You want my... honey??

no, silly! they wanted my blood! 

recently i donated blood for the first time! the first time i willingly gave blood was in high school when i was tested for Dor Yesharim. when i heard there was going to be a blood drive i was kinda nervous about donating. im not squeamish with blood but the thought of someone sticking me with a needle and taking a pint (!) of blood out of me really made me nervous. in the end, thanks to (the good kind of) peer pressure, i decided to give blood. 

B"H i was totally fine, though i actually saw my friend faint in front of my eyes! (but that's a different story) it took about fifteen minutes, maybe less, and then it was all over. and i feel so great about giving the gift of life! you know, they say 60% of people in my region are eligible to give blood and only 2% do. every 2 seconds someone else in the world needs blood. it's a major thing to be able to give. so if you're eligible... do it! you'll feel so great afterwards (okay... maybe two hours later, after the weakness and lightheadedness has gone away :)

one of the girls i was with said something really amazing that got me thinking. she said that we're at an age now where we will do something to willingly hurt ourselves because we know something good will come out of it. think about it...

when i was younger like 10 years old, no way would i allow myself to get hurt if i had the choice. why have to suffer willingly? but now, as a 20-year-old, i understand that it may hurt for a second or maybe for 15 minutes will im being pinched with a needle stuck in my vein drawing out my blood, but afterwards i'll be ok and i'll be able to save someone's life. 

it's a really amazing idea if you think about it. the more i think about the concept of taking my blood to give to someone else, the more amazing i realize it is. my blood going into someone else's body is pretty cool. and the whole thing about different blood types is cool too. i can't wait to find out what type i am! lol

fyi here are some facts about giving blood:

1. one pint of blood can save up to three lives

2. the average adult body contains 10 pints of blood

3. 500,000 Americans donated blood in the days following September 11th, 2001 

4. A newborn baby has about one cup of blood in his body

5. there is no substitute for human blood.

JUST DO IT!

freaky story

all things happen to you for a reason but sometimes it's a little bit harder to find the reason than other times.

take what happened to me yesterday.

i was waiting in line for my bus at the bus terminal yesterday, listening to my ipod when i see a man walking towards the outside door, from where all the buses are, not really where people usually come from. i didn't think anything of it until he comes close to the door coming into the terminal. i see his hands are covered in blood and he's got a gash on his face, still bleeding. he was an older white man, probably about 60.  mind you, there are about 25 people waiting in line and everyone's just in shock. they don't know what to do. the man has a hard time getting the door opened and someone finally opens it for him. he keeps walking past the line of people (everyone's just staring at him) until one guy asks, "are you alright, sir?" the man responds "yes" and continues walking. now i'm listening to my ipod and can't really hear that much (and i don't really want to usually) but a few minutes later i heard a yell and the lady standing next to me screams! apparently the man fell down the steps. the guy who had asked him if he was okay runs down to help him. a few minutes later, the man who had gone to help comes back and says that someone called 911 and there are people down there helping him.

i was so freaked out. the entire bus ride i couldn't get it out of my head. obviously there was something wrong with the guy or someone had really hurt him badly.

there must be a reason why i had to see such a thing. but its so freaky. and then i came home and heard what had happened to my friend's brother-in-law and all in all, it was just a crazy day.