These Are the Good Days

SotD: Atlantic by Keane

We choose our happiness... or our misery.

Although I don't often discuss my choice of song of the day, I felt that it would be appropriate to do so today. On the surface, "Atlantic" comes across as a needy self-indulgent anthem to codependency. It really does, which is why I disliked the song a lot at first. However I listened to it again. And again. And again. And eventually I heard a different message in it.

When I listen to "Atlantic," I now hear the song of a man who is looking, not for someone to be alone with forever, but rather for a place that he can call home. It is a song of hopeful wandering. Yes. Hopeful not hopeless. I detect a little too much hopeless in the mainstream media right now.

But the majority of the message is in the actual tone of the music. In the beginning of the song the tone is sorrowful, or even ominous in nature. He talks about his fear of being old and always being alone or afraid. He talks about being without a place that is one of comfort to him. There comes a shift about halfway through the song, however, and the tone of the music becomes positive, hopeful and even in some ways happy. But here's the crazy thing: the lyrics are still pretty much the same! Same word, but a much happier sounding song! And what I found in this song was a great connection on the way we, as people, approach life.

So much of life is not in what happens, but in how we approach life. I've seen a lot of people, myself included, who take the tiniest taps from God as though they are staggering blows. I hear, on a daily basis, people who take a broken pencil like its the worst things. They complain at every corner. It is not only a huge bummer, but also frustrating after the umpteenth time. I understand that sometimes it feels like one thing after another is happening to us, but there also comes a point where we have to pick our battles and choose when something is worth the aggravation or not.

Life has been pretty stressful of late. There have been a lot of things that have tested me in recent months and the past year - I have seen death; I have struggled with crippling anxiety; moving to the City hasn't quite worked out - which is okay because I've realized I don't want to move there. Honestly, if I wanted to try I could make the list of "tests" so much longer.

But the point of this post is to say that I am not a victim. The point is to say that life is messy; bad things happen and yes, God will test you. He will test your faith and He will give you tests to help you grow as a person. No, God won't give you whatever you want whenever you ask for it - He doesn't work that way. At least I don't think He works that way, but it's not my place to pretend to understand the ways of the Lord.

My life is so full of hope and goodness. Yes, I've seen death, but the deaths I've struggled with the past couple years have taught me a lot about myself and have helped me become a better person. Yes, New York City didn't work out, but I am happier here in the capital district than I have ever been in my life - as a Youth Group leader and soon-to-be session member at Westminster Presbyterian Church, I hope and pray to be worthy of my position. I am in a relationship with, and deeply love, a beautiful, wonderful woman, who has stood beside me through my worst struggles - through times that I'm not sure anyone else might have stayed. Moreover, I have finally developed the courage to write my short stories and to send them out to magazines. I feel like I'm finally accomplishing something with my work.

I hope to move out of my parents' house. I hope that I'll be published. I hope for a great future ahead. And I can say, with certainty, that these are the good days.