Thursday, October 8, 2009

Sarah Talks About Life


Today I'm offering up something written by a young lady in our church. Sarah is a senior in high school and demonstrates an amazing depth of wisdom for one so young. Rare is the teenager that looks far enough out to see the end of life and consider the consequences of choices and attitudes. Sarah also happens to be a vibrant and creative songwriter and guitar player (like, really wonderfully good! (: ). Honestly, we have a wagon load of outstanding young people in our church, and Sarah is just one example. So here is "life" just like she wrote it:

life.is.complicated. very very confusing and complicated. because it means so much more than what we think that is does.
High School conforms you to a way of thinking only in the moment instead of about the future. It makes you think that high school is all that life contains when in reality, there is SO much more, SOOOO much more. It makes people think they really know who they are, but they have NO idea.

The maturity of high school students is not very high (myself included). I HATE high school, I hate that we think life in high school is all about popularity, being homecoming king or queen looking cool in front of the "popular" ones. but I want to tell you that by the time i'm thirty i am not going to care how hot the guys thought i was because that isnt what life is all about.

Life isn't only about image.

Yeah, I guess to some people it is.....but look at how superficial and shallow that way of thinking is. and too me, it's more about what people think of me. And i don't mean the type of clothes i wear, my haircut, or even my looks. There is a difference of hygene and appearence.

Lets face it, no one is going to remember the one thing you said to them, the plays you made in football or volleyball. No one is going to remember that...but what people are going to remember is the way you made them feel and if you were a good person, if you out of all people would come up and say "hi, how are you" when no one else would. its about what you made THEM feel like. feeling invisible sucks, we've all been there. I hate that every school has invisible kids. I hate that those people have no one to turn to...and we are ALL guilty of turning away just because they are the slightest bit different.but life gets hard and sometimes we all need someone to turn too...but if no one is there what are they to do? Maybe the reason people say the hurtful things they do is because they are dying inside for a little attention, just a simple smile. I have had things that are said to me that make no sense and are hurtful and sometimes they are by my closest friends, but maybe instead of getting mad i should actually look and ask myself what i can do to help them. Maybe i should be the bigger person and be a friend to them even if they werent one to me. Because i am SICK of being self-centered. I am TIRED of only being concerned about what happens to me. Instead I wanna be someone who sticks out, not because she's "hot", not because she's popular, but because I care.

Ultimately life isn't about all the people you had sex with, it's not about how cool you looked while smoking, it's not about "last weekend when you got totally trashed". It's about being the best person you can be, it's about fulfilling the plans god specifically designed for you and being a light in the darkness. I refuse to be a thirty five year old stuck in high school memories.

High school is just a chapter in the book of life. We don't know when we're gonna die. It could be today...or tomorrow...or maybe even in 80 years. I honestly have no idea.
but what i do know is that i hope all the people that come to my funeral are able to say.... "that Sarah M. left a legacy on life. she loved and sincerely cared for all those around her. She STRIVED to bring a smile to everyones face because they deserved it and deserve someone to be there and care for them. Everyone does and Sarah wanted people to see that."

I don't know why i am writing this, but i think it's because there are other people that feel this way but are too afraid to share it and instead are conforming to the thoughts of every other high school student. I dont know about you...but i want to be different. I want to be a light because I am not ashamed of what I believe in. I hope this note makes you think about where your life is going and if your doing everything in your ability to make it the best it can be. No one deserves to be broken and I want to help and see every broken heart that there is....I want to help mend you back together...

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

liked this very much. Mom

jennamduncan said...

That's my best friend! That's my best friend! :) She's like the most amazing girl EVER! :)