my assignment was to write an essay relevant to thomas paine quote, "things we obtain too easily, we esteem to lightly" and about taking things for granted.
here is my original essay :
Thomas Paine once said, "That which we obtain too easily, we esteem too lightly.It is dearness only which gives everything its value." Do we only value what we struggle for? In a world where one dwells on the past, our outlook on our future is not in mind. Sometimes in life, things are easily given to us and we often don't take into consideration their value and meaning. When something is difficult to is not easily given to us, its value increases and becomes clearer. As humans, we value what was hard to get in fear that we might lose it and relive our struggle to obtain it. Love is a good example of something we take for granted. As love easily grows for a person, or is returned by another, we often don't imagine our life without that love. Another example is life; the simplicity of creating and bringing new life into the world is not taken for granted, but living life itself and experiencing it is highly forgotten in its value. Does one apperciate the things given to us, or only what we struggle to obtain?
When I was around six months old, My grandmother took something away from my mom and dad because its value couldn't even compare to their desire for something else more valueable to them. This thing my grandmother took from my parents was my brother and I. In my parents eyes, drugs were more valuable then their own children. Today, I'm 16 years old and I comprehend any situation where me or my brother aren't worth more than a feeling of being high. When I was younger, I craved that valueable love from my parents that was constantly absent in my life. A few words or even just a hug meant more than anything to me if it was coming from my parents. Even though my worth to them isn't as much as should be, I still value them and their impact on my life .
Around the age of thirteen, my cousin and I bonded into true sisters. I've lived with her and my grandparents since six months of age and growing up I couldn't acknowledge or recoginize her value and importance in my life. Her being 3 years older made it difficult to relate to one another and become close. My freshmen year in high school, my sister was a senior and we went to the same school. Living in the same house for more than 10 years couldn't even compare to the relationship we had from seeing eachother at school every day, playing on the same soccer team, having the same intense desire for the love of softball and working as teammates for our school team. This one year brought us together and made up for the past years. Not realizing her time was almost up, her collegee decesions came around the corner and ruined our bond. Time flew by,graduation came, and her decesion of school of choice was made. I was happy for my sister, but I couldn't hold the idea of her goping away. She moved out and went to collegee, exactly 1,015 miles away. I didn't value my sister and I now knowthe feeling around the quote, "You don't know what you have until it's gone."
One day we open our eyes and take our grasp on life and start living. All we did was open our eyes and life, no struggle for what we were about to experience. We sometimes worry about yesterday when we should worry about tomorrow. We never know when our life will end, we just have to keep going and get the best out of each moment in it. One day my brother showed me a video about a young boy whose message outlived his age. The young boy told the story of his sister's tragic death. She was only 15. His sister was swimming in the ocean when a man on a jet ski lost control , hit her, and took her life away. This boy tells us, "Live everyday like it's your last, do you best and live without regrets." And he also says something that has opened my eyes to the value of life,; he says, "You're never too young to fall in love ... Because you're never too young to die." What he said changed my view on life and has taught me to live life to the fullest and not worry about yesterday but hope for tomorrow. When will the day come where everyone will stop and realize the value and meaning of life? Just because something is so easily handed to you, it shouldn't be taken for granted.
Love and life are two things that are always taken for granted in this world. Why? They are taken from granted because they grow upon us and because it was given to us, we didn't struggle for it. We often underestimate the meaning a person has in our life, and we don't realize it until they're gone. After this realization, we often regret and wish we would have valued this person or thing more before we lost it. Sometimes we wake up and live like if we could live forever; we procrastinate and often don't look at our future. We don't realize the value of life because we don't see the value in today. In life, we need to value and appreciate everything that is given to us because no matter how hard or easy it was to obtain this "thing" ,you could lose it in the blink of an eye and regret it.
how does it sound?
do you think it would sound better adding other examples.?
and i wanted to add this in before its relevance in the discussion paragraph:
Dear ex-boyfriend,
The first day we met, you had me at hello. You had my world spinning out of control in your love. We were more than friends but less than lovers, as our love grew for one another. Your voice along with your strumming fingers on your guitar, praying for answers to lead me to your heart.
Things got messy as you told me it had to be different now, that things have changed. You were right, your feelings for me had changed, along with the leaves in the fall; I guess you preferred a different season. Time went on but I still called, I still loved you. Weeks had passed and you had come running back, you said you made a mistake. I took you back, and soon again things got messy and time repeated itself until you came back for a third time, and I told you something familiar to your ears. I told you it had to be different now, things had to change. You needed to know that I'm not something to be used, I'm a human being and I shouldn't be taken for granted. I wanted to be there for you, but I couldn't, I couldn't be your back up plan or second choice just because its convenient to you. You took my heart and its love for you and carried it around until you ran out of someone else's, you took me for granted.
Dear sister,
When we were younger, we constantly fought and got under each other's skin. I never stopped and realized your importance in my life. A mistake among our parents brought us to living together and even though this "mistake" narrowed my childhood , it led me to you and I can't be grateful enough. Etc etc(ill finish later)
Dear life,
Etc etc. . .
if i add those, how would i write it without it looking like a random letter in my essay?????
pleaaseee help,
When I was aroundabout six months old, My grandmother took something away from my mom and dad because its value couldn't even compare to their desire for something else more valueable to them. This thing my grandmother took from my parents waswere my brother and I. In my parents' eyes, drugs were more valuable thenthan their own children. Today, I'm 16 years old, and I comprehend any situation where me I or my brother aren't worth more than a feeling of being high. When I was younger, I craved that value ablevaluable love from my parents that was constantly absentI never felt in myentire life. A few words or even just a hug meant more than anything to me if it was comingwere from my parents. Even though my worth to them isn't as much as should be, I still value them and their impact on my life .
