This I Believe

The site This I Believe is a site in where people are able to express what they believe in.

This first This I Believe is by Wade Rathke titled, Listening Shows me the Way. It was about how Mr. Rathke learned to listen first before knowing what to do. Rathke is an organizer and activist. He's been one since he was a teenager. The reasons behind this is because of the passion and anger and fear of things that are going on around him. But before putting anything into action, he must first listen to what people need and what they want, so he can know what everyone wants. I agree with him. I'm like him in many ways. I want change in this world. A kind of change that will help people with their lives and make things better. I also believe that we all must listen in order to know things. "Listening strengthens all of our beliefs." ~Rathke

This second one is written by Ivory Harlow called, Peace Begins with One Person. She talks about working at a diner in Texas and how small actions of kindness can lead to peace around the world. She talks about how people come into her diner to have some way of connecting with other people there. She believes that her smiles and listening, actually listening, to how people are and how their days were will make the world a better place. Well, there is one thing I can say about this. And that is that this is what I totally believe in too. Of course I believe in many things but this has got to be at the top of the list somewhere. This kind of reminds me of what I said about Singer's solution to World Poverty. Every action, whether it be small or large, will have an affect on the world. I believe that everything big started with something small. Giving out smiles to people passing by will somehow have an affect on them. This world was made for everyone. It's time we lived by that. "We're in this world to take care of each other." ~Harlow

The third This I Believe is Temple Grandin's Seeing in Beautiful, Precise Pictures. Whenever Grandin thinks, all she sees is pictures, and doesn't think through abstract thoughts. This is because she has autism. She believes in her ability to see these beautiful and precise pictures. She also is able to synthesize a lot of information and create systems out of it. She believes in herself and her own gifts. I don't know if her essay was also meant to show that everyone should be proud of who they are and should not be ashamed of themselves, but that is what I saw when i listened to her talk. Her compassion for what she sees and the way she thinks may have something to do with her autism, but it's the way that you take what is given to you that really matters. The way that she took her autism, I think, is the real thing in which she is showing what she believes in. You should never be afraid of who you are, it really doesn't matter who you are. All that matters is the way that you accept yourself and how you are willing to live with yourself. "Some people might think if I could snap my fingers I'd choose to be "normal." But I wouldn't want to give up my ability to see in beautiful, precise pictures." ~Grandid.