All that to say, the last 24 hours have given me so much material I felt I need to just write out my thoughts. Firstly, the Oklahoma tornadoes. I purposefully avoided the news last night because I simply couldn't handle the heartbreaking stories that I knew would be shown. By God's grace, the count of those who had passed as a result of the storm has come down, but even still a considerable number of people lost their lives, including a number of children. In the overly hormonal state I currently find myself in, I am finding that avoiding the news, pictures, videos is helping me stay focused on what I can do - which in this case is a constant and intentional state of pray - as opposed to playing the "sorrow game." My heart breaks for those impacted, but I do myself no good by pouring hours into reading all the reports and looking at all the pictures. Because what I've found is that when I do that, I begin to put myself in position of those impacted. I begin wondering "What if this happened here?" "How would I feel?" " How would I respond?" and that path only leads to state of panic, worry and ultimately a self-centered distraction. Instead I am focusing my attention on God and prayer.
And in the midst of this tragedy today I am ran across a somewhat controversial TED Talk that got me thinking even more....
As I listened to this talk by Dr. Jay, I found myself nodding in agreement with many of her assertions. 20 somethings of today are taking a pass. They aren't taking life seriously, because they have time. Time to figure it out. Time to make mistakes. Time to life seriously. And maybe they do. I was raised to take every day and use it, learn from it, and make the next day even better than before. I didn't spend my 20's dating the wrong men or working in a job that meant nothing. Yes, I approached my 20's with a learning mindset, but I also had the amazing guidance of my family, that taught me that everything we do is a learning experience, but wasting time results is nothing more than wasted time.
I count my blessing that this video is something I strongly agree with, as opposed to feeling condemned by. I struggle to see the other side of the coin in this instance, where floating through a period of my life without direction or intent could be beneficial or even enjoyable. Which then brings me back to the tragedies in Oklahoma.
We don't always know what tomorrow, or even the next hour may bring. I doubt any of the victims yesterday woke up knowing that they would not be returning to their families or friends. I would bet that everyone of them had something planned in the days and weeks ahead, that sadly they won't be making. Events like yesterday are what make me what to grab hold of every person - 20 something or not - that says they've got time and shake them. To tell them that by God's grace maybe they do, but maybe they don't have 5 more minutes or days. So don't waste today. Seek to move forward, to impact someone, to change something. If not for yourself, for those who no long have the opportunity too.
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