(because we are all) Branches of the Same Tree

I know that everyone has their own circumstance and story. But I just don’t get how some people can live their lives and be satisfied with just making a living.
Let me clarify that.
I don’t get how kids my age (or anyone that doesn’t have children of their own yet) can go about just living for themselves.
This still isn’t coming out right. I’m not trying to call or single anyone out at all.

What I’m trying to say is that I don’t want to just make a living — I want to make a life.
And to me, making a life means doing things that are truly, deeply, satisfying. Not satisfying like eating a whole Red Robin burger, or completing a 30-page paper. I mean satisfying like you go home and say to yourself “I did a good job today.” The kind of satisfying feeling you get after dropping a dollar in a street musician’s can, or the feeling you get after helping with a fundraiser.

I believe in living a life that helps others. Specifically, a life that helps those that never had the opportunity to live a healthy, loving, spiritual life. There are so many people in the world. We throw around the number “7 billion” and think “oh yeah there’s a lot of people.” But can you actually picture what it would look it? That many people with families, friends, jobs, pleasures, and pains?

Here’s a perspective that helps me. Picture a large sports event venue you know pretty well. For me, it’s Safeco Field in Seattle, Washington. Safeco field, at maximum capacity, can hold somewhere around 50,000 fans. (Most American professional sport stadiums can hold between 50,000 and 100,000 fans, with some going over 100,000.) If you were to put the population of the world in stadiums the size of Safeco field, you would need over 140,000 stadiums side by side by side. That means picturing where Safeco field is in Seattle, then replacing every building you can see from the stadium with another stadium. And then multiply that by maybe 100. Probably more, but I don’t feel like doing any more math.

If that’s too abstract for you, here’s a helpful image from persquaremile.com:

 

You can read the expanded article here.

The point I’m getting at is that with that many people in the world, and with the statistics I explained in my first blog post here, how can you not want to live a life that helps others in some way? We are all children of the same Father, after all. Shouldn’t we be trying to help each other out, not make this life more difficult than it already is?

 

“If you listen hard enough, you can hear every living thing breathing together, you can feel everything growing. We’re all living together, even if most folks don’t act like it. We all have the same roots, and we are all branches of the same tree. We are all one people, but we live as if divided.”

Airport Connections

Airports are the coolest thing ever.

People from literally all over the world come and go through airports. Yet most of the time, we never seem to notice. I had two hours between flights, so I grabbed an overpriced (but delicious) sandwich, and sat down to eat.

While I was sitting down to eat, and even when I was walking to the next terminal, I heard snippets of conversations. Very small snippets. But those snippets were what made the experience cool. Because in that three or four seconds that you catch someone else’s conversation, you realize what a crazy, vast, diverse, beautiful world we live in. I heard so many different languages. I heard dialects, and I heard what was on that person’s mind at that exact moment.

“We can collaborate with Sarah when I get to…” is something I am hearing the women behind me say. The man to my left has an accent that might be Russian, but it doesn’t sound quite as thick as a Russian accent. He is talking on the phone in (presumably) a mix of Russian and English. When I was walking on the moving sidewalk, I heard even less conversation as I whipped by. I heard parents talking to their children, and boyfriends talking to their girlfriends. The small African girl in front of me is talking to her mother in I don’t even know what language. They exchange words then laugh for a second.

This is so interesting to me because in this hub of international travelers, we all still seem to be in our own little world. There are at least two seats between each person (which is understandable, I think), and everyone is either on their laptop or on their phone. That includes me. Yet everyone has such different lifestyles and lives. Their world is so incredibly different from mine, and I almost want to ask everyone where they’re from and what they do for a living.

It’s just one of those things that blows my mind.

There are seven billion people in the world, and most of the time, we surround ourselves with the same [insert population of the town you live in here] people. Isn’t it crazy that when we go to a place as diverse and fast-paced as an airport, we often don’t bat an eye? Sure, we have planes to catch, places to go, people to see. But stopping and listening in the middle of a busy airport can really make the world seem like an amazing, vast place.

On My Own

Tomorrow, I am going on an adventure.

I’ve never been anywhere on my own, really. Sure, I went to drum major camp for half of a week at CWU the summer before junior year in high school. One time, I went to Canada for a week, just my dad and I, to visit family. But I’ve never really been just… On my own. Kids that are away at college have been on their own for months, so to them, this would seem like no big deal. To me, though, it’s just something I’ve never really done. It might sound lame, and I honestly think it sounds a bit childish — come on, I’m almost 19 and I’ve never been on my own before? When my mom was my age, she had already been to Europe once, and was planning another trip to travel Europe with her best friend for a few months. Surely I can go to California on my own.

Tomorrow, I’m flying alone to San Diego to spend half a week with my uncle and cousin.
This is a big deal for me not just because I’m going somewhere new for the first time on my own without my parents, but also because I’m so excited to be going. Last year, I didn’t want to go away to college. I told myself I would probably want to after two years at CBC, but I still wasn’t completely sure.

The fact that I do want to go do this by myself makes me feel great. I can do this. This isn’t so bad — in fact, I know I’m going to have an awesome time no matter what, because, will first of all, it’s CALIFORNIA. The land of sunshine and free spirits and oranges and junk.

See, the more I write about it, the more lame it sounds that I’ve never really gone somewhere on my own before. We all do things at different paces, I know. But I just never really had a desire to leave. Why would I leave? I’m comfortable right here.

Well, tomorrow, I’m going to live a little, and step out of my comfort zone. They say that life begins at the end of your comfort zone, and I do believe that. I believe that not because it means doing something new or different, but because it means that you want to do something new or different. We should all want to try new things, and sometimes, doing new things that are still within reach of your comfort zone isn’t quite enough.

Tomorrow, I am going to fly to San Diego by myself, and I’m not afraid to go.
That’s a good start, right?

Brain Dump

Have you ever had a brain dump?
Just sit down and type the first thing that pops into your head. It doesn’t matter if it will sound good when you read it again or not. This is something you can do for yourself. I find that it makes me feel better about something, just to get it out there.

So sit down and write the words that come not from your mind, but from your soul.
Don’t think about what words are going to sound good or make sense next. Just write.

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Here, I’ll show you what I mean. This is tonight’s brain dump, no later editing:

The best songs tend to have lyrics that seem to just flow off of the tongue, like honey, as it flows from the tree of life into the minds of the young and reckless. The rhythms spin tapestries of grand design around your heart, and exhume your thoughts. They caress your emotions in a bundle of sounds that carry you through the rocky waves that is our journey to the Kingdom in the Sky. And after all the words have fallen from your lips and stopped ringing in the cavern of your heart, you realize that that is what true songwriting is made of.

Lyrics should spin the fibers in your head, should make you stop and evaluate what you are doing right now at that very moment. Let your mind wander to the river that is free-spirited music. Don’t listen for the dissonance, but listen for what is being conveyed. Hear the organized chaos. Art is not creation, merely management. The composer heard a story in notes and arranged them into a form you can understand, into a form you can connect with. Listen with both ears open to the sound, and your heart open to the meaning.

Can you hear it?

Like a gentle rain in the night, the melodies of composers past float about the airwaves, searching for wanderers with open hearts they can worm their way into. Music has not changed — how we convey it has. We think it changes because we have a need for something different, a need to innovate. But the meaning behind music, and the reason for it is all the same. See, there are thousands and thousands of musicians out there, and if you want to stand out, it will take more than a soap box. It will take something so crazy that people will have to listen. No, I’m not talking about dancing in your underwear, or wearing tight pants. The realms of sound are full of endless possibilities. We can write different music if we only really, truly, step outside the box. And to do that, we have to first understand what is inside of the box.

Start at square one, home base, the top. If you want different, then you have to go searching for it with a bat and gun, because your prey isn’t going to just run up to you with it’s tongue hanging out. It will take knowing true self-worth, and having a genuine interest in sharing with others what you see and hear in the world around you.

-=x=-x-=x=-

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Now, I challenge you, tonight, when you finally sit down to relax or go to bed, to do a brain dump. I think that it feels very… Liberating? That sounds cheesy, but it’s true. Try it.

The Summer List

Two summers ago, I made a list with my good friend Peter. Merely called “The List,” it was ninety-nine things that we wanted to do that summer. On the list were a range of things, from going to a movie, to walking around downtown, to climbing Badger Mountain at sunrise, to using a telescope to stargaze. That list made for the most interesting and best summer yet.

Last summer, we didn’t make a list. We just couldn’t get ourselves to make a new one.
This summer, that’s going to change. Peter may be gone on a mission trip for another year and a half, but I’ve learned that there are many things I want to do, for me. And they’re not so simple this time.

For example, it’s ridiculous that I drive a forty-year-old car and I don’t know how to do basic repairs on it. It’s also crazy that I’ve never really built anything with a hammer and nails. I don’t know anything about plumbing, and that’s something that breaks in every house at least once. If someone asked me to jump-start their car, I wouldn’t know what end of the cable to attach to what.

Not to mention the places I haven’t been. The local places. Oregon is littered with old ghost towns. The hiking trails an hour away, I’ve heard, are phenomenal. Heck, I’ve never even been to the top of Jump Off Joe. That’s literally a five minute drive from my house to the base of the hill.

I want to do things for myself. I want to learn how to refinish old chairs and tables. To me, that sounds like fun. I want to learn how to play a horn or wind instrument. I own a trumpet, why can’t I play it yet? I want to go somewhere with a nice camera and take a picture of the stars. Like, really take a picture of the stars. Take a picture that makes people say “wow, we live among all of those?”

Part of me says, “why do I have to wait until summer to do this?” and unfortunately, it’s because I’m so busy during the school year. We all have something that we want to do, but tell ourselves we don’t have the time for. And I get that. We’re all busy.

But if there is something you’ve been thinking about doing for a while… Take action, and set out to do it. Take the first steps. Make a list of things you want to do, and document it, like Peter and I did. Not only is it fun, but you feel more accomplished. That summer, we didn’t feel like we just sat around all break. That summer, we set out to do stuff, and we had a blast, even if it was doing something as simple as “spending a day at the library.”

Prayer to the Stoplight Gods

I’m not sure of the exact origins of the “prayer to the stoplight gods.” I think one of my sister’s Catholic ex-boyfriends came up with it. It’s really simple. Whenever you are driving and you see that you’re going to go through a yellow light, you do the sign of the cross, kiss your hand, then tap the visor above your head. I’m not entirely sure why it’s a prayer to “stoplight gods” since we’re doing the signum crucis, but that was just the way it is. The “prayer” was always a sort of funny thing to do while driving. I don’t even remember seeing my sister’s ex-boyfriend do it, yet I’ve always done it while driving.

One time, when driving home from school, I ran a yellow light and did the “prayer to the stoplight gods.” But right after I did it, I got the urge to actually pray. So I did. Something really cool happened later that day, and I realized that I was so glad that I said that quick prayer. While I was driving. Less than a mile from my house. While you’re driving doesn’t quite seem like the right time to pray, does it?

That’s what I used to think. But a year or two ago, one of the leaders at LifeTeen (Catholic youth group) told us that she prays in the car. She told us how she used to drive half an hour or so to work, and that instead of listening to the radio, she would pray. She had half an hour to burn, so why not spend it focusing on God?

And that got me thinking: Why don’t more people pray while they’re driving?

Maybe some people do. I’m just assuming people don’t, because to me, it seems like an usual thing to do.

Here is one fantastic reason why you should say at least a quick prayer while driving:

Driving is by far the most dangerous situation you put yourself in each day.

Just saying.

In all seriousness, I take it as an opportunity to thank God. Most of the time, I think of it when I drive by certain spots. I don’t know what triggers it. Most of the time, I’m singing along to some song on the radio when I think of it. But just because you’re listening to your favorite pop song doesn’t mean that you can’t spend literally ten seconds to just say “thank you God, for all of the blessings you have given me on this day.”

The thing I like the most about doing this is that we are not just thanking God for our blessings… Let’s face it: some days, everything seems to go wrong. So what is there to thank God for? To me, two things come to mind: Give thanks for the small, simple things, like the sunshine, or being able to live in a free country… Or, give thanks for the trials of the day. I think that the most common mistake (not really a mistake, more like a flaw? I’m not sure what the word I am looking for is) that people make when praying is that they thank God only when things go the way they want them to. What do we do when bad things happen? Shake our fists at the sky? Say “why are you doing this to me?” then move on with our crappy day?

I try to take time every day to give thanks for my trials, because those are what define me. Our trials in life transform us from the people we are today to the people we are going be tomorrow. Acing a math test probably isn’t going to drastically change me into the person I’m going to be tomorrow (although I can certainly give thanks for His guidance). Through trials in life, we learn, grow, and adapt to this crazy world we live in. We learn more about ourselves and our relationship with Him when we are forced to grow closer to Him. So give thanks for the difficulties, and give thanks for the struggle — not because we are thankful for negative experiences — but because these experiences always turn out to be His mercies in disguise.

Doing the “prayer to the stoplight gods” always reminds me to give thanks for everything in my life — the good and the bad. I hope that after reading this, text time you run a yellow light, you might think back to this, and say a quick prayer.

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#TGIM

5 Songs to Remind You About Sundays

How do you spend your Sundays? Do you work? Do you go to church? Do you drive around all day, or do you kick back at a bar with some friends?

If you’re the church-going type, then here are five songs to remind you of a good way to spend the day…

You Are Everything // Matthew West

Youtube:

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10,000 Reasons// Rend Collective

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All the People Said Amen // Matt Maher

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My Savior My God // Aaron Shust

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Indescribable // Chris Tomlin

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Out On Paper

I don’t think it’s ever good to keep thoughts and ideas locked up inside your head. That’s part of the reason why I wanted to start a blog. I had all of these random thoughts and ideas about how we live our lives and what we do each day, and I wanted to get them out somewhere.

So what I want to say today is this: Never lock yourself up with your thoughts. I am an over-thinker. And I don’t need to be, but it happens. So when I catch myself over-analyzing or over-thinking something, I have to stop myself before I get too wrapped up in it, because it distracts from what is going on right now.

So whether it’s something that’s bothering you, or something you are stressing about, or a great idea that keeps going around and around in your head… Put it somewhere. Write it in a journal, or type it up. Most importantly, I think, talk to other people about it. Because there are people that will listen, and there are people that will care, whether you think so or not.

It can go either way, too. Be the person that people want to talk to about things. You’ll often find that it not only helps them, but often times, it helps you, too.

No Longer There

“What would you leave behind when you’re no longer there?”

 

What an interesting question. I think that we’ve all had the thought “will people remember me after I’m gone?”, but that’s not the question I’m asking.

 

I’m asking what you are going to leave behind when you’re gone.

Is it going to be something you’re proud of? Something you would be happy to leave to your children? To your grandchildren?

 

I feel like a common theme among American politicians is “let’s build a better tomorrow.” But from my naive, typical, dumb American point of view, it’s so hard to see that they want to build a better tomorrow when the two political parties that make up our government are constantly trying to undo the progress and work of the other party.

No one is “coming together” on issues. To me, there doesn’t seem to be any sort of middle ground on issues that people care so strongly about. Our political system has manifested itself into a twisted, divided house of cards.

 

But I digress.

I don’t want to get too political, because I know that everyone has their own strong political opinion, and it certainly isn’t the sort of breakfast you want to start a positive, productive day.

But I bring it up because I want you to ask yourself, what can I do today to make tomorrow a better place than today?

 

That might seem like a strange question. I’m not telling you to anticipate for tomorrow.

I’m just tired of being surrounded by people that don’t care what tomorrow looks like. Keep in mind that there is a huge difference between “not caring” what tomorrow looks like and “not worrying about” what tomorrow looks like. Are you the kind of person that throws all of your garbage into one big trash can? Or do you recycle? Do you use paper, or plastic? Do you ask for permission, or ask for forgiveness? Do you forgive? Or do you forget?

 

This is another one of those instances where I think music speaks louder than words. The first line from today’s post came from the Australian band “The Cat Empire.” In the song, the singer paints scenarios with his words and melodies, asking the question over and over, “what would you leave behind when you’re no longer there?” The song is today’s “Song of the Day,” and I urge you to listen to it. Not only does it have a beautiful message, but it has a beautiful melody and flowing harmonies to boot.

 

Set out to not only make today great, but to make tomorrow greater.

Rise and Shine

Being sick is the pits.

I didn’t think I would be conscious enough to write a blog post, but I appear to be thinking somewhat-clearly…

Unfortunately, I don’t think I’m thinking clearly enough to write a good breakfast.

So instead, here is the script from my favorite Nike commercial. If you need motivation, real motivation, you can watch the video below, or just read the script.

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Rise and shine! 6 am and your hand can’t make it to the alarm clock before the voices in your head start telling you that it’s too early, too dark and too cold to get out of bed.

Aching muscles lie still in rebellion pretending not to hear your brain commanding them to move.

A legion of voices are shouting their unanimous permission for you to hit the snooze button and
go back to dreamland!

But you didn’t ask their opinion.

The voice you’ve chosen to listen to is one of defiance!

The voice that said there was a reason that you set that alarm in the first place.

So sit up.

Put your feet on the floor and don’t look back because we’ve got work to do.

Welcome to the grind!

For what is each day but a series of conflicts between the right way and the easy way.

10,000 streams span out like a river delta before you each one promising the path of least resistance.

The thing is you’re headed upstream and when you make that choice when you decide to turn your back on what’s comfortable, what’s safe and what some would call common sense.

Well that’s Day One.

From there is only gets tougher!

So just make sure this is something that you want.

Because the easy way out will always be there.

Ready to wash you away!

All you have to do is pick up your feet.

But you aren’t going to are you?

With each step comes the decision to take another.

You’re on your way now, but this is no time to dwell on how far you have come.

You’re in a fight against an opponent you can’t see, but oh you can feel him on your heels can’t ya.

Feel him breathing down your neck.

You know what that is?

That’s YOU!

Your fears, your doubts, your insecurities all lined up like a firing squad ready to shoot you out of the sky.

But don’t lose heart.

While they are not easily defeated, they are far from invincible.

Remember, this is the grind, the battle royale between you and your mind.

Your body and the devil on your shoulders who is telling you that this is just a game.

This is just a waste of time.

Your opponents are stronger than you.

Drown out the voice of uncertainty with the sound of your own heartbeat!

Burn away your self doubt with the fire beneath you.

Remember what we are fighting for and never forget that momentum is a cruel mistress.

She can turn on a dime with the smallest mistake.

She is ever searching for the weak place in your armour.

That one tiny feeling that you forgot to prepare for.

So as long as the devil is hiding the details, the question remains.

Is that all you’ve got?

Are you sure?

When the answer is yes, you’ve done all you can to prepare yourself for battle, then it’s time to go forth and boldly face your enemy.

The enemy within!

Only now you must take that fight into the open.

Into hostile territory.

You are a lion in a field of lions, all hunting the same elusive prey with a desperate starvation that says victory is the only thing that can keep you alive.

So believe that voice that says you can run a little faster and you can throw a little harder, and that for you the laws of physics are merely a suggestion.

Luck is the last dying wish of those who want to believe that winning can happen by accident.

Sweat on the other hand is for those who know it’s a choice.

So decide now because destiny waits for no man.

And when your time comes and a thousand different voices are trying to tell you that you’re not ready for it, listen instead to that lone voice of descent, that one voice that says:

“You are ready”
“You are prepared”.

It’s all up to you now!

So “RISE AND SHINE”