Exactly one week ago, I was on my way back home from a retreat. I was there to be a guide to teens one year younger than me, since they were about to have the confirmation, the catholic church type of confirmation. One of the main reasons i went there is because it’s the best way to getaway. There you live in the present. I never, even for a second stressed about school, I knew that I would need to do lots of homework when i got back, but I just wouldn't think about it. And even though it’s sometimes good to have some sort of plan it’s also sometimes best to let things flow.
I wanted to change things around a bit in my life. We have always been familiar with the phrase “you crossed the line”. Now I think, what happens if the line crosses YOU? When you find yourself wrapped up in a situation that you never asked for, when life surprises you and tells you that you CAN’T control a thing. We constantly seek to DO something, and maneuver life, so it can fit our boundaries. Though, truth is that many things won’t fall into our boundaries. Now you may be thinking, what can I do? Bring your mind to a halt. Allow life to unfold, what if we eliminate that constant stress, that pushes and pulls our brains, that stress that keeps telling us to make things happen a certain way? Life is unpredictable and bigger than us, we can only know about the past. What if we let moments follow through without any expectation or clinginess, and remain open to surprise? In Lima’s high class society everything needs to be perfect, and you need to constantly fit in, being aware of yourself the whole time. I need to get the perfect grade in the math test, if not i won’t get into a prestigious college, I need to go out this weekend or else people will think I am a loser. This is are thoughts I have heard people say, because of the pressure to fit in this society creates. The problem is that we are full of ideas and projections about how things should be; how people should act, how things should work, and how things should look. Our minds are full of this so -called perfectionism, that leaves no space for newness, and surprises There is no space for fun, inner fun. The kind of fun we should be having every day just as we wake up, because of the fact that we are alive in the present moment, because life is supposed to be exciting, thrilling. Not just plain routine. We don’t see it anymore since we live so attached to our thoughts and expectations, and suffer because of them. It’s even exhausting to think of it. Of course, it’s important to have goals and direction, but you can still be fascinated with the present moment. Trust life a little more, inject your veins with a little more faith, and become aware that life chose that fork on the road because you were meant to. Create that space inside your brain for the unknown and let go of expectation. Lose all your fears and neediness. Stop worrying about insignificant details, like a simple grade or outfit, stop being that obsessive planner and perfectionist. And when we finally let go of perfectionism, we’ll finally start living life as it’s supposed to be.
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Cristina BarclayCurrent eleventh grader at Colegio Franklin Delano Roosevelt, taking the IB diploma program. Archives
May 2016
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