Mediocrity and Me.

One of my biggest fears growing up was not the dark. It was not death. It was not monsters or evil men. It was being AVERAGE. Woe is the one who becomes the very thing he fears. Today, I live the life of someone who does not care.

I have fallen into a place of mediocrity. 

This may sound as somewhat as a shock for those who know me, but it is the honest truth. I do not work my hardest, I do not think my deepest, I don't even feel my strongest. I have given up on ambition and settled for "enough." But enough is. not. GOOD. It is ok. It is.... "eh." Honestly my the best way I can describe the way I've been living is by going into a race, shrugging my shoulders and muttering "I think I'd rather walk." 

I'm TIRED of not CARING. 

I'm ready to fight mediocrity. I'm tired of settling for B's, skipping classes, not being intentional with those I care about, not spending enough time with God, going to bed late, waking up late, living half heartedly. I am so tired of being tired of being tired. WAKE UP, OH SLEEPER.

ARISE, MY SOUL. It's time. It's time to change.

It's not about 'not failing' it's about responding to failure with insight. Wisdom says that failure is healthy, but failing in the same place is not. I'm ready to change and to live exceptionally. I am not defined by what I haven't done, only by how I chose to respond. God have mercy on my efforts.

-A failure destined for greatness,

BJ Elkins

Day 2

Sorry about the delay, I did not have internet connection for two days. On the second day of Ecuador, traveling by bus from Quito to Otavalo, we saw beautiful views. Before the bus ride, we toured the Compassion Ecuador Country office to learn more about the system of Compassion in Ecuador. When we arrived in Otavalo, we saw our beautiful hotel, Peurto Lago Country Inn. The landscaping was magnificent and it was right on a lake next to an active volcano. Jose and I went out in a paddle boat on the lake. Afterwards at supper, I had mouthwatering Sea Bass fillet. After dinner we discussed what we had experienced with both groups. All in all, a relaxing day!

It's a cruel world at 4 AM

Well, I'm waiting in the Alexandria airport for my first flight of the day. We'll fly from here to Dallas, from there to Miami, and there to Quito, Ecuador. It's going to be a very long day. I'm excited for what God has planned for me on this trip. I hope that I will be a blessing to those I work with and all those l interact with on the trip. Two things that annoy me in this airport are the message, "Do not leave bags unattended; unattended bags pose a risk to airline security and will be confiscated," that is replayed every 5 minutes and the lulling music in between. Good grief the people who just sat down are way too happy for this time of day. Darn morning people, someday they will all die. Not unlike the rest of us... Anyway, I saw an entrancing movie last night, "Midnight in Paris." This was a fantastic family film. I was quite impressed by both the screen play by Woody Allan and the acting talents of Owen Wilson. I really cannot say any more without giving away precious details. Well we're boarding, bye!

Donc

It's a shame that I haven't been keeping up with this blog regularly unlike my high esteemed sister who updates her blog, "Recipes of a Girl", nearly every day. I have much respect for that dedication. Being as busy as I am, I try to find room for every area of my life, but I often overlook certain activities such as blogging. I confess that I have made blogging a very low priority. But, on the upside, here I am! I'm ready to entertain you with my senseless babbling (Assuming that there is someone listening on the other end). For the news, I heard that the popular writer J.K. Rowling is in the process of writing a new book. Yay. Now all the harry potter junkies will have ONE more book to read. I'm not against Harry Potter in any way (heck I kind of enjoyed reading the first one), however, there are people who are a bit narrow minded when it comes to literature and get way too hyped up about these novels and movies. Donc, don't go screaming about the newest J.K. Rowling book unless you want to hear me rant and rave about showing immense interest to popular topics (which we all know that you do not want) (By the way, "donc" is the french word for "therefore," and in my french class we had a long, meaningless discussion on the use of "therefore," donc, I adapted this word into my vocabulary.) Anyway, I'm quite happy because I shall be arriving in Ecuador in less than two days! I'm hoping that I will gain much knowledge while I'm there. I'm also hoping and praying that I will not be a nuisance, but instead that I will bring joy to those around me in order to bring glory to God. That's right people, I'm not being politically correct, nor will I strive to be. I feel that political correctness is just a way to get around being truthful. Well that's it for the day kids! Audios.

• Currently reading: "Red" by Ted Dekker
• Last movie watched: "O Brother Where Art Thou?"
• Word of the day: defenestration: to throw something (or someone) out of a window.
• Verse of the day: Romans 12:1 "Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God - this is your true and proper worship."
• Quote of the day: "Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail."-Ralph Waldo Emerson

Notable toes

Today, I had a mildly boring day: took a test, turned in a paper, went to trombone lessons, went to a boy scout court of honor. A bit drab if you ask me. I really have no clue what I'm going to write about, but we'll see what happens. Hmm, I preordered an album from iTunes which was reaslesed today titled: 30 French Love Songs. I enjoy this playlist becasue I feel like it gives me a little french culture... Well I'm tired and bored.

Last recent movie seen: dark night
Currently reading: A game of thrones, how to read literature like a professor

An Appropriate Follow-up

Yesterday, I primarily went through all of my likes. I feel that an appropriate follow-up would be to cover the majority of my dislikes (which may or may not overwhelm you). I'll cover my dislikes by topic. First of all I'll just list my pet peeves. 1. Fake British accents, 2. Ignorance, 3. High pitched squeaky or scratchy sounds, 4. Disrespect for authority, 5. Stupidity, 6. All of the above. I'm sure there are more on this list, but I don't feel very annoyed right now. 

Now I'll move on to music dislikes. I strongly loathe country music. When I hear the demonic sounds of country music, my skin literally crawls. Literally. As a result, I avoid most steak houses, especially if they are in Texas. Rap, pop, and heavy metal are a few other genres I dislike. I don't have as strong loathing for these other genres, but a better communication of my feeling would be to say annoyance. Now I'll cover movies and books. I rarely come across a movie or book I dislike because I thoroughly research the movie or book before an encounter. I will say that I never watch movies involving homosexuality. I also find documentaries rather boring. I dislike corny, slapstick comedies which do little more than annoy me. Nevertheless, I am very critical about movies, so most people feel better about a film than I did. Books, well I've read very few poor quality books because I always try to read the very best of the best. A few books that disappointed me were: Inheritance (Eragon series) and harry potter. These books were very hyped up, but they failed to impress me in the end. 

Well that pretty much covers the small list of dislikes and annoyances I have to share with you. Once again, thanks for reading!

My Autobiography

I've started other blogs in the past, but I plan to upkeep this one more regularly than I did the others. An autobiography should be a suitable start for a blog with the title that I have chosen.

My full name is Brian Lane Elkins Jr.;  I am normally known by BJ, but the reader may label me to his/her liking. I attend Grace Christian School on a regular basis (partly by choice and partly because it's against the law to opt out). I love to learn and I try to gain knowledge wherever it can benefit me. I am currently monolingual, but I am in the process of learning French and I hope to be able to eventually be capable of speaking French and Spanish fluently. I attend church regularly at Grace Presbyterian Church and I try to be involved as I can with the youth group. I play soccer with my fellow classmates, and though we are a young inexperienced team, I know that we have much potential. We have an exceptional coach who loves the sport and who is also very patient with us. I'm very thankful to have him for a coach. I'm also very involved with boy scouts. I recently attained the highest rank in boy scouts, eagle scout. It cost me much time and effort, but I know that I will always be glad that I did so. It seems strange now that I am a boy scout leader to work with the younger scouts, because they remind me of my earliest days of scouting. I play but one instrument, the trombone. A few weeks ago I tried out for district honor band, and I was selected by the judge to perform in the district honor band concert which will commence on February 4th. In my free time, (which I have very little of), I enjoy reading, listening to quiet music, and running (usually not all at once). When I am at home I am obligated to take out the trash and mow the lawn. I consider myself neat and tidy, but I know there are the more obsessive compulsive types who would say otherwise. Being a perfectionist, I find myself taking long periods of time to do normally simple jobs. This is a blessing and a curse because I will normally get things done to the perfection that I wish to achieve, but I also will often put off these duties until I have enough time to set aside. This is true for most tedious jobs: cleaning, studying, organising, etc.. 


Now that I covered every activity that I am involved in that I can think of at the moment, I'll move on to my preferences in the arts. I read whenever I can. Thinking about it now, I'll update my recent reads and movies seen whenever I blog. My favorite books are probably "The Lord of the Rings" by J.R.R. Tolkien. Right now I'm reading "A Game of Thrones" by George R.R. Martin. This book is very entertaining, but there is some risque material in it. I'm nearing the end of this book and I plan on reading some books by Ted Dekker afterwards. For school I recently read "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy. It's about a man and his son living in a post apocalyptic world. Some of my favorite movies include: "The Princess Bride," "The Lord of the Rings," "The Matrix," "Inception," "The Fantastic Mr. Fox," and "It's a Wonderful Life." This may be a very off the wall list, but these are the movies that I walk away from most satisfied. Last night I finally saw the spectacular movie: "A Beautiful Mind." I recommend this to anyone who hasn't yet seen it yet. My diet of television shows is pretty sparse, but I do enjoy the witty show: "Psych." I used to watch the show "Monk" until the end. Now for Music. I am very particular about my music. I am quite fond of the alternative band: "Coldplay." Their music is high quality musically and lyrically. I enjoy a wide variety of genres, but usually I only like a small amount from each genre. I listen to different types of music depending on what I'm doing. [i.e. If I'm reading, I'll usually listen to movie scores or some light classical music. I often listen to jazz or dubstep while studying.] I'm especially picky when it comes to Christian music. I won't listen to it if it is low quality musically even if it is high quality lyrically. I like my music to be the highest quality possible.


Well, that's a little about me. If there are any readers out there, I hope you enjoyed my little spiel. Bye!