"It's Time"...for What?

The #1 pick from my post "Top 10 Reads for October '13" was a blog-post about the song "It's Time" by Imagine Dragons.  Hello Giggles is the name of the blog.  The post was awesome! I could never compete with that post, and I am not trying too.  Katie Patton (author) did the song justice by proclaiming it an anthem for twenty-somethings everywhere.  I agree.  Both her post and the song have inspired me for a few weeks now, so I have decided that it's time for me to sit down and write about it myself.

Of course, God always has a way of tieing meaningful songs to your heart, and then making you sit and wait for the masterpiece to unveil itself before you truly understand it.  This blog has a lot of that sort of thing goin' on in it, and this song brings another example of such.

"So this is what you meant when you said that you were spent? 

And now it's time to build from the bottom of the pit right to the top,

Don't hold back

Packing my bags and giving the academy a rain check."

Before I started this post I did a little bit of research, (like every good blogger).  I started by watching the music video.  I didn't understand it at all, but it was neat!  So I googled the meaning of the video and came up with a Huffington Post interview with the songwriter/singer of the song.  In the interview he explains that the bands name and the video are very meaningful to him and his band members, but he is not sharing the meaning with the public because it takes away from the mysterious beauty of art.  

I respect and admire that.

(Dan) also mentions in the interview that he wrote this song right after he had dropped out of college.

What a great time to build...and invest.

Afterall, that is our goal as 20-somethings--or at least it should be.  I deemed "Building and Investing" as the ultimate goal of my twenties after posting my ode to Taylor Swift's "22".  I think I got the idea from a website with financial advice for young adults, but it really applies to much more than just finances.  

After high school I feel like we all have numerous points in our lives where we realize "it's time to build from the bottom of the pit right to the top."  For instance, I'm sure high school seniors and college freshmen totally relate to this song!  In fact, I would be putting it on my playlist if I were that age!  It's the perfect moving-out and moving-on anthem for such a time in your life.

I guess newlyweds could claim it too, or anyone starting a new life in a new town.

My two closest friends right now love this song.  One is getting ready to study abroad for a semester and the other is trying to figure out what she wants to do next.

I guess for me it feels like an arrow confirming my direction after December.  December is when I will be graduating college and taking my first steps into the world with a degree in my hand.

I'm still not sure how that will look.  I've prayed and sought counsel from almost every angle.  While I have received some wonderful advice, I still don't have a direction.

Most people get jobs related to their majors.  I have applied for one that really interests me.  A big part of me wants to take 6 months to just build and invest through bartending and waitressing, while focusing my spare time on monetizing my blog and artwork.  Yet another part of me wants to go work on a ski-lift in Taos, New Mexico or ride my bike across America.  I could also go back to school and get my Master's degree in something cool like writing.

When I sit still I feel like God is telling me to be content and take some time to chill with him. I don't like this so I doubt it.  I think the doubt creeps in because that synopsis won't look shiny or pretty to the world.  In fact, it won't look like I'm doing much at all.  But when I sit still and listen to God, he reminds me of my callings and passions and tells me It's time to begin...

I finally have some time available to focus on being what I am called to be.  Part of me wants to run and hide under something pretty that the world will appreciate.  The other part of me wants to ignore the calling and go do something random.  The problem is, neither of these are what the Lord wants for me right now.  He wants me to begin building and investing, from the bottom up.  This is scary because it takes faith and courage.  Everyone knows a little bit about those fears, but at some point we must stand face to face with them and realize the overcomer within us.

"It's time to begin, isn't it?
I get a little bit bigger and then I'll admit
I'm just the same as I was
Now don't you understand
I'm never changing who I am."

That lesson hit hard a year ago when I was taking a break from school.  I proved to myself and others that I didn't need a degree or a shiny label to be worthy.  Just because I didn't look the way I always had, didn't mean my heart had changed any. 

The same thing comes with growing up.  It's just like the song says...you get a little bit bigger--like you think you're growing and maturing as an adult--then you realize hey, you haven't changed all that much.  You're still the same person, just a little bit older, and regardless of where you are or what you are doing, your core character never changes.  

I feel like this is very important to remember as we are "coming of age."  So many times we stress out all the little details of these decisions--and with good reason!  Every decision we make is ultimately a "life changing decision." But we also must remember that these decisions--actions--choices--they don't change who we are.  They may change our path, but not our character.

Life is always the sum of our choices, but if you are making these choices with integrity and love then you can't go wrong.

23 days till graduation and then it will be Time to Begin...again....and then again later on...and again.

Maybe that is the point of it all.
We have to learn as adults how to adjust to the changing scenes and scenarios of life.  The whole thing is just one big crazy adventure!  Grab it by the horns.