What Do You Do With It?

By Sydney Bennett

What Do You Do With It?

The last couple of weeks have presented a few situations that left me a little down and disappointed. However, as I reflected and looked at the situations from an empowering viewpoint I was reminded that it doesn’t matter what happens to us and around us, only what we do with it.

On my last blog, I shared a little about my health and what I was diagnosed with. Before Thanksgiving break I hadn’t been feeling well and hoped I would get better during the break. I didn’t. That Sunday I had to go to the hospital and ended up staying for 3 days. I am so thankful for my family and the doctors that were patient with me and helped me through my discomfort. Having been in the hospital during the school year previous times, I tried not to freak out about my school work. I knew that we only had two weeks left and I had a majority of my work done in my classes. There was still so much to do in certain classes. I contacted my professors and continued to try to stay calm. I was in a situation where the only thing that I had real control over was my mind and attitude. So, I returned to campus feeling much better but with a lot of work to get done and I was able to thankfully finish it all.

It did not matter what had happened to me. I admit to feeling discouraged about finishing school and missing out on other opportunities, but I had to stand firm on a faith that believes that all things work for my good. This semester, academically, I will end on a positive and solid note. More importantly, I have learned to continue to value the people in my life, the simple things, and my life itself.

When I returned on campus I learned of the news of Saint Xavier student Darius Parish, who had been killed over Thanksgiving break. Although, I did not personally know him, some of my friends and professors describe him as intelligent with so much potential. As I began to share articles from news sources on my Facebook page, other students shared their sadness over what had happened. When my mom called me to tell me she had heard about Darius on the radio, she described feelings of sadness and anger, I felt the same. Then, I wondered what do we do with this? What do we do about what happened? Do we choose to just complain and let anger build up momentarily? Or maybe we all have an opportunity to be kinder people, more dedicated students, lovers, and sharers of faith and positivity. Hearing about Darius encourages me to do the latter. I pray that his family be comforted and for the safety of every student on our campus. More information about what happened to Darius can be found here: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-met-cop-stepson-murder-20111206,0,2237496.story.

Now that you have read my blog, what will you do with it? Will you be encouraged to be a more compassionate you? I hope so. It only matters what we do with it all.

Sydney Bennett is a junior from Chicago, Illinois. She is a Mass Communications major with minors in both Sociology and Art & Design. She is President of Ambassador's for Christ(AFC) and a member of their Gospel choir at Saint Xavier.