FEMOSPHERE

“Be as empty as you can when that clock winds down. Spend your life.”

Death By Living, N.D Wilson

There are powers at be that threaten to rob us of our joy.

The common cry I see on social media is millennials and gen-z bemoaning our unfortunate inheritance in this country. They say, we can’t buy a house, we can’t have kids because they’re too expensive, we graduate with 50k in student loans and still can’t get jobs, politics is incredibly divisive, and we can’t afford to move out of our parents’ house.

I hear their cries, and I understand them. The state of their environments is sometimes so depressing that we turn to social media. On social media we are confronted with the worst stories possible: war, famine, and child abuse. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been on Instagram reels and seen a car accident that most definitely resulted in a death. Suddenly our problems don’t seem so big, but it doesn’t make us feel any better.

The world we can see is incredibly dismal.

It’s easy to get lost in it.

1.) Remember that it ends. You’re not invincible, you’re not eternal. Understand this and make peace with it.

2.) Don’t waste time. You can waste money and earn more, but you can never get more time. If you know that you want to do something that is within your power to do, seize the moment, take the opportunity. Don’t allow arbitrary standards of the “right time” to stop you from fulfilling your mission.

3.) Build something. Build your life. Build a stable foundation for your life in your twenties. Use your twenties to invest in the future that you want.

“Do your best. Live. Create. Fail.”

Death By Living, N.D Wilson

Find your rock. Push it up the hill. Exhaust yourself, pour yourself out. Use every ounce of your strength to advance the kingdom.

4.) Understand that problems are a worthwhile part of any endeavor, rather than signs of individual brokenness. What is worth doing that is easy? Resistance is not equal to unworthiness.

“Life is full of suffering; Justify your suffering; What is your suffering for? “

Dr. Jordan Peterson

5.) If you want to conquer, start with yourself. For much of our lives, the only thing we can control is ourselves. Control yourself. Conquer yourself. Take responsibility for your actions and your life. There is no freedom without responsibility.

6.) Don’t delay adulthood. Don’t delay full life. Participate in human life. Participate in your life. Experience it to the maximum extent possible.

7.) Don’t let them steal more than they already have. If you have been wronged, I understand you. I have had the entire course of my life changed by people who have wronged me. At every mountain peak and in every mountain valley, I will admit, I have thought of them. It is so easy to be bitter, it is so hard to fight bitterness. But do not allow them to steal more than they already have. Do not allow them to rob you of any more joy, of any peace, of any comfort. Don’t let them take more than they have.

“To exist in the face of suffering and death and somehow I still keep singing.”

Free, Florence + The Machine

8.) Cultivate a happy, healthy personal life. Don’t allow the unhappily married stop you from experiencing a happy marriage. Build a happy, healthy life, a community, a family and invite others to eat at your table.

If you are a Christian, this is all the more true. What truth is more worthy of joy than that Christ has risen and that he is coming back? Feast, give open-handedly, work merrily, love genuinely. Do not allow the powers that be steal your joy. Give them no quarter.

Inspired by this speech.