EST. 2014
It's almost 2015 and celebrations have started. People are creating flipagrams to commemorate 2014, buying new calendars, and looking into the new year with wide eyes, but not me. At least not me yet. When I'm assigned a long book or a book I don't like and I'm about to reach the end I'm never completely happy. In my mind reaching the end of said book(s) means having to start another. What if the next book I'm assigned is just as long or just as boring? Forget about the fact that I'm FINALLY done! There was a book before this one and there's always going to be another book after. :( I said I wasn't preparing for 2015 and tying everything up in pink bows, and it's true. I have no idea how much space I'm wasting on my phone by keeping random photos and messages from January. And I didn't even start thinking about the fact that all the calendars my family has lying around are totally useless until now. All in all, I'm so unprepared for this year. I see people around me making list after list about the different things they need to DO and need to CHANGE this coming year. Forget about the fact that things were accomplished this past year, because there are so many resolutions that need to be made. So much to be done between January 1st, 2015 and December 31st, 2015. Between now and New Year's Day there are 8 days including today. And I for one don't want to spend them focused on empty pages that are the days of 2015. I've worked so hard this year. And I'm not ready to write a new book and put 2014 on a shelf to collect dust. I get that 2014 isn't going to last forever, but I have 8 days before it's truly over. I can spend these 8 days dreading 2015. I can spend them refusing to create a plan. I can spend them thinking about all that I need to accomplish this coming year. And all of these things are pretty easy for me to do. Ooooooor while I look into the future I can remind myself about how much I put into this year and how much I've gotten out of it. Lists and New Year's resolutions are great, but 2014 did happen. And assuming that great things did happen in 2014, you shouldn't forget! I'm not exactly sure how to edit quotes to fit different contexts, but hopefully this still makes sense.
"What if you chose to focus on all that you did in 2014, and not what you didn't do. And tell yourself, 'It was a great year, because of...' I mean, [count] your blessing, and [be] thankful for them, [and still] [be] hopeful and optimistic for the beginning of [the year]..." - A Great Friend
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For all I know this announcement could be totally unnecessary, but the Red Ink Facebook page is down, and it will be down for some time. I'll try and add an email newsletter/sign-up form or auto-responder form ASAP, but until then there's always bookmarking and adding me to your RSS Feed. Hopefully this isn't too much of an inconvenience!
As an elementary school student I grew up listening to Wow Hits. This led to one of my favourite songs being “We Live” by Superchick. Besides that song I didn't really listen to any of their music. But in middle school that changed.
I remember being introduced to another one of their songs called “Stand in the Rain”. This song talks about a girl going through a depressing time in her life. It talks about how she’s slowly breaking and nobody knows. When I was told about this song it was more because songs make good conversation than anything else. But since then I’ve listened to this song tens of times; it’s consistently been a source of encouragement. It’s amazing how the things we say that seem insignificant to us can be the things that keep others going. The things you say may encourage someone to keep improving a talent, or improving themselves, or keep them from a huge emotional breakdown. Not everything that comes out of any of our mouths or that we write will be profound. And we may never know about the things we said and wrote that were. All we can do is try and be aware of others and do our best. In my eyes it's the simple thoughts, the simple actions, the simple words, the simple phrases that hold the most weight - that change the world, a world. It’s amazing how dependent we can become on stability. This stability can come in the form of a smart device or the Internet or a friend or an enemy. In some cases the idea that things will always be the same is a discouraging one, but for this post I'm going to go with the assumption that the opposite is felt. I like to dream of a life with the same constants that I have now even though I'm aware that the likelihood of this dream-life coming to pass is incredibly low. I've been doing this for as long as I can remember and the idea has brought an odd sense of comfort throughout the years. As much as I know that these constants are bound to change, every time any of them do, I freak out. It doesn't even have to be a big deal. For example, in the 8th grade my pencil case always had exactly 2 mechanical pencils and 3 ballpoint pens (1 red, 1 blue, 1 black) amongst other things. When I lost a pencil I replaced it with a backup from my locker, but for the rest of the year part of me continued to mourn the loss of that $1.50 pencil. Depending on the degree of change that occurs, I cannot function. This is extreme, but it’s the truth. Dictionary.com defines change as: a transformation or modification; alteration. This definition is simple enough, but for the most change is not just something that happens (at least not the change we’re talking about). It is not simply one event. It is not as simple as changing your shoes or kicking a football. It's much more than that. It's something you experience over time. Change is inevitable. Change is a part of life and it will happen whether we like it or not, whether we are ready or not. Change is not something we can merely escape. It is something that we need to learn to deal with. But that’s not always so easy. I know for a fact that I can’t deal with change by myself. And I'm lucky I don’t have to. I have people around me willing to listen to me freak over the little things and the big things. And more importantly I have Him. That may sound incredibly cheesy or whatever, but it’s true. When I ask for help, He’s there. I'm not saying every time I freak out I hear His voice telling me it’s all going to be alright – because I don’t. Sometimes I just feel a little calmer or a little saner. And this is most definitely not because I’m good or insanely prayerful or 100% confident in my faith, because I know for a fact I’m not. I can truthfully say that without this constant (God) anger, frustration, and blame would be a part of my life every hour of every day. It just takes a small prayer. About change in relation to the future:
"18 But forget all that--it is nothing compared to what I am going to do.19 For I am about to do something new.See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.” – Isaiah 43:18-19 (NLT) About change in relation to God: “17 Whatever is good and perfect is a gift coming down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow.” – James 1:17 (NLT) Hypothetically I could memorise thousands of books, I could ace all my tests, earn tens of certificates and trophies and I still wouldn't consider myself as smart. I can memorise a bunch of stuff, but does that make me smart? Knowledgeable, sure. Smart, not necessarily. To me, being smart means being able to apply whatever knowledge you've gained.
So just because you don’t know a lot about a lot, doesn't mean you aren't smart. Some of us can only handle (or only want to handle) being smart in a few, or one area(s). But we try to be “smart” anyway. We end up knowing a little about a lot and nothing about anything. I am so for “broadening our horizons”, but if we reach the point where we can’t have a lasting conversation about anything what’s the point? While we are becoming more knowledgeable about the world that we live in, I think we need to remember to find that thing or those things that we are really passionate about, and specialise. So that once in a while you can have a conversation that makes your eyes light up. And maybe, just maybe one day it’ll be your speciality in life. |