I decided to start my post a little bit early today, mostly because I'm once again putting off all the other million things I should be doing. Story of my life. The only problem is, I have several things to be grateful for today. See, sometimes I have days where nothing significantly deserving of thanks sticks out, and some days when one certain thing happens that I'm extremely grateful for. And then there are other days when I have so many thankful things that I don't know which to choose. Today fits into that last category, if you hadn't already guessed. Really this entire explanation is my long-winded way of apologizing in advance for what will probably be a long and rambling post: I am deeply sorry, from the bottom of my heart, if this post takes many unnecessary and obnoxious detours along the way to its purpose. There. You've been warned. What you choose now is no longer my problem.
First grateful moment: when I received my bright yellow, adult small, donation promoting, FREE t-shirt. See, I am a poor college student with a much smaller wardrobe than I would like, and it's quite a tragedy really. Because the bigger your wardrobe, the less often you do laundry, and the less often you do laundry, the more money you save for, oh I don't know, the staples of life maybe? And, of course, more clothes. And more clothes makes for a more effective...wait for it...Circle of Laundry. (I feel like I should cue African music here.) That's why a FREE article of clothing, regardless of how hideous it may be, is a bonus to any day.
Luckily for me, this t-shirt isn't hideous. Yes, it is bright yellow, which is one of the worst colors for me, but at least it's less lemon and more sunshine, which happens to be my favorite color. So it all balances out. Why, you may wonder, did someone hand me a FREE t-shirt today? Because I'm a volunteer! I signed up to help with this donation program called Choose 2 Give on campus, and therefore I get to wear my wonderfully bright, promotional t-shirt every day next week (I hope they weren't serious about it being every day, because I can see that getting real nasty real fast). Yet at the moment, even contemplating the state of said t-shirt by next Friday cannot dampen how grateful I am that I got the FREE t-shirt today.
Second grateful moment: when I realized I'm just as weird as everyone else. Sometimes I feel like I stick out. Sore thumb, black sheep, odd man out - take your pick of metaphors. In my high school, I was one of about fifteen LDS kids out of 1,000 students. In Utah, people act like I'm from a foreign country when I say I grew up in Maryland. Even in my family, sometimes it seems like I don't fit in. But today, in the Language Testing Center in the basement of the JFSB, I realized that maybe I'm not so different after all. Here's the story.
I was taking my Spanish test just like normal. A little bit of background: this testing lab isn't the same as the regular Testing Center. It's a computer lab, so all the tests are electronic. And every Spanish test I've ever taken in it begins with a listening portion. However, because I'm a visual person, I always bring a piece of scratch paper so that I can take notes and write down the answer while I'm listening. As I was doing the listening portion during today's test, I accidentally vandalized BYU property. See, the track had ended, so I reached for the mouse in order to mark down my answers on the computer. But I forgot that the pen I was using to mark down my answers on paper was still in my hand, and the mouse was a little too close to the wall of my testing cubicle. As I reached for it, I accidentally drew on the cubicle wall. Oh the horror. I thought I should at least be fined, if not dragged off to jail. And then I noticed. There were dozens of other pen marks in the exact same area as mine. Holy cow, I'm not the only stupid Spanish test taker! It was quite a relief to realize, let me tell you. I may stick out sometimes, but sometimes I'm just like everyone else. Which I'm grateful to know.
Third grateful moment: when I was treated with openness and honesty. I am a very nosy person, and I will be the first one to admit it. I like to know everything, even if it does not pertain to me in the slightest, and it's very hard for me not to pry into things that really aren't any of my business. That said, if I know it's a sensitive issue, or that the person might not want to discuss it, I make a colossal effort to restrain my large nose and just let it be. Sometimes it works more than others.
Today I had the opportunity to exercise that restraint despite my overwhelming curiosity. And yet it wasn't even necessary because, despite the fact that I really had no business prying into anything of that nature, I was met with a willingness to be honest regardless of the subject matter. It was amazing, and I'm thankful for it. Though I do feel a little bad about introducing the subject in the first place. I think my next goal should be to work on my tact.
Sorry for the monster post, but today I couldn't cut it down to just one thing.
No comments:
Post a Comment