An Elective on Perspective
by UMES Junior Brittany Johnson
“Beneath You or Eye
Level?
That awkward moment when you look in the mirror and wonder
who broke into your house and has the audacity to stare back at you . . . Ok,
so we all do things that don’t exactly qualify as activities that build
character. But, it doesn’t mean that they have to qualify as activities that
destroy your character either. Once you realize that every action has been preceded
by a pattern that was set by you, you will start to consider the things you do
differently. It goes from being something that you just do to something that’s been
primed. An action doesn’t come out of nowhere. You’ve thought about it in some
capacity, whether it was a quick thought or you created a blueprint. When you
do things that are ‘outside of your character’ you’ve just made the first step
toward changing your character. You just have to decide whether or not it was
for the better or for the worst.
Sometimes you have to splash water on your face and wake up.
You have to consider the phrase, “You’re better than what you do.” If you’re “better”
than something, then why do you do it? Wouldn’t it be difficult to stoop to
something beneath you? Not being presented with the right opportunity and not
being capable of doing something are two completely different situations. You
have to ask yourself if you wouldn’t do it, or if you’re just waiting on the
opportunity. You never know how green the grass is until you cross the street;
hopefully you don’t end up making the trip only to realize it’s the same shade
as your own. Wasted time, curiosity, and energy, only to find out what you
already knew. Do yourself a favor and stay home. Stay home and water the grass
that you’ve already paid to stand on. And if it happens to be bad grass, then
move. Don’t tip toe over to the neighbors to enjoy their green grass only to
return to your own, smelling like fertilizer and discontentment.
Trust me; I’ve done some things that made me wonder who
raised me. Don’t try and outrun the truths that you would rather not
acknowledge because that makes the impact even harder when you finally cross
paths. The truth can set you free, yes, but it can also trap you. You’ll find
yourself stuck in a corner that you backed yourself into because you didn’t
want to face the hard facts. If you do it, it’s a part of you. Don’t justify
it, identify it. Identify where it came from and address the situation in hopes
of redirecting it.
Develop your negatives into positives; don’t just stand in
the dark.
You’ve just taken, An
Elective on Perspective
UMES Family!
Leave a comment.
SUBSCRIBE to Real Life @ UMES!
Look to the right of the blog posts to: Submit your email address, or subscribe by RSS Feed on My Yahoo, Google, in a Reader, etc.
SHARE our blog with other people interested in Real Life @ UMES.
The Real Life @ UMES Blog is a place for our commentary and opinions about what life is really like @ the University of Maryland Eastern Shore. It is not designed to express the views and opinions of the University as a whole. Peace
