The world needs a moral compass...

I see children everyday who do things everyday that they know are not to right thing to do and they don't care. They lack integrity and moral disicpline. They are to follow rules set forth by their teachers, school, parents, and whom ever else has authority over them. They are at an age where they will be faced with many descisions that will effect the people they are to become. The sad part is that many of them are not going to make descisions that will lead them to a place where they will ultimately have some control over their own lives.

They know from their parents that it is not fun to have to live under authority. Their parents are under the authority of a boss, the criminal justice system, money, addiction, and many other things that control how they live. The problem is that they don't see that they have a choice about how they want to live and their choices start now in the 7th and 8th grade. They will have to decided what kind of people they want to be.

Do they want to be people who will stand up for what is right? Do they want to try and make a difference in the lives of others? Do they want to have dreams and make them come true? Do they aspire to be something more than what their parents have become?

I know that they dream. I ask them what they think and I listen to their answers. I just want them to understand that if they don't want to live under the authority of someone else, then they have to start making choices that are going to lead them in the direction of their dreams.

I hope that they hear me. I hope that they can imagine a life where they are happy and fulfilled. I hope that they understand what it means to be a person of integrity. I hope they see what a life that is lived with character and a love for other people really means. I hope they see how to make their dreams come true.

I recently returned from a trip to NYC and NJ with my brother. I was go to have a break from the routine that I have grown accustomed too. This was my second time to visit the Big Apple and I hope there will be many more. For me, there is something magical about a city that is so diverse. New York is the place where dreams come true. At least, that is what my perception of the place is. Obviously there are lots of horrible things that happen everyday but the feeling that I get while I am there is a sense of wonderment. Someday, I think I will try and move there. I want to be a part of a place where so many different people come and have to live together and share the same space.

I spent my time in the city running around trying to see everything that I could. I went from one end of manhattan to the other. I took somewhere around 300 pictures and still I don't think I captured how amazing in can be to walk around the city. I was very cold and I think I would have taken even more pictures but my hands got cold holding the camera.

Times Square at dusk. I love this city and this place. I wish I lived here.