Spaz or Not?

08 March 2008

The minute a whistle appeared and boundaries were called, I transformed into a spaz. It all seemed so unfair: I knew in my heart I had great potential, star potential even, but my knowing didn’t translate into hitting the ball that was coming my way. I resigned myself early on, even though I knew I could outread, outspell, and outtest the strongest kid in the classroom. And when I was picked practically last for crazy kickball or crab relays, I defeatedly assumed a certain lackadaisical attitude, which partially accounts for my in attention on the day my jaw collided with Joni Friedman’s head.

-Lucy Grealy, Autobiography of a Face
All too often, we become Lucy Grealy. We become a spaz here in life.

In the premortal life, all of us knew of our great potential and that is why we chose to come here to earth. Now that we are here, I believe that we forget our potential and transform into the spaz, like Lucy. We do know and remember our potential deep down inside our hearts, but it does not come out. It stays hidden and some people are fine with this, while others are not.

The people who let their potential stay hidden gain the lackadaisical attitude Lucy describes. It seems like they fall off their path more easily than others and just live life not ascribing to greatness. This saddens me because they do not want to find their potential and they do not care to. They would rather go through life doing what they see is best for them, rather than doing what God knows is best for them. Their path from God might be different than mine (all of our paths are different), but they need to find it so they can grow to their full potential. Another thing that I have also noticed is that these people usually are the fence sitters and do not make decisions about their life and future. They live in the past and the here and now. They have a hard time looking to the future and the future scares them, so they continue their lackadaisical attitude.

The people who search for their potential are the go-getters and they look to God. They want to become something amazing and extraordinary. Their quest for them, however, never ends because they feel like they are never amazing or extraordinary. Even though their quest does not end, they continue to move on. Growth and understanding are things that they want and hope for on their quest and by searching for them, they obtain their secrets. They try things, learn from mistakes, and move on with life (look to the past, live in the here and now, and make goals for the future). The interesting thing about their search is that they do become extraordinary and amazing to others, even if they feel ordinary. Compared to those who are lackadaisical, they are astounding.

3 comments:

Leslie Elaine said...

Ha, I was reading that first part and was like "I've heard this before" then saw that you quoted from that book, still havent finished it...

David said...

I am super offended at this post. I happen to like being what I am, thank you.

And I find that my spazzing adds to my life, not detracts from it.

So there.

MY VIEW said...

Wow, I don't think it could be said any better, more plainer and also with more understanding and compassions. This should be required reading. You said it without being preachy and condescending but with honesty and courage. I'm grateful for this post. You give me faith that there are people who are struggling but who understand and recognize what the adversary does to us and who aren't willing to be defeated. This give me faith. Thank you.