isaac4vaughan

Though I haven’t created a full philosophy yet, I have created a priority list. To be able to recall it easily, I compiled everything into seven categories.

Not sure if Goodwill is considered charity. With their prices on clothes, they are practically giving them away. Taking six bags of clothes to Goodwill made me feel like I was contributing to the less fortunate. One perk is that they will give you a receipt for tax breaks.

After saving up paper and plastic for nearly a year, I finally made a trip to recycling station. My girlfriend was moving in and we needed to make some space in my storage closet. That gave me the incentive to experience what it would be like to haul a carload to recycle.

Though some of the plastic was trash because I neglected to check for the recycling sign, it was a meaningful trip. My carbon footprint on the earth seemed to shrink as I was dumping paper in the bins.

After getting little to no progress with eye exercises, I’ve reverted back to wearing my contacts again. My devotion to the time consuming practices and strict guidelines is lacking. Thus, I’ve given up the retinal workout approach and plan to hit up Ortho-K (braces for the eyes) in the fall. You might hear from me later on the efficacy of that treatment.

You all likely know a person who enlivens you. Recently, I’ve met a girl who has inspired me to be a better person because of her zeal in life. We must cultivate these relationships and continue to exhibit the essence they have poured into us so that we might touch lives the same way.

Often times, we must challenge ourselves to see who we really are. After not being in the ocean for a few years, I decided to do so in the Gulf of Mexico during my Spring Break Habitat trip.

Jeremy and I were capitalizing the shore of a beach after building houses that day. We tried skim boarding with a boogie board and walked on our hands close to the water so that our falls would be cushioned. This was not enough. We needed a new obstacle to peak our interests.

My neck turned from a pole on the outskirts of the swimming region to Jeremy and back to the pole again. He knew what was on my mind. With his eyes approval, I verbalized my thoughts and he accepted. We were going to the limits of the imaginary boundary set forth by men for their safety.

He starts out strong and proves himself a much better swimmer than I imagined. Neither one of us were regular swimmers, so this feat was starting to take a toll on our breathing. As we approach the pole we begin to slow our pace because we are tired. He announces that we should head back. To conserve energy, I float on my back and pedal towards shore. Jeremy decides to swim in a little bit ahead of me.

Staring up into the expansive, blue-raspberry jello with splotchy whip topping sky, my efforts seemed to be in vain. This brought my focus back on my body. I ask myself, “Am I thrusting forward?” The answer was yes, but another force was detected pulling me in the opposite direction. Suddenly, the concept of current flooded my brain. Soon after, a slight panic ensued. I was not comfortable with the ocean tugging at me.

“Maybe the pole will point out my progress,” I think. Looking at the pole, I realize that it is entirely to close for the length of time I have been travelling back to shore. My patience fades and I pedal with all the will that I have. Then I start becoming satisfied with the small distance gains that I see between the pole and me. These gains gave me the hope to finish my journey back to the stable land.

“You can touch now,” Jeremy’s voice cries from the beach.

“Not quite, yet,” I gargled in return as my feet searched for sand. Five more feet of swimming and relief set in as seashells swirled around my toes.

On the shore, I collapsed and kissed the water packed sand. My strive for a demanding trial was finally satisfied.

Habitat for Humanity in Florida provided a awesome outlet for my needs to volunteer. I spent a week building with my hands to slacken a few underprivelaged people’s burdens. Being with a group of friends created a memorable time too.

An old book that I found in the library called “Your Mythic Journey” probes deep into belief systems. It showed me how much of myself is hidden in my subconscious because I couldn’t answer many of the questions. The book has interesting stories that show the eccentric nature of some people also.

I’ve been eating tons more calories and protein evenly spread throughout the day. In addition to that, I work out hard at least three days a week. I’ve been pushing myself with the weight I lift too. Enough about me, I’m beginning to sound narcissistic. How are you going about gaining weight?

Recently, I’ve been eating only fruit in the morning before headking off to my daily duties (this saves time because cooking eggs takes a few minutes). This typically consists of 3-4 bananas, an apple, and some citrus fruit. One to Two hours later, I’ll eat high protein foods since I’m trying to gain weight. No longer do I keep bread in my apartment and with the new morning routine, breakfast cereal is gone. When I go to a restaurant (not often), trying to avoid processed food is out the window. You got to live a little. All together, I’ll consider this a success.

It has proven difficult to make a conscious effort in keeping my back straight during these activities.

Most people do not know about this race.
P = Purdue
O = Outing
C = Club
A = Adventure
R = Race
This is a 48-hour limit orienteering race usually in extreme weather conditions. A -20 windchill blew through as the temperature seeped into the single digits. Our team finished in 26 hours. We hiked overnight with no sleep and still came in 17th place out of the 45 teams who initiated it.

When I got back to college this semester, I put everything in a specific spot according to its category. Now, as the semester drains my time, I see my items falling into chaos. This is more effort than I imagined.

Unfortunately, this blog is making my vision worse because I’m staring at the computer.

I’ve volunteered a few times and I’ve always enjoyed the experience, but I seem to neglect helping others when I get busy. This needs to change and I admire all who make an effort to volunteer during their busy schedules.