Sink or Swim

I was only half paying attention while I was washing some raspberries today (if it was up to me, I'd eat them straight out of the container, but my mother has a hissy-fit when I do that.) It was only after I got over the amusing plopping noise they made when I threw them into the glass that I realized not all of them were sinking to the bottom.

So naturally, I started a conversation with myself about why some of them were floating and some of them were sinking.  (It honestly doesn't take much to entertain me.)  Those little guys at the top weren't going to let themselves be submerged.  They were fighting for life, for air, for an escape.  They had two choices: sink or swim.  They chose the latter.

I've been wrestling with a lot of contradicting thoughts over the past few weeks, and I've been jotting them down in my journal whenever a new one comes to mind....

Unanswered

How can you tell someone how much they’re hurting you?
     That you cry yourself to sleep every night thinking of the

     memories from times passed.

How can you miss someone so much and then, in the next second, be indifferent to ever seeing them again?

     Knowing that the present will never go back to that moment

     frozen in your mind.

How can two polar-opposite emotions like love and hate both be felt towards the same person?

     And how do you make sure the first one claims the victory in

     the end?

I've been reflecting on those questions a lot the past few days and up until the raspberry incident, I didn't have any answers.  But those little guys may have shed some light....so listen up, self, I'm writing this for you.

How can you tell someone the truth about how you feel?  Easy. Just do it.  Believe it or not, they might not know you feel you're being ripped to shreds.  Tell them what's on your heart.  Open up or keep it to yourself. You have two choices.

How can you stop living life as a fairy tale?  Easy. Wake up.  Time changes people and situations.  If you keep living in the past, you're going to miss out on the incredible present God has placed in front of you.  Accept reality and stare it straight in the face.  Move on or keep getting hurt.  You have two choices.

How can you keep your emotions from playing mind games with you?  Easy. Stop giving them control.  Love and hate are both incredibly strong words - there's a happy medium between the two.  Being level-headed about something allows you to see its worth.  Keep fighting or let go.  You have two choices.

Notice a trend?  There will always be at least two choices to every problem you encounter: the easy choice and the one less traveled.  And while the one less traveled may be the hardest road you've ever gone down, know that there's a Light at the end of the tunnel, and He's promised to never leave you on your own.