perspective, hope then love – Shae Swensen

Perspective is a very important aspect to life that I feel gets overlooked. In every relationship, platonic, romantic, family; there’s a different perspective from every person. With that comes alot of confusion and misunderstandings. Everybody sees things, feels things and acts on things differently. We all have lived very different lives that we use as a guide for what to do in life. Some of us have experienced trauma that sets our minds into fight or flight with situations we can barely recognize as a trauma response. We end up plowing through life in whatever way we feel is the safest. 

Sadly, the safest things dont give us the life experience we deserve. Some of the best things in life for us are the things we fear the most. Going in to get a new job, asking someone out on a date, doing something spontaneous or falling in love. Love especially is a very scary thing. Which is why people in highschool typically don’t make lifelong friends, it’s safer to keep everything on a surface level. 

Love means different things to everyone and I find that very beautiful. Love to me is turbulence. Love is rocky and scary. It tests your abilities to connect with yourself and understand yourself while learning someone else. Love without a sense of self is almost impossible. Love to me means that you’re willing and open to constantly changing and growing for yourself and for another person. Love means loyalty. The highest form of loyalty is friendship. Without friendship love will not last. 

The hardest things we have to go through in life always turn into something that is better. It may not appear to be better at first but in the long run it will always be something that is best for you. Hope in this life is the strongest thing we can have to help us build a stronger and more stable perception of life. Optimism through every dark feeling will help you feel the light. Feel the hard times to experience the good times for what they truly are. We only miss out on the things we don’t allow ourselves to appreciate.