Its Not Whether You Win a Prize or Lose a Destination, Its How You Play the Journey free essay sample

Back when I was in elementary school, I remember entering an Easter card design contest. We drew a picture on a small square piece of paper, and the winner was supposed to get two hundred Toys ‘R’ Us dollars and his or her design made into an actual Easter card. I drew two bunny heads on either side of a basket of Easter eggs with â€Å"Happy Easter† written on the top. Sometime later, I was swinging in the playground when someone called me inside to meet with a Toys ‘R’ Us representative. The representative told me I had won, and presented me with a basket of Easter candy. I was so excited that I didn’t even realize I never got the dollars promised me. What’s more, I never even saw my card in stores. It may be surprising to hear that this is a happy memory. It was disappointing, sure, but in retrospect I was a kid and probably preferred the basket of candy anyway. We will write a custom essay sample on Its Not Whether You Win a Prize or Lose a Destination, Its How You Play the Journey or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Certainly it would have been nice to see my card published, but I was just happy to have won such a big contest, my first one in fact. Plus, it was making the card that I really enjoyed, so any prize wasn’t that important to me. As I remember biting off the ears to a large chocolate rabbit, I realize that playing to win will always leave me feeling empty. Life is a lot more enjoyable playing games for fun rather than victory. Later on, I entered a contest at the public library. I didn’t even know what the prize was, but all I had to do was color in a picture. This was the kind of thing I loved to do: display my creativity in something others could enjoy. I had some more fun with this contest, and, luckily enough, I managed to win once more. When I saw the prize, I thought it was the coolest thing in the world. It was a pair of paper glasses that, when worn, made rainbows appear around any lights. If I were to find those same glasses now, I would think they weren’t worth a dime. Although it may have been because I was just a kid, somehow that prize meant so much more to me after I had worked for it. Since then, I’ve grown up quite a bit, and I started to think about contests where you don’t work for the prize, such as the lottery. I imagine that playing it must be so unfulfilling, having no fun in entering and most likely always losing. I’ll bet even the big winners don’t appreciate their money as much because they haven’t earned it. The contest I find worth entering is the one I don’t mind losing because the event itself is meaningful. The key to happiness is to put less thought into the destination and more focus on making the journey unforgettable. I look back on these moments now and wonder. In most of my experience, my goals haven’t quite lived up to my expectations. I idealized them to the point that they could never be what I had hoped. I just need to remember what my earliest contests have taught me. In this case, the goal is college, but I don’t strive for good grades just so I can gain admission to the one I want, because education is about learning, not just a necessary means to the next stage in my life. I study hard because I’m eager to learn, and the grades follow. I won’t allow it to be a lottery; that is, I’ll do my best to make college worth the struggle it requires. It’s moments like writing this very essay, where I get to have fun and be creative, that make the whole process of reaching my goal enjoyable enough to accept whatever the outcome might be. Now that the time for college has finally come, the destination becomes a journey in itself, and I’m determined t o make the most of that one as well.

The eNotes Blog 10 Popular Songs With LiteraryRoots

10 Popular Songs With LiteraryRoots Books, movies, music the media. They influence and mimic (and steal from) one another, resulting in a rich network of ideas and entertainment. At , we are unabashedly biased toward the written word (#BookNerdPride), and become  giddy when books are the source of motion pictures or other modern cultural benchmarks. While  bopping my head to some Lana Del Rey last week, hey, Lolita, heyyyy blasted through my headphones; I became  curious about other modern songs with bookish  Easter eggs. A bit of Wikipedia  studious research  later, and I was pleasantly surprised with all the hit  songs with literary inspirations. 1. Off to the Races by Lana Del Rey Ill start with another Lana Del Rey single because  Ive already spoiled her inclusion in this club. The lyrics of  Off to the Races  include the famous opening line  in  Vladimir Nabokovs Lolita: Light of my life, fire of my loins.  The aforementioned song Lolita also pays homage to  Nabokovs controversial, romantic narrative. 2. Poet by  Bastille Bastille has publicly stated this song is based on Shakespeares Sonnet 18. Poet is about eternalizing a lover by writing her into the pages of the song. One can speculate the crooners inspiration came directly from the sonnets closing lines: When in eternal lines to Time thou grow’st. So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see, So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.   3. Holland 1945 by Neutral Milk Hotel A hybrid of literature and historical influence, Holland 1945 includes several references to  Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl.  The opening lines of the song reference  Franks and her sisters deaths: The only girl Ive ever loved Was born with roses in her eyes But then they buried her alive One evening, 1945 With just her sister at her side 4. Jocasta by  Noah and the Whale UK-based indie band Noah and the Whale pays homage to the Greek tragedy  Oedipus Rex  by Sophocles with this tune. Jocasta is Oedipuss mother  and well we wont spoil anything if you havent read it yet (but try not to hit your head on the rock youre living under). The song follows her narrative  and her subsequent unavoidable doom. 5. Romeo and Juliet by Dire Straits / The Killers An oldie but a goodie, and a relatively recent reworkie by The Killers, this ballad was originally introduced in the 80s by the rock band Dire Straits and directly references Shakespeares infamous star-crossed lovers in  Romeo and Juliet. 6. Who Wrote Holden Caulfield? by  Green Day I think the answer youre looking for is J.D. Salinger, Green Day, and the book is actually  The Catcher in the Rye. Green Days song is named  after Salingers phony-hating main character Holden Caulfield, and expresses the novels  themes: Theres a boy who fogs his world and now hes getting lazy Theres no motivation and frustration makes him crazy He makes a plan to take a stand but always ends up sitting Someone help him up or hes gonna end up quitting 7. Sigh No More by Mumford and Sons Sigh No More by Mumford and Sons has direct  quotes from  Shakespeares Much Ado About Nothing,  such as the songs opening line: Serve God, love me, and mend (spoken by Benedick in Act 5, Scene 2). 8. Hallelujah by Leonard Cohen One of the greatest songs of all time, in my humblest opinion, is Hallelujah by Leonard Cohen.  This ballad is biblically rooted, specifically intertwining the stories of David/Bathsheba and Samson/Delilah in one verse: Well your faith was strong but you needed proof You saw her bathing on the roof Her beauty and the moonlight overthrew ya She tied you to her kitchen chair And she broke your throne and she cut your hair And from your lips she drew the Hallelujah This song also has dozens of covers (Rufus Wainwrights and Jeff Buckleys are probably the most popular ones) and even has a book written about it. 9. The Resistance by Muse George Orwells  1984  influenced this song as well as the entire album. While the theme of totalitarian government is blatant  in the lyrics, the band was particularly influenced by the love story between Julia and Winston, as is evident in this verse: Love is our resistance They keep us apart and they wont stop breaking us down And hold me, our lips must always be sealed 10. Samson by Regina Spektor Another biblically influenced song, Samson is about a lover lamenting and musing over the ol  what could have been?  thought that plagues so many experiencing unrequited love.  The song mimics Delilahs love for Samson, which at times is unreturned, and the loss of Samsons power with losing his hair, possibly representing vulnerability in a relationship. Check out the full list on Wikipedia, and let us know your favorites in the comments!