You're Not Alone!

With the weekend coming to a close and the prospect of a lazy, Monday holiday on the horizon, I've had the opportunity to just relax, which I still find unnerving. In the last few months leading up to my return to academia, I worked both a part-time and full-time job. Any form of "relaxing," usually consisted of me sleeping for the five hours in between them. And since I've been in Utah, I've only had more idle time to waste, which I've regrettably filled with meaningless television and video games. However, I have a job interview on Tuesday (I'll keep you all posted) about which will (hopefully) result in more productive evenings for myself.

In other news, I just wanna thank you guys again for the birthday wishes! I really appreciate it! 'Twas a totally awesome day, filled with sushi and delicious birthday cake!

So, let's start with this day's post...

I recently had a chance to re-watch the movie Captain Phillips with a friend. For those of you who haven't heard of it and want to know more (I mean, it's got Tom Hanks in it and he gets hijacked by Somali pirates; kind of an awesome plot line) you can view it's IMDB page here.

During the course of the film, there's a part when Tom Hanks' character, Captain Rich Phillips, is set adrift at sea with only his pirate captors on a lifeboat. And even though the Captain's crew is following closely behind them -- via cargo ship -- it becomes increasingly apparent that he is alone and his chances of survival were rapidly dropping with every passing moment.

I think we can all relate to the Captain's dilemma. In life, we sometimes find ourselves in uncertain situations where the likelihood of us making it out unharmed seems nearly impossible. And even though we have support standing by, our own loneliness sometimes blinds us to their presence.

But the good Captain was not alone! In fact, three US Navy Ships AND a team of Navy Seals were also dispatched and en route to intercept the pirates and rescue him, which they did successfully!

Can you imagine being freed from that chaos and seeing the extent of your rescue party? Would you think that you -- a small, insignificant citizen of Planet Earth -- would be worth the trouble of mobilizing navies and special ops?

I firmly believe there is very little humankind would not do for each other. And whether you believe in a Higher Power or not, I think someone is aware of your troubles and somewhere there's a rescue party on stand-by awaiting the call to assemble and save you.

Take my new roommate Terry, for instance.

This guy is incredible. He's a Psych major here at UVU and he's got the uncanny ability to read body language accurately. He's the kind of person who will stop you in the hallway, ask you about your day, and just give you a hug because he knows something is amiss but won't ever intrude and ask you directly about it. When I was going through my roommate drama earlier in January, Terry would occasionally text me or drop by my apartment. Those visits were random, but they were perfectly timed events that definitely helped me out when I felt alone and isolated.

Then there people who have always been there, like my second cousin Melissa.

To be truthful, I didn't actually know Melissa before I moved to Utah. She was just another relative my mother would randomly discuss who also happened to go to UVU. During the aforementioned roommate drama, I would sit in my apartment and just waste time alone. But all that would change when a five foot tall girl, accompanied by all her roommates, came to my door one evening and said:

"Hey... I'm your cousin and I live upstairs... Wanna hang out?"

And we've been hanging out ever since.

There are lots of people like Terry and Melissa in the world, waiting in the wings to be needed. We just need to be open to them. And maybe, one day, we can be needed for someone else.