So I am very aware I haven't blogged in quite some time... (side effect of having a Q-LC) and I have draft upon draft I have tried to work, but nothing seemed to really stick. Fleeting things, some funny, some boring, some just plain dumb, but nothing seemed to work. But tonight I was hit with such a bout of inspiration that I honestly knew that I just had to blog tonight. (That sounded a lot less cheesy/oddly poetic in my head...)
Tonight, I got to hear the story of Esther Grace Earl.
Who is she? First of all, an inspiration of a person who really likes the word 'awesome'. A young author, a real person who struggled with things just like you and me, a person who was imperfect, but beautiful and incredible.
This is the girl that inspired the character, Hazel Grace in the famous book, The Fault In Our Stars by John Green (Although she was her own person, she is not identical to Hazel...keep this in mind please!). And yes, her parents came to Cardinal Stritch University to teach us the beauty of grace, richness, compassion, and gratitude (Her mom Lori said that it's pretty much impossible to separate compassion and gratitude, and I think she's totally right.) Esther's life was cut short by thyroid cancer that spread to her lungs, at the young age of 16 (She'd be 20 now). She didn't want people to be sad when she left this earth, she wanted to make a difference, and wanted others to live life richly.
So here most of us are, about the same age as what she would be today, and my question to you (and myself) is are we truly living?
So that's where we start tonight. According to the dictionary, living means having life and being alive, but it also defines it as active or thriving; vigorous; strong. That doesn't just mean physically, if you were wondering. And another thing -- strength doesn't always mean the ability to look tough on the outside (sometimes it can, but not always). But living life, as defined in most cliche of ways, is to give life meaning. Be happy. In the words of Esther in her book, This Star Won't Go out, “Just be happy, and if you can't be happy, do things that make you happy. Or do nothing with the people that make you happy.” Are we doing things that make us actually happy? Sometimes we forget the awesomeness in the simple things. When is the last time you colored in a coloring book, blew bubbles, spent time with someone you loved, or did something that scared you?
I am not a risk-taker at all, I can tell you that. I may like the saying, "adventure is out there" but that doesn't always mean I'll embrace it. I hate Halloween only because its scary, I would rather die than go on a rollercoaster, and I just don't like scary stuff. I'm always that person who wonders what if something goes wrong, what happens if I cant handle it, and honestly I don't know what to expect a lot. And these are the things that stop me from actually living. I mean, what am I actually doing if I'm living in fear? It's not really living, is it? And I'm not just talking about the roller coasters and the haunted houses, I'm talking about real life. Here's the first challenge: I want you to think of somebody that you love. Now here's the other thing: when's the last time you told them that you actually love them? This is the real kind of fear I'm talking about. Not the fear of rejection all the time, but just putting your feelings out there. Tell somebody that you love them. Not just somebody or anybody(although this is important too), but tell the person that you truly love that you love them. I think that's where the first step begins. So what's the next step then? Well, to be honest, I'm not entirely sure, but I'm going to try and write it out so I can figure it for you. But if I had to start anywhere, I think I'd start with where my passions are. For some people, that might be helping others, or talking with people, or maybe it's just listening, but for me its writing. So once you figure out what your passions are I think that leads to the next step. How are you going to use your passion in what you do next? This is where things start getting a little bit tricky. And I definitely don't have all the answers, so this is even hard for me to write. But my best guess is to just follow your passion and see where it leads you. By using that kind of mentality it's helped me actually accomplish things so that's pretty exciting. So I think it's important to do what you love and then do that action with great love. Because without putting love into our actions, what are we really doing? Another thing I learned about compassion this year is that it's a lot more than what we realize it is. This might sound harsh, but compassion is not reaching for that cereal box on the top shelf for the old lady next to you at the store. That kind of action should be expected of everyone -- just to be a kind person. Compassion goes a lot deeper than that. Compassion is having such a love burning inside of you that you want to change something, to motivate someone, to do something to make it better. Not on a small scale but on a large scale and trying to change something around you for the greater good. In my opinion, I think the word compassion is used too often. And I don't mean to step on anyone's toes, but I think that it's important to understand the definition of our words before we try to use those words as motivation to take action. Compassion is a powerful word, and we need that to dictate our actions.
So what it seems to have boiled down to is this: live life richly by taking the risks to show true compassion. Live your life by using your passion to drive you towards those actions of compassion. Be happy in the things you do, or the nothing that you do with people that make you happy, and embrace life.
Well guys, that's all I got for now. I really hope that you got something out of this and I love you very much.
Love always,
Amber <3
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