Life as a Pencil (for sophs conceit)
This is one of the many simple "forwards" that people have sent around the Internet. I'm sure you didn't get this one, but people my age get ones like this all of the time.
It's an example of a conceit.
The "pencil maker" is probably a good parent or mentor.
The "pencil" is a child or someone who follows the advice of his wise mentor.
It's pretty easy to understand.
A PENCIL MAKER TOLD THE PENCIL 5 IMPORTANT LESSONS JUST BEFORE PUTTING IT IN THE BOX
1. EVERYTHING YOU DO WILL ALWAYS LEAVE A MARK.
2. YOU CAN ALWAYS CORRECT THE MISTAKES YOU MAKE.
3. WHAT IS IMPORTANT IS WHAT IS INSIDE OF YOU.
4. IN LIFE, YOU WILL UNDERGO PAINFUL SHARPENINGS,
WHICH WILL ONLY MAKE YOU BETTER.
5. TO BE THE BEST PENCIL, YOU MUST ALLOW YOURSELF
TO BE HELD AND GUIDED BY THE HAND THAT HOLDS YOU.
We all need to be constantly sharpened. This parable may encourage you to know that you are a special person, with unique God-given talents and abilities. Only you can fulfill the purpose which you were born to accomplish. Never allow yourself to get discouraged and think that your life is insignificant and cannot be changed and, like the pencil, always remember that the most important part of who you are is what's inside of you.
posted by JTF @ 8:59 PM
16 comments
16 Comments:
Hot cinnamon buns….steamy coffee cups…gourmet chocolate milks….creamy donuts, these are all things that you find in a coffee shop. Have you ever stopped to think that the choices people face are like a coffee shop? When a person comes into a coffee shop they are searching for the right doughnut. There are many types of doughnuts to choose from, just like people are faced with many different choices in their lives. Some doughnuts are going to end up having more satisfying flavors than others. In life some choices are going to end up with more positive outcomes and some will have negative outcomes. Once a person picks out their doughnut they decide to pick up a drink from the cooler. These coolers hold ice teas, chocolate milks, sodas, water, and juices. These items present another comparison. Choices can either be healthy or unhealthy. If someone chooses a soda versus milk or water, that isn’t going to be as healthy for them. The soda is going to make them thirstier. Sometimes when a person makes a bad choice like smoking, they can become addicted and that leads to more poor choices. One cigarette can lead to another cigarette. Just like choosing a soda can lead to another soda. If the customer chooses not to get a drink they can pick out a coffee. Walking up to the counter and looking at all the coffee flavors on the menu can sometimes be extremely difficult. Some people already know what flavor they want, while others are completely torn between the different varieties. This choice can be compared to choices in life. Some choices are harder to make than others because they will have a larger impact on your life than more minor ones. Some people already know what choice they want to make because they know exactly how they want to portray themselves and what they want to do with their lives. Once the person chooses their coffee than they decide it is time to check out. The cashier knows exactly what buttons to punch to complete their purchase. This shows that sometimes there are people in a higher position to help make choices. If you decide to take a job then your boss is the one in the higher position and they help put your choice into action, by hiring you. After the person makes their purchase they decide to sit down at a tiny circular table. They eat what they purchased. This is like staying true to a choice you make. Once you make a decision you stick with it and ride it out no matter what it brings. After the person is finished they throw out their trash. This demonstrates that some people who make bad decisions want to throw it out and start over. They want to put their bad decision in a trashcan and pick up with a fresh start. Unfortunately, sometimes once you make a wrong choice you have suck it up and take on all the negative things that come along with it. Lastly, the person is done and walks through the glass door with a small bell to indicate they are exiting. This last action demonstrates that after you make a choice and it has come into play you can walk away choosing to be happy or sad. You can look at your choice and use it to be a better person or not.
Hot cinnamon buns….steamy coffee cups…gourmet chocolate milks….creamy donuts, these are all things that you find in a coffee shop. Have you ever stopped to think that the choices people face are like a coffee shop? When a person comes into a coffee shop they are searching for the right doughnut. There are many types of doughnuts to choose from, just like people are faced with many different choices in their lives. Some doughnuts are going to end up having more satisfying flavors than others. In life some choices are going to end up with more positive outcomes and some will have negative outcomes. Once a person picks out their doughnut they decide to pick up a drink from the cooler. These coolers hold ice teas, chocolate milks, sodas, water, and juices. These items present another comparison. Choices can either be healthy or unhealthy. If someone chooses a soda versus milk or water, that isn’t going to be as healthy for them. The soda is going to make them thirstier. Sometimes when a person makes a bad choice like smoking, they can become addicted and that leads to more poor choices. One cigarette can lead to another cigarette. Just like choosing a soda can lead to another soda. If the customer chooses not to get a drink they can pick out a coffee. Walking up to the counter and looking at all the coffee flavors on the menu can sometimes be extremely difficult. Some people already know what flavor they want, while others are completely torn between the different varieties. This choice can be compared to choices in life. Some choices are harder to make than others because they will have a larger impact on your life than more minor ones. Some people already know what choice they want to make because they know exactly how they want to portray themselves and what they want to do with their lives. Once the person chooses their coffee than they decide it is time to check out. The cashier knows exactly what buttons to punch to complete their purchase. This shows that sometimes there are people in a higher position to help make choices. If you decide to take a job then your boss is the one in the higher position and they help put your choice into action, by hiring you. After the person makes their purchase they decide to sit down at a tiny circular table. They eat what they purchased. This is like staying true to a choice you make. Once you make a decision you stick with it and ride it out no matter what it brings. After the person is finished they throw out their trash. This demonstrates that some people who make bad decisions want to throw it out and start over. They want to put their bad decision in a trashcan and pick up with a fresh start. Unfortunately, sometimes once you make a wrong choice you have suck it up and take on all the negative things that come along with it. Lastly, the person is done and walks through the glass door with a small bell to indicate they are exiting. This last action demonstrates that after you make a choice and it has come into play you can walk away choosing to be happy or sad. You can look at your choice and use it to be a better person or not.
Life is like a coin; it can be spent any way you choose, but only once. After a coin is spent, it is final, just like in life when you make choices; there is no taking them back. Life can be lived to the fullest or it can be lived just by going with the flow. Most people just do the expected; others, who chose to spend their coins in a more rewarding manner, go beyond the ordinary. There are so many places to see and things to do in this world it would take lifetimes to experience it all. It would be like trying to fit all the water in the ocean into a bucket. So why would a person choose to live their lives with limitations? This question brings us back to where we started; life is like a coin. Although it can be spent on anything in the world, just like we can live our lives any way we choose, we only get one shot to make our choice. So think things through, but don’t choose to be frugal. We shouldn’t miss out on the exciting things in life. Don’t leave your coin to rot away in the bottom of your wallet. There are so many things to marvel at out there, we should grasp as much of it as we can.
life is like a galloping horse.
1. theres no stopping it now
2. you cant always see wants directly in front of you
3. you leave a foot print where ever you go
4. so many diffrent option or paths to go, but you must choose one
Life is like a game of baseball. Now at first glance your mind could think of the old saying three strikes and you’re out, the common understanding of that is that you’re going to mess up in life and that’s okay as long as you don’t keep messing up. Although that is not a wrong conceit to baseball there is just much more to it;
1. Warm-ups before a game, take place of your child hood without your childhood you have no life, and without warming up you can’t play in the game.
2. Every at bat resembles the choices you make in your life strikes being bad decisions, balls being good decisions, and hits would be making good decisions and acting on them.
3. Your batting average obviously represents the percentage of times you make the right decisions.
4. Being the pitcher you are controlling your life and the lives of others, if you slip up and make mistake that affects others it would be like allowing a walk but if you let others make mistakes/ bad decisions without trying to help them that is like giving up hits.
5. Fielding in baseball is basically the same as batting because in each duty you have bad days where you just can’t seem to hit the ball or make the play. This is an exact correlation to life because everyone has bad days and we all know that, but what’s count is how you handle yourself throughout the day limiting your errors and strikeouts.
My father is a preacher of the phrase "home is where the heart is"
From this I can think of 5 things in my life that helps me understand the true meaning.
1. My family vactions in Palm Springs, CA every winter. In the northeast it is usually snowing but in the Soutwest it is warm. We usually play golf and do other fun activities with no snow or ice. This is my home away from home.
2. My father sent me to tennis camp one summer. The first two days were not fun at all and my heart just was not in it. I quit after day two. I was more interested in laying back for the summer.
3. I enjoy trips to my grandmother's because all of my family are happy to see me and I am happy to see them. Being with my family is where my heart is. I enjoy the apple pie and ice cream.
4. On the baseball field I am just in my own world, I get to have a good time with my friends and get to play the sport that I love. I find myself mentally on the ballfield often.
5. One time, traveling in the family car in hurricane like winds I remembered with great confidence when we arrived at our house, I had no fear when we stepped inside the house.
Your life is like a piece of clay.
1. You are your own unique piece of clay. No one is quite exactly like you.
2. We come in many different shapes sizes, colors, and textures.
3. You are constantly being molded and shaped by things and people around you.
4. Once you are shaped, you can always be remodeled for the best.
5. If you break or tear, you can be put back together if we are in the right hands.
In some sense or another we are all like little pieces of clay that get formed and shaped into what we are today.
For my conceit, I thought of one called life is like a sports game. It fits life for many reasons. One is that life and many sports games has very intense build ups and moments. It has many emotions that people feel for it and what you feel for it. Emotions like anger when you fail a test in life or when the other team scores a touchdown in a football game or a goal in soccer. Or a happy feeling like when its your birthday in life or when you win a tournament in a sports game. Some people may get into fights when their team loses and the other one beat them or when someone really is mean and a jerk to you in life. Sports games are essentially a part of so many peoples’ lives. Many peoples’ occupations are professional players, some are their managers, coaches, stadium workers, and mascots. So many people make their money from sports and it provides great entertainment for so many spectators. Personally, I love sports, playing them and watching them, it is definitely part of my daily life and part of the daily lives of probably almost everyone on the planet.
Have you ever been playing cards with you friends or your family and had someone say to you 'Life is like a deck of cards or a game of go fish?' I have. You dont choose the hand you are dealt, but if you try hard enough you can go fishing for something else. But most of the time you have to make the best of what you have. Sometimes in many peoples lives they are given many hardships and many difficulties they must overcome. If they get lucky someone might take that extra card they dont need and they can go fishing for another pair. When they say 'go fishing for another pair' many people are referring to trying a new experience or most of the time looking for a new love. When someone plays a game of go fish they are handed 7 cards. If they are lucky they might start off with one or two pairs. Or if your like th rest of us you aren't as lucky and you have to start from scratch. Building a deck up of pairs and matches to win the game. This 'game' that is being referred to is the game called Life. In life you are faced with many challenges such as not having the correct pair, or running out of cards. But the best thing about this game called life is that in the end, you can always get a new hand of cards and start fresh with out mistakes. SO next time your playing with a deck of cards think to yourself 'Life is like a deck of cards, you never know what your going to get but you have to make the most of that hand or go fishing for more'
Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what your going to get! When you reach into a box of chocolates there are many different flavors and types just like in life when you face many different challenges and you never know whats going to happen. Also you never know what your going to get in a box of chocolates just like you don’t know what challenges you are going to be faced with day to day. A Box of chocolate is loaded with many different surprises just like life. Some of these surprises are delightful and some are disappointing. This also applies to your life because you face many delightful memories and many disappointing moments and you just have to go along with whatever happens. Those that are delightful are easy to eat but the ones that are disappointing are sometimes hard to deal with. However the hard ones just make you stronger. If life was just full of good things then you would never need God. it’s the disappointing times that you need God to help you through them.
People, as adopted children of God, are kind of like cats. On a normal day, we’re off minding our own business, roaming around the house looking for a bug or to sit in some sunlight. People just go about minding their own business. But suddenly, the cat’s owner walks into the room to pet it and say hello and show the cat he loves it. God would send us a subtle reminder that he’s there for us and is watching over us and that he loves us. The cat would purr and climb up into his lap and say hello back and show the person that it loves him too. We would think about God and think “Hey, thanks for today being a good day,” and think about how we love him. Then the cat gets bored or sees that bug it’s been searching for and hops off his lap to go play and mind his own business. We forget about God and run off from him and do our own thing. The cat’s owner kind of gets sad that the cat can’t just sit still with him for more than one minute. We’re kind of like cats.
Life can be like anything, because life is so complicated at times. We all see life in a different perspective, therefore, it could be many things. To me personally, life is like a computer. Every little part is put together to make a masterpiece that can do a lot. Our bodies need every part to function, and if we are missing it, sometimes we could be seriously injured or our body could shut down, just like a computer. If something is missing from a computer, something will go wrong, and it will probably be broken or become broken over time. Computers can get overheated if you use it to much just as your body would be worn out if you are constantly running around non-stop. You need to take a break from things and re-charge your energy back up to where it was. When you get a lot of sleep, you have a lot of energy to go out and do things. If computers are charged all the way up to its max, then it can be unplugged for a while and do what you want it to do. A computer is a delicate piece of technology that humans made and we cannot just toss around a computer and man-handle it. If we do, then we could seriously damage it. We as humans were put together in a very specific way by God and were not meant to be thrown around. Every part of us is there for a reason, whether we realize it or not. If we throw people around and they land in a wrong position, or are not in a safe area, then we could easily break something. Computers are very cool and fun to use, just like us.
The course of a human life is like a fire. We first birth the fire as a small ember, which then continues to slowly grow. We add to the fire to help and encourage it to grow. With a child, you help them grow, both physically and mentally, by feeding them and teaching them about things they need to know for the future. Now we have a raging fire, maybe a high school or college student beginning the rest of their life. The fire may then die down, a sort of lull in life, a sort of “rut.” We add to the fire to make it bigger. This might be rethinking your situation at that moment in your life, and then getting kick started into something new. We continue to encounter these ups and downs throughout our lives, the same way the fire dies down and then gets more intense throughout the duration of its life. This relates specifically to my life because I have high points and low points, just like a fire. Some high points in my life are getting a good grade on a test, or winning a soccer or baseball game. A low point might be sleeping in too late, or losing my wallet. Life and fire both ebb and flow.
Life is like riding a bull:
1. In the beginning, you’re always nervous because anything can happen and you don’t know what’s next.
2. The opening of the gate is like puberty. You go from almost sitting calmly to a sudden burst of energy and jerks from side to side. In life it seems like one day you’re a kid and the next, you’re an adult in college or working.
3. You ride the bull like you ride through life. Just when you think you are going one direction in life, you’re jerked in the opposite direction. There isn’t much you can do at this point except do your best to hold on and go for a bumpy ride.
4. At any time in life you can lose your grip on things and fall off the bull. It happens to everyone, the difference is how much it hurts when you hit the ground, but no matter how hard you fall you always able to get back up.
5. The best part of it all is that the entire your going on this ride your surrounded by people cheering you on and supporting you, even when you fall they cheer you on. No matter how good or bad you do there is always someone there for you.
There are many conceits about life, ‘Life is a Pencil’, ‘Life is a Rollercoaster’, etc. In my opinion, I think life is most like a book or a novel. We each have our own book or “life book”. Think about it, life in many ways is like a book/novel. Over the many years of your life, you grow up, meet, love, and associate with several different people. The people, friends, and family that come in and out of your life are like the characters in a book. In your own “life book” you are the main character, the narrator, and the author. Throughout your life you will have many different experiences and memories. As you grow up and become an adult, you go through different stages of your life. Each stage that you go through would be considered a new chapter in your “life book”. Every novel has a plot, a climax, and a turning point. In your “life book”, the plot would be your reason for living, your purpose, and what you want to accomplish. A climax is usually the highpoint in a book or the major part. So the climax in your actual life would be the major parts of your life; when you graduate high school and college, when you fall in love, when you get married, when you have children, or whatever other important personal memories you might have. The turning point in your life and your “life book” would be when something in your life drastically changes… like when you move away and the lifestyle you once used to know so well changes, flips upside down and your life is completely different from what you’re used to. A book’s theme is the message the author/narrator/main character (a.k.a. you), is trying to get through to the readers (everyone in your life that is surrounding and watching you). Your life also has a theme, but instead of just one or two themes, your life has many themes. The themes in your life are the many lessons you’ve learned and acquired over the years. And finally, just like every good book, every good life must come to an end.
Life is like a journey; you don’t know what the end result will be but you know it will be long, and at sometimes, difficult. You also know that there are going to be many obstacles as you are on your journey. When you take a journey you never really know where you going to end up. This is the same for life because when you’re a small kid in the world you have no idea what to do with your life. But just like a journey, life is long and you have time to think about what to do with your life. You come into the world as a clueless baby and could die as a doctor or teacher. That’s just how life is, but just because you want to be something doesn’t mean you can be it. You will hit obstacles along the way that push you away from your path, and take extra time you didn’t plan, such as having a baby. Everyone’s journey is different, but we all have one.
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