Taking Responsibility.

So the other day I was watching a sermon from the oaks online (if you'd like to watch click here). It's all about putting yourself first and your plans ahead of God's. It shows the consequences and uncertainty that come with decision making like that, and I could relate to them easier than I'd like to admit. 

The thing that stuck out to me the most is how quickly we are to blame others for our problems. When you know someone loves you unconditionally it's easy to take things out on them and find a way to throw the blame onto them rather than ourselves. 

First example is my parents (I think almost every teen does this), you blame your attitude on their genetics when it's up to you to change them. Take responsibility for who you are and start growing to the person you want to be if you aren't happy. 

The second example is your significant other, for me Walker. I cannot tell you how good I am at finding a way to get the fault off of me and back onto him in the midst of an argument. I'm not proud of this, it's something I really don't like about myself. But I also don't like to be wrong. Seeing Walker hurt and knowing it's my fault should be enough for me to try and change this nasty trait before it becomes a really big issue for us. He's just so forgiving and kind and he'll take the blame even if it isn't his. I am so lucky to have someone like him, but I shouldn't take advantage of that.

In the end, we really just have to realize we have control over ourselves and God has control over the circumstance. If God's got it all figured out we should stop focusing on changing our lives but instead ourselves.

Get Over The Hate.

So many things have happened in life, and not all of it has been good. When I look back at the majority of my teenage years I'm saddened to say that I was my own worst enemy. I made my own problems from nothing and then exploded them even more. I drug everyone down into the ground with me with these problems, and would even find ways to blame them. As I've gotten older I'm glad to say I've gotten much better about that, probably what I was dealing with was a maturity issue. But the point of this isn't really to focus on the bad, but to think about ways of getting over it. We aren't supposed to just quit cold turkey. I know when I try that it doesn't work out (if you want an example you can read this blog I actually made on here).So the point I'm trying to make is to make progress in any way it has to come in moderation. I discovered that about dieting and changing my lifestyle that way, but I never thought of it as an all around problem solver. So instead of waking up all determined to change everything, I'm going to wake up and learn to be okay with my opportunities and think of ways to make them into strengths. Cutting anything cold turkey simply doesn't work. Not for me, and not for many people I know. Putting so much pressure on myself is just as self-destructive as doing nothing about it.

In Padre news, the island has a flood watch basically all weekend. Me and Walker went out into the waves and they were over his head and he's 6'1" so you can imagine how scary that was for both of us. Either way we both stayed out there for a while, and woke up to alerts on our phones. It's been fun Padre, but we still have one more day. Don't flood just yet ;)