| | This is in response to a post my friend made. I thought it'd be a good thing to blog about. Here it is:
Hey. Nice entry. I looked back at what I said a few days ago (on the comment page). Never did I say that being angry and bitter is something that is unnatural or unexpected in life; I mentioned that if you were to go through life that way it would be a horrible existence. Sure, none of us know what anyone is really going through. Even if a friend spills their guts we'll never truly know how they feel, because we aren't feeling the exact same thing. But we can be there for each other, supporting and understanding, helping one another grow.
As humans, we come to know that life brings its frustrations, things that upset us terribly. Here's my take on a few things: Being upset about something is a human emotion, one that should be expressed. Being angry is also a human emotion, one that everyone experiences and should not bottle up, since not discussing things can lead to rage. And being bitter, to me, seems to be when someone has reached a point where they are so fed up with the world that they shut themselves away from the world, unwilling to be a part of it because of some experience they have encountered.
I have a story to share:
My sophomore year of high school was rough, like most people's. I wasn't exactly living the best life I could have, and I had a lot of things on my mind (priesthood, friends, family, driving, cross country, work, and the upcoming school year, especially my 2.60 GPA). Fortunately enough for me I had the ability to go backpacking with my scout troop for two weeks in New Mexico: a major escape, but more of a retreat from life to be honest. We hiked through the rain, the sun, the cold; I grew a beard at 15. It sucked. Yet, as we reached the final summit and I saw the base camp below, I knew that I had accomplished greatness. I had done something, and I had done it pretty well. I didn't come back changed, like some drammatic metanoia that made me super Fallon, but I did begin to understand that all the crap that I placed in my stress category was worthless to freak out about. I knew I had purpose, and I knew I'd mess up in the future, and get all stressed out. But, by knowing that some point in my life (or after) I would see "base camp," it made it all worthwhile...
Are we going to go through life in such a bitter existence, all because there are things that really irritate us? Are we going to be constantly angry at people that just don't seem to understand what we're going through, or cringe at events that make us want to crawl into a small cave and forget about life? I know for one that there are things I would much rather forget about, ignore, people that I would rather not have to deal with, troubles that I would rather not face. We all have them, as my friend pointed out. The point to understand is that, yes, we have these fears/anxieties/whatevers, but living a life of misery and frustration is pointless when we only have so much time to live and love (obviously within modertation), and to do God's will.
Perfection was another point discussed, mainly how bitterness will inevitably arise because of our human imperfection. I agree with this, but I also think that it can be a weak argument that will lead to a lot of people simply submitting to their stress and not caring about anything or anyone, which is a bitter and terrible existence. We must persevere.
Perfection is something all of us should be trying to reach, and it's a very hard goal. Life is hard, but as everyone says, no one said it would ever be easy. We all have things that get to us, or that we've been through that affect us everyday. But we get through life by understanding what our purpose is: to dedicate our lives to the Lord, and helping others see His truth. Clearly it goes into many details than that, such as what we choose to do (psychology or priesthood, as examples). In the end, the petty little things will not matter, but our love for Christ and how we lived our lives most certainly will.
Look for the light at the end of the tunnel, etc. "Life's a picnic, and some suckers are starving to death. Live!" -Maime |
