Time=Busyness

by Sarah

Shopping malls. Facebook. Work. School. Relationships. Twitter. Food. Clubs. Causes. Religion. Family. Email.

Your house needs cleaning. Your car is running on empty with a flat tire. There's a stack of bills to pay. Someone wants your advice. Someone else your time. And yet another your money.

This is the life we live. There is always something to do and some responsibility to fulfill.

My question is: if our lives are only so long, why do we get caught up in all this? Why do our lives equate to busyness?

Shouldn't life be lived to fullest, with passion, purpose and abundance?

"But", you say, "I still have just as much to do. I can believe that all I want, but where am I going to find the time to live it out?" That's our excuse. We say, "I'll do it later," "Not now, I'm busy," and "I just don't have time!"

I'm here to say yes, that is reality. And if that is how you view it, you're never going to have time. You're never going to be responsibility-free. There's always going to be more to do.

I want to call us to live beyond that. To exceed expectations of fulfilling responsibilities and meeting deadlines and to live in spite of them. Live abundantly. Love people deeply. Take the day a moment at a time. Quit using excuses. You know, "take time to stop and smell the roses".

Time

Time goes too fast.

That is something I am definitely starting to learn.

With the school year coming to a close in 9 weeks, and my fiancé and I planning our wedding in 2 months (a week after school is out), I am realizing just how fast time seems to go.

But then I look around and see how dependent our country is on time. FAST food, INSTANT messaging, EXPRESS line, FAST lane...

When do we have time to just stop and enjoy the world around us?

We get impatient if we have to wait more than a couple minutes for our food to cook, our gas tank to be filled, the elevator doors to open or the cashier to ring up our merchandise.

Why can't we stop and just enjoy the scenery?

When did life become in the fast lane? When did we decide that EVERYTHING needs to be faster than fast?

I love that school is coming to and end and I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE that I am getting married in 75 days.

But I challenge everyone to stop every now and then and enjoy life. Enjoy our surroundings. Enjoy the beautiful creations that are around us everyday.

America

by: Jenny

I have always been full of spirit towards things. In high school, I was always the one that dressed way over-the-top during "spirit week". I was the girl that would paint her face and wear green, black and silver from head to toe to cheer on our football team. I played volleyball, basketball and ran track, and my twin sister was a cheerleader; so school spirit was something I could not escape (nor did I want to).

I was so spirited that during my senior class awards, I received the "Most School Spirit" award. No surprise there; Although I must admit I would have liked to have received "Most Athletic" or "Most Likely to Succeed." However, "spirit" it was, and I was content.

That same spirit carried from my days as a high-schooler into my college life. I love to invest in my school and its activities and to support them. I love to wear the GFU colors, logo, and name proudly, and believe that EVERYONE should be proud of where they are.

Granted, not everyone is; which saddens me. Why not be proud of something that has such a big impact on your life? Sure, school may not be for everyone, but you may as well enjoy it while you're there, right?

This mindset of being spirited in everything I do started when I was little. I grew up with the idea that America was the best place to be and that I was extremely fortunate to be here. I love that we are a free country and I love that we are granted so many freedoms. I am extremely proud to be an American. I know that many people get the impression that we are "fat, lazy, and materialistic," which may be the case for some, but I am so proud and blessed to be here.

I realize that there are a lot of bad things in America; for example, we are a country that is pressed for time. Drive-thrus are popular and if we have to wait more than a few minutes we get angry. We run from thing to thing, and often forget to stop and enjoy the scenery. We have a government that is often ridiculed or unsupported (I am NOT going to post government/politically-related posts in this blog if I can help it. I do not know enough about these areas to take on a knowledgeable standpoint and therefore will not comment).

But there are also so many good things in America: We are a strong country. We have so many advantages and blessings that many countries do not have. We are a country that so many are willing to defend. We are a country of diversity and we are a country that strives to be the best and the strongest.

We are America. And I am an American.