Hello loves!
Sorry for all the short blog posts lately. If I'm going to be totally honest, I haven't had any new ideas recently. Life feels like its been one chaotic whirlwind while also being fairly stagnant.
It's like I'm busy, but only with the same type of things.
And sometimes this can be good. As someone who enjoys routine, it can be nice having some consistency. But other times, it can be a bit disheartening, especially when I'm trying to work hard for things to change.
When every day feels the same over and over and over again, I find myself getting restless. I'm sure I'm not the only one who has phases where life feels like a hamster wheel; constantly running as hard as I can while only spinning in place.
It's frustrating, especially when I can't control how quickly things happen in life. I've struggled with this a lot (not a surprise to those who know me) and I have plenty of friends who are feeling stuck in this phase too. In these weird doldrums of life, it's easy to start getting bitter.
I mean, you work as hard as you can and do all the prep work and still that doesn't guarantee anything will happen? Feels like a scam.
And yeah, some stuff does require a lot of hard work and a lot of time, like losing weight or earning a degree, but you know those things will come based on your work ethic. Other things are more. . . random.
You can send out a hundred job applications with all the needed requirements, and that doesn't guarantee anything. You can download every dating app, go to every mixer, 'work on yourself' until there's nothing left you can possibly do, and still Mr. or Mrs. Right just doesn't appear. You can pour hours of heart and soul and passion into your dream and it doesn't work out.
It's frustrating. Life is frustrating.
It's easy to be discouraged-- especially if you start the comparison game-- and fall into the trap of giving up or growing resentful.
I know it's hard, but don't let that happen.
Everyone has that one something, that one gaping hole in their life they are striving to fill. The thing that makes us feel like we could have more, do more, be more than we currently are in our lives.
This need for more can be a great motivator at times. It's usually the key factor of what drives a person and has led to humanity creating and discovering amazing things. Acknowledging the gap between what you want and what you have can be healthy in moderation when it's followed by a productive action plan.
But when this gap of discontent consumes a person, bad things start to happen.
We all know those people who are so negative about everything. I don't mean complaining once or twice-- I mean the types who could literally have their perfect dream day and still find something to complain about.
I also know that we have all been that person at least once. Whether this phase lasted for a month or years, it almost always was caused by us (whether openly or secretly) feeling dissatisfied. We let that feeling grow until what we didn't have was the only thing we could think about. If something good happened to others-- strangers, friends, our own family-- we found a way to turn that into our own self-misery. We believed the lie that the success of others was a direct threat to our own and, instead of turning to our loved ones for support, we forced them back with barbed words of jealousy.
I can easily admit I've fallen victim to this way of thinking quite a few times. It's hard not to, especially when the world around us is encouraging such a dangerous self-focused way of thinking.
But the reality is, even when we don't have "everything" we want, we still have something.
We might not have the dream job, but we have the supportive group of friends.
We might not have the dream partner, but we have the ability to travel and try out new things.
We might not have the dream, but we have good things in our current life.
And no, I'm not saying these good things replace the things we feel are missing. Platonic love is very different from romantic love, which is also different from familial love; just as volunteering and hobbies give us purpose in a very different way than a job gives us purpose.
It's perfectly alright to want the things we want. If you ask me, I believe the long-standing dreams we have were given to us for a reason and that one day they will be fulfilled. Maybe it won't look exactly the same as the way we're picturing now, but that doesn't mean it will never happen.
Being patient is so hard. It's even worse when there's no sign or timeline of when you will finally achieve that goal. And it's okay to get upset every now and then, so long as you don't stay upset.
Look at what you have right now. Take in all the dreams you have fulfilled, the blessings you've received, and what parts of your life truly fill you with joy.
When you count what you're thankful for, you'll start to see that the massive, draining void of discontentment is actually not as big as it once seemed.
Love y'all! <3
"For I know the plans I have for you," says the Lord. "They are plans for good, and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. In those days when you pray, I will listen." --Jeremiah 29:11-12
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