"all anyone can do is try to keep moving, remembering that God will always be there to remind you of how much you can handle with Him by your side"

A post from this summer.. Felt moved to re-post it today--

Earlier this summer, a friend and I were discussing why bad things have to happen to good people, like when someone dies young or when a kind, selfless person seems to never have things go his/her way.  Unfortunately, no matter how much one ponders this or gets angry about it, there will never be a rational, concrete answer that will please everyone.  Because of this, trust and faith in God is completely necessary.  Whenever I find myself troubled by this thought, I remind myself that unfair events occur in life no matter who it is.  However, God is there to help those struggling through these obstacles.  He is there amidst the low points, providing patience, strength, and hope even during the lowest moments.  

In my life, countless things have happened that could easily make me frustrated and angry towards God.  Many of these struggles tempt me to think "why would God ever let this happen to me and my family", but I resist.  Multiple times a week, my dad asks me questions like, "so you just finished your junior year at Notre Dame right?" (I just finished my freshman year) and "what day is it today?".  Does the fact that my dad basically knows nothing of my life keep me down? The answer is no. Of course, I feel overwhelmed and extremely sad when I think about how desperately I want to be able to fully share my Notre Dame experience with my dad because of how much he loved it there.  I feel like just giving up when I think that no matter what I say or do, he won't remember, so what does it matter?  However, I have no choice but to pick myself up and continue on with life, knowing that God is with me and will provide me with the strength to keep going.

The fact of the matter is what happened, happened. Nobody can go back and undo the complications in his brain surgery. There is nothing that can ever get his short term memory back. My dad can't do anything to have his cancer completely leave his body. That's the way life is. What my family and I can do, though, is move forward and live every day positively and with as much love as possible. I'm not undermining how hard it can be at times, because the journey can be disappointing, defeating, and tragic. All anyone can do is try to keep moving, remembering that God will always be there to remind you of how much you can handle with Him by your side.

get ready it's a new day.

"acknowledge your world and exist in it."

Leave yourself alone for a minute. Lie down on your bed or couch or patch of grass or whatever and stretch your arms out as far as they can go. Reach out with your fingers, palms down, and absorb the underlying solidity of your surface. Feel your cells settle and feel still and grounded. Don’t move until you’re ready. 

Take the time to notice things. Take the time to really look at things. Develop a relationship with the things in your periphery and consider where you are in relation to them. Notice how changing small things makes you feel. Notice how motion in general makes you feel. Think of your body as a constantly moving object and sit with how unreal that is. 

Listen to music that gets you, songs that seem to have been written specifically for you. Read books that have the capacity to do more for your well-being than multivitamins or therapy. Don’t think about the fact that it’s just a happy accident that a certain song relates directly to your life, or a certain book seems like it was written by your omnipresent best friend. Listen to it, read it, let your heart fill with it and feel immersed and safe. 

Listen to someone else. Just sit there and let them talk it out. Absorb their words and consider them, really think them through. Don’t interject or try to steer the conversation back around to yourself or your own problems or anything, just listen. Make the conscious effort to understand another human being. It’s harder than it sounds but it will change you. 

Say what you want to say. If you want to say no to something, say no to it and see what happens. If you want to say yes to something, say yes to it and see what happens. Take note of the magnitude of the actual result of saying no or yes in comparison with your initial expectation of the magnitude. It’s probably not as serious as you thought. The world is probably still happening. 

Acknowledge that not absolutely everything sucks. Yes, there are about a hundred things wrong at the moment, but there are probably also a hundred other things that are not wrong. In fact, regardless of how minuscule, some things are probably going right. It’s not about not allowing yourself to feel like shit because you live in the first world and have a microwave or rich dad or whatever, it’s about a healthy dose of perspective. Go easy on yourself. 

Turn off your shit. Shut your laptop and bury your phone under something. Just stop for a second and acknowledge willed solitude. Acknowledge how it feels to not have people buzzing for attention from all angles at all times. Suspend yourself in the silence and focus your attention on things you routinely ignore. Or just ignore everything if it’s too much to handle at the moment, whichever feels better and makes more sense. Acknowledge your world and exist in it.

thought catalog.

 

but you are not alone in this.

Cold is the water
It freezes your already cold mind
Already cold, cold mind
And death is at your doorstep
And it will steal your innocence
But it will not steal your substance

But you are not alone in this
And you are not alone in this
As brothers we will stand and we'll hold your handHold your hand

And you are the mother
The mother of your baby child
The one to whom you gave life
And you have your choices
And these are what make man great
His ladder to the stars

But you are not alone in this
And you are not alone in this
As brothers we will stand and we'll hold your hand
Hold your hand

And I will tell the night
Whisper, "Lose your sight"
But I can't move the mountains for you

stay eager.

One aspect of human nature than can either be wonderful or destructive is the fact that one can make up their own reality in how they see themselves, no matter how true it is or how other's actually view them. I've realized that when I'm insecure about something, I tend to let that influence my view of myself and how I think others are viewing me. I make myself feel inadequate and I end up feeling as though people don't like me. We owe it to ourselves to be determined to always build ourselves up, not knock ourselves down. As much as we all care what others think of us, it's our self-view that ends up mattering most. So, if you find yourself knocking yourself down, stop, and take a moment to remember how special you are and how it only takes a little self-pick me up to realize that you are loved and that those negative thoughts will only make you start to turn into that negative person.

"strive for progress not perfection."

Everyone must must MUST check out my good friend Kelly's blog! It's filled with quotes, thoughts, pictures, music, etc. showing her amazing strength and inspiring determination to the lead the happiest life that she can. She inspires me every day and will also inspire you, I'm sure.

ma belle renaissance.