Monday, October 14, 2013

Appositives Galore

Brendan Walsh

The Price of Life

“The price of anything is the amount of life you exchange for it.” I firmly believe that what you put into life is what you will get out. If I were to work at my job for five hours, the amount of money I receive would be equal to the time I put in. Similar to this what you put in is what you get out. This applies to everyone and to every aspect of life whether it is school, fitness, work or anything else.
When I think of the price of something that is paid in time I think of sports. I am a runner and run because I seek to improve my physical fitness. The price I pay to become a better run is the amount of life I put into it. In mathematical terms the amount of effort I put in is 1.5 hours or 5400 seconds a day. Another way of looking at this is I use approximately 359 Joules of energy for running.  To an athlete, runner like myself this is a high price to pay. Taking an hour and a half from my already busy schedule certainly makes things harder. The use of a mathematical equation to represent this quote is probably not best. The price I pay to be a good runner is the amount of time and effort I put in. Perhaps examining this quote through a historical lens would best defend it. During the 1940’s WWII, one of the deadliest wars raged and many lives were lost. The price that the US and the allies paid to stop the monster, Hitler can be measured in life. The price America paid was in American lives. Many American soldiers died and that was the price paid to stop the axis advance.  I traveled a long distance by bus to see Stonehenge, an arrangement of huge rocks that dates back to prehistoric times. I paid a piece of my life to see Stonehenge. This price was not in money but in time. The long bus ride made seeing the Stonehenge that much better. I have always been interested in animals especially birds. At the top of a magnificent pine, was the most magnificent animal I had ever seen--a Bald Eagle--was sitting proudly on the branch. To an ordinary person this might be cool but to me it was amazing. I had spent hours looking for birds like this so finally seeing a magnificent creature like this meant a lot to me.

The pope, Pope Francis has paid a lot of life to be where he is. To devote years of your life to anything is a high price. Imagine being a service member in your country’s military. Think about signing a contract for an amount up to and including your life. In terms of measuring the price of something by the amount of life you put in, you could say being in the military is paying a very high price. 

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