If there's one resolution I want to make in 2013, it's to be a better person,

and if there's one resolution that I want to make come true, it's that.

Temptation has been my biggest enemy throughout my life. It's been hard

to try and overcome it. What makes it harder is the world around me.

You have people in your life who don't make it easy for you, and you

watch TV and movies that also don't make it easy for you. Why am I

blaming media? How can you not blame media? Billions of people watch it,

including me. The media isn't at fault for me falling to temptation, but it sure

is at fault for tempting me. It's clear that I just have to be stronger. Now,

what exactly do I need to fix about myself? In short, almost everything.

I need to take better care of myself, which is why I brought the people

around me into the equation, my parents don't exactly buy the healthiest

food, I am trying to quit drinking soda, but when my dad buys soda anyway

just so my mom won't be mad (even though she says she needs to stop as well)

I get tempted to grab a soda and chug it. I'm trying to maintain portion control,

but when you're used to eating big portions, your stomach just doesn't feel full.

It's also hard to get some exercise around here, it's been too cold to run outside,

we don't have any exercise equipment here, except a stationary bicycle, but I've never

liked exercise that didn't get you anywhere, nor works up a good sweat, what I am trying

to say, is that it's not effective, nor are treadmills. And that stuff you see OnDemand, it's

basically just yoga, or warm-ups, again, not effective. If I want to exercise, I want to sweat!

Now, I know most people make a resolution to lose weight, but that's not my resolution,

as the title says, it's to be a better person, losing weight is only part of being better.

The second part is more important, I need to be a better Christian. Most of my life,

I've believed in God, but I've never been a Christian. It wasn't until I was about 19 that

I decided to be baptized and start going to church every Sunday. But with all that church,

I was still a hypocrite. Going to church was the only thing I was doing. I read the Bible from

start to finish, and haven't really picked it up since, I've prayed a few times here and there,

sometimes about things I don't need. I've cursed, held grudges against others, looked at

dirty stuff, etc... Basically, all the stuff a decent Christian shouldn't do. The world around me

hasn't made this easy, sexuality is all around us, it's on TV, movies, billboards, magazines, etc...

But again, I just have to be stronger and do my best to overcome temptation. Thankfully, I

haven't looked up any of that dirty stuff since December. I know I must give it to the Lord

to become stronger, cause I can't sacrifice my place in Heaven for a few moments of false

pleasure. Looking at this world, it has become so ungodly, every time you see religion on the

internet, there's always a group of people to mindlessly insult it. I don't have problems with

atheists, I have a problem with people who insult others just because of their beliefs. For pete's

sake people, let people believe in something, for some, it's all they have, let them have that.

To me, people who bully Christians, Jews, Catholics, etc... are just as annoying as they say we are.

But of course, there are also those who practice their beliefs in the wrong way. Like trying to

convert people, or protesting the wrong things. The Westboro Baptist Church is a perfect

example of this, protesting funerals, giving glory to God for mass homicides, they have

no idea what God's will really is. They are so caught up in trying to understand it, they've

become the very opposite. Jesus Christ has told us to love one another as He has loved us.

These people are just as ungodly as the people who commit such horrible crimes such as the Sandy

Hook Elementary shooting, or the Aurora, CO shootings. The deaths of innocent lives is not something

that should be glorified, these peoples were loved by others, and it wasn't their time, and this "church"

is giving Christians, Jews, Catholics, Baptists, etc... a very bad name. Religion has become tainted by the

actions of others, you always here of a priest sexually harassing a minor, and when some

people hear that, they are quick to blame other religious people, like they themselves,

have committed the crime. Generalization is a big problem in the world. It promoted hatred.

Rather than showing acceptance, we choose to chow hatred, are we proud of that? We shouldn't be.

Some people don't look at it that way, they refuse to look at the big picture, they don't look deep into

their words or actions. Whenever I tried to talk to someone on the internet about my faith in God,

I never had a mature conversation about it, it was always me saying I believed in God, and their

rambling about how the Bible "supports" slavery and rape, when it really doesn't. They say they are

absolutely sure there is no God, and that I shouldn't waste my time. I try to act maturely, but why

can't these people? It's like they have some sort of personal vendetta.  I don't even see it as a religion,

"religion" is just a label so others can classify us. You may find it cliche, but it's actually a relationship.

If you don't agree with me, you don't have to read this. Open-mindedness goes a long way.

Sorry for my rant here, but this does have to do with me trying to be a better person,

while struggling with temptation. I struggle with temptation just like everybody else.

FYI, just because I am Christian, doesn't mean you should expect me to be perfect,

I am not, I am human, and I suffer through these struggles just as much as you do.

I have done one thing to make it easier for myself, I have accepted the fact that I should

just worry about my actions, not anyone else's. Whether you're an atheist, an addict,

overweight, or gay, we shouldn't worry about it. Like Jesus said, "love others, as I have loved you."

Humans are humans, you can't expect them to be anything else. So, while there are others

who may not want to be better people, I choose to try and be a better person, because if I do,

I know I will like myself a whole lot better than I do now. With that, I conclude.

Last year, my brother got me interested in watching football.

He gets me interested into a lot of things, hmm...suspicious?

Meh, it does get me following something. So it's not all bad.

Before, I was never a sports guy, didn't like any sport except

for wrestling (WWE), which is fake, so watching a real sport

is a step-up. Last season, I was following the Chicago Bears.

I had trouble deciding on which team to like, so I chose the Bears.

Why? Because they were good, but not as overrated like the Packers.

I don't want to be a "bandwagoner" as they call it. My brother has always

liked the Jets, he's a royal Jets fan, he's like them ever since he was a kid.

So, his choice was fairly easy. And now that Tim Tebow is on the Jets, he

loves them even more. Tebow is the icing on the cake for him. As for me,

looking back, I don't know if the Bears were a smart choice. They did good

at first, but then Cutler was sidelined for the rest of the season due to a thumb

injury. And on top of that, they decide to replace him with this horrible back up

we all call Caleb Hanie. This guy brought the Bears a 5 losses. That's right

he lost 5 games for the Bears, after Jay Cutler brought the Bears a 5 game

winning streak. This goes to show how bad they fell after Cutler was out.

Luckily, for the Bears, they replaced Hanie, and even though he lost a game or

two, he still brought them a win against the Vikings, which I would bet every dollar

I had, that Hanie wasn't gonna do. They did the smart thing when they decided that

they weren't going to resign him. Now the Broncos got him. I can only hope that Manning

doesn't get injured and have to be replaced by Hanie. Cutler could have got the Bears to

the playoffs, but Hanie screwed any chance the Bears had. So now it's a new season, and

guess what! They lost their first pre-season game. Now I know that the pre-season games

don't matter, and don't go against their standings, but still, it says something. What was

Lovie Smith thinking when he decided not to include Cutler in the game? All their key players

were missing. Brian Urlacher, Julian Peppers, Matt Forte were all absent from the game. Which

is why they lost so badly to the Broncos. Smith should have known not to put a second string

quarterback against Peyton Manning, the guy's a future hall of famer. Cutler was more appropriate

for that game. Oh well, it's in the past now, I just hope they make smart decision in the regular season.

Enough of that though. As I was saying, my "official" team is still up in the air.

I'm gonna pay attention to some other teams this season, I wanna see how they do.

And hopefully, after this season is over, I can pick my team. Right now, as far as everybody

else knows, my team is the Bears. But as of lately, I've been intrigued by the Seahawks.

Tarvaris Jackson was their QB at the time, and he did decent. But I guess the Seahawks still wanted to

go with Matt Flynn for this season. I've read his profile, and it seems pretty good, he might go far with

the Seahawks, so I'm anxious to see how they play this season. They pumbled the Bears last season

with a 38-14 victory over them, so that was surprising. I didn't expect them to be that good.

Apparently they got a great defense which I underestimated. I also looked over their other games

in the 2011 season, and for the most part, they've remained pretty consistent. I mean they got good

scores, most of the time they're passing 20-30 points. I like a team that has a good offensive line,

it means more action in the games. The Bears were disappointing last season with their offensive

line-up, at least with Hanie they were. I watched the Bears and Broncos game last season, and it

was incredibly slow. The Broncos won 13-10 in overtime. That wasn't the biggest disappointment

though, that came with their match against the Chiefs. Now, the Chiefs aren't all that great, I would

expect the Bears to beat them. I even had some hope for Hanie on that game, but Hanie couldn't even

win that game, he couldn't even score. All they got in that game was a field goal, that was it, 3 points

is all they got, they lost 3-10. Needless to say, no action in that game. After that, they decided to keep

Hanie for two more games. That should have been it right there, they should have pulled his plug after

that game. GAH! Well, since Cutler is back, I still have hope for them. Let's just hope that he doesn't

get sidelined again. And let's hope the other key players stay for the regular season too without getting

sidelined. If they can, then I think they can make the playoffs. But I'm still going to follow the Seahawks,

as well as some other teams, which may include, the Bengals, the Dolphins, the Jets, and the Broncos.

We'll see how all these teams do this season.

Right now, I am in a sticky situation.

I may or may not be moving out.

It's kind of a long story, so stick with me.

I've been offered an opportunity to move

into a group home for disabled people.

There are pros and cons of moving and staying.

And I am stuck trying to make a decision.

It's all so hard, and it's not something I am used to.

The thought of it makes me nervous. Am I ready?

I can't say for sure right now. Lately, I've been feeling

that I should move out, because I am just getting

tired of living with my parents through their separation

situation. They are always saying they want to separate.

But every time, it's the same outcome, they can't afford it

and have no choice but to continue living together.

Right now, I'm going to school 30 miles away.

Not to mention, that's where all my friends are.

So this group home would be an opportunity

for me to be close to where I want to be.

I could finally not worry about where I am going

to end up. I know where I'd be living, and I could

finally go out and try to get a job. That's been bugging me

because I go to school miles away, and I don't want to work

where I live, because then it would be too far away from school.

Another good thing is that I'd be close to friends, I could visit

them more often, and not have to worry about my parents

interfering. I'd be more independent, but I don't know if I would

feel that way, I'd be living with strangers, and a chaperone.

But still, it's not like the chaperone would interfere with what

I want to do. The chaperone isn't going to tell me I can't do

this or that. But another bad thing would be that I'd be away

from family, and my cat  (I love my cat very much) and part

of me doesn't want to be away from that. My mom and I fight

occasionally, but she and I are still close, my dad, my brother,

and myself are very close, and to be away from them is gonna be

very difficult for me to get used to. I always depended on my mother

to listen whenever I had a problem. But now, I must fend for myself.

I know growing up is good, it's not like I want to stay here forever,

it's just that I had something else in mind when it was time for me

to move out. I pictured I would have a job and a car, and a small

apartment or something, possibly living with a couple friends as

roommates, and we'd be paying the bills and such. But I never pictured

living in a group home with strangers. The whole "independence" thing is

also puzzling. From what I hear, the chaperone does grocery shopping

for the people. But you get $125 a month, which is small, but it's something.

I guess that would go towards transportation. But still, what independence is

there if someone is doing the shopping for us? Maybe I can just buy my own groceries,

I have no idea. Like I said, it's very very difficult to make this transition.

It seems I still have a whole lot of thinking to do.

Now playing: Bejeweled soundtrack