Black and White
(I know this is sorta cheesy, but this isn't your blog, it's mine. And I don't care if you don't like it.)
First, life is a balance of good and bad. The bad isn't always bad and the good isn't always good. What I mean by that is that sometimes, we need bad things to happen to us so that we can fully appreciate the good times in life. Bad things may happen so we can be happier and love stronger. Sometimes the bad things in life are blessings in disguise. On the flip side, the good things aren't always good. Example at hand, I dated a girl through my senior year of high school. While I was happy in that relationship for the most part, my grades slipped, my relationship with my parents declined, and I missed a lot of opportunities that I didn't see because I was so in lust with her. I use the word lust with some hesitation because the relationship wasn’t lust, I feel like I did love her. But I know now how much love wasn’t left to feel. I have yet to see Frank Jackson play in person and I only attended 2 football games. I missed being part of clubs and groups and doing extracurricular. I missed high school. The blessing was a curse in disguise.
Second, you get to where you need to be by doing the right things at the right time. You need to rely on God and have faith that he will get you where you need to be. For those who don't believe in God, it's the same concept as coincidence. As I graduated high school, I was looking forward to serving a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. While every willing, able young man has a duty for this great responsibility, I wasn't able to do this. I made mistakes and was unable with health issues when the time came. I was upset because I wanted to serve a mission and do what I thought was best for me, but I wasn't ready when the time came. I trusted in God and let him do the rest. I found myself at BYU-I to see if I could live on my own and be ok. It was there that I got kicked out of school for a stupid mistake that I made years ago. I wanted to stay in Rexburg so my parent's made me get a job. I ended up at Domino's where I met my amazing girlfriend and about a year after starting there, her and I fell for each other. I am currently typing this from her home in Pennsylvania because I am meeting her whole family this week and things look very promising for the future. When I couldn't serve a mission, I could have cursed God and left the church. Instead I knew that he had a greater plan for me and I trusted in him and he gave me the biggest blessing my life has ever seen.
Third, you got to be good to yourself. Many people I knew in high school, and know in college, struggle to love themselves because they focus on their short comings or their failures. They don't see the potential that they have yet to unlock. They don't recognize the good in themselves. I'm not going to lie, I have never been good at this and I still don't think I am good at this. But I realize that I need to make a change and work harder to be better. Lone Peak is an amazing high school, but the competitiveness and high expectations for everyone can be demoralizing. I can't remember how many times I felt inadequate in high school because I didn't have my three point shot perfected or I couldn't come up with a beautiful piece of poetic literature in five minutes. I never remember being recognized for much or having very many friends. Lone Peak can be hard because it always seems like everyone's life is perfect and everyone has money and is athletic and a freak genius. I made it to the real world and realized that although we always talked about not being able to wait to be out of high school, I wish I could go back and use that competition to drive me to be better and work on myself instead of letting it get to me. I wish that I could have been stronger and not let it drag me down. But you gotta believe in yourself and not let it sink you. People survived the titanic accident. People were stronger than the boat and they made it to safety when the world's biggest, most "unsinkable" boat was unable to rise above the iceberg and lead to being sunk. We can't let those waves that happen in life control us and our feelings. We need to learn perseverance. Be kind to yourself because not many others will be.
Fourth, the best things in life are the simple, small surprises that turn out to be bigger than we could ever imagine. (See the highlight of the end of paragraph 3)
Fifth, while life isn't always about happiness, it is good to talk about it sometimes. We may not always get what we want or we might not make the best choices. But we all could use a bit more positive in our lives to help drown out the negative. Yes, death and depression might come our way, but whenever we have a rainstorm, there is always a rainbow at the end to make it all worth the while. If it wasn't for positive things happening, life would suck. Thankfully, good things happen to us to help get us through the hard times in life. Good things happen so we have things to look forward to. They give us hope. They give us happiness. Although it's the bad times that give us appreciation for the good times, it's the good times that we have previously had that help us get through those bad times. It's the light at the end of the tunnel. It's the things that help us get through life. It's the possessions that we own that mean things to us or it's the memories of old friends or the people we have now. It's the sun rising in the morning and the smell of bacon when you walk into the kitchen. It's knowing that things will get better if we only hold on when things get tough. It's knowing that other people care. It's knowing happiness is right around the corner. You just have to go and grab it. And even though that may be a difficult task for some, its worth it. Hold on.
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