So, tonight, as I was beginning to embark on the tedious task of unpacking my clothes that I had only packed up a few days ago prior to moving out of the beloved Brumbs, I began to clean out my closet. I began with the usual, packing up clothes to be donated, you know, those things that you swear you’re going to wear again someday, but then you think about it, and realize you really really won’t. Then, came the deep cleaning. Oh yes, that box of notes passed between class periods spanning back to the 8th grade. Cleaning has always been a cathartic task for me, but tonight’s was especially so. Reading through those notes, 8th grade hopes of canceled soccer practices, 10th grade girly dramas, I learned a very important lesson.
Yes, I was once a different person, someone whose words hardly seem recognizable to me when reading them 5 years later, but at the same time, I am the same. That person I was back then has shaped me into the person I am today. I have learned to be less critical of myself, to take life a little less seriously. Everything back in those days was such a big deal, and over the years, I’ve learned that you just have to go with the flow, and trust God to send you in the right direction.
God has definitely sent me in the right direction, and reading those words I have realized that all the criss-crossed paths I have walked on to get where I am today were there for a reason. The realization of where God has placed me has given me the courage to do what I did tonight: I threw away those conversations, those dramas, those unnecessary worries. Yes, I will keep them deep down inside of me to remind me of what has passed and what may be to come, but for now, they’re sitting in a bag, waiting patiently for trash day.
