Thursday 17 July 2014

Perception vs Reality

This past weekend Jose and I went to London and toured the Ripley's Believe It or Not Museum. It was so much fun. We saw things that intrigued us, made us a little squeamish, made us laugh, and things that we wouldn't have believed had we not been looking at it with our own eyes.

Found this little fact on a table cloth. TN REPRESENT!
King Henry VIII's shoe! I'm related to this guy too!
A portrait of John F Kennedy made entirely out of butterflies. Weird but cool.


Those are just some of the cool things that we saw. We also came across something very eye opening and humbling believe it or not. Which brings me to my main focus.
Ever hear the saying, "The grass is greener on the other side." I'm sure many of you have even thought it many times. I know I certainly have. You come across people and circumstances that seem so much greater than what you have. You envy those people and start hating your own life. I've been there, but I have learned that some people's grass only looks greener because they've laid down fake grass (turf) on top of their own very dry deserts. They want you to envy them because that's how they justify lying to themselves.

This weekend I was reminded that it's not how green my grass is, it's that my grass has roots and though at times it may appear a bit brown from the harshness of the sun, if I look closer I can see that it still has life to it. More life than what I see on the surface, it's still growing... brown tips and all.

In the museum this weekend, Jose and I saw a video of two individuals that knew the meaning of LIFE! But what humbled me was the fact that these two men were in the Ripley's Museum. Both people were born with only their torso's, no legs, no hips, just their torso. In the videos it showed these individuals achieving greatness DESPITE their circumstances. It made me sad, not for them, but for humanity. How is it that people who have so much less than most are the ones that really live life to the absolute fullest? Why are we not ALL doing this? Why do people have to be born without torso's to be recognized as acceptional, or inspiring?

It's because we think the grass is greener on the other side. We are always comparing our lives with those around us. And it makes us unhappy. It prevents us from being who we were born to be, loving how we were created to love, taking risks that have great rewards, fighting for what we know is right, speaking what we know is true. We are afraid of what other people might think, we are too lazy to put in the effort, it's so much easier to just look over the fence and envy our neighbors grass and complain to them how your own grass just won't seem to grow. 

The problem is, it's not really the grass that is dead, it's us. We allow our unhappiness, fear, pride, and envy to consume who we are. To creep up in our minds and lives and take over all that we were born to be. Your neighbor with that fake green grass? They feed off of your misery. They take you away from your own grass that you should be tending to and caring for, and they convince you that their grass is so much better. But it never is. It never is, because it's not real grass, it has no roots, no life, no purpose. It just looks pretty. 

My challenge to you today is to get rid of the negative people and things in your life. The people that suck you dry and put doubt in your mind. The ones that say their marriages are perfect,but they have someone on the side , their bank accounts are over flowing with money, but they can't seem to buy that one thing to fill that hole in their heart, their cars are top of the line yet they drive alone, their jobs that pay more than yours but take them away from their family, their houses that have more rooms than a hotel, yet they never can call it home, their grass that is emerald green but it's not real....those are the people that slowly suck the life out of you. 

Instead, keep your nose on your side of the fence and water your grass. Don't abandon it because it looks dead on top, it just needs a little TLC to make it green again. Live YOUR life the way you were destined to. Conquer something great every day. Speak only words of kindness and truth to those around you. Surround yourself with people who give you joy, people who give you water to help your grass grow. Life is too short to live vicariously through other people. They want you to live through them, because they can't live with themselves. 

I am living proof that the grass is greener where you water it.

Ask yourself this one question, What would you do if you weren't afraid? Answer it, now go do it. It's as easy as that, Believe It or Not!