1.19.2013

Food for thought

It's funny  how in high school, everything seems like the end of the world.
It seems like the world really revolves around your life and your problems.
The guy you like ignores you.
You got a bad grade on a test.
Your friends hung out, and you weren't invited.
Somebody talked behind your back.
You didn't make the cut for the team you wanted or the show you wanted to be in. 

I look back at the problems I faced as a teenager, and sometimes wonder why in the world I thought that it was such a big deal. Yet, in all reality, back then it was a big deal.
You can in fact, go back in time on this very blog, and see my adolescent problems, written down, mildly.

Growing up is hard. Let me just throw that out there.
The past two years of my adult life, have not been the easiest, in any sense of the word.
It's strange to me, it seems as soon as I was out of high school, I dove head first into trial after trial after trial.

But I guess we all have our own trials to bare don't we?
They're not all the same, that is for certain. 
But we all have something.
Regardless of what some blogs might lead you to believe.

As I said I do sometimes look back at the problems I faced as a teen and think, "Why in the world did I think everything was so hard???" I even go as far as to think "Man, if I could do it over, it would be a piece of cake."

Truthfully, though, if I had not gone through those trials that seem simple to me now, as a teen, I would not be able to handle the ones I have been given as an adult, and vise versa.
I can say I would go back and change things all I want, but if I went back and tried to do it over, without having the knowledge I do now, it would seem just as hard.

I mainly mean to say this because I feel a lot of the time, people are judging others for the trials they are going through.

I can honestly I've done it myself. I would think "Oh, is that really all you're going through? Why are you making it such a big deal?" but who am I to judge another of their misgivings? Someone could look at what I'm going through and think the same thing.

What is hard for one person may be easy for another, and what is easy for one may be hard for the other. My friend who just recently returned home from his mission brought this up a few weeks ago when we were all just hanging out, and it really put things into perspective.

We are all fighting the same battle. 

When he first said it all us friends kinda laughed it off, and went on with what we were talking about, but he kept bringing it up, and went further in to his point.

Satan is working tirelessly against all of us, to destroy us. That is his ultimate goal.

With something as heavy as that already hanging over our heads, why do we insist on making it hard for another person?

Why do we feel the need to gossip or talk bad against one another?

"Well didn't you hear, she did this...."

"That girl she is just crazy."

etc...

None of us, can possibly comprehend what another person is going through. We don't know their feelings, or the turmoil that is going on inside of them. And we obviously aren't going to be helping them any if we marginalize their problems, and spread that thought process to others.

Since my friend has said this I have caught myself thinking differently of the way I look at people, and the way I think of them. When a bad thought about a person pops into my head, I hear the words "We are all fighting the same battle," and I remember what we're all really here for.

I've made the decision to make a forever change on the way I think about others. Honestly, wouldn't the world be a better place if we just kept that perspective? Remembering that we're all in this together, and that we should help lift ones burdens rather than making them heavier?

I hope we can all try and keep that perspective as we go throughout our days, because I imagine the burdens we carry will be a lot lighter, if we quit worrying about the things that don't matter. It takes more effort to talk about another persons problems than it does to not.

Remember everyone, we're all in this together.




5 comments:

Rae Ann said...

Great post Ashlee! I liken it unto a pioneer woman pulling a loaded handcart by herself up a hill that it gets stuck in the mud. Others around her scoff at how stupid she was for not avoiding the mud by going around it, the whole time forgetting how steep the hillside was, or how loaded her cart was and perhaps too much for her to handle all by herself. If only they had not judged her and simply reached out to give her a hand by carrying some of her load or getting behind her to help lift her handcart and push it to dry ground. All we need is a little support through our difficulties in life... someone to help us lighten or carry our load when we are struggling.
I am reminded of John 15:13,
"Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends."
Love you ~ Grammy

Jake and Jenessa said...

Love this post! Thanks for sharing

Jake and Jenessa said...

Love this! Thanks for sharing

jane said...

I loved this post.
I've had a lot of similar thoughts recently, and I thought this was simply excellent.

Rachel Elder said...

Man Ash, you are Wise beyond your years! Great advice. I can't imagine the difference in the world it'd make if everyone tried to live like this. I'm totally going to apply this to my life, it's awesome.

P.s. it was good to see you the other day at D.I. Sorry I looked like a man! Ha ha