That’s Progression Baby
(I whole-heartedly apologize for the existential nature of this entry which showcases my longwindedness. I know that only the most dedicated of my blog followers will make it all the way through)

I think all of the directions we take in our lives can be traced to a series of life altering moments. From childhood we inherently carry in us a pure hope and unadulterated perception of life that slowly wears to skepticism and the burdens of “real life”. We as adults tend to label this beautiful perspective as naiveté and criticize those who hold on to it, if only to a small degree. Even for those of us who champion holding on, some lazy day comes around, and something happens, a moment that seems to shatter your youth into adulthood. It could be something extraordinarily happy, so happy that you struggle to understand how something as wonderful as this was possible, especially for you. Perhaps it’s devastating, to the point where the only strength in you is focused on reminding yourself to breathe. In my life, the moments that have gotten me where I am, are the subtle seemingly meaningless ones that are over almost as soon as they begin.
These moments, no matter the form, mould and sculpt you into ‘who you are’, but always at the core is what we have always been and always will be.
For as long as I can remember, I’ve looked forward to growing up, being independent and strong. I longed for the day that I would know, beyond dispute that I had made it; I made it to my happiness, I made it to my life. I look forward to it still. We know where we want to be in regards to who we want to become, I don’t believe that changes. You may pursue numerous careers, desire to live in different places; one day you may look forward to a life free of family responsibilities while the next your heart craves the joy of family. These things will always be extremely important and influential on the direction of your life, but they fluctuate so often for me that I am forced to come up with a new theory, at least new to me.
The core of me projects upon everything that I do, whether it is good or bad. It’s who I am. It’s not so much what I take into my life that defines who I am as much as what I produce from what I am. Read Matthew 15. v 11 reads ‘Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man.’ This is not to excuse bad behavior by any means and of course outside influences will affect the ways that I change as a person, from the lessons I learn to the experiences I go through. But they way I take in the information, what I do with it and every choice I make – that’s me. That is what separates me as an individual. So how do you know who you are? That’s a question that takes a lifetime to answer. But the answers I have found have begun to develop the core of ‘who I am’ into what I aspire to be.
Perhaps I have gotten too deep too fast, I digress.
Remember a time, a day, an hour whatever it was, when time seemed to stop and you felt something so powerful that it knocked you from the course of your life into a completely different path of thought or action. I’ll explain. I saw Hotel Rwanda back in February, until that point I wanted to be a writer –books, novels what have you. After that movie my entire perspective changed, but it wasn’t foreign to me. That was perhaps the strangest thing, I uncovered a part of myself that had remained hidden or too vague to recognize for so long, and I felt the most joy in knowing that this was a part of ‘who I am’. I still carry the desire to be a writer, but that dream has never filled my heart as much as the dream I have to do humanitarian work.
Now this humanitarian aspect of me has always been there, I just never knew it would satisfy such a huge portion of that innate hunger we have inside of all of us. May I suggest that we all have qualities within ourselves that we have yet to discover? In these life-altering moments we uncover something within ourselves that requires recognition, and if we play our hands right, they'll never stop. Never settle by saying you know who you are. You know who you’ve been, and in this moment you may know who you want to or will be, but in the turn of a single minute, it is so possible for your world to change.
Life is one turn after another; no one’s path is straight out before them. We compensate for diversions with persistence and strength, using all that we are to stay straight when the way bends. I can only hope I have the wisdom to bend when I need to bend.
But how do we retain the fire we feel in the moment of the moment? That I don’t know my friends. If anyone has any ideas, enlighten me. I only know that you may only feel the force and power of those moments for a short time, but if you act upon it, the next one shouldn’t be that far behind. That’s progression baby.