Joy, Pain, and Everything In Between

Well, we’re here. Along with a fifth of the entire world’s population. 

 

 

Since we landed in Hyderabad at around 3 A.M.yesterday I’ve been taking in so much: vibrant colors, unpredictable smells, never-ending noises, explosive tastes. Total overstimulation. 

 

With so many inescapable sensations flying at me on a moment-to-moment basis, I’ve been struggling to decide on what I should write about for my first blog from the field. There’s just too much to say and not enough wifi to say it on.

 

 

Turns out I was mistaken in thinking that my feelings would be a simple thing to write about. 

 

Because—much like the sensations being forced down my throat (some quite literally)—my feelings have been an absolute whirlwind. 

 

So, I’m going to try something here: I am about to list off every emotion that I can recall feeling over the past two days. There’s no real order to these; the next word on the list just happened to be the next feeling that popped into my head.

 

Here we go:

 

Awe

Wonder

Peace

Excitement

Confusion

Happiness

Love

Joy

Thankfulness

Anger

Sadness

Hope

Anxiety

Stress

Adventure

Passion

Annoyance

Camaraderie

Compassion

Freedom

 

Yeah, that more or less covers it. Quite the spectrum, isn’t it? 

 

As I read back over this list, I realize that these feelings are so indicative of this incredible country I’ve stepped into. But—even further than that—these words are such an honest representation of life as a whole, aren’t they?

 

You see, we were designed to be unique and complex creatures. God didn’t make us to be one-dimensional beings; we are more than our most prominent traits. How boring would it be if you were always joyful or always sad or always excited or always passionate? 

 

I think that too often we don’t express our full range of emotions or feelings because we are scared to jump outside of the pigeon-holes that family and friends may have shoved us into. Some of us may think we are only allowed to be “the happy girl” or “the calm, collected guy” or “the adventurous soul” and that feeling like anything else would just be—well—not us.

 

But, that’s not true. At all. 

 

No, we were made to experience life in all of its variety; and, if we are to receive all of the diverse sensations that life has to offer—the joy, the pain, and everything in between—then we must allow ourselves to be moved by life in a vast multitude of ways. 

 

Jesus modeled this for us: He felt sadness (John 11:35); He felt anger (Matt. 21:12); He felt compassion (Luke 7:13); He felt joy (Luke 10:21); He felt love (Mark 10:21). And the emotional list of Jesus could go on and on.

 

If I’m being really honest, I have to admit that I imagined my entire race would consist of excitement, passion, and joy; I felt like those were the only feelings that would be appropriate. Well, it’s only Day 2 and those expectations have already been shattered. 

 

 

So, I’ve decided to embrace the many feelings that the Race and life will stir up within me.