Lily Weber

We have all heard the old saying, “April showers bring May flowers.”

 While I’m writing this I am currently listening to rain pour down outside my house. I know rain will help the many acres that farmers have planted, the pastures on our farms and ranches, and my favorite wild flowers grow. My father has always told me that everything needs rain to grow. While this is true for all vegetation, the same can be accurate about our lives. Sometimes we struggle with a decision, a situation or the outcome of an event. It is that struggle that allows us to grow and helps us turn into the person we were meant to be. 

I’m not always a fan of the rain. When I’m having a bad day, I can not wait for it to be over. I will go to bed early just so I can have a fresh start sooner the next day. Still, sometimes bad days turn into a bad week. When this happens, we must learn to embrace the rain by dancing in it. We might not always understand the rain and the storms that can come with it, but we need to remember that everything happens for a reason and that there are better days to come. 

 We are like plants and need the rain to help us grow. The April shower can bring beautiful May flowers. After struggles and hard times, we get to take in the beauty of what we have been through and the strength that we have. I have learned that rain will provide the necessary supplies to grow a bountiful harvest. I encourage you to embrace the showers so you can embrace the beauty in every flower you see. 

As Joyce Meyer once said, “A bad attitude is like a flat tire. You can’t go anywhere until you change it.” Flat tires are not the way to start any day. It delays you and ruins your plans for the day. It also affects other people, too, because it could make you late for a meeting or even just the start to your day. 

It takes only seconds for a tire to go flat, but to change out the tire and repair it takes several minutes. The same can be said about a bad attitude. It only takes one little thing going wrong to put you in a bad mood. Which might take just seconds like the tire going flat.Also like a tire, a bad attitude delays you and even in some cases ruins your day. Just like a tire makes you late, a bad attitude affects the people around you. By having a bad attitude you are bringing down the people around you. When you are part of a team such as in sports, it helps to get the win when you have confidence and a positive attitude. When you are working on a project, if it is not going the way you want, sit back and try looking at it from another angle. Do not let it get you down, frustrated, or give up. These are all ways to bring your group’s attitude down. With these things in the way, the project does not get finished. We all know that one time we might be excited to do something or go somewhere, but someone else was not, and it changed our mood. Bad attitudes are contagious. How do we fix this bad attitude? We fix it the same way we fix a flat tire. We change it out for a new one. While it might take a few minutes to change our attitude, once we do we are back up and ready to go! So remember, if you have a flat tire or a bad attitude, change it for you and those around you. It will only take a few seconds to put a smile on your face, and share it with others.  

Cheering sections are often loud as everyone present is there to cheer for their favorite team. Throughout high school, I sat in many of the cheering sections for my high school’s football, basketball, baseball and volleyball games. Our section was ready to cheer on our team. This last year, though, I found that cheering sections are not always loud and noisy; sometimes cheering sections can be quiet, and at places other than sporting events.

The bell rang at my high school for the last four years at 7:56 a.m. This was the bell that rang as I was normally just walking in the door of our technical center late to my first hour class. The teachers would all greet me and tell me I better hurry because I was late. But on the days that I was not running late, those same halls in that technical center, is where I found my cheering section. During golf season I received pointers on my game, during fall speeches others would take time out of their mornings to listen to my speech. When softball season started, I heard congratulations after every win and was comforted when our team didn’t have a great game. During contest season I remember my cheering section asking about bugs since they knew I was working on entomology. For extemporaneous speaking, they helped me find articles and asked me about the topic I received when I went to the contest. There were times that I was not happy with how I did, so they would always help me find a way to feel at ease about my struggles. This group of students and teachers were all part of my cheering section. Sure, they challenged me and never let me off easy, but they were also a group of people that I wanted to celebrate the good times with. Missouri FFA members this next year I encourage you to find your cheering section to root you on, not only in your FFA journey but also in your life!