If my life to this point was a movie, this weekend would have been the climax.
It had a little bit of everything. Romance, drama, mystery; a whole lotta comedy. It even had a wedding.
But life's no movie. There is no climax. Just a bunch of scenes.
Far too often, we treat life like something we see in a theater. We watch the tear-jerking weddings and settle for the words "happily ever after" as the happy couple rides off into the sunset and the credits roll.
But the reality is that life doesn't just fade away into ambiguous and eternal Joy after that climatic event. You've heard during hard times that the sun will always come out tomorrow. Well that goes the same for the good times too.
My own personal view of this was shattered after reading the book A Million Miles in a Thousand Years. It was written by Donald Miller. I honestly don't remember much of it. But the main thing I did get out of it was that life doesn't have a specific turning point that you just know is the biggest moment of your life while it is happening. And even if you do find yourself in moments like that, there is always more life to live tomorrow, when that moment will not much more than a memory.
At first I was depressed at this conclusion. Kind of still am I guess. It makes the big moments in life seem not so big. But at the same time, it gives so much more value to the times of our lives that we may be tempting to label as unimportant and insignificant. Sometimes I just want to fastforward my life to times that I can only dream about, but remembering this important lesson will make me appreciate the here and now more.
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Sunday, June 3, 2012
Eat the rainbows last
When I was a kid, I had a very specific way of eating cereal. Lucky Charms in particular. When partaking of this glorious breakfasty treat, I always picked around the marshmallows, taking care of the good, but not great cereal bits. While of course, this was complete torture for the first five minutes of breakfast, my patience paid off at the bottom of the bowl when I enjoyed spoonful after sugary spoonful of hearts, stars, horseshoes, clovers, and blue moons, hourglasses, rainbows, and tasty red balloons! And you always have to eat the rainbows last. Because they're the best.
Who am I kidding? I still do this. But in the year 2012, this is almost an outdated way of breakfasting, as you can apparently skip the nuisance of picking around the cereal by getting hundred-dollar bags of just marshmallows.
So much win.
But, setting aside my childhood eating habits, this ritual now makes me think about the difference between saving the best for last and getting your priorities in order. I'll admit this analogy is a stretch, but sometimes there is a fine line we have to walk there. Delaying gratification is a skill more need to have these days, but in some instances, why would you ever put anything above what matters most?
I never realized how much you have to make these decisions on a daily basis until recently. No matter what you're doing, you're choosing it over something else; you're saying that is more important than something else. Being fully aware of these decisions and what they mean helps to show you and those around you what you really care about, and helps you make better decisions yourself.
For the last year or so, I've been on a kick about being intentional. I believe everything I do should have a specific and purposeful reason for it. And when it comes to priorities, I want to be intentional about mine and make sure they're crystal clear.
But when it comes to Lucky Charms, I'll still eat the rainbows last.
Who am I kidding? I still do this. But in the year 2012, this is almost an outdated way of breakfasting, as you can apparently skip the nuisance of picking around the cereal by getting hundred-dollar bags of just marshmallows.
So much win.
But, setting aside my childhood eating habits, this ritual now makes me think about the difference between saving the best for last and getting your priorities in order. I'll admit this analogy is a stretch, but sometimes there is a fine line we have to walk there. Delaying gratification is a skill more need to have these days, but in some instances, why would you ever put anything above what matters most?
I never realized how much you have to make these decisions on a daily basis until recently. No matter what you're doing, you're choosing it over something else; you're saying that is more important than something else. Being fully aware of these decisions and what they mean helps to show you and those around you what you really care about, and helps you make better decisions yourself.
For the last year or so, I've been on a kick about being intentional. I believe everything I do should have a specific and purposeful reason for it. And when it comes to priorities, I want to be intentional about mine and make sure they're crystal clear.
But when it comes to Lucky Charms, I'll still eat the rainbows last.
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