Y'all. Life is so interesting. There's been SO much, and exactly nothing, happening all at the same time. I've been all over the place in the past couple of months- lots of great travels, adventures, reconnections. So many amazing conversations and thoughts, and there's one thread that I just can't stop thinking about. And it's this: What makes you so important?
And just like my life, I think the answer is SO much, and exactly nothing.
I went to my first Beta Theta Pi chapter meeting recently. (Sidenote: It's been a while since I'd been to a fraternity chapter meeting and the feeling of walking into a room of 60 men and knowing just a handful of people was an overwhelming experience, but a welcome one.) Part of the conversation that evening revolved around risk management, what are the expectations for being a member of this organization-- you know, all of the really fun things that students love to hear about. During this conversation, one of my fellow advisors said 'It's not about you anymore.'
And I felt myself be taken aback for a minute... and then a wave of peace and complete agreement.
I felt like I was hit upside the head with that thought. It's not about you anymore. At what point in our lives does it stop being about us? Is it like a light switch? Or more like blowing up a balloon? When do you realize that you are a part of something SO MUCH BIGGER? Or are we not?
At a girlfriend coffee date on a very early Sunday morning recently, one friend shared that someone put it to her in the light of 'you're not that important'. As in, yes, I care about you- but I care about a lot of things in my life and it's going to take more than you to totally alter who I am and how I live my life. Another shared that she was okay living a life that's average; I believe the phrase 'flying under the radar' may have been used (or that's how I summarized the conversation from that morning in my head; apologies ladies if I'm way off)-- where nothing extraordinary happens one way or the other, and that's okay, because things were still good in that area in between.
What makes you so important and when it is about you? I think the answer is both everything and never. Yes, in the grande scheme of the world, I'm no Gandhi. I'm not curing cancer, revolutionizing the sustainability efforts that can turn around the damage we've done to our Earth and I'm not donating my millions and billions of dollars for amazing causes. (Although the ability to do any of those things would be incredible)
But I like to think that in my own little pocket of the world, that I'm making a difference in a little way. By choosing to hold onto a Gatorade bottle to ensure it gets to the recycling bin rather than throwing it into the closest garbage can. That when I choose to make my health and well-being a priority in my life, that I'm ensuring I can be around to love the people in my life and support them. When I pay for the order of the person behind me at the occasional drive-thru run, I hope I bring a little light into their lives that inspires them to 'pay it forward.' It's all about me, and totally not.
2013 was a year that ended in a really shitty way for me, and as a result, I felt I've been behind the curve ball for all of 2014. And I'm vowing now-- in front of all 7 of you reading my blog!-- that it will not carry into 2015 with me. On 12.13.14 (love it!) I will complete my second half marathon. And when I cross that line, I stop carrying 2013 with me.
Let me say it one last time.
After completing 13(.1) miles on December 13, I will stop letting what happened in 2013 get to me.
THAT is all about me. But because it's all about me, it won't be, because then I will be able to make a greater impact in the world around me. Because it won't be all about me. Ya dig?
And just like my life, I think the answer is SO much, and exactly nothing.
I went to my first Beta Theta Pi chapter meeting recently. (Sidenote: It's been a while since I'd been to a fraternity chapter meeting and the feeling of walking into a room of 60 men and knowing just a handful of people was an overwhelming experience, but a welcome one.) Part of the conversation that evening revolved around risk management, what are the expectations for being a member of this organization-- you know, all of the really fun things that students love to hear about. During this conversation, one of my fellow advisors said 'It's not about you anymore.'
And I felt myself be taken aback for a minute... and then a wave of peace and complete agreement.
I felt like I was hit upside the head with that thought. It's not about you anymore. At what point in our lives does it stop being about us? Is it like a light switch? Or more like blowing up a balloon? When do you realize that you are a part of something SO MUCH BIGGER? Or are we not?
At a girlfriend coffee date on a very early Sunday morning recently, one friend shared that someone put it to her in the light of 'you're not that important'. As in, yes, I care about you- but I care about a lot of things in my life and it's going to take more than you to totally alter who I am and how I live my life. Another shared that she was okay living a life that's average; I believe the phrase 'flying under the radar' may have been used (or that's how I summarized the conversation from that morning in my head; apologies ladies if I'm way off)-- where nothing extraordinary happens one way or the other, and that's okay, because things were still good in that area in between.
What makes you so important and when it is about you? I think the answer is both everything and never. Yes, in the grande scheme of the world, I'm no Gandhi. I'm not curing cancer, revolutionizing the sustainability efforts that can turn around the damage we've done to our Earth and I'm not donating my millions and billions of dollars for amazing causes. (Although the ability to do any of those things would be incredible)
But I like to think that in my own little pocket of the world, that I'm making a difference in a little way. By choosing to hold onto a Gatorade bottle to ensure it gets to the recycling bin rather than throwing it into the closest garbage can. That when I choose to make my health and well-being a priority in my life, that I'm ensuring I can be around to love the people in my life and support them. When I pay for the order of the person behind me at the occasional drive-thru run, I hope I bring a little light into their lives that inspires them to 'pay it forward.' It's all about me, and totally not.
2013 was a year that ended in a really shitty way for me, and as a result, I felt I've been behind the curve ball for all of 2014. And I'm vowing now-- in front of all 7 of you reading my blog!-- that it will not carry into 2015 with me. On 12.13.14 (love it!) I will complete my second half marathon. And when I cross that line, I stop carrying 2013 with me.
Let me say it one last time.
After completing 13(.1) miles on December 13, I will stop letting what happened in 2013 get to me.
THAT is all about me. But because it's all about me, it won't be, because then I will be able to make a greater impact in the world around me. Because it won't be all about me. Ya dig?
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