You ever just feel like the world is just crumbling around you? And I don't mean like giant cookies with crumbs falling off the sides, and when they hit the ground people charge forward for crumbs the size of watermelons made of sugar and sweetness. No, this crumbling takes place in a desolate city, where the husks of long dead buildings crash to the ground, threatening your life with every drop of twisted framework and concrete. In this moment, there's no saying to yourself "well, at least I'm gonna get crushed by something tasty; maybe it'll be sweet (no pun intended)." Rather, this is a moment where you might say to yourself, as I might, "oh shit, that building's gonna drop on me harder than fifty Tomahawks in the Middle East." Well, I'd say now's one of those moments.
Or maybe I'm just being dramatic.
But really, everything's sorta just come to a head recently. Here's a few highlights:
-After 22 years of being part of the LDS (Mormon) church, I decided that it wasn't what I thought it was, and walked away.
-I learned that, because of my inability to go to school and do my assignments--SURPRISE--I'm going to fail some of my classes.
-Struggling deeply with self control and my desire to have fun all the time rather than work hard.
-Struggling to fulfill my life's dreams.
-Deep feelings of loneliness.
Isn't my life just an absolute mess? People are having literal bombs dropped on their heads in the Middle East and, and I'm struggling because I missed a day of writing, or because I decided to stop going to church. It's pretty obvious who's having the real troubles here. Me. My world is crumbling around me. My world is falling apart. I'm making bad decisions and feel bad about them, even though I still have a roof over my head and parents that care about me, regardless of who I am. It's not as if people are out on the streets tonight begging for money and wondering whether or not they'll have somewhere to sleep. Nor are people out there fighting for their countries, living under the constant fear of whether or not today will be their last day. And there couldn't possibly be people out there who are going through the same exact thing that I am.
N-no.... t-that would be ridiculous...
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...
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Well, damn. When I look at it that way, maybe my crumbling surroundings are just cookie crumbs painted to look like buildings. That metaphor definitely went better in my head, by the way. Regardless, the point is really simple. The more we time we spend focused on our own problems, the more we think that they're the most important. They become magnified until they look worse than World War III itself! Don't get me wrong, our problems are hard, and we need to face them head on. We need to take responsibility for our actions, and deal with the problems at hand, but in another sense, we also can't get so caught up in ourselves that our problems become more important than someone else's problems.
Listen, I'm not saying that you completely forget your own problems. Worry. Face them head on like I said. There's a balance that you have to strike, which I'm still figuring out. Because when we don't, we become something that nobody wants to be. We put on a mask of faux concern when all we really care about is what "I want" or what "I need." And in the end, when we care about other peoples' problems and helping them as much as we do for ourselves, we'll be far happier.
So here's to choosing to be better people, to listening more to others' problems, to dealing with our own problems, but balancing it out with fun and with loving others. Here's to going out and enjoying the giant crumbling cookie even though it looks like a scene out of a post-apocalyptic movie.
To end, here's a great quote I'll share with you. It comes from one of the leaders of my previous church, but I'll never forget the message behind it: "Never let a problem to be solved become more important than a person to be loved."
-Thomas S. Monson
Or maybe I'm just being dramatic.
But really, everything's sorta just come to a head recently. Here's a few highlights:
-After 22 years of being part of the LDS (Mormon) church, I decided that it wasn't what I thought it was, and walked away.
-I learned that, because of my inability to go to school and do my assignments--SURPRISE--I'm going to fail some of my classes.
-Struggling deeply with self control and my desire to have fun all the time rather than work hard.
-Struggling to fulfill my life's dreams.
-Deep feelings of loneliness.
Isn't my life just an absolute mess? People are having literal bombs dropped on their heads in the Middle East and, and I'm struggling because I missed a day of writing, or because I decided to stop going to church. It's pretty obvious who's having the real troubles here. Me. My world is crumbling around me. My world is falling apart. I'm making bad decisions and feel bad about them, even though I still have a roof over my head and parents that care about me, regardless of who I am. It's not as if people are out on the streets tonight begging for money and wondering whether or not they'll have somewhere to sleep. Nor are people out there fighting for their countries, living under the constant fear of whether or not today will be their last day. And there couldn't possibly be people out there who are going through the same exact thing that I am.
N-no.... t-that would be ridiculous...
...
...
...
Well, damn. When I look at it that way, maybe my crumbling surroundings are just cookie crumbs painted to look like buildings. That metaphor definitely went better in my head, by the way. Regardless, the point is really simple. The more we time we spend focused on our own problems, the more we think that they're the most important. They become magnified until they look worse than World War III itself! Don't get me wrong, our problems are hard, and we need to face them head on. We need to take responsibility for our actions, and deal with the problems at hand, but in another sense, we also can't get so caught up in ourselves that our problems become more important than someone else's problems.
Listen, I'm not saying that you completely forget your own problems. Worry. Face them head on like I said. There's a balance that you have to strike, which I'm still figuring out. Because when we don't, we become something that nobody wants to be. We put on a mask of faux concern when all we really care about is what "I want" or what "I need." And in the end, when we care about other peoples' problems and helping them as much as we do for ourselves, we'll be far happier.
So here's to choosing to be better people, to listening more to others' problems, to dealing with our own problems, but balancing it out with fun and with loving others. Here's to going out and enjoying the giant crumbling cookie even though it looks like a scene out of a post-apocalyptic movie.
To end, here's a great quote I'll share with you. It comes from one of the leaders of my previous church, but I'll never forget the message behind it: "Never let a problem to be solved become more important than a person to be loved."
-Thomas S. Monson
10/10 would bang again
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