Satisfaction

Saturday morning we left for a short camping trip to a place called Lancelon. We got there around 11 AM and immediately grabbed our surfboards to go surfing. Our day: got the bus stuck on beach, dug bus out of sand while other families took pictures of us embarrassingly digging bus out of sand, got some decent white wash waves, got some nasty sunburns, went sand dune surfing, face planted, learned how to do back flips in the sand, went to gas station to put air in tires of bus we had to deflate in order to get out of sand, got Fanta slurpees, went back to camp, ate some kangaroo (real good by the way), rubbed aloe all over body, and then all sat together, listening to each others pasts and enjoying good company. 

Day two: woke up early, enjoyed french toast, went to beach, surfed, Dawson, Morgan and I swam through absolutely the worst smelling seaweed and water to get to this beautiful island about a 15 minute swim from the beach, got to the island and saw that it was all just sharp, hard rock, enjoyed the view, swam back, saw that Taylor's head was bleeding from being crushed under the water, left the beach, ate lunch, packed up the van, drove back to Perth.

All in all it was a really good, short, fun filled trip. I learned a lot about the people around me, and myself.

I was talking to one of my good friends in the group about our pasts, all we've gone through, stuff that confuses us and also about happiness. He told me his story and I couldn't say much because it hit me hard, and also amazed me how content he is. Just the hard things that he endured made me really think. There's a lot of loss, and there's a lot of pain. But what I've learned, is that we will struggle every day of our lives if we are not satisfied and pleased with ourselves. It's often said that we are our own worst enemies, and I couldn't agree more. More than half of the things we are battling in this life are problems and insecurities we simply create ourselves. And its sad because we are in control. I've realized, if you are so exhausted of battling with the world, odds are you are fighting with yourself. You have the ability and the power to change what you want. You just have to be dedicated, disciplined, and willing to do so. These tough times speak a lot to us about our character, who we are in this world and the potential we have to offer it. You will never influence the world if you continue to be like it. 

I do envy that happiness that I see in the people who have so little, who have experienced so much loss, people who have in the past done so much self damage to themselves but then fought so hard to get out of their hole. Those people who have endured all that pain, those are the people who know what living is. Those are the people who I want to be surrounded with. They better the person that I am because they radiate strength. Theres so much to learn from them. Gods plan is a world rid of evil, pain and suffering. Living a life rid of evil, pain and suffering comes from the happiness within. It is easy to be affected by the pain in this world, we can't always control what happens to us. But we can completely control the way we react to it. Trials, burdens, and obstacles do not become torturous until we recognize it as just that. A trial, a burden, or an obstacle. There are a million things capable of breaking us, but there are a million more things in this life we have that can make us happy, content, satisfied and worthy. And we have to recognize life FULL of just those things. I've decided we fear happiness, we fear all the change it might bring to our lives. But what is worse, is living in a life full of fear. Happy are the people in a state of such abundance, fulfillment, passion, and faith. But that all has to come within. Accept the things you cannot change, then change what you can to fulfill what's been lost.