So this week, I randomly decided to go down to Boise to take the Judging Certification Test to become a USAG judge. I've wanted to do this since our clinic back in May, but finally actually made the decision on Wednesday. So I studied studied studied this week, and then drove down to Boise on Friday. They had a study/practice judging session on Friday, and then I took the test on Saturday. I feel pretty good, and think I passed, but I still have a ton to learn. Kelly (the coordinator for all the judging stuff) is super sweet, and is Mormon, so it was fun working with her. If I do get certified, I can judge as soon as December 7! Which is exciting.
While I was in Boise though, I ran into an old acquaintance of mine. Last time I saw this guy, he was being pretty rude, and so we just stop talking abruptly (which at the time bugged me, but I have gotten over it). Well, he's the only person I knew goes to BSU, and with my luck I saw him. I thought it was good though, we had a pretty pleasant conversation, I gave him my number, and we had planned to get dinner and catch up that night. It was actually a relief, because I had always wanted to talk about the why he had treated me the way he did and make things right, and I thought we had worked everything out and that there were no hard feelings anymore.
Well, he never did call and blew me off for dinner. Which was fine. But it was happened that night that left me feeling pretty lousy. I got a call at about 4:30AM, which I didn't answer because I was asleep, but he left me a message. Basically, it was a message cussing me out and saying a bunch of rude things, after which some of his friends got on the phone and did the exact same thing (I'm pretty sure they were all drunk, but that is fine).
I get that sometimes I make mistakes. In this case, I should have been a better friend I guess? I'm not sure. But I think that the phone call I received was totally and completely uncalled for, and it left me feeling upset. Not because I want to be his friend, but because I tried my hardest to make things right by apologizing for my end of things, only to have it thrown back into my face.
The point of telling this story is this is a concept I have been talking about with some people lately, and this story definantly fits into pretty well. The concept is making restitution to people you may have harmed in your life. Basically, I have been trying to apologize for anything and to everyone for every little thing I can think of that I may have done to offend someone in my life. But with this concept, if they do not receive it in the way you want (aka if they don't accept your apology and throw it back into your face) you basically have to suck it up and move on. The most you can do when trying to make restitution is to try. And if they don't take it in a positive way, well, you tried. And that's all you can do.
I was listening to conference the whole way home, and I really like what was said in the Saturday Sessions. One of the talks talked about not focusing on your past. The speaker said that yes, you may have set a couple fires back in the day, but it's important to focus on the embers of the fires (the lessons) rather than the actual fire itself. I think that applies to almost every situation, good or bad. It's important to never look back. Your past is your past, and if you are constantly dwelling on it you are bound to repeat it. But that being said, it is important also to remember the lessons you learned so that you don't make the same mistake twice.
People are going to be rude to you. I have people in my life right now that I see everyday that are rude to me. But you have to just shrug it off and pretend they aren't, and treat them as you think Christ would. When you think about it, people that act in an innapropriate way towards you just have unfinished business in their own lives, and usually are reacting
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