First, love. I'm fond of having my own place to live, with my own room. I enjoy the comfort of my car, even with all the repairs. I find comfort in feeling safe in my neighborhood. More than almost all the other things, I love showers. Hot showers. Showers that almost burn my skin, but don't. I've heard glorious tales of showers from friends on mission trips, and even a hilarious song which held the refrain, "Take a bath in a bucket / I like it! / And so will you." Honestly, I don't think I'd like a bath in a bucket. I like a shower in a shower. So, there's a sampling of my loves of the suburbs.
The past year has given me new eyes. Upward mobility is an interesting thing. The American Dream is to give to your children better than you had for yourself. I think for the Baby Boomers, this dream was realized like never before. After WWII, things seemed to climb for the better, for a while. More education, housing, jobs and more were available to more people. My parents took advantage of the years. My dad was Air Force and retired early. My parents worked hard, and I had a pretty great upbringing.
Like I said, my parents worked hard. This past year that finally translated for me: My parents worked hard, so I didn't have to. I know they told me to work hard, and taught me to work hard as best they could, but it never really sunk in. I'm clearing them of any responsibility for how I ended up, which for a while has been generally lazy.
There is good news. This past year, I realized I lean toward laziness. Really, I always knew that. This year, I named it. I never learned how to work hard, to fight for anything, to struggle against all odds in order to have victory. I lived a privileged childhood. I rarely tried my hardest in school. Sports weren't going great, so I passed on those. I worked hard at music, but it also came pretty naturally to me. Does that count?
I've mentioned in the past that I've taken on many projects. Most of those are going well, or have already happened, or have been put off until further notice. But overall, things are going well. About a month ago I slowed my roll because I had been putting tons of effort into everything, and I was just tired. I've slowed down enough, though. It's time to step back into things, working hard.
From what I hear, our generation is the first in a long time, if not ever, that doesn't assume we'll have it better than our parents. Financially speaking. We see the economic system is problematic, but we're not sure what to do about it, and not sure anyone can do anything about it.
Even still, there's hope. Our generation is also incredibly service-minded, and globally oriented. We care about people, family, community, global agendas, and more. We realize that everything isn't about us. So, if we have a harder life so someone else can have a better life, we're up for that. At least a little bit. I have yet to sell all my possessions and give them to the poor, and I'm not sure I ever will.
It's tempting to confuse an easy life with a better life. I guess the lesson I've learned is that a good life is a life that's been earned. Working for things helps me enjoy them more, and take pride in them. I didn't appreciate my education as much when I wasn't paying for it. Now I am, and I do. And I can appreciate the work my parents did all along the way.
Now it's time to do my part, to work hard and earn a better life.
4 comments:
thanks for sharing with me ...
The shower example made me think of one of my favorite Peace Corps sayings.
"Some see the glass half empty.
Some see the glass half full.
A Peace Corps volunteer sees the glass and says, 'I can bathe with that.'"
Hilarious - and true. :)
And to make a loose tie-in between Peace Corps, hard work, and what was actually written in your blog, I believe it is a complete fallacy that an easy life is a better life. Look at people living in developing countries, and oftentimes, you will see more joy in their lives than in ours.
And I think about all the struggles we Christians have. (Insert all memories of spiritual warfare here.) We were never promised an easy life; carrying a cross is hard. But this difficult life - a life that comes from following Jesus - is definitely a better life.
"the fallacy that an easy life is a better life"
That's exactly what I was trying to say, but in way more paragraphs. Good summary!
And nice peace corps quote, for sure
Justin Bieber Monster Beat blue color leopard grain tootsy trousers, compared with the low key, the indistinct leopard grain cause the inflation feeling to be quite weak, the influential or powerful person female student may also attempt, the matching boots cause the both legs to look like very straightly are also slender Monster Beats Lady Gaga.
The leopard grain understandin, the cool feeling full good looks and graceful manners list, cape's big turndown collar and the boots have wonder the equally good results from different methods. Concubine breath butterfly knot leopard grain low-heeled shoes, shoes with low-cut uppers exquisite fine, suits the leisure to build, may also match the lovable small foreign-style clothing, similarly may also OL build Ferrari Headphones, is a section of ten points mahjong piece something like a joker card Cheap Beat Gold Headphones by dr dre.
Post a Comment