Ecclesiastes 2:24 (GNB) - The best thing anyone can do is to eat and drink and enjoy what he has earned. And yet, I realized that even this comes from God.
Squirrels are my favorite animals to photograph. When I saw this little guy, I hurried to grab my camera before he ran off. I actually think he wanted to have a photoshoot, though. He was smiling for me while he was eating; it was funny to watch. It was like he was telling me “I’m only passing through, snap some pictures of me eating before I go”.
I thought about the Ecclesiastes verse at the top of this post. The squirrel was doing his normal squirrel work and stopped to eat his lunch. He looked so happy, so content; the opposite of how I was feeling during this time. Graduation was coming up and graduate school was about to start, I was nervous; I was afraid of the unknown.
At the end of yesterday’s blog, I said “REAL FAKE reminds me that just because something looks good or real, or just because someone looks like they’re doing well, doesn’t mean that’s actually the case. Ecclesiastes teaches me that essentially, while here on Earth, I should focus on myself, my personal development, and my happiness.”
From the outside looking in, I saw myself as an intelligent girl who excels at a lot of things. But from the inside looking out, I saw myself as a girl who is overly stressed and under prepared for the world. Fortunately, the squirrel reminded me how I was finally reaping the benefits of all the hard work I’d put in over the years. I was finally graduating college; something I’d looked forward to since I was a little girl. Instead of being proud of myself, though, I was stressing myself out by focusing on how difficult graduate school could be.
I didn’t tell anyone this; I just smiled through the stress. This great internal confliction was not fun to deal with. I was so stressed out and fearful of the future, I questioned my life and life decisions. All the stress and hardship I’ve experienced, what’s the point? Does any of my hard work even matter? Do I really need graduate school?
Seeing this squirrel temporarily stopped all my worries. The squirrel taught me that it’s okay to take a break, sometimes it’s even necessary. I saw this squirrel enjoying his lunch and was reminded to just eat and be merry and look cute in the process. I feel like God sent this squirrel to remind me to continue to work hard, to enjoy the fruits of my labor, and to be cute while I’m working towards my goals.
Life Lesson:
· Eat & be merry; and look cute while doing it.
How I Apply it to My Life:
· I take life one day at a time. I take breaks when necessary. I’m still working on the cute part. I be on my Frank Gallagher vibes 4/7 days a week.
Song:
· No song for this post!
SLIDESHOW: Ethiopian food in Berlin. A fried shrimp (that I did not eat) in Attica. Lasagna in Amsterdam.