Sound of Surviving Blog

Do you remember when you were little and you liked your Halloween costume so much that even after Halloween was over you didn’t want to take your costume off? Sometimes I think we forget to stop celebrating Halloween as adults. We do it all year long. Not literally of course, but figuratively. We pretend we are who we aren’t all year long, just so people around us will like us and accept us. We pretend that we are okay, even when we’re not, so we’re easier for other people to deal with. We pretend to like things our friends like just because if not, we’re terrified they’ll stop being friends with us. We pretend that our lives are going great on the surface, on social media, when in reality, they’re crumbling faster than we can glue all of the pieces back together.

We need to normalize not being okay. No, I’m not saying we should cry all of the time or anything like that. But maybe remind ourselves that we are allowed to cry once in a while. Yes, we can still focus mainly on the good in our lives, because the good is really amazing! But we should also know that it’s okay to feel the brokenness, the pain, and the sadness that lurks underneath the happy times. If we don’t deal with it, how is it ever going to go away? And no, it will never go away completely, but by dealing with it, and letting ourselves feel these things, we make them smaller, and make more room for the good and the happy things in our lives.

If we just allow ourselves to step out of our costumes and take our masks off once in a while, then maybe we can really, truly be ourselves for a little bit, and in turn, become our best versions of ourselves, by adding more happy things into our lives, rather than just dressing up as someone happy.

After all, God made us just who we’re meant to be and he loves us exactly as we are, In Matthew 11:28, Jesus says, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” Jesus doesn’t say, “Come to me, but oh wait, not like that, put on a brave face first!”. He tells us to come with all our difficulties and problems, just as we are. If we are the body of Christ, shouldn’t we look at others in this way, and encourage them to be just who they are around us? Shouldn’t we, as the arms of Christ, reach out to those around us and help them to carry those hardships, sand hopefully, eventually help them, to leave them behind, for happier things?

Natalie Grant reflects this message perfectly:

” There’s no such thing as perfect people
There’s no such thing as a perfect life
So come as you are, broken and scarred
Lift up your heart and be amazed, and be changed
By a perfect God” – Perfect People by Natalie Grant