"Inconvenience." An Epiphony.

Today. Today was a good day. I can say that now. Now that I have thought about it and realized what an idiot I can be.

About a year and a half ago I was taking one of those personality tests, for the 17th time, and I realized something...I realized something in my mind but I'm not sure it transferred into my reality. This test revealed me to be quite task-oriented (as opposed to people-oriented). I had scored this way before and it really bothered me. I know for a fact that I really like people so to be labeled as one who seems to "orient" themselves around the opposite end of the spectrum was frustrating.

I then began to accept the fact that I may in fact like to accomplish tasks. I then burst out of the "personality type box" by beginning to understand that I might just be task-oriented in my interactions with people.

Okay, I do have a point to this narcissistic discussion of my personality.

Today, I felt like I was inconvenienced or interrupted constantly. This frustrated me. I got annoyed. I got cranky because I couldn't do the things that I had set out to do when the day began. By golly, I have a flight to Norway tomorrow and people were getting in the way of all that I had (or thought I had) to do before I left*.

I get up this morning and on my way to my office I run into two of the ladies who work at the YWCA. Phenomenal conversation, but they delayed my arrival to my office.

People were in my office. I couldn't get things started so I went inside and hid in the living room.

Someone found me in the living room and we chatted for a few minutes.

Then someone else found me and we actually worked on a task (not so bad of an inconvenience).

By this time, more people came in and we got to chatting and it was time for lunch.

As I was eating my lunch, the butcher came by. I owed him money and we talked about his holiday to Spain.

I went back out to the office to write a report and my former boss and professor (who probably will read this) was on Skype with Laura. Two hours later, while still on Skype, I took a very welcomed phone call from someone in the States.

Then, I tried to head to my office when the neighbor boys asked me to play with them. By this time, I was catching on....so I wrestled around with them and shot them with rubber bands...and I had a blast.

Right around the time I thought I could squeeze in an hour of work, one of my students returned from England and he needed help sorting through his luggage.

Then, it was time for dinner out with some friends. A long dinner. A great time.

I got back to find that I needed to take another student into Bray because her phone didn't work and she was stranded at midnight with no lift.

And, now, at 1:32 am, rather than do work, I thought I would use this blog to teach myself a lesson.

People were getting in my way?? Whaaaattt?! Who am I? People are more important than tasks**.

And, hopefully, for the rest of my life, people will continue to "get in my way" and maybe, at some point, I will begin to see people as way more than an inconvenience, and more of a blessing.

*For those who "inconvenienced me today, please know that I really do like you. And, at the time, I probably wasn't just tapping my foot wondering why you had to mess up my day. I am just realizing the way I can be.
**I do realize that, at times, tasks are very important.

"Nothing matters...

...in this life accept for relationships. And a relationship Jesus Christ is the most important of them all."

This was something that Will Franklin Chapman shared at his sister's funeral. He was the one who was driving the car that tragically killed his little sister. In the middle of this intensely painful time, this was his conclusion about life. Nothing too deep. But actually, it might be the most central reality of all.

I know that I have to be reminded of this daily. As I feverishly work toward a Masters degree, I must remember what it's about. As I wake up in the morning with a list of tasks to accomplish, I must remember what those tasks need to be about. As I sit here typing on a computer, I must remember that relationships, most notably with Jesus, is what this life is all about. How sad we would be if we ventured through life and looked back only to say, "I spent way too much time worrying about stuff to do and things to accomplish."

Relationships. This is where we must center our lives. Can we lose focus in relationships? Yes. Can we be involved in unhealthy relationships? Yes. Can we mess up in relationships? Yes. But still, it is in these that true life can be had.

Portions of the memorial service can be viewed here. Also, a friend showed me this sweet site about adoption called Shaohannah's Hope. It's well worth checking out. I believe adoption has to be something that Christians are aware of and potentially involved with in some way or another. A good way to start is to understand more about the process.

people are different.

"People generally prefer to be with people like themselves." (from Divided by Faith)

Why?

I often ask this question in my mind. Sometimes unfortunately, I ask this question out loud (I'm realizing my questioning and playing devil's advocate can be annoying).

My "why's" are often left unanswered but they usually result in a search and more thinking and more questions.

I think the simple answer to the questioning of this statement is:
We like ourselves. Usually.

We think that the way we do things is probably the best way of doing things. It is, after all, the way we've chosen...to do things. So, we want to be around people who have chosen the "best way of doing things" just like we have.

Obviously, I'm inciting a problem here. Or is there? Is it really all that bad that we like to associate with people like ourselves? This can be argued sociologically from both sides fairly strongly.

Without getting too deep into that discussion (mostly because I don't understand it that well), I would argue that we are missing out when we act completely on our "inherent" desire to be with people just like us...or as close to that as we can find (we're all pretty uniquely weird, ya know?).

But, think about this (I know I need to): We are all different. Therefore, what "way of doing things" is really the best? I mean, we all do things at least a little differently. So, maybe I could be enriched by associating with people that do things differently. The fear (that often paralyzes us) is that we may actually start to think that the "other" person's way is better and that could make us change our mind about everything we've held so tightly for so long (If we let go that easily, then maybe we weren't holding it as tightly as we thought). This leaves exploration of another's culture, beliefs, faith, and preferences as an often taboo pursuit.

So, where am I really going with this? Not so sure, except I can say that I think it is okay to hold values closely and firmly. I even think that is a very good thing. But, I believe we are beings who don't have everything exactly right and we would be better served (as people and as Christians) if we would interact (and maybe even listen) to people who are "different" than us. You don't have to sell the farm and move to the other side of the world on an issue. You may often keep the very same belief on a matter, but your perspective has been widened.

It's not natural for us to associate with the "other" (I know it's not for me). But, I'm trying to explore the good in doing just that.