Learn From Your Mistakes

Have you ever made a huge mistake that hurt you, and now wish you could take it back? Almost everyone has, but think back to your mistake. There should be a lesson that you learned from it, so it ends up that your mistakes benefit you in the long run. Neitzsche said, "What doesn't kill me, makes me stronger," and, to me, this means mistakes you make that hurt you, but don't kill you, make you stronger by teaching you and strengthening your intellect.

In Fahrenheit 451 Montag makes a huge mistake, but it helps him a lot in the end. In the beginning of the book Montag is just an ordinary fire fighter who goes to work daily to burn buildings and books, but when he meets Clarisse she asks him a couple important questions that were a wake up call to him. One was "Are you happy?" and the other was "Do you ever read the books that you burn?" Montag most definitely was not happy, and I think it really took her questioning that to make him start to realize it more. At first in the book he is the type of person who just goes along with what everyone else tells him to or says, but Clarisse showed him that he doesn't have to do that. After Montag reads a book he realizes that everything he's been doing is wrong, and things need to be changed.

Montag's mistake in going along with everyone else really helped him fight hard in the end, because it taught him not to make the same mistake again leaving him unhappy. This concept can apply to many situations, big or small, and it really is true if you think about the lessons that you have learned from mistakes you've made. All of the lessons build up to make you intellectually stronger.

Showing Your Patriotism

When was the last time you thought about soldiers far away, fighting for America? Veterans are easily forgotten about in our everyday lives, because you don’t hear very many stories of events going on in Iraq now. Just because stories aren’t there to remind you, or there to make you think about it every day, doesn’t mean you showing your patriotism is now suddenly becoming unimportant.


Heroes accomplish so much with little or no reward in return even when they deserve it the most.  Veterans are like our own real world super heroes and they deserve a lot more thanks and reward than the get. They do so much for our country and many of them don’t get rewarded at all or if they do it’s something small. Many of them don’t want anything huge, because they feel like it’s their job and it’s just what they have to do for their country, but saying thank you to them can go a long ways.

Soldiers don't want much in return, they just want thanks and very little things like that can show your patriotism, and next time you see a veteran you should thank him for fighting for our country. You just have to walk up, shake his hand and say thank you for your service. It means an incredible amount to them and it's not a hard thing to do. They were away from their families for month’s maybe years and all you have to do is take out a little piece of your day to say thank you to them.

 Showing your patriotism and letting soldiers know that you care really does matter. Everything they had to go through made a huge impact in their lives and they deserve a thanks, and to be shown some respect. Although, it is easy to forget about something that we aren’t constantly reminded, you should still think about the people sacrificing their lives for our country and feel grateful to have them. Simple things like saying thank you to a soldier or reciting The Pledge of Allegiance mean so much and can really make a person feel better and confident about the work that they have done and achievements that they have reached.