A Matter of Perspective.

I went to High School with a girl that loved listening to Bob Marley.

She also got a kick out of Teen Girl Squad.

But what I remember most about her was the utopian, happy-going perspective of life that she regularly shared in a seminary class we took together.  In nearly every class she would mention how excited she was to read the scriptures, learn the gospel, get married, read the scriptures with her husband, learn more about the gospel, have babies, read the scriptures and teach them, and at the end of it all, live in heaven.  Life was exciting and spiritual to her.  Haha, I remember one class where she complained about having to do homework because it really didn't matter in the "grand scheme of things" (That hit me like a stab to the heart - "Homework does matter!!!", although I wasn't quite sure how...)

At the time, as a young and skeptical grader twelve-er, I remember thinking how the Bob Marley music must be getting to her.  She was the closest thing I'd ever experienced to a "Hippie".  A real optimist.  And always quick to giggle.  Grade twelve-er Kristen thought she was a little childish and kinda silly.  Twenty-two year old Kristen envies her.  

Twenty-two year old Kristen envies the crystal clear perspective she had somehow managed to cultivate as a mere seventeen year old.  An eternal perspective.

What is perspective?  It's personal.  It's the glasses through which you see the world.  It's what shapes your opinions, moulds your ideas, and motivates your actions.  It's how you apply your past to your future.  It's your personal, internal means of navigation and direction through your own life.

Then what makes one's perspective eternal?  

Eternity is what happens after life here on earth.  Heaven.  An eternal perspective is when you live looking forward to eternity, to life after death, to heaven.  Which means you differentiate between the things that matter and the things that matter most.

Taken at "The Farm" - the closest place on earth to eternity.

Since moving back to Calgary I've felt so... rushed.  The city is so fast paced; there's so much to do, so much to get done, so many places to go, and what feels like literally so little time.  But the truth is, I have exactly the same amount of time I had back in Waterton during the summer.  And after reading some exemplary blogs lately (check this out!), I've realized that I need to start weeding out the things that don't really matter in my life.  I need to recheck my priorities.  I need to start living for eternity.

Checking up on my friends on Facebook matters...

...but cultivating and nourishing real relationships,

face to face, in person,

matters most.

Reading all the latest blog posts, 

from the people I love to follow matters...

...but reading about truth and light, studying the scriptures,

learning and growing,

matters most.

Dedicating a lot of time to doing really

well in school, exercising, and hanging out matters...

...but dedicating my time to service and good works,

and sharing that which blesses my life with others,

matters most.

The more I think about it, the more I realize that my friend in high school really had it right.  Homework isn't the most important thing in my life.  The time I spend on Facebook and checking other blogs could be invested a lot better.  The people I meet here and now matter; I need to get to know them and genuinely love them.  Eternity is real.  It's what matters most.  My perspective needs to be eternal.