Sound of Surviving Blog

I miss so many beautiful little things trying to chase after and worrying about what the world deems as the big things. I’ve decided to take a step back and be more grateful for the things that seem so miniscule to us, but in reality, are the big things. The way the sun bursts into multiple colors every morning, the birds chirping, talking with my parents and my brothers, the way my nephew says my name, and the moments I get to spend with him.

I struggle daily with comparing myself to others, thinking that by not having the same lifestyle as my peers (in terms of working and relationships, or going out to bars, etc.) my life is somehow more boring or less important or meaningful than theirs.  But it’s not at all boring or less meaningful. Just because I’m not off traveling the world, or climbing the corporate ladder, doesn’t mean what I’m doing right now in life isn’t important.  

In 1 Corinthians 9:24, it says, “Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win!” (NLT). In this verse, Paul is not saying that we have to run at the same pace as everyone else is running, we just have to run our best. As someone with a chronic illness, I worry that my best isn’t enough for God sometimes, but I think that God understands that my doing my best looks different day to day, or it might not look like my able-bodied co-worker’s best, but it’s my best, and I am running this race to win, putting forth my best effort. I am not giving up, no matter how hard things get, and that is what is important. We are not called to compare ourselves with how others are running, we must simply put our best foot forward, and run to win our race. For some doing their best may look like getting that new promotion at work, whereas for others, it may look like just getting out of bed in the morning. While we are all running the same race, we are not all running it in the same lane or under the same circumstances. While it doesn’t always seem like it, every single person has something pulling them back as they are trying to run their race, whether it be financial struggles, self-doubt, marriage or relationship issues, a rebelling child, a sick family member, or something else. Not everyone posts about these things on social media, because our society deems that we must make everything appear to be picture perfect, or we’re not worthy, so we bury these things deep down under, all the while trying to push forward and run our best in this race of life. I think sometimes what a lot of people don’t realize is that no one is going through the same things in life and that everyone has their struggles, so trying to compare ourselves to others is pointless, because God didn’t make any two people the same. He made us to cheer each other on as we run alongside of each other in this race of life.