Six days until Easter break! Is it sad that I am already stoked for this break even thought it feels like we just came back from Spring break? Oh wells, it's almost summer. I'll blame that.
So tonight is the first ever masquerade here at Loma. The tickets have been sold out, time after time, and the plans for the big night have been finalized. What am I wearing to the big formal dance you may ask?
I'm not going. With all of the whiplash from the ticket sales I decided to plan the next best thing for my Friday night, anti-prom. Didn't do it in high school, might as well start it in college right?
Anyways,
During this time of frantic fancy dress prep, extravagant dance plans, and just plain school craziness I've been thinking a lot of just how much I am blessed.
I do Wednesday night outreach every week, but this week was different. This week I truly felt what is was to count your blessings. While walking around the streets of downtown San Diego with our sack lunches, I frequently caught myself worrying about dances, and having the right clothes, and especially my phone (curse you snap chat!). My "aha" moment happened when I was sitting on the sidewalk talking to one of the homeless men with a couple of my friends from the group. During this fairly lengthy conversation we talked politics, family history, past experiences, and even family pets (he honestly had the sweetest pit bull named Brutus!) all the while people were walking by us laughing, chatting with their friends, and talking on their cell phones, not even paying attention to what was happening on the sidewalk in front of them. At one point in the conversation I looked up at the billboard above us which ironically was an ad for a cell phone. It was at that point that I realized that everything that I was preoccupied with at that moment didn't matter as much as the attention that I wanted to give this man who had worked so hard in his life, only to be left with practically nothing.
Other things that have been stealing my attention this week are tests and grades. Okay, I'm not saying that I should quit paying so much attention to them because that's false. I just have realized that the OCD perfectionist little girl in me always takes so much offense at a lower than average grade or a harder to comprehend class. While I'm devoting so much energy to being negative is when I fail to look outside and remember the paradise that I am fortunate to afford and live in.
Who knows why God has certain people in certain circumstances. I may not understand that question right now, but I hope that someday I will.
As for now, I'm going to refocus my attention and keep on trying at this little thing called college.
"“The deep truth is that our human suffering need not be an obstacle to the joy and peace we so desire, but can become, instead, the means to it. The great secret of the spiritual life, the life of the Beloved Sons and Daughters of God, is that everything we live, be it gladness or sadness, joy or pain, health or illness, can all be a part of the journey toward the full realization of our humanity." -Henri Nouwen
I'm also going to get ready to get chocolate wasted next weekend.
Stay classy Sealions,
Em
#MyLife@Loma
