Ben W

An important part of maturing and becoming a fully functional adult is to keep your expectations in check and to manage them as to not conflict with what the reality of the situation is. Keeping your expectations in check is difficult to do but it is necessary in order to not let an oversized ego, or arrogance, or selfishness keep you from becoming the person you should be. One has to always be prepared for reality to not line up with our initial expectations. You can never really be fully certain of how things in life are going to shape up to be. A true sign of maturity is wishing for the best but understanding that you could be in for disappointment and setbacks even when you think that everything can turn out fine.

Eastern Promises (2007)

Man’s struggle with God can almost be as enduring and painful as his struggle against man. If there is one way to sum up the excellent film First Reformed, that would be it. First Reformed (2017) focuses on the environment, one’s faith, and the struggle to find hope when things seem rather bleak. “Can God forgive us for what we’ve done to the world?” a troubled environmental activist asks Pastor Ernst Toller, and the Pastor replies to his congregant, “Who can know the mind of God?”

I was asked a question recently that was very deep and thought-provoking. A friend asked me if I had to choose between an old age spent losing my physical abilities but keeping my mental faculties, or an old age spent losing my mental faculties and keeping my physical abilities—Which one would I choose? The question gave me pause because I normally do not focus a lot on my impending aging, but it’s natural to think of what life will be like once you are an elderly person. My friend did not hesitate to say that he would choose having his physical abilities intact since he is a very active person and enjoys running, hiking, and exercising at the gym.

Tudo bem? or Tudo bom? is a simple, yet intriguing greeting that has been one of the most culturally interesting aspects of living in Brazil. You might be thinking, what is so interesting about these two words, but the greeting itself, when you translate it has much more of a significance than what you would think. I find it fascinating for a number of reasons, which I will divulge during this article—and it is important to keep in mind that languages, including English have different ways in which people can address each other from the very neutral to the very positive.

Willpower is a key trait that has an immense effect on our daily lives. Without its presence, we are often at the whim of short-term pleasure, gratification, and sustenance. However, while it is not a trait that is equally shared among each of us, it can be built up over time and by achieving bigger and bigger goals. The key thing with having willpower is that you have to start small and work upwards to really make a big impact in your life. Depending upon what goal or result you are trying to achieve, you have to set your willpower to be in line with that timeline to achieve it.