Look Up | Jackie

Something, someone bigger than yourself.

I am very easily stressed. Thanks to approximately 31 years of social training, I have mastered the art of “faking it until I make it.” However, while I look fine on the outside, I am most likely panicking on the inside (think: that one meme with the dog sitting at a table while the room is on fire, telling himself that everything is “fine”).

School doesn’t really prepare you for the hardships and realities of life, does it? Only life really prepares you for… life. When I get overwhelmed, I tend to either try to control everything and everyone around me, or I withdraw from the world and indulge in self-isolation.

But when I feel like my world is spiraling out of control, I have to remind myself to look up. I look up, and watch the clouds floating across the skies, the leaves dancing in the wind, the stars twinkling in the night sky, the birds soaring into the heavens, and the people walking along the streets. Then I remember… everything happens for a reason. And there is something, someone, out there bigger than myself and my problems, ordaining all that comes my way. When I remember, my breath slows and my mind clears, and I relax.

Everything happens for a reason, and while you don’t know that reason yet, just look up. You will know soon.

Albert