The grass is greener on the other side


Hello,

Towards the end of this week, I found myself reminiscing about my year 7 self; about the songs that drove me crazy and the dance parties on Sunday mornings with friends. I thought about not caring so much about what people thought and about not having to worry about universities and jobs. Life was so much easier back then. But was it?

When I think closely, I remember being so confident and then being so humbled when people told me what they really thought of me. I remember doing great in school and struggling every single day to keep that up and maintain the expectations that my good performance had created in my mind but also in the minds of those around me. I remember pushing people away, unconsciously and unintentionally, and letting the wrong people in and regretting that. I remember not really knowing how I wanted to be seen and falling into patterns that just didn’t really serve me or anyone in the long run.

I think as people, our tendency is to believe that the grass is always greener on the other side because we always want to be where we are not. We mostly talk about this when we have conversations about comparing ourselves with other people. And while I do agree that it is so easy to think that other people have life so much easier than you, I think we also tend to think that our lives were so much easier and so much simpler in the past. Sure, the problems we were facing then might seem so much smaller right now, but that is only when we compare. When we were experiencing those things and facing those problems, we didn’t think they were small. We didn’t think they were insignificant. We probably didn’t tell oursleves that there would be tougher things in the future and that we should be grateful to have such simple problems. It’s good to look at things in hindsight and learn lessons. But I’m learning to appreciate every season that I’m in for what it is. Not looking too fondly at the past so that I can truly feel sorry for myself. And not looking to far ahead into the future and completely ignoring my current season.

The truth is, we can make time for the things that matter to us and that made those past years seem so care free and fun. But when we grow up and embrace the classic ‘adult’ problems, we begin to create excuses for why we can’t have that peace, why we can’t be joyful, why we can’t find rest. There will be actual times in our lives when we are so busy and our schedules are so crazy. But we don’t have to make it that way everyday. We can choose to welcome the simplicity of our youth and the normal everyday moments alone and with friends and family that make us look back so nostalgically. It may be too late to choose youth, but we can still choose life.

God bless.

Dera

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