Ok, so writing every Monday isn't working well. Whatever...
I'm sitting here listening to The Hymn of Acxiom by Vienna Teng getting ready to go to sleep. This is by far one of the most peaceful, beautiful song I have ever heard. That being said, it is creepy as all get out when you look up and listen to the lyrics. But as background music it puts me right to sleep! Just sayin'.
Also, I have been playing a lot of Assassin's Creed: Black Flag lately. I got it for my birthday two weeks ago and have been loving it! I had no idea it would be this much fun being a pirate. Character models are still stiff and funny looking and the controls work...most of the time. But the core game is just so much fun. It kinda takes me back to the original. The feeling of, "Sure, this could be done a little better, but I've never done stuff like this before and I love it so who cares?!"
Also, I had a birthday recently. I am now a quarter of a century old. Big land mark. Very exciting.
Probably my favorite thing about getting older is that I get to tell people that I'm older. I don't know what it is with our culture but there seems to be a sever lack of respect due to people's age. It feels like young people disrespect old people because they are just old, they don't understand, they're backwards, etc... Young people do not understand or value the experience and wisdom that comes with age. Honestly, even a dumb old person has more knowledge than a young person. They've been around longer and survived. They must be doing SOMETHING right!
Full disclosure: I am guilty of judging the elderly. My bad. I'm working on that.
And on the flip side, older people seem to judge younger people just because they are young, inexperienced, naive, reckless, etc...
Full disclosure: I'm getting REALLY tired of being judged because I'm young.
I don't know how many times I've gotten the, "Oh you're young, you probably don't understand" talk. It really bothers me.
Get this: I am now 25 years old. I have been playing piano for 15 years and had hundreds of performances. I've played both football and basketball and am pretty good at both. I graduated high school at 16 and scored high enough on the GED to go to a community college on track to get a music degree at ASU. I went to Africa (my 4th time leaving the country) when I was 18. I spent 8 weeks in Malawi, Africa teaching music lessons to college students. I have a long list of jobs worked and skills acquired at each which some will take to mean I can't keep a job. What it really states is that I have a very diverse professional skill set that I've been building up for the past 7 years. I leave jobs not because I can't keep them (I've only been fired once and that was because of behind the scenes politics and favoritism) but because I keep putting myself into better and better positions. Every time I move it is to a better neighborhood with better space and rent. I have moved across the continent 3 times and have now landed myself a good position as a music/worship leader at a church. Small church = small salary but hey, it's way better than sales or food services! I will have been married for 5 years this July and we are still super happy together!!!!!! I'm also tired of the, "Oh, you're still in the honeymoon stage" stupidness. Look, just because you chose poorly and are no longer happy with your spouse doesn't mean I made the same mistake. 5 years and we are still thrilled to spend time together after work and are really happy to be the last people we see before bed and the first people to see in the morning.
I had a GPA of 3.65 upon graduation without even caring. I studied, kinda, and just got through. I have a very successful marriage, live in a nice place, and have a great job. I have a very short list of "enemies" and never actually come into contact with any of them.
In short: I am well aware that I am only 25 years old but that does not mean that I am naive, incompetent, or close-minded.
As a rule of thumb: it's not only rude to judge people before you get to know them based on............pretty much anything, but it's also stupid. Honestly, everyone says, "Don't judge a book by its cover" but SO much of our society is based of judging without knowing!!! It would be like me giving a review of the book Moby Dick. I haven't read the book so it would be stupid of me to write a review. And it would be stupid of anyone to take anything in said review seriously and live according to it.
The same thing goes with people.
Let me give an example. When I was in my young teens I wore a lot of dark clothing. Basically all I owned was jeans and black tee shirts. I wore large skater shoes and chains to top it off. I didn't talk much and kept largely to myself. I listened to Evanescence and Linkin Park.
Keep in mind I was in the youth group and my dad was the pastor.
Now, you see a kid like that and what do you think? What are your thoughts when you see a kid like that standing in the corner of the room watching everyone.
Just think about it for a sec...
Now let me tell you what was going on in my head and life. I had a group of friends that I had grown up with and abandoned me on a whim for the "new kid". I felt betrayed by many people that I knew, had trusted, and in some cases, thought I had loved. All my relationships with anyone at the church were superficial and fake. It bothered me. I started going to college and nothing changed. I hated going outside. I hated being in large groups of people. People didn't care.
I wore dark colors and dressed like the fringe cultures to hide behind stereotypes. I didn't want people to think I was friendly so they could start shallow conversations with me and create surface-y relationships. I lived with the idea that I would rather be alone than with shallow "friends". I figured that if someone was willing to talk to me, to take time and try to get to know me in spite of my outward appearance that they might be worth getting to know. The other side was also true. I figured if someone was going to judge me because of what I wore or was intimidated by what I wore then I didn't want to get to know them either.
A few people did get to know me. And honestly, it was great! I really appreciate them. And one of those people I ended up falling in love with and we got married 5 years ago.
Don't judge just because of what someone has chosen to look like. People are not mistakes and neither is what they wear, say, or do. Take time to get to know someone new. Take time to get to know someone you normally wouldn't. You'll end up learning something.
Pretty much every time I see some video online of two morons yelling at each other and punching each other it starts with assumptions. It's just stupid and it never works. So just don't.
Now, you're not going to get along with everyone. Some personalities, even if there's nothing wrong with either person, just don't get along. Even if they don't cause problems they just don't click. Sure. That's a thing. Don't worry about that. Not everyone has to be a life-long friend. Some people don't get along with anyone because they have chosen to react poorly to their life. That's an instance where you can get to know someone, pity them, and just avoid them so you don't end up punching them in the kidney. Which is mean. Don't do that either.
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