Sunday, August 25, 2019

Desiderata: Reflection




        Happiness; a word that is easily said but hard to feel. People have different perspectives for their own happiness. It could be as simple as watching the waves, eating, etc. No matter how small that thing is, if it brings you a smile to your face and a feeling of uplifting, that is happiness.There are two types of happiness; Temporary happiness and long-term happiness. Temporary happiness is everywhere but long-term happiness is rare. Long-term happiness is the happiness everyone wants to feel but sadly it is a journey that one needs to part-take on. Right now, all I have is temporary happiness, but I am not complaining. In life you don't just want to feel happy but you want to be happy. Everyone want to be always happy. I just wish that those days of happiness and worry-free days would just be back so I can feel that same happiness as before. But sadly, life does not work like that and those are just memories of mine I hold. 

        Happiness to us people is very important. We could potentially die before our deaths if we have this constant feeling that we are not happy. Mother Theresa once said " The hunger for love is much more difficult to remove than the hunger for bread.". First comes acceptance, then  love then finally happiness. 

        "Be yourself.". If people can't accept you for who you are then accept yourself. You don't need everyone to tell you your beautiful or your perfect. Let yourself tell you that. Acceptance is hard, being accepted for your flaws is hard. Being a person who is having difficulty with his weight treading in a society where it has already standards in order to be accepted is difficult. It is difficult because no matter what I do, I always get this feeling of rejection. Remember, it is alright to be rejected by everyone else just not by yourself. I have just learned this even though after 16 years of existence; At the of the day I .am who I am. If they can't accept that, that's okay, at least I know a few people who does. Each and everyone of us is born differently. So be different and own your own happiness. Live to impress yourself not anyone else. 

        "If you compare yourself with others, you may became vain and bitter." The moment you compare yourself to other consistently, that is the day where you have died. I repeat; Don't die before your death. I have compared myself to people who I pictured out us perfect. It turns out that I was just wasting my time. I learned that no matter how much you compare yourself to people, you will never be them. And that is good, live your life since it is yours. All of us has flaws but it if I continuously compare myself to others, that will do no good for me. I learned to accept my flaws even though it was difficult. I always wanted people to accept me but how is that possible if I couldn't accept myself first. Let this serve as a lesson to everyone; You are perfect in every way possible. You don't need anyone to prove you so, all you have to do is dig deeper within yourselves. So, for you not to compare yourself to others all you have to do is to be yourself. Accepting your own flaws can make you turn it into your own weapon so that no one can use it against you.

        Poems are made by people as a form of telling the reader what they are feeling. Some people can relate to certain poems for they know what the author is feeling. Desiderata is one of the amazing poems whom everyone can understand for it talks about accepting yourself and your flaws. I sometimes read certain genre of poems as an eye opener. Although some poems are difficult to understand due to the usage of grammar and literary devices. I mean as I have stated, we are born differently, you might understand things I don't and I might understand things you don't.

       In the end, happiness is like a virus, it all begins with you then slowly spreads. I used to think that I will never be happy in life because i never have this or that, but happiness doesn't mean objects or possessions, it means what you do to give you a feeling of joy and a smile to your face. Also, each and everyone of us has a different aspect of happiness. No matter how little your actions are, as long as it brings good to people and a smile to your face it will give you joy. Once again, Accept yourself then love comes along then happiness will bound these two together.






Thursday, August 22, 2019

India's Earthquake Preparedness Plan


The Republic of India is a country that lies on the Indian Plate, a major tectonic plate that is located on the eastern hemisphere, it is surrounded by 6 other tectonic plates - namely, the Arabian Plate, the Australian Plate, the Burma Plate, the Eurasian Plate, the Somali Plate, and the Sunda Plate.

The Republic of the Philippines is a country that lies on a complex portion of the tectonic boundary between the Eurasian Plate, the Philippine Sea Plate, and the Sunda Plate. It is also located in the Pacific Ring of Fire.

India has an earthquake preparedness plan that is straight to the point but it's downsides are that it is quite short and it only touches the basics on most of the topics that it talks about. It would be better if it were a bit lengthier and would be filled with more information on the different topics in it. The basics on structural systems, identifying the weaknesses of a structure, and retrofitting a structure is already quite useful but it does not contain the precise details on how you exactly do them and what other procedures should be followed.

India and the Philippines are both third-world countries, but the Philippines is more likely to have less damage when it comes to earthquakes since it is more developed and is already used to the occasional earthquakes due to their position in the Pacific Ring of Fire. Another advantage that Philippines has is it's literacy rate which is around 95.0% , compared to India's 69.0%, it obviously tops it.

India is a country with great resources that can be used to help lessen damages from earthquakes but it is held back by it's economic freedom and the literacy of their people. The Philippines is also a country with great resources and is already quite prepared for earthquakes but it is currently held back by it's slowing growth.

To conclude this reflection, India's earthquake preparedness plan is better if you plan to learn the basics while Philippines' earthquake preparedness plan, compared to India's, is better if you plan to go a bit deeper into it's wide range of topics.

References:
1. (2019). 2019 Index of Economic Freedom. Retrieved from https://www.heritage.org/index/ranking.
2. Burton, J. (2018, 9 14). List of Countries By Literacy Rate. Retrieved from https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/the-highest-literacy-rates-in-the-world.html