Sunday, August 25, 2013
Today, I was supposed to have lined up in Perth for the 2013 City To Surf. I had signed up for the half-marathon and was looking forward to it, raising money for Cystic Fibrosis WA. However, a couple of weeks ago, a woman wasn't looking where she was going and walked into me, causing a wrist and forearm injury that is still rather painful. Therefore I was unable to take my place today and I'm feeling rather disappointed about that. Although, having said that, it's not too bad because the weather isn't great today and having only got out of a very serious hospital admission two months ago, I'm still exhausted from that.
Well, that's not the point of today's blog, but I thought I'd make mention of that today. The point of today's blog is about the childhood game, chasey. Most of us around my age who grew up in the 1990's will remember the game well. It's played with a group of people and one person would be "it" and they would have to run around and chase other people, tag them and then that person would be it. Well, I hated that game because whenever I was "it", all the other kids would do is go up stairs and the game would be boring because nothing else would happen. It makes it a very boring, one-way game and nobody would have fun. Eventually, I would learn that it was no fun for me and I would stop playing.
Lately my life feels like I've started playing chasey again, particularly with some friendships. Yes, I understand that we will have those people in our lives who are totally selfish and don't give us anything and that's just the way it goes. However, I feel it's happening a lot to me lately, that people are not giving me back much at all and that I'm exhausting myself trying to care for others. Well, I can't do it anymore. I need two-way relationships in my life. If you want to be a part of my life, make an effort, seriously. I get that sometimes people retreat from others and that when people start struggling it can become draining on other people, but what I don't get is when people start blatantly ignoring me, yet they claim they love me in the same sentence. Too many people are doing that with me lately and I'm not liking it one bit. If you love someone, you wouldn't ignore them. It's really that simple, folks.
I think at the moment I am going through another learning experience with life and I just need to figure out who my real friends are all over again. It's another season of change and I'm just not dealing with it as well as I normally do. I think it's because it feels like it's all happening at once and when I'm this tired at the start, I was never going to be able to deal with all this well. I'm deliberately not going into detail here with all that I'm dealing with because it's just too personal.
Lastly, before I finish, I need to make it public information that I'm done with overly sensitive types. I never was a fan of people like that anyway. You know, those people who, when you say something that has absolutely nothing to do with them as a person, yet they take it out of context and then have the audacity to get upset and abuse you for it and then in the end, you feel like the jerk. Well, I'm not dealing with them anymore simply because they are far too high maintenance in my life and I don't have the strength right now.
Well, that's me done for today and now I'm off to crawl back into bed, away from all the draining humans.
Saturday, 24 August 2013
Friday, 16 August 2013
You'll Always Be My Best Friend
Friday, August 16, 2013
Tonight I would like to acknowledge firstly that I don't normally blog on Friday nights because I'm normally at youth. However, due to a wrist/forearm injury that happened last week, I can't be there. Also, it is making things like writing a bit painful, so this one has been a bit slow in progress (not that you'd notice because you're not watching me type this).
Anywho, I need to get on with the point to this particular blog. In four days, on Tuesday August 20th, my best friend of the last three years, Kathleen Ann Walton-Roy, leaves Perth for England. She may or may not tell me off for using her full name here, but either way she loves me and I know she'll get past it. That's a risk I'm willing to take. I'd like to use this blog as a public notice of her greatness and let you all know why I consider her to be my best friend.
We met in June of 2010 in a young adult small group meeting in a friend's apartment in Perth. I can't remember what I said but I must have said something good that night because as soon as the night formally ended, she came up to me, gave me a rather tight hug and said, "I NEED to have a coffee with you sometime soon, please!" Well, the smart thing to do in that situation is say yes. We exchanged phone numbers and so began our friendship. Now, I'm not going to go over every detail of what's happened between then and now because some of it is too personal and some of it will just bore you, so I'll just stick to what I think are the most important details for you.
Over the next few months, we got to know each other rather quickly. Then, life would give me the biggest punch I thought I could ever deal with. On November 10, 2010 at 8:28 am, I got a phone call stating that one of the most inspirational people I've ever known and the one person I could relate to on a medical level, Zoe Johnston, had passed away from the effects of cystic fibrosis. It absolutely smashed me physically, mentally, emotionally and even spiritually. Seriously, I even questioned my faith in God in the aftermath of that. However, one thing that was constant during that time was my friendship with Kathy. She was consistently there with phone calls, messages of encouragement, hugs, prayers and all those great things one needs when one loses someone significant like that.
Like any close friendship that's been around for a while, we have had our share of disagreements. Again, I'm not going into detail, but just proving that our friendship isn't out of a Hollywood movie, and that it's not perfect. However, at the end of the day, the fact is the positives have FAR outweighed the negatives and when you can look at someone and despite having seen their worst, still remember exactly why you love them, you need to hang on to that person because you've got them for life. Seriously, I just can't let her go. Oh, how I have tried in the past, but I just can't. God just will not let me!
There is a theory that some people are in your life for a reason, some for a season and a few for a lifetime. I believe I've found a lifetime friend in Kathy. She's one of the more selfless people on the planet that I know, will stop to help a stranger and she even contacted me from as far as New Zealand while I was in hospital (several times) just to be sure I was okay. Now that is nothing short of amazing! There was one time she even cancelled her day's plans just to take me to hospital and she sat there with me the whole day as well.
She brings out the best in me, encourages me to become all that God has destined for me and as I've made mention, is there for me even during the hardest of times. She's also got the patience to get to the bottom of the barrel and find out the deepest part of an issue. Where some people will just take something at face-value, she will discuss it until it's resolved. Now that just shows the heart of the woman right there!
She's got the most amazing sense of humour and is one of those people who can even make me smile when everything inside of me just wants to cry or scream. I've had the honour of watching her go through some huge personal growth over the past three years as well as she's matured into an amazing, beautiful woman with a seriously great singing voice. Seriously, if you haven't heard it, do yourself a favour and buy her music when she makes an album someday, in the hopefully not too distant future. You know it will be the business, quite literally! It's also been great more recently being able to serve alongside her in youth leadership at Metro Church. If you had asked me a year ago if that would happen, I would have questioned what drug you were on. Not because she doesn't have the heart, but because I thought with her lifestyle (one of those people who just doesn't stop until life forces her to) I figured she'd be too busy to give up her Friday nights for that. However, she's been doing it and has given a really solid effort as well from all reports. I'm a bit disappointed I missed her final night at youth last week with my wrist but from all reports, it was fantastic.
There is nothing I can't talk about with her from the most immature stuff on the internet to deep personal and world issues. I know that being in England is going to be tough for the closeness of our friendship and things will change with us a bit, such as the amount of communication. However, I am totally certain beyond a shadow of a doubt that what she is doing is definitely following the calling of God upon her life for greatness and I wouldn't want anything less for her. She deserves God's best and she's chasing it with all her strength, so I say go, give it your all and share your amazingness with the rest of the world. As much as I'd love to keep her in Perth, this city is simply too small for someone with such a big heart and musical talent as Kathy's. She needs to go, spread her wings and fly into everything God has for her. But for goodness sake, I hope she does come back someday, at least for a holiday, because she's one person who I really would risk life and limb to get on a plane and fly halfway round the world just to find.
In closing, I promise that even from Oxford, England, Kathy will be the first to know when I'm in hospital, about any girl issues I'm facing or about how I'm dominating life. I will miss you and I love you more than I can find the words to state right now. Go with God, keep him first in all that you do and be all that you're called to be in this life and don't settle for second-best! :)
Love,
Perry.
Tonight I would like to acknowledge firstly that I don't normally blog on Friday nights because I'm normally at youth. However, due to a wrist/forearm injury that happened last week, I can't be there. Also, it is making things like writing a bit painful, so this one has been a bit slow in progress (not that you'd notice because you're not watching me type this).
Anywho, I need to get on with the point to this particular blog. In four days, on Tuesday August 20th, my best friend of the last three years, Kathleen Ann Walton-Roy, leaves Perth for England. She may or may not tell me off for using her full name here, but either way she loves me and I know she'll get past it. That's a risk I'm willing to take. I'd like to use this blog as a public notice of her greatness and let you all know why I consider her to be my best friend.
We met in June of 2010 in a young adult small group meeting in a friend's apartment in Perth. I can't remember what I said but I must have said something good that night because as soon as the night formally ended, she came up to me, gave me a rather tight hug and said, "I NEED to have a coffee with you sometime soon, please!" Well, the smart thing to do in that situation is say yes. We exchanged phone numbers and so began our friendship. Now, I'm not going to go over every detail of what's happened between then and now because some of it is too personal and some of it will just bore you, so I'll just stick to what I think are the most important details for you.
Over the next few months, we got to know each other rather quickly. Then, life would give me the biggest punch I thought I could ever deal with. On November 10, 2010 at 8:28 am, I got a phone call stating that one of the most inspirational people I've ever known and the one person I could relate to on a medical level, Zoe Johnston, had passed away from the effects of cystic fibrosis. It absolutely smashed me physically, mentally, emotionally and even spiritually. Seriously, I even questioned my faith in God in the aftermath of that. However, one thing that was constant during that time was my friendship with Kathy. She was consistently there with phone calls, messages of encouragement, hugs, prayers and all those great things one needs when one loses someone significant like that.
Like any close friendship that's been around for a while, we have had our share of disagreements. Again, I'm not going into detail, but just proving that our friendship isn't out of a Hollywood movie, and that it's not perfect. However, at the end of the day, the fact is the positives have FAR outweighed the negatives and when you can look at someone and despite having seen their worst, still remember exactly why you love them, you need to hang on to that person because you've got them for life. Seriously, I just can't let her go. Oh, how I have tried in the past, but I just can't. God just will not let me!
There is a theory that some people are in your life for a reason, some for a season and a few for a lifetime. I believe I've found a lifetime friend in Kathy. She's one of the more selfless people on the planet that I know, will stop to help a stranger and she even contacted me from as far as New Zealand while I was in hospital (several times) just to be sure I was okay. Now that is nothing short of amazing! There was one time she even cancelled her day's plans just to take me to hospital and she sat there with me the whole day as well.
She brings out the best in me, encourages me to become all that God has destined for me and as I've made mention, is there for me even during the hardest of times. She's also got the patience to get to the bottom of the barrel and find out the deepest part of an issue. Where some people will just take something at face-value, she will discuss it until it's resolved. Now that just shows the heart of the woman right there!
She's got the most amazing sense of humour and is one of those people who can even make me smile when everything inside of me just wants to cry or scream. I've had the honour of watching her go through some huge personal growth over the past three years as well as she's matured into an amazing, beautiful woman with a seriously great singing voice. Seriously, if you haven't heard it, do yourself a favour and buy her music when she makes an album someday, in the hopefully not too distant future. You know it will be the business, quite literally! It's also been great more recently being able to serve alongside her in youth leadership at Metro Church. If you had asked me a year ago if that would happen, I would have questioned what drug you were on. Not because she doesn't have the heart, but because I thought with her lifestyle (one of those people who just doesn't stop until life forces her to) I figured she'd be too busy to give up her Friday nights for that. However, she's been doing it and has given a really solid effort as well from all reports. I'm a bit disappointed I missed her final night at youth last week with my wrist but from all reports, it was fantastic.
There is nothing I can't talk about with her from the most immature stuff on the internet to deep personal and world issues. I know that being in England is going to be tough for the closeness of our friendship and things will change with us a bit, such as the amount of communication. However, I am totally certain beyond a shadow of a doubt that what she is doing is definitely following the calling of God upon her life for greatness and I wouldn't want anything less for her. She deserves God's best and she's chasing it with all her strength, so I say go, give it your all and share your amazingness with the rest of the world. As much as I'd love to keep her in Perth, this city is simply too small for someone with such a big heart and musical talent as Kathy's. She needs to go, spread her wings and fly into everything God has for her. But for goodness sake, I hope she does come back someday, at least for a holiday, because she's one person who I really would risk life and limb to get on a plane and fly halfway round the world just to find.
In closing, I promise that even from Oxford, England, Kathy will be the first to know when I'm in hospital, about any girl issues I'm facing or about how I'm dominating life. I will miss you and I love you more than I can find the words to state right now. Go with God, keep him first in all that you do and be all that you're called to be in this life and don't settle for second-best! :)
Love,
Perry.
Saturday, 10 August 2013
Vacant Position
Sunday, August 11, 2013
Today I would like to advertise for a position in my life: decent female friend. As it currently stands, apparently I have four, but I'm not convinced. One is very inconsistent, two have boyfriends and therefore don't speak to me much, the other is about to leave Australia. Therefore I'm feeling a bit lost right now and would like to advertise for a decent female friend. She must have the following:
1. Love Jesus.
2. Live in and not have any desire to leave Perth.
3. Be honest.
4. Give consistent communication.
5. Don't be ignorant when you get a boyfriend.
6. Decent hugs.
By the way, this isn't even slightly a joke.
Today I would like to advertise for a position in my life: decent female friend. As it currently stands, apparently I have four, but I'm not convinced. One is very inconsistent, two have boyfriends and therefore don't speak to me much, the other is about to leave Australia. Therefore I'm feeling a bit lost right now and would like to advertise for a decent female friend. She must have the following:
1. Love Jesus.
2. Live in and not have any desire to leave Perth.
3. Be honest.
4. Give consistent communication.
5. Don't be ignorant when you get a boyfriend.
6. Decent hugs.
By the way, this isn't even slightly a joke.
Saturday, 3 August 2013
You always have more to give
Sunday, August 4, 2013
I was originally going to write a blog dedicated to the awesome definition of selflessness that is my mother, Kylie Cunningham, considering it's her birthday tomorrow, but I have a more pressing issue that needs to be talked about today. She's not the kind of person to be upset about something like that anyway, so I will just say happy birthday mum, hope you enjoy your day tomorrow! :)
At the moment, I'm listening to a song by Relient K called "Give." It's about giving until there is absolutely nothing left, to the point where you are so dry that you think you're going to pass out and die, physically and emotionally. And lately, that's how I've been feeling. I've felt a bit sucked dry, to the point where on Wednesday I was feeling unwell due to stress (not going into detail) and usually when I get like that, I don't sleep or eat much, which doesn't help the situation at all. Also, I don't really reach out to many people anymore because my ability to trust people at the moment is almost non-existant. Seriously, I can count those people who I can wholeheartedly trust on one hand.
We have had a rather rough family situation come up and it all came to a head on Wednesday. It just proved that even those who you think will never make you cry, can. I guess it just shows that the closer some people are in your life, greater is their ability to hurt you, even though you trust them not to. Since then, I've brushed it off and I can honestly say I am okay, but I'm still struggling to get around the ability to trust others at the moment. Is it an issue? I don't believe it is. I believe it's an issue when you don't have those personal boundaries and you give your emotional issues to every person willing to listen long enough. I used to be like that because I longed so much for a decent, caring friend in my life because simply put, I had no friends at all, let alone real decent ones. Now, God has spoiled me for choice and I have a few decent friends who I can go to about anything. Depending on the situation will depend on who I go to with the particular issue I am dealing with.
What do you do when you get so tired that you don't want to get out of bed for three days? I did that earlier this week (Wednesday to Friday). It wasn't just something I wrote on Facebook, but something I really did. I was that tired physically, emotionally and spiritually that I needed to just lie down and sleep and turn my phone on silent. Thankfully, a couple of amazing people got hold of me (Amy, Hannah and Sarah) and gave me some godly wisdom into things. Also, during those couple of days it gave me a good opportunity to have some seriously good Jesus time, so that happened as well. I had a punctured tyre on Tuesday which forced me to stay in bed for a couple of days anyway. I think of it as God using that situation to force me to stop and rest and I am glad he did because I'm better off for it. The fact is that if God has brought you through something before, he ultimately promised he WILL do it again! Maybe not today, maybe not even tomorrow, but in due course, the seasons will change because that is all they are - seasons.
Seasons are a part of nature and if they didn't happen, things wouldn't grow anywhere near as strong as they do. Trees would not be green, flowers wouldn't bloom, grass wouldn't grow, animals would die out and the world wouldn't look anywhere near as lovely as it does in the aftermath of storms. Sure, we don't exactly enjoy storms while we are enduring them, but I am certain in the aftermath of the situation, we look back, smile and thank God we came through because we can see the positive difference it made to our character.
There is nothing wrong with lying down and sleeping for a couple of days, even turning your phone on silent and only answering to those most important in your life, as long as eventually you do get up and fight again. I came to a point yesterday where I found myself getting moody and so I noticed it was a beautiful day as far as weather was concerned, so I waited until after the Eagles game had started (because getting caught up in that crowd would just make my mood worse), I grabbed some coffee, put my iPod on my chilled playlist, sat under a tree and took a nap in the sun for a short while. It was good and refreshing to do that and I felt a whole lot better after that.
Find whatever it is that helps you relax physically and emotionally and do that. Even if you don't think you have time, you don't have time not to do it. It is not worth your mental, emotional, spiritual or physical health to live with heaps of junk like that. Jesus has promised he is faithful to see us through to the end, which means he is right there holding us during stormy seasons. That is not to say he will drag us out when we start complaining because he knows in the end, it's for our own good that we learn to persevere through this because usually he is trying to teach us something.
Remember, giving up is not an option! :)
I was originally going to write a blog dedicated to the awesome definition of selflessness that is my mother, Kylie Cunningham, considering it's her birthday tomorrow, but I have a more pressing issue that needs to be talked about today. She's not the kind of person to be upset about something like that anyway, so I will just say happy birthday mum, hope you enjoy your day tomorrow! :)
At the moment, I'm listening to a song by Relient K called "Give." It's about giving until there is absolutely nothing left, to the point where you are so dry that you think you're going to pass out and die, physically and emotionally. And lately, that's how I've been feeling. I've felt a bit sucked dry, to the point where on Wednesday I was feeling unwell due to stress (not going into detail) and usually when I get like that, I don't sleep or eat much, which doesn't help the situation at all. Also, I don't really reach out to many people anymore because my ability to trust people at the moment is almost non-existant. Seriously, I can count those people who I can wholeheartedly trust on one hand.
We have had a rather rough family situation come up and it all came to a head on Wednesday. It just proved that even those who you think will never make you cry, can. I guess it just shows that the closer some people are in your life, greater is their ability to hurt you, even though you trust them not to. Since then, I've brushed it off and I can honestly say I am okay, but I'm still struggling to get around the ability to trust others at the moment. Is it an issue? I don't believe it is. I believe it's an issue when you don't have those personal boundaries and you give your emotional issues to every person willing to listen long enough. I used to be like that because I longed so much for a decent, caring friend in my life because simply put, I had no friends at all, let alone real decent ones. Now, God has spoiled me for choice and I have a few decent friends who I can go to about anything. Depending on the situation will depend on who I go to with the particular issue I am dealing with.
What do you do when you get so tired that you don't want to get out of bed for three days? I did that earlier this week (Wednesday to Friday). It wasn't just something I wrote on Facebook, but something I really did. I was that tired physically, emotionally and spiritually that I needed to just lie down and sleep and turn my phone on silent. Thankfully, a couple of amazing people got hold of me (Amy, Hannah and Sarah) and gave me some godly wisdom into things. Also, during those couple of days it gave me a good opportunity to have some seriously good Jesus time, so that happened as well. I had a punctured tyre on Tuesday which forced me to stay in bed for a couple of days anyway. I think of it as God using that situation to force me to stop and rest and I am glad he did because I'm better off for it. The fact is that if God has brought you through something before, he ultimately promised he WILL do it again! Maybe not today, maybe not even tomorrow, but in due course, the seasons will change because that is all they are - seasons.
Seasons are a part of nature and if they didn't happen, things wouldn't grow anywhere near as strong as they do. Trees would not be green, flowers wouldn't bloom, grass wouldn't grow, animals would die out and the world wouldn't look anywhere near as lovely as it does in the aftermath of storms. Sure, we don't exactly enjoy storms while we are enduring them, but I am certain in the aftermath of the situation, we look back, smile and thank God we came through because we can see the positive difference it made to our character.
There is nothing wrong with lying down and sleeping for a couple of days, even turning your phone on silent and only answering to those most important in your life, as long as eventually you do get up and fight again. I came to a point yesterday where I found myself getting moody and so I noticed it was a beautiful day as far as weather was concerned, so I waited until after the Eagles game had started (because getting caught up in that crowd would just make my mood worse), I grabbed some coffee, put my iPod on my chilled playlist, sat under a tree and took a nap in the sun for a short while. It was good and refreshing to do that and I felt a whole lot better after that.
Find whatever it is that helps you relax physically and emotionally and do that. Even if you don't think you have time, you don't have time not to do it. It is not worth your mental, emotional, spiritual or physical health to live with heaps of junk like that. Jesus has promised he is faithful to see us through to the end, which means he is right there holding us during stormy seasons. That is not to say he will drag us out when we start complaining because he knows in the end, it's for our own good that we learn to persevere through this because usually he is trying to teach us something.
Remember, giving up is not an option! :)
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