Archive - March, 2012

Like You’re Going Crazy: Chasing What You Love

going insane

Yep, that's me

Right now, the only thing keeping me from screaming out loud is the fact that I’m sitting in a Starbucks.  I want to run around the room and punch the wall and shatter my phone into teeny, tiny pieces.  Why?

Because I’m losing my mind.

Here I am, trying to write.  Trying to do something with my life, but I can’t get the words to come out.

I start something, get frustrated, give up, move to something else, and repeat the cycle.  As torturous as it is, I keep going.  Instead of smashing my fist through my computer screen, I put my fingers to its keys.

Because of love.

The Writer. The Lover. The Go-Getter

Somewhere deep down in my bones, there is this desire to write, to reach, to entertain, to speak to some sort of audience and cause a reaction.

And right now, it’s like an itch on  the part of my back I can’t quite reach.  I twist, turn, and stretch, desperately clawing at it, but it remains, leaving me with two options.  I can grow numb to the itch, ignoring its beckoning.

Or I can keep trying.

As aggravating as it is, as impossible as it may seem, I can keep going, hoping for satisfaction and vindication and all those other wonderfully victorious words.

Not that it’s about me.  If it were up to me, I would be at my apartment, playing video games or watching a movie.  Instead I’m sitting in an uncomfortable chair, sipping espresso and going crazy.

And as I said before, it’s because of love.

This Thing Called Love

Have you ever been in love (or at least thought you were)?  You’ll drop everything just for a chance to hang out with some person.  They fill your thoughts, guide your actions, sway your emotions.

If you could just make them smile.

If you could just make their life brighter, easier, more fulfilling.

Whatever it takes.  It breaks you down.  It drives you crazy.  And you almost hate it.

You almost hate how much you want to be around this person.  You almost hate how much control they have over you, how much their opinion matters.  But you don’t hate it.

Because you love it.

So you keep going, hoping to make a connection, to have a breakthrough, to show that you love them.

Love Hurts…..Sometimes

From everything I’ve learned about love, I have decided this: Love does not make sense.

Love is not logical.  It doesn’t fit into the laws of self satisfaction or self preservation.  It keeps going when it should stop.  It travels beyond limits, breaking through walls, constantly chasing after its goal.

Love does not stop, even when it hurts.  You can beg and plead and scream and run around like a maniac.  When all is done, love remains.  It can ruin you.   It can destroy everything you thought you were, revealing what you actually are.

Love refuses to be ignored.   Try as you might to pretend it’s not there, it will not go away.

Embrace the Crazy

Do you feel that tug at your heart?  The fire in your bones?  Stop denying it.

Even when it hurts, even when it’s like an itch just out of your reach, keep reaching.  Whether it’s a love for your job, for the less fortunate, for a person, for God, grab a hold of it and hang on as tight as you can.

Write. Sing. Work. Dream. Draw. Preach. Teach. Inspire.

Love.

Like you’re going crazy.  Like it’s the only thing you could ever do that will bring any sense of satisfaction, of wholeness.

On the good days, on the bad days, when it comes easy, when it’s the most difficult thing in the world, continue to love.  Continue to do that which you love.  What you believe in.  Regardless of the outcome.  Regardless of logic.

Go crazy.

(And if you really want to get crazy, follow me on Twitter here.  You should also join me on Facebook.  Seriously.  Click this.  Yes, this right here.  You didn’t click it, did you?  Well, how about this?  No.  Fine.  Be like that.  But if you change your mind….)

Get Out of Your Comfort Zone

The time had come to get new pants.  Despite what I would tell myself every time I slip on my favorite pair of jeans, the denim was wearing thin.  Holes were forming.  You could say they were on their last legs (see what I did there?).

Of all the pants stores in the world, I have one favorite.  The location is in the Mall of America (aka The Disneyland of malls [i.e. a tourist trap]).  Generally speaking, it’s completely worth braving the crowds because my store has great looking threads for ridiculously cheap prices.  There was just one problem.

At some point since my last mall visit, my favorite store had closed.

This left me with two options.  I could continue to wear my comfortable jeans until they disintegrated like a vampire in the sun, or I could kick my butt into gear and see what the rest of the mall had to offer.

I chose the second option.  And as I walked the halls of the MOA, I realized something.

This is a lot like life.

favorite comfortable jeans

I took this myself

Living Comfortably

It’s nice to be comfortable.  It feels good.  Lord knows people don’t buy Snuggies for their looks.  They buy them for comfort.

And it’s the way much of our world works.  We take the jobs that don’t challenge us.  We stick with the friends we already have.  We go to the same stores, stay in the same town, visit the same websites, only moving forward if we absolutely have to or if it’s really easy.

Why?  Failure.

Increasing the Chances of Failure

The greater the risk, the greater chance you have of complete failure.  It’s like walking out on a tree limb.  The further you get from the trunk, the more likely it is that the branch will snap and you will die.

It’s easier to kick a field goal than to go for the two point conversion.

It’s simpler to put your money in a savings account instead of investing it.

It’s hard to find a new job even though you’re miserable at your current one.  It’s scary to get out of the relationship you’re currently in even though that person is no good for you.

And really, this is all just a fear of the unknown.

You Think You Know But You Have No Idea

Before we even get out of our comfort zone, we start forming ideas of what the rest of the world is like.  Did you ever see the movie Blast from the Past?  The main character grows up in a bomb shelter during the Cold War.

Once he becomes an adult, the time has come to see the outside world.  He’s scared.  His parents are scared.  You see, they think the world was destroyed by nuclear war.  For all they know, the land is filled with mutants, zombies, and everything else.

That wasn’t the case.  No bombs ever dropped.  Were there dangers in the real world?  Yes.  Would it have been easier to stay in the bomb shelter?  Sure.  But that would have made for a very boring story.  The main character would have been settling for less.

Comfortability Comes with a Price

It’s something easily forgotten.  First class flights cost more than coach.  Luxury cars are pricey.  If you want to be comfortable, you’re going to pay for it.

Sitting in a chair all day, every day as you watch movies, eat potato chips, and drink soda will eventually make you fat and possibly give you type-two diabetes or a heart attack.

It’s harder to get of the chair.  It’s harder to chase you dreams.  You may fail.  But think of what you might find.

I’ll be honest, I didn’t end up finding a pair of jeans in the time I had.  I DID find a belt, a sweatshirt, and a few stores I will be returning to for clothes in the future.  These are places I probably would have never walked in if my favorite store hadn’t closed.

And lately in life, I find myself constantly being pushed out of my comfort zone.  It’s scary.  I wonder if I’m just going to end up failing.  But I’m trying my best to suck it up and push forward.  Because somewhere out there is something so much better.

It’s just waiting.

(Follow me on Twitter by clicking here.  I say wonderful things guaranteed to brighten your day.  And I promise to twit pic my jeans as soon as I get a new pair!)

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