To be Normal or Not to be Part 2

This is a very inspiring video for me because it goes along with one of my philosophy that everybody is crazy. Before you watch this video, I want you to ask yourself this question: "What is normal?"

 

People try to label each other and if a person doesn't fit in a category of what people call "normal," they are labeled as "crazy." Who determines what "normal" is?

I hate bell curves or normal curves. You know, this. Because if people don't fit in the middle part of the curve, they are not normal. Heck, if that's how people view it, I rather be in one of the ends. Why do I want to be normal? Why do I want to be like everybody else? I am not even like everybody else; I am a Korean. I am not white, black, or Hispanic. I am different. God made me the way I am with unique characteristics. I don't have to act like everybody. If you call me crazy, I will thank you.

Below is the first one about this philosophy.
To Be Normal Or Not To Be

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People Who Motivate Me

I've been influenced by many people to be who I am now. As others need some motivation to endure to the end, I also need people to motivate me.

1. My Future Spouse

I know this sounds weird but hear me out. Of course, I don't know who she is, where she is, and how I am going to meet her; however, I know she's doing her best to be the righteous and be the right one for me, which means I should be doing the same thing for her. When we meet, if I am not prepared but she is, I wouldn't be the right person for her. I should be ready all the time so that the Holy Ghost can tell both us that we are right for each other.

2. People Who Watched Me Since My Baptism

I just talked to a sister from my home ward who has seen me grow since my baptism. She was a great motivation and influence in my life because despite challenges in her life, she always had a smile on her face and a positive attitude. Her testimony kindled mine. She supported me. I am not forgetting her husband either. He was my youth leader then my bishop. They both helped me grow in the gospel and strengthen my testimony. They encouraged me to serve the Lord by going on a mission. They still do encourage me when I talk to them and tell me how great I am because of that, I want to be better. I want to be the person that they think I am. I am far from being perfect but I strive to do my best and keep setting goals so that I can be a good example to others and they they see me, they can really see the person whom they think I am.

Others who have watched me over the years also support me. They listen to my problems and gives me advice and feedback on what I should do. I love all of them and I appreciate everything they have done and do for me. 

3. People I Taught On My Mission

Even though I don't talk to many of them, I am still motivated by them to endure to the end. I want to apply all the things I taught them in my life since I am back in the real world with many same challenges that they faced. I have to look back on the things I taught them use them and keep them in mind so that I wouldn't be comfortable with where I am at but continue to move forward. I evaluate myself time to time to see how I am doing with basic things like reading scriptures, prayers, and attending the temple. I want to do better or should I say do more than the minimum requirements. I understand now the importance of magnifying my calling and even keeping the commandments. Christ didn't stop at the minimum requirements; He continued and went another mile. What I taught on my mission is true; therefore, I have to live what I taught. If not, I am a hypocrite and I should be damned.

4. Prophets and Apostles

They are amazing! Every time I listen to them or read what they say, I write down the things I need to improve. They are truly called of God to bless everyone's life. I am very happy to be the member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I can listen to their talks and read what they said for ever. The Spirit I feel from listening to them makes me realize that I am still a human and I still make mistakes but I can improve.

There are many others who motivate me. I am grateful for all of their times and wisdom they spend to help me grow. I've learned so much from them and I love them dearly. All of them motive me in different ways and with all of them combined, I am motivated all aspects of my life. Without them, I wouldn't be here. Without them, I would be lost.

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Organize My Life

I didn't realize this before but I like things organized. I am not a huge OCD about many things but when it comes to my life, I like things organized. When it comes to material things, I don't care much.


Did you know that I have a calendar for my work schedule? Like this ---> See how I put how many hours I work every week and the hours I work? Also, I print them out so if there are any changes I can correct them.



Also, when there are things I need to do, I like making a list, or how I am going to spend my money wisely.

Another I like doing is looking at classes I planned to take. I like to organize them so that I know when I want to take them. The most fun part is when the classes are up for the next semester but you can't register yet; I can plan out the hours I want to take the classes I want and then make a schedule for it before I can register for classes. I enjoy it.

I realized this when I was preparing for a talk on this Sunday. How I like to prepare for a talk is first, thinking about my major topics and things I want to talk about. I write down anything that comes up to my mind. Then I look up scriptures, quotes, talks and what not then write them down. Even when I write these things down, I organize them into different parts like "To Use" for scriptures and talks, "Blessings" which is my topic so I had a list of blessings, "Quotes" for quotes, and so on. Then I figure out which scriptures and quotes I want to use for what. Then I start writing on another piece of paper while I give the talk to myself. As I talk to myself, I get ideas on when to use what and how to connect different ideas. After I used everything on the list I started with, I go back and cross out some of them I might not need or wouldn't be able to use because of time. (You should know that I NEVER write the whole sentences or paragraphs. I only make bullet points or small notes because I hate reading the whole talk from a paper. I like to half wing it.) Last of all, I re-write my notes so everything is clean and neat. :)

Pretty cool, huh? I didn't know I was like this until I started on my talk about three hours ago. Don't blame me for working on it right now. Brother Morgan called me last night.

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Kyoo

This is to tell you about myself. Maybe things you didn't know.

1. My actual name is Hyung Kyoo Kim. Hyung Kyoo is my first name; therefore, I don't have a middle name.
2. I was born in South Korea. I am not a US citizen. Yes, I am still legal to be here.
3. I am the youngest of two brothers. My brother is a year older than I am.
4. My family moved to the US when I was almost 13. I was 6 days away from turning 13.
5. My family joined the Church on March 31, 2002.
6. My family didn't join the Church because we knew it was true. A long story for later.
7. I learned Tae-Kwon-Do when I was little and got a black belt. I forgot almost everything though.
8. I stole money before and got caught. (I hope my parents don't read this.)
9. My favorite Korean soup is solidified cow blood soup.
10. On the good side, I have never eaten a dog or a cat. Yes, Koreans eat dogs and cats.
11. I restarted writing in my journal since the senior year in high school and since then, I had 7 journals. Four of them are from my mission.
12. I went to a middle school that used to be only for girls then became co-ed when my class started going there. Everyone above my class was a girl.
13. One of my friends, my brother and I thought that statues in my elementary school were haunted. We decided one night to build this "weapon" out of sticks and some stuff I can't remember to exorcise them. On our way from a store, we dropped our "goody" bag on the ground and broke almost everything in the bag, so we gave up.
14. One of my friends and I played "spies." Basically, we stalked people to their homes to figure out where they lived.
15. I peed my pants until...I stopped peeing my pants.
16. I started going to pre-school when my brother started going. I wasn't too young to go but I guess I wanted to follow my brother. So this little Asian kid with a backpack bigger than his whole body went to pre-school.
17. A teacher in that pre-school started calling me "panda." Now, panda is my favorite animal.
18. My parents lost me when I just barely started walking. Yes, I didn't get lost; they lost me. They were taking a nap and when my mom woke up, I was gone. They found me eventually but it's a long story so ask me about it if you want to know what happened.
19. I have a scar on the back of my head from hitting my head on a concrete floor.
20. I went to public bathhouse before. Yes, everybody was naked.
21. My brother pour super hot water on my back when I was small. Luckily, I didn't get a scar or anything but there's this whiter part of my body than the rest. Perhaps from that hot water?
22. I played on my Nintendo for hours without letting my brother play it. When we got a computer, the exact same thing happened.
23. I was a chubby kid until the sophomore year in high school when I actually started to run and to stop eating junk food.
24. I went to Buddhist temples growing up with my parents but I was Agnostic.
25. I read the Book of Mormon before I read the Bible.
26. The first English phrase my friends tried to teach me was "what's up?" but I didn't know what it meant so I refused to say it.
27. I love cooking and baking.
28. I still listen to Korean music.
29. I still watch Korean movies and sometimes Korean soap operas.
30. I almost didn't get into BYU because of VISA conflict.
31. The apartment, where I lived in freshman year at BYU, was where a guy was found dead in the bathtub. That's how I got into that apartment.
32. I was a Physics major when I first came to BYU then I changed to Psychology because I didn't want to use my brain. (That was the logic behind it back then.)
33. I took 4 years of French in high school.
34. I went on my mission Spanish speaking to LA, California. My french disappeared because of that.
35. I loved going to parties in high school because I loved hanging out with my friends and see them get drunk.
36. I had two grandmothers on my mom's side and they lived together. My grandpa didn't get a divorce but had another wife because the first wife had three daughters (I think) but not a son so she told my grandpa to marry another woman. From the second wife, my uncle and my mom were born.
37. My parents used to beat me and my brother up if we didn't behave. (That's not illegal in Korea.)
38. My mom and I fought all the time before we moved to the US. I was just going through that phase of rebellion.
39. I can't talk to girls that I am interested in and who I think are interested in me.
40. I don't keep in contact with all my friends in Korea. I don't know what they are up to at all.
41. I have some reddish brown hair that I inherited from my mom.
42. I love all kinds of food and I would try anything at least once.
43. I hate fresh celery but if it's cooked, it's not too bad.
44. I've never had a girlfriend.
45. I lived with my seminary teacher and his family in my senior year in high school because my parents moved to Boston.
46. My favorite place in the world is the Boundary Waters in Minnesota. Canoeing and camping there is the best thing in the world. (Plus, you don't have to worry about taking a shower.)
47. I love singing only if I am by myself and the music is super loud.
48. I am OK at everything, meaning I got no unique talents because I am not good at them. I know how to do basics of everything.
49. I got Megan Fox's thumbs. Look it up.
50. I started liking working out since senior year in high school when I was working out for trek which didn't happen because the state of Illinois doesn't let students compete if they don't live with their parents or their legal guardian. (Note #45)
51. I have a lot of interesting facts about myself. (OK. This one doesn't count.) I am a librarian at the BYU library.
52. I sometimes feel like I need to be bad because I am surround by so many LDS.
53. I try to listen to Elder Richard G. Scott's talk from April 2011 General Conference every Sunday so I will be more motivated to go on dates. They won't happen until Fall though.
54. I just bought a car and a Utah license today. (June 23, 2011)
55. I can still close my eyes and remember the route I would take to go to my elementary school in Korea.
56. I am crazy about two things: clothes and technology. (Girls don't count because they are not "things.") I wouldn't mind spending tons of money on them.
57. I got my first cell phone when I was 18.
58. I got my contact lenses when I was a senior in high school.
59. I hated church dances. That's why I would stay in a corner (so called a losers' corner by all the leaders from my ward) with my buddies from my ward not dancing.
60. I strongly believe in Holistic Monism philosophy. (If you don't know what that is, you should read some of the blogs I posted.)
61. If I am really mad, I am scary but it takes a lot for me to get super mad.
62. The first date I had was with my brother's friend. I thought she wanted to just hang out so I asked her about my brother, but she made sure I understood that it was a date with her.
63. I am more attracted to girls who are older than me. (Even if it's only by a month...or years as long as they are not married.)
64. My leg itches really bad right now.
65. I have a plant that I am taking care of. It's called "Cyclamen."
66. I own a lava lava. (If you don't know what it is, look it up.)
67. I remember all the most embarrassing moments of my life as well as moments when I got super mad.
68. I, meaning my friends and I, set a dumpster on fire.
69. I drank, smoked, and cussed before.
70. My first baptisms for the dead, my family sealing, and my endowment were all at the Nauvoo temple.
71. Even though I passed by the Carthage jail whenever I went to Nauvoo, I have never actually been inside of it.
72. I have tried to kill myself by stopped breathing, putting my head in the water, and smothering myself with a pillow. None of which worked. (Before I joined the Church.)
73. The first time I prayed out loud was in front of 12-15 people after a youth activity. I was scared to death because I've never prayed out loud and I still didn't speak English.
74. I donate/sell plasma religiously.
75. I am addicted to vending machine cookies.
I think that's good enough. Now you know 75 things about me. COOL! I also got some pictures for you.

I am the one on the left

I am the one with a hat with two peace signs

I am the one with glasses

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The Best Day

Everyday is the same. I wake up, pray, put my contacts on, take a shower, get dressed, have breakfast, then go to work. However, there are some things I do to make my day way better. I have a way stressful and annoying job, and by the end of the day, I am so sick and tired of talking to people. I have never done this method before until few days ago but I realized that it made me happier and made me have better attitude through out the day.

1. Service

I decided few Sundays ago that I will do a service for my roommates everyday. As missionaries, we were taught to serve your companions to show love for them and to get along better. They don't have to be something big. Things I did and plan on doing are taking out trash, put dirty dishes in the dishwasher, put away clean dishes, clean the kitchen, clean the bathroom, clean the floor, organize things in the apartment, etc. Doing one thing a day might sound not a big deal but it does help you feel good.

2. Pumping-up

I call this pumping-up. What I do is that before I leave the apartment, I stand in front of a mirror and tell myself that I will have an awesome day, how awesome I am, and how happy I am. I had the best days when I did this before I left the apartment and I had such a positive attitude throughout the day. It works! I promise. I would recommend you doing it when no one is around though, or you might have some explaining to do to your roommates.

3. Pandora

This morning I listened to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir plus Paul Cardall station on Pandora and that made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. :) It helped me calm me down and I felt the Spirit. Isn't that a nice way to start a day? As I listened to "How Great Thou Art," I recalled all my weaknesses and trials I am facing in my life, but God is mightier than all and He wants me to rely on Him.

There are other things you can do but these are few things I try to do every morning to help me stay spiritually high and have a positive attitude throughout the day.

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My Half-Birthday

I just realized that today is my half-birthday. It's not a big deal to me but I thought I would post some pictures I found on Google.

This is awesome! I didn't think anyone would actually make a halved cake for a half-birthday. Making a cake for a half-birthday would be a pain in the butt though. It's too much work to worry about someone's half-birthday when you can't even manage to remember your own half-birthday.

I wish I can have twice as much fun but who really celebrates a half-birthday like this guy in the picture? I don't. Do you? Oh...sorry. No offense to you. I guess if you have money to do that then you can do that. Heck, if I had money, I would have some kind of a birthday party everyday.

While searching for some half-birthday pictures on Google, I found tons of baby pictures. Exciting... I guess you only celebrate your half-birthdays when you are a baby. Maybe I shouldn't post this blog... Too late!

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Hookers, Drinks, and Weed

Many of you will read the title and think, 'What the heck?' Yes, I said it! It kind of has something to do with what I will write but not entirely, maybe less than 5%.

Anyways, I am going to be a groomsman for my friend! Here's a cute picture of him and his fiancée. Awwwwwwww... That's so cuuuuute.
Ian and April are getting married on July 2 at the Salt Lake Temple.

Now, I have no idea what groomsmen are supposed to do for the groom. Ashley looked up some things that they are supposed to do but of course, one of them was throwing a bachelor's party for the groom. Hence the title of this blog is "Hookers, Drinks, and Weed." However, I am not going to do that for my buddy because I don't have money for that. (Note that I didn't say because we are Mormons. I am kidding...but seriously.) I asked my friend what I am supposed to do but he also didn't know what I was supposed to do. This might be a problem. His wedding is in less than two weeks from now but I don't know if I am supposed to rent a tux and get a matching tie as all the other groomsmen. I don't know. I will have to keep bugging my friend to figure that out.

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Holistic Monism Part 2

I was just outside lying on the ground and pondering about things around me. Then my thought turned to my belief, holistic monism. I was thinking about how I would have loved to talked about this in the marriage prep class on Sunday but I didn't. However, I was still thinking about how I would have explained it. Holistic monism is like being whole as one. The scriptures say that the dead cannot be saved without the living and the living cannot be saved without the dead. If you take away one, the other one is gone.
Take the marriage for example, if you take away your wife, what are you? You are not a "husband" because you don't have a wife. The word "husband' is gone from who you are, and vice versa.
Take away men, "women" don't exist because you are just you. You are not a "woman" but a being without a word to describe you.
Take away every child of God, God seizes to be God because we are His glory.
If you take away something from your life, you lose a part of yourself. You lose a portion of who you are. Take away your parents, you are not a child of someone. Take away everything from you, you don't exist because there is nothing that can...I don't know a word to say this...validate your existence, in a way.

LIGHT BULB!!!

I have thought about this for a long time but this is amazing! I had to write this before I forget.

Below is the first blog about this philosophy.
Holistic Monism

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Making Sense of Everything: Labels

You know, nowadays people try to label everything. For example, now there is a spectrum of autism when years ago, there was only autism. People try to fit something or someone somewhere to make sense of it. Why? Watch this video. It's pretty intriguing.

Alice Dreger: Is anatomy destiny? | Video on TED.com

It's like every survey you take they ask you a question about your race. You look around how many people can you see whom you might think they belong in "other." Most of the population in the US are from different races; you can't call one person Hispanic, African American, Asian American, White/Caucasian, etc. What defines someone as Hispanic? What defines someone as Asian? Their distinguished looks? Their native language? What if someone looks white but his/her native language is Spanish but grew up in the US? Is that person Hispanic or White? Overall, who cares? Why does that matter? Why do people try to label each other and put each other in some kind of categories? Am I the only one who thinks this is really stupid?

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The Tender Mercies of the Lord

"To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:" -Ecclesiastes 3:1-

The reason why I started out with that scripture is that to ME, that's what the tender mercies of the Lord is, or that's how it's been manifested to me.

The first time I learned about the tender mercies of the Lord was at a scout camp. It was Sunday, I think, and we went around and talked about when we feel the Holy Ghost then my seminary teacher talked about the tender mercies of the Lord. He said that things happen for a reason and that's through the tender mercies of the Lord. I pondered about that for a long time.

Few years before I went on my mission, I realized that everything that has happened to me was not a coincidence. As Ecclesiastes says, everything happens for a reason. Me as a kid crying and asking some supreme being whether he existed or not, my grandma and uncle passing away, wondering what happened to them, moving to the US or more specifically to Macomb, Illinois, meeting a Korean family who were Mormons, etc. All these led my family to join the Church.

That's all about how I joined the Church. If I think about all of my companions, my areas, people I met, and so on, there are numerous times when I saw the Lord's tender mercies in my life. Nothing really happens without a reason. The Lord put everyone and everything in my life to help me know that He loves and knows me. How awesome is that!

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