Posts Tagged ‘Life & Opinions’

Life is Beautiful

Thursday, May 15th, 2008

I saw a squirrel eating a nut on top of my department today.

He looked so peaceful. He eyed me as I approached him with my camera phone, but he didn’t move from his perch.

I’ve been kind of sad lately about different things, but when I saw him…I stopped to rethink my life and my attitude.

And I realized something…

Life is too short and too beautiful to be sad about stupid things…and stupid people.

:)

I’m going to live in joy again…and you can do the same.

“The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in Him, and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to Him in song.” – Psalm 28:7

“Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” – Nehemiah 8:10b

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” – Philippians 4:6-7

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Souvenirs

Tuesday, April 15th, 2008

Mike and I are in Anaheim right now (he’s at a conference), and our hotel just happens to be right next to Disneyland. When I say “right next to”, I mean…thiscloserightnextto. I believe the Matterhorn is that large thing looming over there.

Anyways, while Mike is off being brilliant at his tech conference, I have had the privilege of working from the hotel room/Starbucks, reading, and exploring at my leisure. On the way back from a recent jaunt to the local Wal*Mart and SuperCuts, I got stuck at a traffic light right across the entrance to Disneyland.

That’s when I saw them.

There were so many of them.

Since I was stopped behind a bus that didn’t seem to want to move anytime in the next century, I had no option but to entertain myself by looking around me.

They were everywhere!

And they…had souvenirs.

Throngs of people from all over the world and the nation – Caucasians, Asians, Europeans, etc. They may have been from all over the world, but they all shared something in common – souvenirs.

The light changed, and the bus still hadn’t moved, so I looked a little more closely at those around me.

There was a family of four; all of them were sporting Mickey Mouse ears but with various elements. The mom had a simple hat. The daughter had a bow in hers. The son had what looked like a wizard’s hat attached to his. And the youngest had pink synthetic silk flowing from hers. (I wonder where the dad is?)

There was an Asian family. The daughter had been showered with Disney items. The mother held a small box in one hand that looked like it housed some fragile Disney charm while her other hand protectively clutched her daughter’s. The husband, not to be left out, was lugging a jumbo-sized Disney plastic bag, the contents of which anyone can probably guess – more souvenirs.

I saw an older lady walking next to a woman I assumed to be her daughter. They were happy. They were laughing. And they were both sporting those princess caps one can find in Fantasy Land.

The bus moved, and I was finally on my way. As I drove, I mused on this idea of souvenirs. I have traveled the world my whole life (until recently – now I just travel America…dang it!), and I rarely brought home souvenirs for myself. Granted, I really didn’t have a home in America, and my mother didn’t have much money, but we managed to scoop up a few cultural things from the countries we lived in to give to donors or friends in America. And they thought those souvenirs were pretty amazing. Many would display them proudly on some shelf in their houses.

I wonder what people do with souvenirs from Disneyland. Do they get put on a shelf to be displayed proudly or thrown in a closet to be forgotten?

My husband and I love to travel, and we’ve come to an agreement about souvenirs. We get a magnet from each place we’ve been to. That’s it. If I happen to want something more (like jewelry), I really need to think hard about it because…well…let’s be honest. How often am I going to wear that oh-I-so-want-it-right-now ring or handbag from insert location here? Plus, souvenirs can end up costing lots of money, and if it’s something you’re not going to ever look at again or wear again, it’s probably not worth it.

Then my mind took a different turn…

You know, there are souvenirs that last your entire life.

I thought about that and shuddered. It’s true. They are the kind of souvenirs that can make you stronger or break you.

I have a scar under my lower lip. It looks like I had a zit there at one point. It was actually a very bad infection that almost took up a quarter of my face. That scar is the only souvenir I have left of that experience.

Oh yeah. It’s fading away now, but I have a dark mark on the middle finger of my left hand from where I got electrocuted as a 7-year-old. That’s actually a souvenir I’m proud if. Wow. That was 16 years ago, and the mark is still here…

I wear glasses. I’m nearsighted now. I didn’t used to be. My sight started failing when I got electrocuted by an exposed laptop in Moldova. I was in 6th grade. I lost my sight for two days. I’m glad I got it back. I guess my sight is a sort of souvenir from that experience.  (Wow, I got electrocuted a lot!)

My back is pretty much shot. Souvenirs from the car accidents I’ve been in (so far, none of them have been my fault!)

Those are just some physical marks that I will have to live with for the majority (if not the rest of my life), but…there are other souvenirs, too…

I have memories.

I have memories of triumphs. I have memories of moments that could have only come from God. I have memories of joy when joy would not have logically been present.

I also have memories of pain. I have memories of foolish, stupid actions that I wish I could reverse. Sure, they made me the person I am today (who is a bit more wary), but I still live with those memories…souvenirs of past experiences.

Philosophers and basically all people from around the world have this built-in, gut instinct that what you do impacts you for the rest of your life. I’m only 23, but I’ve experienced a lot already, and I can testify that that truth is definitely true. And life’s souvenirs are not free. Both the good and the bad take work.

In short, God has graciously allowed us to choose the kinds of souvenirs we keep – we can choose to get good ones or bad ones, but that choice is made everyday. Actually, some souvenirs come naturally with certain actions.

Disneyland souvenirs are fun for the moment, but they will most likely be tossed in a closet. Not so with life’s souvenirs.

I wonder what kind of souvenirs I’m picking up right now…

What kind are you getting?

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