Jay Merrill

I have two exams tomorrow. One at 8:00 am and one at 11:00 am. As I type this I am sitting in the basement of the Colorado State University Library. It’s quiet and people have their noses in their books (or phones).

Have I studied? Yes. Have I studied enough? No. Is this the end of the world? No. I got a bite to eat with a friend of mine for dinner. As we caught up and talked about our lives the conversation drifted from topic to topic, but it was great. We each got to share some of our opinions on life with each other.

I could have been studying during that time, but instead I took a nice little hiatus (well, two now with the blog post, but who’s counting?) from the books to spend time with a friend… And you know what? Time well spent. The chill time helped me recenter and now I can focus on studying for the rest of the night. Off to review more PowerPoints…

My sister Rachel hanging out in our front yard with our infamous cat, Floof.

Life is stressful. Especially in American culture, I’ve found that our time is filled with a list of things to do and accomplish. Relaxation seems to be either a thing we have to squeeze into our schedules, or somewhat of a silhouette of its true meaning. When we spend too much time trying to seek out relaxation in the form of Netflix, surfing the internet, and picking up the controller, we don’t feel satisfied and refreshed afterwards, and the list pops up again.

My suggestion? Pick up a book. Go outside and take a walk. If it’s dark out, grab a friend and go stargazing. There are so many fun and creative things to do outside of screen time, if you choose to do something out of the ordinary, you’ll feel much better for it.

Hey y’all, here’s a little video of one of my favorite past times: Downhill Longboarding. Got to do a fun session of longboarding today in the beautiful January weather. Enjoy and Happy New Year!

Deer Creek Solo Run

longbaording — A fun downhill longboard race I did a couple years ago.

God controls everything. From the moment we are born to the final breath we take, we have been given the opportunity to make choices to follow his lead, or turn from that path to pursue our own satisfaction.

I had a talk with my roommate this morning about what brings true satisfaction to life. We agreed that the stories we choose to write can be full of easy and comfortable decisions in the moment, but further down the road these choices stack up to a weak foundation of what we’ve become.

This telephone pole has seen bits and pieces of many stories. Countless staples remind me of all the people that put them there.

Almost all good stories involve conflict. Some obstacle in the hero’s way. Without this conflict, the reader is not drawn into the story, and the protagonist becomes a mere shadow of his or her true character. The same is true with our own lives. Sometimes we must make the hard decision to pursue what is right though it may mean a hit to our reputation or pride. In retrospect we begin to see that these conflicts, “stick it to the man” decisions, add a unique meaning to our story. We grow because of it.

In lieu of finals week and graduation, I encourage you to take a moment and reflect on the story you’ve written, as well as the story you want to write.

With the intention of evading the onslaught of homework this weekend, my brother and I decided to go camping. A slight breeze sifted through the air as we stepped out of our little 2001 Toyota Corolla and into the Pawnee Grasslands of Northeastern Colorado. As we peered into the grassy landscape we could make out two massive towers of rock looming in the distance, sentinels of some unknown land beyond. Obviously they were begging to be climbed, so Ben and I trekked through the shin high grass to do just that. We almost gave up, but finally managed to find a primitive ladder carved into the tan rock on the far side of one of the buttes.

Unlike the mountainous expanse that usually baffles me when I go hiking above timberline, this view was quite different. Stark grassland stretched as far as the eye could see. The breeze had picked up, but was still somewhat bearable, so we set up our tent on the top of the tower, thinking it would be a perfect view of the stars at night (It was more a great view of the bright moon instead). The sun set. The wind picked up, and before we knew it we were trying to sleep in a tent that acted more like a sail than anything else, moving at will. I woke up in the middle of the night to the thin material separating me from the elements periodically clobbering the back of my head. As much as I tried to shift away from the side of the tent, some other part somehow found a way to batter me again. I remember vividly smiling and laughing to myself in the middle of the night due to my useless effort to get away from the wind. Finally, after God decided he’d had enough fun, I saw a faint light brimming the horizon and soon enough the sun peeked its golden face above the grassy fields.

Thinking of that night brings laughable memories of what could have been a terrible experience. Life is molded by perspective.

Author: Jay Merrill

Focus

Take a Break

Fun Start to the Year

Sometimes you have to laugh