to say, I'm lovin it!

Don't get me wrong I still have hard classes, I have two AP Science classes and a college level math class. But it's a lot more relaxed then it could have been. I actually get full nights of sleep now! I have time in the morning to exercise and read scriptures, and time in the afternoon to nap. Basically...it's exactly what I need to relax before the push of college. Sometimes you just need a breather in life, and in the words of Elder Utchdorf

"If life and it's rushed pace and many stresses have made it difficult for you to feel like rejoicing, then perhaps now is a good time to refocus on what matters most"
 http://lds.org/general-conference/2010/10/of-things-that-matter-most?lang=eng

Ps. I love the morning after a fresh coat of snow =)

Max De Shiz

      So on Saturday I went to the library to finally get "Leadership is an Art" by Max De Pree, which I've been wanting to read for a while. Dr. Fullmer's recommended it to us since our freshmen year so I thought it would be an interesting read. I read for a few hours in the Orem library in this nice comfy chair and then went to the park. It was so nice! 60 degrees in the middle of January? Madness! But totally rad madness!
      Anyways I finished it that day in the park and it was a really thought provoking book. My concept of leadership is really an important part of my core philosophy so this definitely added to my perspective. It even got me taking notes on my phone which I filled up a good 2000 characters with of notes. I definitely recommend this book to everyone, but since I know most of you won't read it, (it took me forever to get myself to go out and check it out) here are some highlights:

-The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality. The last is to say thank you. In between the two, the leader must become a servant and a debtor. That sums up the progress of an artful leader.

-Leaders don't inflict pain, they bear pain.

-The signs of outstanding leadership appears primarily among the followers. Are the followers reaching their potential? Are they learning? Serving?

-As the apostle Luke said a leader is "one who serves"

-It is a way of thinking about stewardship rather than ownership.

-Leaders are responsible for effectiveness...Efficiency is doing the thing right, but effectiveness is doing the right thing.

-Effectiveness comes about through enabling others to reach their potential--both their personal potential and their corporate or organization's potential.

-Being faithful is more important than being successful. If we are successful in the world's eyes but unfaithful in terms of what we believe, then we fail in our efforts.

-We are all in the process of becoming.

-We need to be learners together. The steady process of becoming goes on in most of us throughout our lifetime. We need to be searching for maturity, openness, and sensitivity.

-Technically it has to do with the second law of thermodynamics, but I choose define entropy as meaning that everything has a tendency to deteriorate. One of the important things leaders need to learn is to recognize the signals of impending deterioration. Some of those are:

     A tendency towards superficiality
     No longer having time for celebration and ritual
     A growing feeling that rewards and goals are the same thing
     When problem-makers outnumber problem-solvers
     When folks confuse heroes and celebrities
     Leaders who seek to control rather than liberate
     When people seek of customers (or others) as impositions on their time rather than as opportunities to serve

    As you can tell from these delicious fruits of wisdom this book is worth reading, because that's only a fraction of its goodness...so you should. I even have a copy you can borrow if you want!

Sunsets!

I know I've said it many a time, but I love sunsets! They are one of my favorite things about nature!
Probably my two favorite sunsets I've ever seen are (1) the one coming back from Pearl Harbor on our red eye flight 30,000 feet up. I didn't get a good picture of it, but it looked a lot like this:

When I saw it I couldn't help but waking Jared Larkin up to enjoy it with me. His sleep deprived body didn't agree though =(

(2) And my other favorite one I got a really awesome picture of:

       Good old Provo sunsets =D. One time I was walking home from a Sunday walk I decided to take to enjoy the fall colors and there was a really gorgeous sunset that I couldn't help just standing on the side of 9th east to enjoy for a half hour haha, but sometimes I really think we need to just stop and enjoy all the beautiful things around us we far too often take for granted.

My Christmas Dream

This picture doesn't actually have anything to do with my post, I just like it. Anyways...

You can tell it's Christmas dream by the nap I just had this Christmas eve. I was standing alone in this dock area that also (in my dream world) when I was in  A Capella we had sung at because it had awesome sound reverberation. It was kind of dome-ish and made out of concrete and had a sweet lookout of an ocean.

Anyways while I'm standing there I just start singing this melody. Pretty soon all these random people come out of nowhere and just start singing with me. Football players, hipsters, orchestra people, just people from all walks of life. We made an awesome improv tune with harmony and everything which eventually turned into a sweet new version of adelina de maya and I was like "whoah! Football players singing adelina de maya! This is sweet!"

Next we started "Go Tell it on the Mountain" while we stared out across the ocean. It reminded me of when we sung "Hey Jude" at the band Luau thing in the sense that there was just this unified feeling. It was such a joyous experience. Then after singing we departed our ways full of joy and love for these random strangers we didn't even know.

Anyways I don't know if my subconscious really was trying to tell me something, but like most English books I read I'll find some cool meaning anyways. To me it really just goes back to my biggest wish for the whole world. The thing that depresses me most is when I see people hating each other. That's why I said what I did at the "bandimony meeting" on fall tour. I love all the people in band so much it hurts me when I see them hurt or hated.

Now obviously I'm not perfect, but I try my best, and this dream is really another reminder for me to do better, but I thought I'd share it in case anyone else feels similarly.

TED

     TED: Ideas Worth Spreading. If you don't know what TED is or have never seen a video then you need to see how awesome it is. In fact I'll post a video right here. I watched this one just barely and it was really interesting as well as humorous. Not only does TED have this guy, but there are hundreds of other similarly and even more interesting and inspiring ideas on TED.

    Not only is this guy hilarious and British he also really makes you think. TED is one of those things that really inspires me to love science and technology, but it has ideas on everything from Science to Art to Global Issues. So you should acquaint yourself with it's awesomeness.

Love,
Nick
http://www.ted.com/

Take That Teenage Culture!

     So tonight I was reading back through my journal (see earlier post for an explanation of its awesomeness) and I read something I had written that really struck a chord with me and I had forgotten over the past while. I'd written that it really was no use stressing about girls, who I like, whether they like me, yata yata yata. I had decided that instead of stressing about dinky high school relationships I was gonna focus all my attention on becoming a better man for the girl somewhere out there that will one day be my wife.

     Instead of worrying about what might be an "I like you, you like me" kind of relationship, I should really be focusing on the "We love each other and will be with each other forever" relationship. Because I'll be honest with you, I'm a hopeless romantic, in more ways than one. And because I know I'm not ready yet, until it's time for me to search for my companion, I'm gonna make myself the best me I can be. And when I have become the best man I could be, she'll know that I did it for her.