I've been thinking a lot lately about how we're alive. I mean think about it. If you are reading this you are alive. It probably sounds obvious and silly to you that I'm saying it, but when you really think about it, can you imagine not living? Not just can you imagine dying someday. Can you imagine what the world would be like if you never existed?
Now I'm starting to sound like Gabriel from It's a Wonderful Life.
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| via GIPHY |
No one's life is perfect. People get depressed and think that because their life isn't like someone else's, there's no point in them living. But it's silly. Everyone has some kind of difficulty in their life that they have to live through. Maybe one person who wants to lose weight looks at a thin person and gets discouraged because they don't have their body. Maybe that person they think has such a nice form actually wants to gain weight. A supermodel can have bad eyesight. An artist can be bad at poetry.
I don't believe that there has ever been anyone in history who hasn't suffered some kind of hurt, whether physical or spiritual or mental. I don't think anyone looks at their life and thinks that there is nothing that they would change about themselves or their circumstances or abilities. Not one person has ever been good at everything that you can think of. We all have different quirks and shortcomings. We're all good at something, if not many things, but we know that there are also some things that we just do not have the ability to do.
I want you to read this next part, and think about what you would say about yourself.
i'm a normal person. but no one ever has had my exact life.
i can't see clearly without placing little plastic lens in my eyes.
i can't eat bread without breaking out in a rash.
i don't usually trip and fall, but there's hardly a week that goes by without me spilling a drink or knocking over my cereal bowl.
i cry when i'm angry more than when i'm sad.
i can do many things, but i do not possess the artsy or crafty skills that i would like.
i had an infection when i was little that put me through the most pain i've ever had.
i've seen loved ones and friends pass away. some of them live with chronic pain or illnesses.
See? You probably never would have guessed most of that about me. And yet it's true. My life isn't "perfect". I'm not perfect. I can't do everything I would like to. Sometimes I do things that I don't want to do. I can't see like other people can without looking through a lens of some kind. And not because I'm not trying hard enough. Sometimes you just can't. I think we need to learn to be okay with that. Because in our present world, you will hear people tell you from the time that you're 4 years old that you can "Be whatever you want to be." But what if you can't? What if you really can't, and it's not your fault? Can any little girl who wants to grow up and become a princess do so? Can you really become a professional artist if you can't sing to save your life, even if singing is what you love most? No, you can't. Because that's not the life you were given.
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| via GIPHY I feel something inside. It's like... the opposite of HAPPINESS! |
I'm not trying to crush your hopes and dreams. I'm not trying to say that my life sucks, or that my troubles equal the difficulty of yours. I'm not trying to make you angry like Princess Unikitty up there. What I am trying to do is make you take a look at what you can do. Maybe your whole life you've gone around thinking that you're not good at anything. That is simply not true. You were put on this earth for a reason. And it was for more of a reason than to simply go around doing weird little everyday human things just to end up back in the earth when your life is over. I'm happy with my life, and I hope you are happy with yours. I promise you that you are talented at something and that only you can touch someone else's life with it the way that you know how. In other words, if you don't use your talents to touch someone else, no one else can do it for you. Because God gave that job to you.
So what are your talents? What are some things that you had/have no control over in your life? Do you wear glasses? Braces? Are you clumsy? Do you have any allergies? Go ahead and share! I won't laugh. My life is full of imperfections, too.
auf wiedersehen, darling
-Maddie
Dude, thanks Maddie. This is beautiful. Lately I've been savoring the feeling of falling in love with everything- with people and places and just LIFE, and I love how messy and hard and gritty and unromantic, and yet blessed and crazy and beautiful and captivating everything is, and can be. I've got tiny and dimpled feet and hands that I feel awkward about and my hair goes flat on one side and crazy on the other. I start to sweat in social situations, and I often say the most stupid and sometimes awful things without thinking about them. But at the end of the day my feet are dirty from traveling places and my body is weary and I've used my voice to share Jesus with people, and that I think, is just so beautiful, and I love to be alive. Thanks for this blog post!
ReplyDeleteYes, yes, yes, I have been feeling the same way. I've been trying not to take people and everyday happenings for granted, and to realize that we're all here for a reason. And Mia's right; the words you used describe life so beautifully. I sometimes get upset with myself for not being able to do things that other people can with ease, or I wonder why my hair can't decide if it wants to be wavy or straight. But I've been thinking that we didn't end up as ourselves - even with all our imperfections and weird little qualities - randomly. I like to imagine that God spent as much care in creating each of us as we do when we create a character. In the same way that our favorite character has a huge scar down the side of their face or walks with a limp and we love them the more for it, so does God look at us with our crazy hair, and our features - even if strange - that are unique only to us, and He loves us the more for them. Because we are His creation, and He put time and thought into crafting us. Thank you, Emma, for this discussion and for reading this post! Keep spreading Jesus' love to everyone! <3
Delete-Maddie
Gosh, this post.
ReplyDeleteI was thinking along the same lines a couple months ago. And I totally agree with you Maddie, and you too Emma. It's like...(having a hard time articulating here) but I just love feeling alive. When I'm pain sometimes, I'm just like, wow I can feel. I'm alive. When I'm deep in the country at night and the stars are clear and brilliant and I feel so small it makes me realise how alive I am.
And you took it a step further and looking at life as a whole, the imperfections and joys. The beauty and grittiness (thanks, Emma, that word fits perfectly). My imperfections and my joys. Life is just...fantastic.
Yes! Oh my goodness. *nods emphatically* "I just love feeling alive." You put it into words. My feelings exactly. Sometimes I choke up, just because of how beautiful things can be - like how you said the stars at night, when they're so bright and it feels like you can almost touch them; or when I watch people use their talents to dance or sing or act and it feels so real, and I just... Even though there is pain here and ugliness, there is so much beauty and wonder, and I'm glad I was put on this earth when I was put on this earth. You know on quizzes online when they say, "Which time period should you have been born in?"? And you're like, "Have you ever wondered why I was born in this time? Because I was supposed to be ." Anyway, I'm glad you can relate. And yes, life is fantastic <3
Delete-Maddie