We're Watchin.... and We're Waitin

So true

Well friends, plans change, for better or worse. Now you get to spend even MORE time with me this weekend haha. Sometimes things just don't go the way we want them to, you know? We do everything in our power to make them happen and to make everyone happy, but it doesn't always work out. For better or worse, stuff happens, and people let us down. In these cases we have 2 choices: 1. We can let it ruin our day or 2. We can learn to let it go and enjoy what we do have. 

Today's Topic is...

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Disapointment

Wow, even the title on this one is depressing! haha. Well lighten up! It's not the end of the world.... at least not yet anyways! That's a really dumb expression if you think about it, for many reasons. It's never the end of the world until it is, so why worry about it? And is the end of the world such a bad thing? Every end is simply a new beginning after all. But I digress...

We all experience disappointments from time to time. For me it was today. I was supposed to hang out with a friend that I haven't seen in months today, but they cancelled last minute, and now it'll be almost a year until I'll get another chance to hang out with them. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't upset, but there's more to life than this one friend. 

I've received much advice on this topic in my short lifetime, and much of it has come from people my age. Some of it follows. We can't rely on others for our own happiness. We have to be happy on our own, because like it or not, people let us down. It might not be big things, but people do. God doesn't. He might let us go down paths that we don't understand, and we might not see what He's doing, but He'll never let us down. We can rely on Him for our happiness. And ourselves. No one else can make you happy or sad but you. YOU chose to be happy, YOU chose to be sad. It's up to you, not anyone else.

When we are upset or disappointed, a way to focus on other things is to count our blessings. Yeah, so I don't get a night out, but I've got lots of time to work on other things. I have more time to write now. I have more time to work on my music now. I've got a great family and a great life and great friends (yeah, even the one who let me down). Now I've got time to get ready for work tomorrow. I can get more sleep. Tomorrow I've got a day at Church and with friends and family! I'm blessed with a semi-normal.... scratch that a very weird family (love them haha) that supports me and that cares enough to give me the best education I can get - spiritual and mental. I could go on and on but this isn't (or shouldn't be XD) about me.

I chose the picture today because many of our disappointments come from anticipation. We anticipate something fun and when it doesn't happen we get upset. We anticipate a good grade on a test and when we don't get it, there are consequences. We anticipate people to act one way, and when we don't, we're disappointed. Like the picture, anticipation flouted makes disappointment so much worse. Why? It goes back to, you guessed it...

Hope.

We build up HOPE that something will happen. And what did we say about loss of hope? It is the best and easiest way to crush a person. Putting our hope in the right place can save us from many troubles. Anticipation isn't a bad thing, in fact many times it is the fun. Think of anticipating Christmas as a kid. The anticipation of all those presents just for you under the tree up until Christmas was always the best part. The day itself would come and go in a flash, and the toys would be fun for a few days, but fade into obscurity. But each year the ANTICIPATION of the glorious childhood day was enough to dance through endless dreams and create days of explosive joy as only the mere idea of Christmas can create in the hearts of children. Anticipation happens on journeys. When you travel you anticipate getting to your destination. When you climb a mountain you anticipate getting to the top. When you have a kid you anticipate the night you'll finally be able to get a full, uninterrupted night's rest again. Anticipation is the journey. Often when we travel we meet interesting people and see amazing things, and the destination becomes minimal next to that. A mountain climb might take days, and once you get to the top you have an amazing view, but the exhilaration of getting on top lasts only for a short while, and before you know it you have to climb back down. Still, all that work you did to get there and the journey you took is forever in your memory. While babies are tons of work and can be annoying, as kids grow up you miss the days they'd come to you and say they can't sleep because they had a nightmare. 

In all of those cases anticipation is the journey, and the journey is all the fun. Which is why I say still anticipate things, but be ready to deal with disappointment.

A little bit more on this before I conclude. Disappointment leaves no man untouched. Everyone suffers it at one time or another. But again it is up to us to chose how we deal with it. Me? haha Well I didn't take it the best at first but I'm learning, and tonight I'm going to have fun anyways. I got to spend more time with ya'll for one thing! You? Well that's up to you. 

Don't let disappointment cripple you. Get up and move on. It's not the end of the world... unless it is! haha if that's the case then God be with you! Get it?... you know... cause God.... end of the world.... fire and.... oh never mind! See, take things with a grain of salt! Handle disappointments with humor and move on! Whatever it is it's probably not a big deal anyway.

God has plans for us. Jeremiah 29:11 says: "For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." 

God's plans are not our own, and many times we don't understand the challenges He puts into our lives, or why they are there. Sometimes we won't until we see Him in person to ask Him. But He will never lead us astray. Mother Angelica was talking about this the other day on the radio. She said, and I'm paraphrasing here "You know that picnic you really wanted to go to, but it got rained out? You were really disappointed about that. You might even let it ruin your day. But later you look on the news and there was a massive 35 car accident on the route you would've taken, right at the time you would've been driving. God protected you from that. Well, then it turned out to be a pretty good day." VERY much paraphrased, but you get the gist. God takes pains and turns them into blessings. I don't know why He let my friend let me down, but I know that it's for the best. I don't know why He's letting you go through the pain you feel, and maybe even try to hide, right now, but I can promise you that it's for a reason. A good one too. So hang in there, hang on, and let go. Do not hold on to disappointments or give in to the all too tempting sadness and despair they bring with them, but let them go and let God in. Disappointments only have the power to hurt you if you let them. So don't!
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Why the title?
Well, you should know by now I try to include a song! Today's comes from Phineas and Ferb "Watchin' and Waitin' ". I felt it was appropriate for today.

 We're watchin' and we're waitin',
On the edge of our seats, anticipatin'.
It's looking awful permanent,
But we know it could go away.

 Fits doesn't it? Enjoy the anticipation and don't let disappointments down, that's tonight's message!

"And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose." Romans 8:28

God uses all things for good :)

Stay strong, keep you head held high, and I'll see you soon!
Oh and I'm praying for you, can't forget that!

~Wanted~

Bear With Me

Felt like a random kind of day! haha

I'm baaaaaaack! Sorry I've been gone so long! Finals were last week, and a bunch of stuff has been going on since then. I'm super tired tonight, and don't have a direct topic, but I felt like I needed to update since I haven't in a while, so bear with me. ... Get it? Cuz there's a bear! ^ haha. I'm starting to get the hang of this whole blogging thing, though honestly I'm still torn about publicizing it. It feels a little embarrassing to self promote. Anyways... As I'm getting the hang of it I'm starting to see where I'm taking this blog in general. I'll let you try to figure that out on your own ;). All will become clear in time. Unless it doesn't. Which it might not. In which case you'll never know! haha. See? Babbling.

Anyways, there's nothing really that I'm passionate about writing tonight because I'm sooo tired. I'm not really sure why. But yet I trudge on, because I don't want to let all of you down. I guess I could do a short tidbit on that tonight. I'm not sure when I'll have time to write again because this weekend is going to be really busy, and I work now, so strap yourselves in and enjoy my ramblings.

Alright, here it goes, I'll try to keep it short and sweet. I'm really just here to let you know I haven't left! 

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Prudence

Now I'm not necessarily talking about the virtue, though that is essentially the same thing. Regardless of faith though, prudence is an important thing. It is, simply put, using common sense, and knowing when to speak and when to hold your tongue. This is an important life skill that can either simplify your life, or if you don't have it, make it infinitely more complicated. Friends of mine will know I learned the value of prudence my freshman year. I was very vocal about my political beliefs, and it got me in some trouble with a teacher, and other students. I felt like I needed to make my views clearly outlined and defend every attack on them explicitly. 

Not a smart move.

What resulted was a yearlong battle with students and teachers that ended up working out fine, but had many bumps in the road along the way. I'm glad I learned my lesson when I did though. Sometimes in life now I encounter views that I feel are blatantly wrong, and have things said to me that are just false. I'm able to hold my tongue with much effort now. See the thing is, we don't have to fight every battle that comes knocking on our door. Back to that HUMILITY thing. Remember? Sucking up our pride can save us sooo much trouble! Sure I might feel people are wrong, but if unnecessary conflict can be avoided, it should be.

That is not to say, however, that you should always hold your tongue. Like I said, Prudence is knowing when to speak. And sometimes you HAVE to speak out. Not just because of your personal beliefs, but because it's the truth. See, when I was defending my political views, that wasn't really a battle that had to be fought. I mean it was important to me, but political ideology differs widely from person to person, and everyone has a right to be that way. Moral issues are another thing entirely. Again, there are still many situations in which one should hold his tongue even in this topic, but I'll give a very extreme example to illustrate my point.

A girl you know is planning on having an abortion. You are Catholic (as is she), and you hold to the Church's teachings, so you believe that this is a grave evil. You are close enough to this girl that it is appropriate for you approach the subject with her. Then the only prudent course of action is to pray for her, and approach her about the grave immoral act she is about to commit. In this case, the prudent act is to talk to her. 

A less extreme case: it is prudent to speak up when you can AVOID conflict by talking. If speaking up clears things up for everyone, it is the best course to take.

Knowing when to say something or when not to is what prudence is all about (at least to me, though it is more than that in reality... another topic for another time). And it takes practice. And MANY mistakes haha. Believe me, I know. It also helps to pray for it. If you aren't a person of prayer, I encourage you to give it a try. But if you are, prayer can help enhance you in ways that will surprise you. 

Prudence takes a lot of time, effort, and patience to really develop. Keep at it and don't give up! 

So in closing, why Bear With Me?

2 reasons:

1: It's random, and I wanted ya'll to know I'm still here

2: Because prudence requires us to bear with others, even those we don't agree with, for the good of everyone.

So hold you tongue and bear with me! Haha. I'm not very good at prudence yet, but I'm  praying for it, and for you all too!

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"But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also." Matthew 5:39

I feel like this verse really sums up what I was rambling about tonight. If any of it doesn't make sense, forgive me, I'm falling asleep as I write this. I just really felt it was important to give you guys something to tide you over until next week.

Hope it was meaningful, praying for you all, and see you next week!

~Wanted~