Love is commonly known as the most powerful emotion, one that is said to overrule hate. The word “love” is defined as “noun; an intense feeling of deep affection. noun; a great interest in pleasure in something. verb; feel a deep romantic or sexual attachment to (someone)”. But we also can take this word and define it with our own feelings and experiences we’ve endeavored.
But by the different definitions provided, it leads us to the idea that there can most definitely be different types of love. There is love for doing things such as activities like sports or art, love for the family members you have, love for your significant other, and the list goes on. Although we can distinguish the different types of love we can feel/experience, we still have the power to define them in our own way. Maybe this is what makes love so much more powerful than any other emotion. Hate still stands as a strong emotion, along side love. As I mentioned previously. Hate is defined as “verb; feel intense or passionate dislike for (someone). noun; intense or passionate dislike”. But we still have the same ability to define hate, just as we do love, with out own experiences and feelings. With that, hate could easily become more powerful than love if one let it. But can love really always overpower hate? Also, imagine a world without hate, or without love. There would be no balance. That being said, my questions to you are, what do you believe is the strongest emotion? How do you define love? What experiences and feelings have led you to define love? Do you believe hate is stronger than love? How do you define hate? And lastly (in honor of Thanksgiving) what about love makes you thankful? Sources: https://www.lexico.com/en/definition/love https://www.lexico.com/en/definition/hate
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My dad recently announced to the family that he wanted to put down our pet poodle of 14 years. He argued that Wheatley was old, in pain, and didn't deserve to live like that. As I considered his proposition I kept thinking that if Wheatley was still living, she could keep living a little longer. My dad then asked me, "Sabrina, if you were blind, deaf, half lame, and always crying, would you want to keep living?" He exaggerated my dog's infirmities, but it made me think. Many people believe that although suicide is legal, assisted suicide is a crime and should not be legal, but could it be more humane? I was later presented with a story in which a man in excruciating pain who had been begging to be taken off what was keeping him alive. After his pleas were ignored and his cries became unbearable, his brother took a gun to the hospital and killed him out of mercy. He was charged with murder.
With the improved technology and medicine we have right now, it is very common to put a loved one on life support or put off their death. Sometimes these people don't want to be kept in that painful state but their wishes are not seen as sane or respectable. As more and more people speak out about how cruel it is to keep someone in a suffering state, more areas are legalizing the practice. In January of 2020, Maine will become the 8th state to legalize assisted suicide. Many of the people that pushed for this bill to pass had to watch a friend endure months or even years of physical or mental agony while begging to have that freedom. Physician-Assisted Suicide is usually allowed if the patient is sane, repetitive in their request, and take the drugs themselves. Contrarily, some believe that legalizing assisted suicide removes the ability to get mentally unstable patients the help that they need. Suicide is often a plea for help or a test for those around them. Around 94% of those that commit suicide are not mentally sound and have not made the decision rationally. These mindsets and disorders can be treated. Pain can be alleviated. They would argue that it isn't all or nothing, you don't need to get rid of yourself to get rid of your problems. Besides, those who survive suicide attempts rarely attempt again. Should assisted suicide be legal in the United States? Will creating a legal way to choose death make people think harder and more rationally about their decision? If you had a loved one that wanted to die, would you let them? Who should be able to choose assisted suicide? Do we have a right to life as well as death? Sources: https://www.texasrighttolife.com/why-assisted-suicide-should-not-be-legalized/ https://www.scu.edu/ethics/focus-areas/bioethics/resources/assisted-suicide-a-right-or-a-wrong/ https://apnews.com/7f0fe9d789294a02852c1669c892f382 My mother works with Hospice, an agency that helps the elderly. I was able to meet one of her clients, that turned 100 years old earlier this year. I wrote her a happy birthday letter in June,l ,because I was just amazed by her age and was curious of any advice she may be able to give me. She was impressed by the small amount of kindness I showed, and told my mom when she gave it to her that she wanted to meet me. After having my busy summer, I was able to go to Challis in August to meet this woman, Agnes. She is actually in amazing health for her age, but does have a glass eye, and is half blind in the other, but she is still kicking, walking, and is mainly independent. She talked to me about her stories, about her three husbands, her son, her experiences in the military, her ideas on racism, and I was easily able to tell she was one firecracker in her younger days. She showed me her thousands and thousands of stamps in her collections, and old photographs as well, she spoke to me about all the death she has seen and hurt from all around her. Then I finally asked her for what I had gone there for, if she had any life advice for me.
Now, before I continue with what this lady told me, my question for you is how would you feel if you lived to be one hundred years old? Does this sound appealing to you? How do you think you could do with the changes of society around you? What positive and negative things would come with being an entire century in age? Secondly, I want you to consider the advice she gave me, process it, and then say whether or not you agree with it, why (of course), and any other thoughts and comments on it. I wrote all the responses she gave me in my notes, so these are quotes from Agnes herself. When asked for life advice, she told me: "Attitude is important" " Accept everyone." She told me soon after, "regardless of race" "Don't let anyone encourage you to do anything you don't want to do." " You don't have to dress up or have hair like anyone else." "Do not take anything from any boy." And my personal favorite, " Be friends with everyone, you'll learn a lot about the world." I also asked if she believed in love, she told me yes, then replied with "respect.", and that was all I got out of her for that topic. This was a pretty amazing experience for me, and I recommend and encourage all of you to ask your grandparents, great grandparents, or other elderly people you may know for a touch of life advice. You'll learn an grow more than you think sometimes. |
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