I was able to conquer a demon this
week.
Deciding what I am doing for school
has been a demon for me. The school decision is haunting. Being young and
married ten-months ago, the school decision comes down to a lot more than just
what campus I like or what program is good. There is money. There are plans on
how I can continue working to make enough money. The school decision is huge. I
have not only been unable to truly decide on school, but even when I would take
the steps, I never felt good about it. I felt good about going to school, and
getting an education to fulfill my dream of becoming a screenwriter in
Hollywood. The one thing that never fit was the where of it all. This has been
the demon on my back. It has caused grief, and stress. It truly has been a
trial to me.
This has weighed on me for a while.
Saturday, my wife and I received a phone call. Westminster College, a Midwest liberal
arts school brining a campus to Downtown Mesa, was having an open house. I had
slept in that day, and had ten minutes to shower and get there. It was a rush,
but they had mentioned that everyone who goes gets a free t-shirt, and who
doesn’t like that? We hurried and went. We saw the renovated building, we heard
about the program, and talked to them. They mentioned financial aid,
scholarships, grants, and it looked like I might have a shot to get a good
education at a decent price. I spent the weekend researching college list after
list, comparing school options that I have, money, and everything. I scheduled
a meeting with Westminster to meet with them and get a specific plan for what
tuition would cost. I went in there knowing that we had a budget, and as good
as I felt about it, if the price wasn’t right then I wasn’t going to go. I
talked with them, and they were able to put together a package to save me a lot
of money. It was a shock to me to receive that much money, but it was a huge
blessing. Long story short, I am enrolled at Westminster College and couldn’t
be happier.
This experience reminded me of the
struggles we face every day. We all have demons that will weigh on our souls,
cause us stress, and ultimately keep us down for a while. It will require a
good amount of faith to wait out the storm. While we wait for it to end, we
will also have to go about our life. Even though we are weighed down, we need
to still do what is right and live our lives. Eventually, something will come
up that will be the key to helping us out of our slump. Mine was that open
house. Yours may be going to see a friend, reading a certain book, calling a
family member. Once we do that, then we are able to see the light at the end of
the tunnel. It is then that we have to have the strength for a final push. My
final push to conquer my demon was what seemed like hours of research and
reflection. I looked at list after list of colleges. I even arose late in the
night because I felt like finding my answer was important enough to put off
sleep. That final show of faith is what then rewards us with joy. Then, I found
out that I was going to be taken care of, after all the struggle. My demon was
conquered.
We all have demons. I know that no
matter what, you just have to hold on. Keep living your life and doing good for
others. When you have that final push, when you think your strength is run out,
that is sufficient, and you will conquer your demon. Odds are that you, much
like me, have more than one demon. We all have multiple. In life, we must
conquer them one at a time. Trying as hard as you can is enough. Sometimes it
will take you longer than others, but realize there is no race. We are not
valued on how fast we get rid of our demons; we are valued by how constant our
effort is at trying to rid ourselves of them. Keep trying. Your demons in the
end will not be able to defeat you, as long as you are at least trying.
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