The Second Act
The Courage to See Current Reality
I must admit I am guilty of not seeing current reality a good portion of the time. Part of the time is because I know that if I do see the current reality of certain parts of things, I’ll just end up depressed. You know why? Because I know that if I see the current reality, I’ll see lack of motivation, I’ll see sadness, I’ll see health issues, I’ll see psychological and emotional terrorism by those who are supposed to do no harm to you. I’ll see many things. Part of the reason why I started working on the GSO Compassion Mission was because of not only lacking to see the current reality of things, but trying to actively see into the future. Envisioning positive change. Almost like constantly focusing on the grass being greener on that other side.
However.
I wanted to not only be in that grass on the other side; I wanted to transplant that grass to my side, lol.
The other day at work during a morning meeting in another department I heard the supervisor say “The grass may be greener on the other side, but you have to mow that grass too.” And that’s when I started to see the current reality even more clearly for this mission house. I realized that yes, I want to do these great things. Yes, I want to build this sustainable community center. Yes, I want to make a difference and be positive change. But I also have to run through the muck of current reality to get to where I would like to be in 5-10 years.
However, I am realizing that there are different spheres of current reality that make getting to the mission house a little more difficult, but not wholly impossible. There’s the sphere of the current reality of work. I work in a place that I really enjoy. However, I would say a large percentage of people do not share that enjoyment factor. They come in in the morning, try to down the coffee first thing in the morning, put in too many packets of sugar and too many teaspoons of powdered cream in order to make it taste better, they count out their quarters, nickels, and dimes in order to get some sort of snack from the vending machine, look at the clock (if they happen to get to work early enough to do that)…Interjection, I literally just heard the most gutwrenching groan of “Ugh….It’s mondayyy…I have to go to work…” That’s what I’m talking about. That’s the current reality of work in a nutshell. Monday through Thursday at the very least, that’s the reaction that people have to work. On Friday people are happier but that “Ugh” is still there because it’s Friday and they’re at work. And whereas I come in thinking that every day is an opportunity to push yourself and do better, everybody else says “Uggghhhh…work…….” And that’s when I feel completely crazy.
There’s the current reality of life. The “that’s the way it is” song that goes on and on and on. I just finished fussing about this to my boyfriend, actually. If you hear that’s the way it is enough times, then that’s the way things will be. You’ll never wonder if that’s really the way it is. You’ll never have the wish for more as your first instinct. You’ll never wonder “what if” or “what happens now” or “what happens next” questions pop in your head. If you have those questions or those thoughts, as I do more often than not, then you’ll never see what’s on the other side. I believe that what happens when you ask “what if”, “what happens now” or “what happens next”, you open up a small door in your psyche or your life or even your day. And you can either close the door, peek in and around the door frame, or you can run through. When you ask those questions of those around you or even just yourself, you entertain the possibility of adventure and it can be so much fun! However, when someone answers with “that’s just the way it is”, it often feels like they not only close the door in your face; they lock it and throw away the key in a city dump size pile of other keys. Never lose your key. Keep it close to your heart.
There’s the current reality of your self. There’s the way you’d like to be and the current reality of who you are. For me, I struggle with that concept in the form of the weight I’m working on losing. Most days I feel stronger and stronger and I think I can do this, that, and the other all in one day. I’m sure when it gets warm outside, I’ll think that I can do my best things in life (which by that time, who knows what I’ll be able to do if I’m more tone and such). Those things including hiking for hours around Lake Brandt. Riding a bike and walking 10 miles. Walking 5 and 6 miles from my old apartment to anywhere on campus or to downtown for the afternoon. At any rate, I’ll think that I can do those things, and the current reality is that I have at least 15-20 pounds to lose (I think) before I can do those things.
There are pros and cons to seeing the current reality of many things. It can either be not so awesome or it can be beautiful. It’s all a matter of how you see it.
the GSO Compassion Mission 