I love dancing.

Dance like no one's watching;

Sing like no one's listening;

And live like there's only heaven on the earth.

A great warrior fight for self but not for proving something.

I expect myself to be still, be brave, and be firm!

Though I always feel exhausted after dancing,

I love the feeling of seating. 

I guess it is what make my youth full of more meaning! 

Abortion

       Abortion has been a contentious issue throughout the world due to its ethnicity and uncertain actions. The heart of the controversy is whether doctors kill a baby or just an embryo. The controversy started with the definition of pregnancy. In accordance with the definition defined by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, pregnancy begins with implantation instead of fertilization. In other words, life occurs after the implantation of embryo. Thus, the embryo is equal to a life even its appearance is not human-like. “Did the baby suffer?” People argue for the fact. Disputes about the controversy were ignited as the result of different points of views.

 Most against people think the baby suffer from abortion, which is nothing different from murder. They think abortion kills a young life, and the young life suffers a lot just before it is destroyed. Thus, abortion is not supported by them, for it obeys the ethnicity. Not only destroying a life, abortion is like a process in which parents kill their own child. What’s worse; against groups propose an idea that the access to abortion increases the rate of unprotected sex. They regard it as telling your kids it’s OK to go out there and have sex, and we have a cure for it.

Regardless of the opposition from against stakeholders, there are still many people supporting for abortion. They think sometimes accidents happen, but the accidents may cause a lifelong consequence. It may take future away from a young girl. Those people think abortion is allowable because it permits women to exercise autonomy over their reproductive future. Also, they don’t think a child will have a sound family or growing process when they are not born with intentions.

Both supportive and against sides have strong state, so I think there is no absolutely accuracy for this biased issue. Whether to abort or not should be decided based on the actual situation but not major or general opinions.      

    

"Say your goal out loud or not?" - summary and reaction after i listened to the topic

The audio for this week is about the psychological aspect as we say our goal out loudly. We may like to tell others about our goals and dreams, and we are prone to do it. Agreement or admiration from others is pleasant to hear, but good feeling is what makes us less likely to achieve our goal. We feel good to say goals out because we feel like we are closer to it as others agree with us. When saying goals out loud, we are making an identity that we will make it. Though the identity raises our confidence, it distracts us from being exactly concentrated on what we want to do. Good feeling creates an illusion in our brain that we must achieve our goal, which makes us less motivated. According to psychologists, those who say their goals out are less likely to have their goals come true because they don’t make as much effort as they did after hearing approvals from others. Psychologists made a several experiments, and then the results show that people who keep their mouth shut stick to their task longer in result of their feeling that success is still a long way to go. On the other side, people who say their tasks out had only stayed in their position for thirty minutes. They quit much earlier than others because they feel much closer to their goal as they tell others about their goal. In conclusion, it may feel good to say goals out loud, but we have better keep our mouth shut. Things are less likely to be achieved when we gain identity from others, for we will be less motivated as the identity forms in our mind.

     “You will be whomever you want with effort and hope.” It seems that nothing is impossible if we make effort and pray over it. However, not many people know the key to work this motto out. Most of us think that goals are more likely to be achieved when we say it loud and make an identity in our mind. We read the book “Secret” and believe that identity will lead us to success; yet, most of we start to make less effort as we think that we will be successful. When I was in high school, I wrote the name of my ideal university, and everyone saw that. I thought I was doing what the author of “Secret” tells us to do, and then I started imagining myself as a to-be student of National Taiwan University. Because of the illusion, I started to study less. I spent much time on imaging and making myself feel good instead of studying hard. It is not wrong to have confidence or to be positive; nevertheless, whether holding determination or not is what makes the result different. Confidence may either let us become more resolute or let us loose modesty to keep making effort for achieving something. From my experience, I think it is right that goal is much less likely to happen when we say it out. Everytime when I tell others about the thing that I want to do, the result just turns out quite disappointing. I learned from my failures that success is belonged to those who are quite but determined. They stay quite because they really focus on the goal, and persist in making improvement. Briefly to say, I totally agree the idea proposed by the speaker. It is right that we have better keep mouth shut and be concentrated on what we should focus on.    

Summary and Reaction to "the Plastic Pollution" from CNN

The speaker is a visual artist who has been working with plastic for the last 20 years. Plastic has been her primary materials for arts. She turned them into three-dimension, sculpture, and installation. However, she found that her works started to break down into a bit of plastic eight years later. It’s a bad thing that plastic breaks into smaller pieces because it’s still plastic. Thus, she started wondered and doubted human beings’ use of this material. She visited oceans and founded that there are a lot of plastics drifted or deposited in the marine environment. Then she talked to people who are also concerned with the problem and then work to solve the problem as a group. They created an organization called the Plastic Pollution Coalition, which is dedicated to relieving the environmental and health problems caused by plastics. She called for the public’s concern with plastics by proposing that plastic is around our daily life. Foods in the supermarket are packed with plastic; beverages are packed in plastic; and even those sold at the healthy food market are packed in the same way. What’s more, the plastics are put in the refrigerator with potential risks that toxin may leach from plastic into our bodies. The problem triggered by the plastic is greatly severe, but at least we can do something to slow its rate. It is important that we find a way to turn off the faucets, cut the spigot, and not to use disable plastics. Plastics enter marine environment everyday on a global scale. While a glass bottle can be a glass bottle again, a plastic bottle can never be a plastic bottle again; therefore, problems of the plastic should be looked upon. Different from the traditional 3R, the Plastic Pollution Coalition proposed a new idea called 4R, which includes “reduce,”” reuse,”” recycle,” and “refuse.” Plastic pollution is a huge problem in the ocean, but the problem was created by us as consumers. To solve it, we should raise our awareness of the issue and teach others to choose alternatives instead of plastics. We can save oceans, planets, and ourselves by changing our life style.

     I had heard the problem of the plastic before; however, I seldom put the warning in mind. I go shopping without bringing my own bag and I think of plastic bags as worthless things. Not until I listened to the audio for this week did the importance of reducing plastic again show up in my mind. I was shocked as I heard the speaker list serious problems that caused by the plastic. What’s worse, the plastic is everywhere in our daily life. No matter in the supermarket, in the healthy-food court, in the refrigerator, or even in somewhere at home, I can see things made of plastics. The fact that the plastic is still the plastic even when it breaks down shocks me. It is terrible that I buy the new plastic bag every time when I shopped for things. Thus, I think it is time for me to change my life style for saving our environment!  

Summary and Reaction to "Anger" from TED-TALK

     The audio is talking about a strong feeling called anger. It talks about what anger really is and how we lose our temper. Anger is a negative emotion that triggered by people who treats us badly or unfairly. There are many things that make us lose control. A significant finding is that “Modern life is making us angrier.” Also, researchers in U.K. proposed a point that “People today are angrier than ever.” Modern life is fast and haste, and thus it causes us feel nervous and stressed. Lots of time, we try to slow down steps to relax ourselves, but then we get frustrated trying to do that. In fact, the frustration comes from our wants to do too much in a limited time. Another statement to support the finding is also discussed in the audio. “In Western World, all the expectation has been raised.” That is, we expect things to be perfect. It’s not a bad thing to have high expectation on achievements, but it is bad to expect everything goes with our will. For instance, we get mad when wireless connection doesn’t work well. What’s more, most people get mad when train is late. In BBC survey, they found that being kept on hold by a called center is the most likely thing to annoy people. We want things without waiting, which is the key to igniting anger. Sometimes we just get angry with all the people. We just think that everyone is annoyed even though they don’t do anything wrong. Haste life gives us an idea that we don’t want to wait and that we don’t have time waiting. However, getting anger is not definitely a bad thing. Human develop a feeling of anger as a basic survival skill. The emotion of anger helps us to do things. That is to say, proper anger may do us good. As a result, anger management is a critical therapy to modern people. It helps us control anger. Next time when we feel mad, just take a deep breath and calm down.

     Anger is the enemy that lives in our brain. It makes us unhappy and it always ruins the day. Sometimes we just get mad for unknown reason. We just think that nothing pleases us. Lots of time we feel like rubber bins losing flexibility. We feel tired of doing everything and we want to do nothing. Modern people are prone to be strained by the fast speed of life. We are too busy to slow down ourselves, and thus we lost time relaxing our minds. Tiredness often leads to bad emotion. We may try hard to relax ourselves, but then we may feel depressed because of the limit of time. We have high expectation on our leisure time, but the result is often far away from our imagines. It is usual that we always jump into an unhappy period even when nothing terrible happens. I agree with the idea that anger is from our stress toward the fast step of modern life. For instance, I always get mad and feel down when exams are on the corner. People are getting bust and lonely nowadays. Anger or negative thought is our resistance against the stress. Just like the speaker said, it is important to implement anger management because a breath may be able to help us calm down and thus take a better action. Most stress comes from our worry about having no time to have things done. Stress is actually the factor that cause anger most of the time. Thus, I think time management is indispensable, too. In addition, anger not only comes from stress but also comes from high expectation. It says in the audio that we are having higher expectation on everything. We get angry once the thing doesn’t go as our expectations. For example, I always feel annoyed when train doesn’t arrive on time. I want the thing without waiting. Anger is probably one of the most terrible emotions for me. I hate the feeling of anger because it always hinders me to complete things well and effectively. Thus, I am more than willing to avoid getting angry as much as I can. 

Summary and Reaction to"Mania for learning English" from Ted-Talk

      The audio is basically talking about the mania for learning English. It says that there are two billions of people learning English because English is the opportunity for better job and decenter life. From that Chinese student start learning English in the 3^rd grade by law, we can see the indication that the intensity to learn English is nearly imaginable. To English native speakers, it is wild that students in China study for 12 hours a day for 3 years to prepare for a critical exam which includes 25 percent of grade on English. Besides, the only exam will literally determine their future. All these policies seem to be proofs of the mania for learning English.

There are many kinds of manias in the world, such as sport mania and religious mania. Mania may be good, alarming, or fatal; yet the speaker says that the mania for learning English is nothing about good or bad. It is just a necessity which will improve our future. Just like math is the language of science or music is the language of emotions, English is the language of problem-solving. Learning English have become a trend in the world not because the United States is pushing it, but because the world is pulling it. Since people from all over the world are getting to know English, English is becoming the world’s second language. However, the speaker didn’t deny the importance of native language. He says that native language is life, and English is the tool to unveil the global conversation and profession for world citizens. Backing to the point, English is a turning point for human beings to solve the common problems in common language. It represents a hope for the better future.

As far as I am concerned, learning English well is really a big thing. I have learnt English since I was a little child. Nevertheless, I didn’t deeply realized how important this language is until the first time I went traveling abroad. To my surprise, I could communicate with others in English even in a non-English country. I was able to ask things in English no matter in Japan, Thailand, or Europe. My traveling experience makes me notice the wonder of language. Common language can bring people of different backgrounds closer and together. It helps human culture and technology a lot in the way it translating meaning from one language to another. Having a common language is an elemental thing in human world, because we need a tool to communicate. I like the sentence that “Native language is life, but with English we can become part of a wider conversation.” Some people may think we learn English because of the power of the United States, but I like the emphasis that English language is becoming common due to its usual function. To me, the ability of knowing English is important and indispensable, for this language is used to define a word or a label in other languages. For example, few people know Latin, but lots people know English; thus, those few people translate Latin into English, and then those who know English translate English to other language. The process helps human beings preserve history and further share history; it also helps us discuss measures to improve global life and further invent and share usual technology.

It may be sensible to figure out why should the world has the second language, but it may be skeptical that why is the language English? I guess the reason lies in the accessibility and feasibility of the language. English may be much easier than any other languages for most of us to learn, and it does exist everywhere in our daily life. 

Summary and Reaction to "Unexpected Gift" from TED-TALK

     The audio is basically talking about the blessing of an unexpected gift. A gift which is not quite pretty came to the speaker around five months ago, which turned her life in the way she hadn’t expected. The gift is worthy of $55,000, but Amazon doesn’t carry it; Apple logo is not on it; and waiting list doesn’t have it. It is a brain cancer, which is the experience that the speaker wouldn’t change. It is an unexpected gift that made her redefined the meaning and the value of life. She said, “Imagine, if you will a gift.” The gift can be pictured in our mind. It doesn’t need to be big; yet it will do lots incredible things for us. It will bring all of our family together, making us feel loved, appreciated, and all the great feelings that we haven’t felt before. The speaker looks upon her disease as a gift because she calibrated what’s the most important thing in her life during that tough period. The gift brought new understanding, trust, and energy to her body. Also, she met new people and had healthier life style. People may think it is pathetic to suffer from a cancer; nevertheless, it gave the speaker more time thinking about her life and having much time doing absolutely nothing but enjoying leisure time. It let human heart challenged, inspired, motivated, and humbled. It is not just a cancer but a gift that endowed the speaker with peace, happiness, health, and surrendered self. By sharing her experience, the speaker tried to tell us that sometime when we encounter something that is unexpected, unwanted, or uncertain, just consider it is just maybe a gift. A gift doesn’t need to be expensive or fancy, but it should be valuable and meaningful. Value is not equal to the price of the thing but to the influence it has on human beings. Thus, the gift may disguise in an ugly appearance but still be precious. Don’t feel terrible as we meet something that seems not so good, because it may be a blessing that strengthen the quality of life.

     I like the idea that encountering something unexpected isn’t a bad thing. People like to plan things, but sometimes life starts messing up as we keep planning on it. Sometimes just go as our will, and then we’ll find the place that is belonged to us. We all like to lead a comfortable and regular life, and we are used to it. Therefore we refuse to the change in life. We try hard to protect us from the irregular, while the unexpected, the unwanted, or the uncertain is inevitable in human lives. God created us, he wants us to learn things that we are lack of. A life without difficulty is not qualified to be called life. Difficulties, suffering, or unlucky things are actually lessons that lord provided for us to take. Gifts are not always good-looking. It is sometimes put under the tough. Only those who can conquer the dark can get the blessing. After going through many difficulties and frustration in life, I realized that life is not a fairy tale but a roller coaster along with thrilling. It is not always happy or fantastic, but it is always amazing. We can be amazed by its wonder and tenacity once we surpass our own vulnerability and fear. Do not ever surrender to our own weakness in front of life’s danger and instability. The danger and the instability are not always bad things. They may be the precious gifts in our life, for everything comes to our lives must have its meaning.