Strong Bonds

Over this past weekend, I went on an Episcopal Youth Diocese Church Retreat.  I have been going to these twice a year, for seven years.  I've been to Waycross over 10 times in my lifetime and I'm not ready to let it go yet.  The people I meet there, the memories I make, the tears I shed, are all things that have changed my life in such a positive way.  Without Waycross I would've never developed strong friendships with people I know today.  I would probably have never met them either.  I am so thankful that I am able to go see these people twice a year, and make life long memories with them.  I don't know where I would be without it.

There are two church retreats.  One is in the fall and one is in the spring.  Each time we go there is a new theme that we center our weekend around.  An endless amount of problems with infinite solutions.  Each time I go there, I learn something new, something I never would have known if I just stayed home and watched TV all weekend.  For a weekend our relationships with our phones, iPods, and other technological devices are severed so we can get closer to one another and get a break from our life back home.  At first I didn't like this at all, I wanted to listen to my music and text my friends all weekend.  As I grew older, I began to appreciate that they made us unplug from the world and actually focus on something that wasn't a small screen.  We actually connect with people and with God and with ourselves.  It's truly the best part.

One down side is that we sit around a lot.  We watch power points made by the YSC (youth steering committee) and listen to them talk about what our problem topic is of the weekend and then discuss on how there may be potential solutions.  At the end of the weekend, your knees ache, your butt is sore, and your elbows hurt, but through it all we all still have a fantastic weekend.  Waycross also has a way of draining every single ounce of energy from the body.  Waking up early and going to bed late are some components as to why everyone is exhausted when they get home.  We always have an activity to do, we are never just sitting around and doing nothing.  We are always busy and we are always putting our minds to work.

At the end of the retreat, we have a Eucharist.  A night where we celebrate God and worship and pray for us and for the needs of others.  People who need to get some weight off their chest go up to get blessed by a pastor or priest.  The night usually ends in tears and lots and lots of hugs.  It all may sound sad, but it just brings us all together.  One of the major beauties of Waycross is being able to let everything go, to be yourself, and not be judged about it at all.

Without Waycross I wouldn't some of the amazing friends that I have today.  I seem to be closer to my Waycross friends then I am with my school friends.  It's just how it all plays out, it's a safe haven.  Sadly I can't go after my Senior year, and that makes me so sad.  Once my kids are old enough, they will go to Waycross, and I'll be right there to chaperon and watch as my kids relive my childhood.

We all strive towards perfection

Perfection. 

 We have all had an idea as to what the picture of perfection may be.  Whether it may be through your physical being or mental being.  Most girls want to be model skinny and have a beautiful face.  Most guys want a perfect body that everyone loves.  Usually, one doesn't want to become "perfect" for themselves, they want to achieve "perfection" to please someone else.  Their parents, boyfriend, girlfriend, etc.  We all rarely do things we want to do anymore, our lives seem to revolve around what others think.  Why not become perfect?  Because true perfection doesn't exist.

Nobody living on this earth may become perfect, no matter what he or she does or how hard he or she work towards it.  A human being cannot obtain perfection; every single human being has flaws, cracks in their mirrors to separate themselves from the reflections of others.  Each crack is a unique flaw that a person different from another.  If we all want to be perfect, what would distinguish us from a person across the room?  An American Dream for someone may be to become perfect (a super model or a model) and to be that way for the rest of his or her lives.  Although models may look perfect, they aren't.  As I said before, all human beings have flaws. We can't run from our mistakes, we can't make up for our wrong doings.  They stick with us for the rest of our lives and we have to deal with it.

A way to have stability in a life is to become happy with yourself.  Once you are happy with yourself, you can push out those voices in your head that say, you're fat or that you're ugly.  The only opinion that really truly matters is your own.  No one has control over your thoughts, only you are given the controls.  YOU choose whether you love yourself or not.  You choose whether you want to be happy with your life.  YOU get to choose.  

So why let someone else do your job, when you can complete it so easily?

Prediction

We all have some sort of vision as to what our future may be like. Whether it is in our love lives, our social lives, jobs, etc. Everything changes, may it be a positive or a negative change. Nothing can stay the same, it's just simply impossible.  We'd all like to think that our lives can stay the same for years and years, but reality has to take the reins and change our course whether we like it or not.  I am not sure where my life is going right now, but I know I have a future.  It may be bright or it may be dark, it all depends on how I act now.  20 years from now I will be 36 (yikes!) and I don't know what life may be like for me or around me.  I do have an idea of what it may look like, and I think it's pretty predictable.

 Now a day, everyone seems to have an iPhone, iPod, or an iPad.  It's just now that there are so many more technological options.  When I was younger, I had my coloring book and my crayons at age 10.  My younger brother got his first phone at the age of 10.  So many people wrap their lives around their own technology.  Video games, plasma flat screen TVs, phones, computers, etc.  It's hard to hold back on the new shiny objects that come out every week it seems.  Once you get a new phone, a nicer, better one comes out a week later.  Technology is advancing so quickly that it may soon consume our lives.

 20 years from now, I think technology will be so advanced that we may have eye wear that can give directions, and has applications on it.  We may have cars that can drive themselves.  Younger children will be spoiled with newer phones and gaming devices that they may grow up to be fully consumed in the technological world that they won't care about what they personally look like.  We are advanced, but we are advancing so quickly that we may be consumed by it all together.

 I like going outside, I like to see nature at its best.  Not look at it from a picture on some social media website or from the internet.  In 20 years, that may be the case though.  We may just all sit at home, working from our phones or computers and never have to take a step outside into the real world.  Change is coming, I just hope it won't be as drastic as I imagine.