i can do all things

It is possible for me to wake up at 7:00 am and go to a 2-hour rehearsal with my octet.

It is possible.

Is it fun?

Not particularly. For I am most definitely NOT a morning person, for anyone who knows me. And to be honest, I am ridiculously tired and not motivated to study for econ right now.

But I think, the amazing thing about the human being is that you can always push yourself to do more. That mentality of "I can't" or "I just DON'T do that" or "this isn't me" is just you working against yourself.

In Fight Club, (not exactly the most God-friendly movie ever...but shh) Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt aka Edward Norton's alter ego) creates a chemical burn on the narrator(Norton)'s hand. As he screams for mercy and for the burning to stop, Durden's final words to him before he relieves the pain is: "First you have to give up, first you have to know...not fear...know...that someday you're gonna die."

And I think everyone really does need to realize this fact - not so that we can think "Oh, this life is all we have. This is it - we need to live it up" - but so we can make room for something more, a greater drive, a greater goal. For Christians, it's the knowledge of heaven and the goodness of living a life in the Gospel. When we accept the fact that this life is not all we have, and that when we die to ourselves in this life and serve a higher purpose set out by God, life - ironically - just becomes that much more enjoyable and we have strength to carry out each day.

What do I mean? Because honestly, if heaven is sooo much better than life right now, what's the point of living in this broken and imperfect world, right? Why eat the salad appetizer if the chocolate cake dessert is so much more worth your stomach space?

I'm saying we can live life with no fear. There will be struggles, there will be things that we don't particularly enjoy doing, there will be people who put you down. But Paul does say, "I can do everything through him who gives me strength" (Philippians 4:13).

And when we suddenly have the ability to do everything without shame or hesitation, we really can "live it up." We no longer have to rely on our natural human instinct to survive or our own mental willpower, but we can rely on God. And honestly, even from the non-Christian standpoint, wouldn't it be nice to have this all-powerful being on your team? It's hard enough to find people who will stand by you and push you to be all you can be - but to have THE God on your side?

And I know Paul says, "I can do everything," but I think the more important part is "through him who gives me strength." Why? Because sometimes we can interpret having this courage and freedom in life as being able to try everything we can try - drinking, smoking, partying, flirting, cheating, "sexperimenting" as Gossip Girl so says, etc etc. the list goes on. But do we need strength to do those things? Actually, I think it takes more strength to not do those things - and Christ grants us that ability. He gives us strength to pursue the things that are worthwhile in life - things that may seem difficult at first, but are infinitely more fulfilling than going the easy route.

So yeah. I can get up in the morning if I must - is it fulfilling? Perhaps. Who else gets to make crazy awesome music while the rest of the world is waking up?