First, let me say HHAAAPPPPPYYYYY NNEEEWWWW YYYEEEAARRRRR! I
pray this year brings you peace, love, prosperity, and growth!... Okay, now on
to the good stuff J
Lately I’ve been trying to find something to write about,
but I’ve been blank. There’s a certain feeling I must get from my writing and
if that’s lacking, I just can’t post it. Things changed last night when I
entered the Cockroach Chronicles!
Usually, I dread cockroaches; they make my skin crawl,
attack me when I least expect it, and they draw on the weakness that I’m afraid
to kill them. Last night as I sat in church, I watched a cockroach for about an
hour. Most times in church I feel like a mute because I barely know any of the
songs and by the time I find a scripture (Spanish Bible problems), it’s already
been read. So, now I just sit there looking around and following the gestures
of the congregation. Instead of looking around counting small paint chunks on
the wall, I centered all of my attention on a cockroach that appeared to be
fighting for its life.
The cockroach lied on its back and forcefully kicked its
feet in order to catapult its body right side up. There were a few times when
the cockroach would almost flip over, but 2 seconds later it turned on its back
kicking its way through yet again. About 5 times it landed firmly on its feet,
but something unbeknownst to me kept forcing it to turn over. I’m not going to
lie- I HATE COCKROACHES, but I felt bad. It was really struggling. After about
an hour of kicking and failed attempts to correctly position itself, the cockroach
gave up. It stopped kicking. I don’t know the science behind it, but not long
after the cockroach stopped fighting to stand confidently on its feet, it died.
Just like that. Dead. On its back, feet in the air, dead. As afraid as I am of
cockroaches, I silently cheered for it. I wanted it to win; I wanted it to keep
fighting and see itself through.
I probably sound crazy, but here me out! I promise I was not
this weird 5 months ago; Peace Corps made me this way! When you have a bunch of
time to think about random things, it’s easy to find inspiration, even in your
fears…
As I watched the cockroach struggle, I thought about myself
and you all. I asked myself, how many times have I stopped kicking? How many
times have I just given up? How many times will it take for me to get knocked
down and not find the strength to stand up again? We can’t always be the one flying!
Life comes with some knocking down, flipping over, and tossing aside, but the
strength is in what we do to get back up!...
My hopes for the cockroach made me realize that silent
cheering is just as good as not cheering at all! We all need to be encouraged,
to know that someone is there rooting for us until we get to the finish line. When
you see someone is down, help them up. Let them know that no matter how much
you may hate them, you still want them to win; you want them to know their full
potential; and you want them to fight even when they feel like there’s no fight
left!... Look at the Cockroach Chronicles and ask yourself when was the last
time you did some cheering ;-)
