There have been many recent experiences that have varying
magnitude of emotion. Different kinds of
emotions define each situation. These
experiences have led me and sometimes forced me to look back to the basics of
my own existence. The hardest part of it
all is that it doesn’t seem to stop with my own pondering because everyone else
is doing the same. I have come to
realize that most of them are different.
The reflections I mean. That
seems to be the hardest part for me.
In a world where differences are accepted and hated
depending on the situation, in a world where similarities are accepted
and hated depending on the situation, indeed makes it difficult to figure out
where my opinion stands—where they all stand.
Different opinions affect us all in different ways. My mom’s opinion can mean more to me in one
instance where another instance I’ll be stalking my twitter feed. We go to different sources for different
answers, but in a world where social media is exponentially growing, we
encounter so many of these opposing opinions within seconds even on our own
facebook newsfeeds. We are constantly
having to process our friend’s thoughts and if they are the same as ours. We
are constantly trying to recount our own, while realizing many people feel differently. We can see celebrity’s opinions on most
anything within seconds, while also seeing the opinion of the neighbor down the
street.
With the school shooting, gun control, the holiday season,
recent politics, with wearing pants to church, with personal hardships—we seem
to constantly compare. We are choosing
what information we give and withhold about ourselves every day. This has made me think a lot about what I am
showing everyone as my ‘virtual’ profile if you will. We all know everyone has one.
The’
frequent’ post-er
The ‘sometimes’
post-er
The ‘important
things’ post-er
The ‘sympathy’
poster
The ‘infrequent’
post-er
The ‘only
when things are looking good’ post-er
Etc.,
etc.,
etc., etc.,
etc.,
Sometimes the world seems glim. I know when I heard about the shootings I couldn’t
believe I was going to be bringing children into this world with these bad things
happening. How could I ever wave goodbye
to them at the bus stop!
We are stereotyping people more these days because we
encounter more of what they think. We
all have our own news articles, press releases, picture updates, opinions,
sarcastic comments (me), for sale ads that are not immune from letters to the
editor, constant reviews, reactions, who wore it best, and comments even when
we didn’t ask for them. This is hard and
new to many of us—to have these instant positive or negative reactions to what
we hold as personal and important…but are they personal? Have
you ever deleted something that doesn’t personally offend you, but you know if
someone else sees it on your profile you would be ashamed? Many I know would
answer ‘no’, but it’s sad that I answered yes!
My dad talked to me many years ago while I was having some
struggles in my life. It as an idea for
a book he wanted to write as he had so many experiences that pointed him to the
following conclusion (in my own words):
“the more you are the same in each social, family, personal,
spiritual ect., circumstance, the more confident you will be”
I know I
could see this evidence when I was a teenager.
Act all cool around my friends and then come
home to my siblings and quite literally lose my cool.
I believe this idea is what I have been led to while coping
with the hard and even happy things in my life. Share the joys, share the
struggles, but the most important is to always be you. Prioritize the most important things in life
and don’t forget that list even in the daily reactions to life. Sometimes things seem so much bigger than we
can handle. The news of the tragic event of the shooting hit me really
hard. Nobody needed to hear my opinion
about gun control at that time and for me, I realized the most important thing
was to tell my family and close ones how much I appreciate them. Hard things happen and we need to learn from
them. I know when I looked on my
newsfeed and got stressed and annoyed at what people were saying or offering I just
needed to ‘tune’ it out and put my focus elsewhere.
This holiday season I am very thankful to my Savior for the
beautiful life I have. I am happy that I
have complete ownership in how I live it each day. The most important thing is to treat people
with love and compassion.
There will always be difference of opinions.
This life is meant to be a happy one full of sacrifice and
love. It’s all about the basics. We know that because in hard times of trial
we all just feel the need to our loved ones a little bit tighter. I could probably do a little bit better to
not get affected about other’s emotions and opinions and just focus in keeping
a happy perspective and being a better me.
The following is one of my favorite quotes from the
beautiful Marjorie Pay Hinckley. “My
favorite age was 50. It was the age
where I stopped caring what everyone else thought of me” (paraphrased). I am trying to substitute my current age into
that sentence!
