There are some times in life when it seems like events happen in groups or phases. Everyone gets married. Everyone has babies. And the more unfortunate, everyone dies. Okay, may that's a bit morbid. But there have definitely been periods when it seems like everyone is going to funerals.
Recently, during one of those periods, I was talking to a friend about her uncle passing away. He was much older, had lived a long, healthy life, and his health had been deteriorating for a while. So, when he passed away, it wasn't much of a shock to her family. Ultimately, they knew the last few years of his life had been uncomfortable and as a family of faith, that he was relaxing in heaven.
Like a good (socially acceptable) friend, I consoled her, told her I would keep her family in my prayers, asked if there was anything I could do for her...the usual. Suddenly, a thought struck me. Why do we have to pretend to be sad? Maybe it's just me (actually it's quite possible that it's just me), but death doesn't really make me sad. I know everyone says we partially mourn for the people left behind. But I've been one of the people left behind, and I still wasn't sad.
Somehow, I think we've forgotten that the one inescapable part of our life - is that it will end. Everyone. Every time. There are literally no guarantees in our life, except that. It is the one common thread in all human existence. Yet it seems to shock and sadden us every time it happens! Which is every half second. Seriously. Two people die every single second. That means, while you were reading this over 100 people have left this world! (Pause while I go find the nearest job opening at a funeral home...)
Seriously, think about it. Unless you know someone that has discovered immortality, in 80 years or so, every person you know will be gone. Parents, siblings, husbands, wives, friends, celebrities, you name it. Gone.
Some may pass away from cancer or disease, some from tragedies or accidents, some will linger on the edge of death, some will be ripped suddenly from this world. No matter how, where, or when. It will happen to all of us. Okay, enough with the morbidity. I'm not normally this depressing, but I'm setting the stage for a new perspective here....
What if...we stop thinking about death?
At all.
We stop worrying about it, we stop mourning it, we stop prolonging it, we stop paying for it, we stop living for it.
What if we embrace the Truth that at some point we will cease to exist in this world. Everyone (yes you). What if, instead...we start thinking about life? We start taking risks, we start loving people unconditionally, we start sharing, we start forgiving, we start living.
Society tells us to go through life earning beauty, money, fame, and power. For what? So we can pay for medicine, treatments, and influence to keep ourselves alive just a little longer? We live our lives so focused on the ends that we forget that life happens in the means. If you have some miracle way to predict your death, please feel free to share that with the world. Otherwise, hate to break it to you, but you're as clueless as the rest of us.
"Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour." - Matthew 25:13
While you're living for the end result (money, success, etc.) your time here on earth could be over before you even reach your goal! And then what would have been the point?
Instead, imagine if we treated each day as if it was the only day that mattered.
I know that is cliche, but truly, think about it. Instead of being shocked when someone dies, we should be shocked each morning we wake up and get to LIVE. Another breath. Another gift. Another chance to impact the world, or change lives, or just be happy. (Someone should create a greeting card for that..."Congrats, you're alive! Here's your present - another day! Enjoy! Love, God")
If you live like that, how can you not try to live every single day with as much gratitude and happiness as possible? To make the most out of each day?!
Side Note: If any of you are fans of The Walking Dead, or any other show in a chaotic world, you'll notice that the characters eventually stop focusing on death. Death happens so suddenly and frequently, and their situation is so high-risk, that they don't even have time to waste precious minutes grieving. Instead, they spend their (possibly) short time focusing on life and seeking love, happiness, adventure, etc. They wake up each day grateful just to be alive. I would never wish that type of environment on our society (I love living in a wealthy, peaceful, structured nation as much as you!) but I still think there are lessons we can learn from them. Let's be wise enough to learn them without having to experience them ourselves, eh? ;)
Basically, what I'm trying to say - to you and to myself - is that we need a greater appreciation for the life we've been given. We could have five minutes left on this planet or five decades, so why not spend our time focused on Here. Now. Today. That way, the next time someone passes on we don't have to be sad they died, we can be happy they lived!
Friday, October 30, 2015
Saturday, September 24, 2011
A Loud Peace
Sometimes, the most peaceful moments in life are actually the loudest. It's somewhere in the excess noise and stimuli that we find an inner quiet. Driving with the windows down, wind in my ears, sun on my face, and radio blaring, I can feel the peaceful presence of God. Sitting next to a rushing waterfall amid noises of children laughing, couples talking, and dogs barking, I am surrounded by a complete calm.
Why is it that we sometimes feel most peaceful when our environment is so loud?
Maybe it's because we allow our inner voices to turn off for a moment when the world around us is making so much noise. When it is quiet around us, our own thoughts tend to fill the void and take over. But, when it is loud, the environment drowns out our own thoughts, worries, hopes, fears, and leaves us with....nothing. A complete calm. An enveloping peace.
Maybe it's God reminding us to just shut off our energizer-bunny brains that just keep going, and going, and going. There's no room for His wisdom, grace, or peace when our mind is full of our own junk.
So, as I sit on this rock hearing the rushing water in my ears, I think about....nothing. I let the water take away my thoughts, eliminating doubt, worry, anxiety, stress, and even joy. And I am left with the complete quiet of God's peace.
Why is it that we sometimes feel most peaceful when our environment is so loud?
Maybe it's because we allow our inner voices to turn off for a moment when the world around us is making so much noise. When it is quiet around us, our own thoughts tend to fill the void and take over. But, when it is loud, the environment drowns out our own thoughts, worries, hopes, fears, and leaves us with....nothing. A complete calm. An enveloping peace.
Maybe it's God reminding us to just shut off our energizer-bunny brains that just keep going, and going, and going. There's no room for His wisdom, grace, or peace when our mind is full of our own junk.
So, as I sit on this rock hearing the rushing water in my ears, I think about....nothing. I let the water take away my thoughts, eliminating doubt, worry, anxiety, stress, and even joy. And I am left with the complete quiet of God's peace.
Friday, December 17, 2010
Laughter in the Living Room
"Let's just keep it between us gals, hey?"
This is the pleading cry I heard coming from my visiting friend, Sarah, after we reviewed a hi-lar-i-ous picture, taken while playing "The Game"....to be explained.
Let me start by saying that Kelsey (my roommate), Sarah, and I decided to have a sleepover tonight since it's the last night of the semester before we go home for the holidays. And of course we had to all sleep in one bed; unfortunately, our itty bitty twin beds would definitely not fit all three of us. Sooo, naturally, we dragged our mattresses into the living room and pushed them together to make one giant floor bed! Oh the things you get to do in college :)
Well, we also wanted to document our fantastic sleepover, but were having quite a few problems taking a picture of ourselves while laying in our mattressfloorbed. You know...when you try to take a picture of you and your friends at night and it's dark so it takes three billion tries to get it centered but it's still so awkward and close because it's only an arm-distance away and you all end up looking like you just got run over by a bus....yeah, those are the kind of pictures we kept ended up with--there was always one of us who was unsatisfied with it!
Finally, we called Joanna (my other roommate) over to take a picture of us and I had the brilliant idea, "Let's just make goofy faces, because then if we look terrible it will be on purpose!" So we decided to play "The Game."
"The Game," for those of you who don't know, is when you contort your face into a bunch of wacky shapes continuously until the picture is taken. The point is that you never know exactly when the picture will be taken and you end up with some of the funniest pictures ever. If you've never played "The Game" before, I suggest you try it as soon as possible, because you will never want to go back to normal pictures again! (It is that good...or bad...depending on how embarrassed you get.) The best part about "The Game" is that you never quite know what you're going to end up with...so it's like a surprise picture!! :)
So...we prepped our faces, began contorting...and *snap* Joanna took the picture. Of course we were all giggling before we even saw it, but NO ONE could have prepared us for the picture that was soon revealed.... After taking the camera back from Joanna, we immediately zoomed in on our faces and literally....we died from laughter...
From my crippled-looking hand and face, to Kelsey's disappointed look, and Sarah's squished-up-tongue-face-and-neck...we were a mess!! It was some of THE BEST "Game" faces I had ever seen.......We continued to laugh/cry/pee our pants for the next five minutes, and every time we'd start to calm down a bit, I'd just hold that picture up again and...BAM we were off on another uncontrollable fit.
Needless to say, I know this story would be a million times better with the actual picture, but I have a depressing announcement....the picture was deleted by none other than Miss Sarah herself! Possibly out of embarrassment, possibly to protect herself from dying of laughter...we'll never know.
Regardless, I unfortunately cannot show you the picture, and so I imagine this post won't seem very relate-able. However, I hope you still enjoyed reading about our late-night living room laughter and if you leave this blog post with only one thing, I hope it is a new motivation to play "The Game" so that you too can experience your own night of hilarity and embarrassment :)
I've also included a couple of my favorite pictures from other times we played "The Game"... enjoy! :)
This is the pleading cry I heard coming from my visiting friend, Sarah, after we reviewed a hi-lar-i-ous picture, taken while playing "The Game"....to be explained.
Let me start by saying that Kelsey (my roommate), Sarah, and I decided to have a sleepover tonight since it's the last night of the semester before we go home for the holidays. And of course we had to all sleep in one bed; unfortunately, our itty bitty twin beds would definitely not fit all three of us. Sooo, naturally, we dragged our mattresses into the living room and pushed them together to make one giant floor bed! Oh the things you get to do in college :)
Well, we also wanted to document our fantastic sleepover, but were having quite a few problems taking a picture of ourselves while laying in our mattressfloorbed. You know...when you try to take a picture of you and your friends at night and it's dark so it takes three billion tries to get it centered but it's still so awkward and close because it's only an arm-distance away and you all end up looking like you just got run over by a bus....yeah, those are the kind of pictures we kept ended up with--there was always one of us who was unsatisfied with it!
Finally, we called Joanna (my other roommate) over to take a picture of us and I had the brilliant idea, "Let's just make goofy faces, because then if we look terrible it will be on purpose!" So we decided to play "The Game."
"The Game," for those of you who don't know, is when you contort your face into a bunch of wacky shapes continuously until the picture is taken. The point is that you never know exactly when the picture will be taken and you end up with some of the funniest pictures ever. If you've never played "The Game" before, I suggest you try it as soon as possible, because you will never want to go back to normal pictures again! (It is that good...or bad...depending on how embarrassed you get.) The best part about "The Game" is that you never quite know what you're going to end up with...so it's like a surprise picture!! :)
So...we prepped our faces, began contorting...and *snap* Joanna took the picture. Of course we were all giggling before we even saw it, but NO ONE could have prepared us for the picture that was soon revealed.... After taking the camera back from Joanna, we immediately zoomed in on our faces and literally....we died from laughter...
From my crippled-looking hand and face, to Kelsey's disappointed look, and Sarah's squished-up-tongue-face-and-neck...we were a mess!! It was some of THE BEST "Game" faces I had ever seen.......We continued to laugh/cry/pee our pants for the next five minutes, and every time we'd start to calm down a bit, I'd just hold that picture up again and...BAM we were off on another uncontrollable fit.
Needless to say, I know this story would be a million times better with the actual picture, but I have a depressing announcement....the picture was deleted by none other than Miss Sarah herself! Possibly out of embarrassment, possibly to protect herself from dying of laughter...we'll never know.
Regardless, I unfortunately cannot show you the picture, and so I imagine this post won't seem very relate-able. However, I hope you still enjoyed reading about our late-night living room laughter and if you leave this blog post with only one thing, I hope it is a new motivation to play "The Game" so that you too can experience your own night of hilarity and embarrassment :)
I've also included a couple of my favorite pictures from other times we played "The Game"... enjoy! :)
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Sleep is overrated...
That's right...the staple phrase of any college student, "Sleep is overrated."
We must have the funky-est (if that's a word) sleep schedule of any generation. We stay up until 2/3/4am and have to wake up for class with only a few hours of sleep...yet, somehow we get through the next day and do it all over again. Why? Is it because we like falling asleep in class? Well, maybe if it's boring, but usually not! Is it because we have some higher ability to function with a lack-of-sleep? This clearly isn't possible if we're falling asleep in class. Or is it because we're basking in our new found freedom without parents? While quite plausible, I don't know about you, but a week's worth of basking and I'm ready to go back to kindergarten nap time!
I think the real answer is that we are just too dang busy! The phrase should be more like, "Sleep rocks, but look at all the other things I have to do!"
There are days when I get back to my room after having meetings/rehearsals/class until 11pm...and then I can start homework (or procrastination). After a few hours of Facebook, email, YouTube, a little homework, and socializing, I finally get to sleep and wonder where my day went! Well...the answer is that it went to all the 'stuff' we cram into our lives! Not that the 'stuff' isn't awesome or worth the lack-of-sleep, but it's no wonder sleep is the first thing to go!
So you may be wondering, what is the purpose of this little diddy on sleep? Well...considering the fact that it's almost 3am and my brain is starting it's nightly chant of "Sleep, sleep, sleep, sleep..." that gets progressively louder as the morning wears on, I've literally got sleep on the brain.
But for the moment, I have decided to ignore that chant and......*drumroll*......start a blog! I have written a few blog-like updates in the past (when I studied abroad and interned), but I've always wanted to have a blog that was just a happy (and sometimes sarcastic) commentary on life! A place to tell funny stories, rant about some uncontrollable facet of the world, or reflect on a faith-filled moment in life.
So, I hope you enjoy my simple, sweet musings filled with smiley faces and exclamation points... :)
We must have the funky-est (if that's a word) sleep schedule of any generation. We stay up until 2/3/4am and have to wake up for class with only a few hours of sleep...yet, somehow we get through the next day and do it all over again. Why? Is it because we like falling asleep in class? Well, maybe if it's boring, but usually not! Is it because we have some higher ability to function with a lack-of-sleep? This clearly isn't possible if we're falling asleep in class. Or is it because we're basking in our new found freedom without parents? While quite plausible, I don't know about you, but a week's worth of basking and I'm ready to go back to kindergarten nap time!
I think the real answer is that we are just too dang busy! The phrase should be more like, "Sleep rocks, but look at all the other things I have to do!"
There are days when I get back to my room after having meetings/rehearsals/class until 11pm...and then I can start homework (or procrastination). After a few hours of Facebook, email, YouTube, a little homework, and socializing, I finally get to sleep and wonder where my day went! Well...the answer is that it went to all the 'stuff' we cram into our lives! Not that the 'stuff' isn't awesome or worth the lack-of-sleep, but it's no wonder sleep is the first thing to go!
So you may be wondering, what is the purpose of this little diddy on sleep? Well...considering the fact that it's almost 3am and my brain is starting it's nightly chant of "Sleep, sleep, sleep, sleep..." that gets progressively louder as the morning wears on, I've literally got sleep on the brain.
But for the moment, I have decided to ignore that chant and......*drumroll*......start a blog! I have written a few blog-like updates in the past (when I studied abroad and interned), but I've always wanted to have a blog that was just a happy (and sometimes sarcastic) commentary on life! A place to tell funny stories, rant about some uncontrollable facet of the world, or reflect on a faith-filled moment in life.
So, I hope you enjoy my simple, sweet musings filled with smiley faces and exclamation points... :)
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