What kids are doing are killing themselves. They feel they have no control of their prisoner's cell. And if you're one of them then you're one of me, and you would do almost anything just to feel free... Am I right? Of course I am; Convince me otherwise would take all night. Before you walk away, there's one more thing I want to say, "Our brains are sick but that's okay!"
Twenty One Pilots
The song, "Screen" by Twenty|One|Pilots, was on repeat for me today. Sometimes I feel like a broken record on here, but I also feel as if we, sometimes, live our lives as broken records. We all have our own struggles, and many of us have that one thing that trips us up every time. For me, this continuous tripping is exhausting and disheartening. I know my weakness... and I hate that I'm conquered by it.
Really encouraging, right?
Here's my hopeful undertone: I'M NOT PERFECT. Yes, my imperfections are my hopeful undertones. Who I'm ultimately supposed to be as a person... my finished product... is still a work in progress. The struggles that I'm going through - that YOU'RE going through - is our refinement. Refinement is the process of removing impurities or unwanted elements from a substance. People don't fight for nothing; there is always a cause even if we are unsure of it. For me, the underlying cause of every battle is a fervent pursue for peace - a "freedom from disturbance"... an end to the battle. Our battles tell us that we still have things we need to work on… that things aren’t perfect yet.
My struggle reminds me that this is not the end. No matter how exhausting it is, I’m still fighting. Things still aren’t right; however, I’m going to keep fighting until they are. “The only difference between life and dying is one is trying, that’s all we’re called to do” (lovely), we can’t have life if we don’t try. “There are things we can do, but from the things that work, there are only two. From the two that we choose to do, Peace will win and fear will lose. There’s faith and there’s sleep. We need to pick one please because Faith is to be awake, and to be awake is for us to think, and for us to think is to be alive.” Pilots, Peace will win! We can choose to trust (have faith) that our battles will one day be over or we can sleep through them. But we ultimately have to pick our battle. Is one easier than the other? Yes! Holy cow, yes! There are days that I want to give up, there have been many night where I’ve cried… wishing that things would end. But I’ve come to the decision that I would rather fight back instead of closing my eyes pretending that things are ok. “To be awake is for us to think”, by fighting back, we’re choosing to be awake, to face our demons head on. “For us to think is to be alive” – to be awake, to think – are actions of a living person…. Not a mindless zombie.
So where does “Screen” come into all of this? I want to encourage you guys, and myself, to NOT HIDE YOUR BATTLES.
I do not know why I would go
In front of you and hide my soul
Cause you're the only one who knows it
And I will hide behind my pride
Don't know why I think I can lie
Cause there's a screen on my chest
I'm standing in front of you
I'm trying to be so cool
Everything together trying to be so cool
Trying to act as if we’re asleep, we’re cool, fine and dandy is exhausting. Don’t be ashamed of your battles! It shows that you have not given up. “We’re broken people” “Our brains are sick but that’s okay!” When we accept our battles as a good thing... a refinement... we conquer them! Our acceptance also shows us that others are fighting too! We’re not alone! I’ve said this so many times before – we are not made to go through this life alone. Battles are not won by one soldier. It takes an army, and we have an army of skeletons. Let’s accept our battles, fight together, and encourage one another.
This is not the end pilots, and you are not alone.
|-/
Really encouraging, right?
Here's my hopeful undertone: I'M NOT PERFECT. Yes, my imperfections are my hopeful undertones. Who I'm ultimately supposed to be as a person... my finished product... is still a work in progress. The struggles that I'm going through - that YOU'RE going through - is our refinement. Refinement is the process of removing impurities or unwanted elements from a substance. People don't fight for nothing; there is always a cause even if we are unsure of it. For me, the underlying cause of every battle is a fervent pursue for peace - a "freedom from disturbance"... an end to the battle. Our battles tell us that we still have things we need to work on… that things aren’t perfect yet.
My struggle reminds me that this is not the end. No matter how exhausting it is, I’m still fighting. Things still aren’t right; however, I’m going to keep fighting until they are. “The only difference between life and dying is one is trying, that’s all we’re called to do” (lovely), we can’t have life if we don’t try. “There are things we can do, but from the things that work, there are only two. From the two that we choose to do, Peace will win and fear will lose. There’s faith and there’s sleep. We need to pick one please because Faith is to be awake, and to be awake is for us to think, and for us to think is to be alive.” Pilots, Peace will win! We can choose to trust (have faith) that our battles will one day be over or we can sleep through them. But we ultimately have to pick our battle. Is one easier than the other? Yes! Holy cow, yes! There are days that I want to give up, there have been many night where I’ve cried… wishing that things would end. But I’ve come to the decision that I would rather fight back instead of closing my eyes pretending that things are ok. “To be awake is for us to think”, by fighting back, we’re choosing to be awake, to face our demons head on. “For us to think is to be alive” – to be awake, to think – are actions of a living person…. Not a mindless zombie.
So where does “Screen” come into all of this? I want to encourage you guys, and myself, to NOT HIDE YOUR BATTLES.
I do not know why I would go
In front of you and hide my soul
Cause you're the only one who knows it
And I will hide behind my pride
Don't know why I think I can lie
Cause there's a screen on my chest
I'm standing in front of you
I'm trying to be so cool
Everything together trying to be so cool
Trying to act as if we’re asleep, we’re cool, fine and dandy is exhausting. Don’t be ashamed of your battles! It shows that you have not given up. “We’re broken people” “Our brains are sick but that’s okay!” When we accept our battles as a good thing... a refinement... we conquer them! Our acceptance also shows us that others are fighting too! We’re not alone! I’ve said this so many times before – we are not made to go through this life alone. Battles are not won by one soldier. It takes an army, and we have an army of skeletons. Let’s accept our battles, fight together, and encourage one another.
This is not the end pilots, and you are not alone.
|-/