Thank God

I have been going without a steady job for.... 8 months now, and through His grace, I have been able to stay afloat. And now, I do have a steady job, except I'm not killing myself like I was at Papasito's-- I'm just singing in a choir at a church and babysitting, and I am so so grateful for the ability to do this. I complain about being stuck at home a lot, but in all honesty, I am extremely blessed to still have that kind of relationship with my mother, and my new (-ish) step-dad and to have the ability to live at home with them. Especially in this insane economy, I know I could never afford my own place while going to school full-time.

I am writing this because I complain a lot. We've all got problems (especially my fellow huskies and I, right now) and there is always soooo much to get off of our chests. So I'm writing this to acknowledge the fact that there is also soooo much to be thankful for. We tend to take it for granted. We forget that that homeless person on the corner begging, could absolutely be us someday. It could. America is not a bubble of ignorant happiness, as we would like to believe. Things can, and are, going wrong everyday, and this country could absolutely fall flat on its face. In fact, it's well on its way to doing so. So be grateful... for every day you have a roof over your head, a bed to sleep on, a car to take you from here to there, the ability to go and get that education that we SO take for granted.... truly think about the fact that we could go on forever listing all the things we have that we take for granted. God never said life would be easy.... I'm pretty sure that nobody ever said that. They said it'd be hard... but believe it or not, it is also worth it. It really is, or at least it can be. It's up to you.

"Life is what you make of it; kinda like Play-Do." So make it great. We forget that at the end of the day, how our day went totally depends on us... how we react to things, how we handle them, what we did with our day. We also forget to think about other people more than we think of ourselves. 'Cause it's our life, right?! We should be front and center, duh!!! But the truth is, that selfish attitude is what has made the world as corrupt and evil as it is today. Imagine for a second if everyone put those they love before themselves in every decision they made. Now I know it's difficult, but imagine that people didn't just put those they loved before themselves all the time, but in some situations even put strangers before themselves. Imagine how incredible that world would be.

I'm often reminded of a scene from the first Sex and the City movie:
Samantha: "I can't believe that my life revolves around a man. On what planet did I allow that to happen?"
Charlotte: "But you love him!"
Samantha: "Does that mean saying his name 50 times more a day than I say my own? Does it mean worrying about him and his needs before me and mine? Is it all about the other person? Is that love?!"

I'm convinced that, yes, that is exactly what love is. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not saying completely forget about yourself. You can't possibly take care of anyone else if you're not being taken care of. I'm just saying that a persons' decisions, even regarding there own life, are NEVER going to only affect themselves, and if we don't start thinking about the other people we're affecting, how can we ever expect to make this world any better? The people we love should be the reason we take care of ourselves, you know? They are what make life worth living. They should be the most important thing in our lives; not ourselves.

For the record: I do not always do this. I am not yelling at everyone else for being selfish. I simply mean to give myself, and my friends, a friendly reminder of what love is and what is truly important in life, because I know how easy it is to get caught up in the mundane and forget.

Thanks for reading. I hope this helps in some small way. I love you all! Goodnight.