Hope and Faith

Being a teenager is all about having some hope. Wanting, and willing for things to happen can be just as powerful as doing things in some cases. Hope shines a light in darkness and helps like the way in the pitch black. Hope reigns as beacon of courage over us in our darkest hour (I Found You). Here begins the next portion of this great American story. It all starts with hope and faith.

When we don't have hope we've already given up. What motivation would we have if we didn't have an inkling that things will get better? What would keep us going when all is lost? There's nothing us but hope and faith. Hope is defined as a feeling that a desire will be fulfilled (according to Siri). Faith is a belief in something without proof. They may not make sense to some people but we all have some portion of both that keeps us moving forward. We have to believe in the unseen because not everything can be explained. I used to think things were purely black or white, I've come to realize life is really a gray area. College forces you to think, to make actual choices with real consequences, and to talk about anything and everything. My roommate and I yesterday got into this long talk about faith and why some people believe in God and others don't. We talked about belief in, the unseen, judgement, punishment, comfort and the ideas of free will and destiny. Does fate exist, are we on a set track, if so - then are some people chosen and bound for greatness? Too many questions and they can't be answered. What you think is what you believe. It's up to you to make those decisions and form your own ideas. All I know is within all of us, on some level, we have hope and faith for our lives.

There are some days that just make you so hopeful for what's to come and there's others that test your faith in all ways possible. How you deal with situations only says somethings. Faith may be shaken but not broken. Hope might be stomped over but never extinguished. Let me tell you about my Tuesday, morning madness ensued with brisk cold walks to office, random email sending, and 1D "Take Me Home" belting. Whatevs, fast forward through tennis class and it was back to the office for another round of presidential duty fulfilling. After that it was off to to my biology, ecology and evolution lab which got "nutty" real fast (excuse my terrible pun). We legit cracked nuts with pliers and forceps to simulate natural selection with the classic Darwinian finches. Shells, seeds and dignity flew everywhere (y'all know I was aggressive as heck - things i don't do ... lose). We spent legit tons of time calculating nonsense before calling it a day. I spent my afternoon doing some soul-searching (only in college). Questioning everything that makes you you is kind like a big deal and definitely takes some time. All I can do is hope for the best and have faith that things will turn out for the better. I stopped by an organic chemistry supplemental instruction and learned about elimination reactions (I'd like to eliminate chemistry from my life - #irrelevant) before settling down to watch the general election coverage. Those hours Tuesday night were some of the most electrifying I've ever felt. You could just feel that people around the world were doing the exact same thing, waiting for the story of the year - who would be the next president of the United States. I called my parents who were anxious but I could hear them smiling over the phone, no beaming, and they were so ecstatic that this was really happening. I was sitting on USA Today watching the states change colors and I looked to my home state, Ohio to make up it's mind. When it turned blue, I knew it was over. Barack Obama would add four more years to his journey in leading this country. I erupted with emotion, and relief. Now begins the real work. To see all the tweets and statuses about people's hate for Obama and democrats was honestly sad. Here's what we need to do - the presidency has been decided, we all need to get behind our leader and work to improve our own country - no matter who sits in the oval office, it's ultimately up to us to unite and rise to our former strength and regain our title as the greatest nation on the face of the Earth. Our greatest attribute is our diversity in all aspects, but it's currently our greatest divider. When we can break down those divisions that's when we can return to prosperity for all (not just a privileged few). Politics just got boomed! We all need some hope that this time of hardship will pass, and faith to trust in our elected officials actually do jobs we hired them to do.

Hope and faith are some of the most fundamental feelings and concepts of humanity. As teenagers, and especially those of us in college we have to have both. It's a tough world out there. We all know what's looming ahead, graduation, and entering the real world where things are difficult as hell and opportunities don't just come plopping into our laps. We have to hope for a brighter future, or else what are we even doing on our campuses? I hope at the end of this that we've got what we wanted out of college (maybe, more than just an academic education that leads to a degree). Back to my life and Wednesday, you could tell campus was buzzing with optimism about the news of the presidency. Everyone was so upbeat and cheery, it was such a change. I went to all my classes and did me - as always. I even shot an out of studio episode of my pop culture show "Dirty Pop"  where we got random to participate. It was awesome, and I had a great time. Even though I'm super nervous about being in front of the camera, somehow I'm at peace there as well. I'm just doing my journalistic thing and nothing else matters for a little bit. Loves my cast and crew - they are the best. It was ff to the office where I once again I had to walk (this whole physical movement thing, I'm not about it) in the tear-inducing cold. I hung out there and got some work done. I had another meeting (because it's my livelihood apparently) and it went well, some great moments, and we moved quickly. I think, or at least I hope, I'm coming into my own with this whole presidency thing. Back to room to get my stuff to study before I went kinda-sorta downtown with my newest friends Josh and Kylie (aka Jylie). Uhm, yeah - so how is it that us three we legit super productive in running through our exam study guide and still sharing random stories from our crazy weird lives? #thingsthatneverhappen - I'm happy that they were down to study and make friends, upperclassmen usually don't take interest in us lowly folk (then again, I might be super personable). Kylie has a pet snake, and Josh eats 3 the chocolate coat of 3-Musketeers before eating the nougat (like who does that?) - random facts. Back to my room to glow at my breaking the routine moments and then pass out. Hopefully, this is an indication that I'm growing up. Just gotta keep the hope/faith.
 
Being a teenager is all about keeping the faith. That means being able to trust the world will right itself in time. It means that things may get worse before they get better, but trust that it will get better. When you hope, when you wish, and when you pray - you're saying something about the future. When you close with an amen or let it be or blow out some candles, that's your sea, sending it away to the heavens. We're moving on with or without you. Just have some hope and faith.

My blog post question for the day is ... what are your hopes for the future of society? I hope that we can all learn to love and care for one another unconditionally, that means non-exclusively and regardless of the identities we own.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Sex Bomb

Netflix and Chill

Awakening