You know....

[Quiet Storm]

The American society is filled with so many things that totally plague and attack self-esteem and identity. Grades, school work, what school one attends, what job one holds, how educated someone is, financial stability.... the list goes on and on. Demands are constantly thrown at us all throughout the day. The moment we finish one, five new ones bombard us from every side demanding our attention. Personal endeavors are considered secondary at best, and people are constantly chasing an unknown something. Fighting to meet a standard that few people and reach, and those who do are usually miserable.

There's no true rhyme or reason for posting this. I dont necessarily have a question that I'd like to ask, but I just felt like I had to express myself with regards to this subject matter. Maybe it should be moved somewhere else....I just chose this place because I couldn't find my journal, and it's the first place I log onto when I get on this site. If it should be, I have no problem with it.

Stress is the norm in our culture, so it makes perfect logical sense to be stressed out about your relationship with God, since we're already accustomed to it. *I mean if we're not careful, we can look at it as just another requirement to meet: How long and often we pray, how many souls a day we save......it can take away from life instead of it being your life.

I don't know...I'm just reflecting now. There are so many more important things in life than what society stresses (no pun intended). It can be really disheartening when you get to the point where you don't want to get out of bed because you have so many demands ready for you as soon as you step out of the door. I just.....think there's something wrong with that. *shrug*

 

[Alenci]

Stress is the norm in our culture, so it makes perfect logical sense to be stressed out about your relationship with God, since we're already accustomed to it. *I mean if we're not careful, we can look at it as just another requirement to meet: How long and often we pray, how many souls a day we save......it can take away from life instead of it being your life.

Ugh... tell me about it. The more I worry about the shape of my spiritual life and the amount of time I spend in God's presence each day, the more it feels like some sort of obligation and not a joy. That's when I know it's time to step back, allow God to take control again, and fill my heart with a hunger for him. Sometimes that works. Othertimes I just feel that I am wandering listlessly through life, leading a tedious, meaningless existance from day to day.

 

[zyzychyn]

Stress, ha. I am programmed to only sleep on national holidays. </obscure Dilbert reference>

But yeah, you're absolutely right. And sometimes I just have to step back think, wait, WHY am I doing all this again? Sometimes I wonder if I'm thinking too much about worldly standards and not enough about God's standards. Whether I'm, you know, trying to fulfill both and going to end up needing to make a choice. Hard to tell. I think I went off topic, sorry.

 

[Boss_BlueAngels]

You konw, I totally agree with everything you said. There are an impossible number of demands placed upon us daily.

The sad thing is that so many people are miserable, as you said. Doing the same thing day to day, hating work and making other poeple hate their work because the other person is miserable... it can be a horrible chain reaction ruining everyone's day. I know two people who hate their work and do it only for the money. For me that is really the exception, not the rule. The people in my family have been able to do what they love, and have always enjoyed getting up to work. Still totally stressful, but at least they have the joy of being happy to be there... that's one stressor to eliminate!

But you know what? That is the very reason and inspiriation for me to do something I love to do. And why I think everyone else should settle for nothing less than what they love. Even if you have to live on split pease. (literally, because you can't pay for the whole ones!)