Self — Blog — austin cliff studios

Let's face it; there's just something scary about becoming a "grown up." Grown ups have to pay the taxes, grown ups have to get real jobs that last longer than 4 hours a day, and grown ups have to take care of not only themselves, but also other actual living beings (wives, babies, etc.). That's scary.

I'm on the cusp of turning the ripe age of 24, and a huge part of me wants to go back to being a seventh grade boy. As a seventh grader, the only real thing I had to worry about was what time baseball practice was and what day the garbage needed to be taken out. However, now that I've graduated college and fallen in love and gotten a fiancé, I realize that being a seventh grade boy is no longer a viable option and that growing up is probably my next best option, no matter how scary that may seem.

As the realities of becoming an adult become more and more clear, here are a few of the ideas I've chosen to focus on to help make growing up something to look forward to more than something to fear:

1) Adults get to do cool things
There are a lot of not cool things that adults have to do, and there are a lot of not cool things adults do when they are trying to be cool, but there is no doubt that adults get to do cool things . . . much cooler things than seventh graders. From age 16 and on, the things you get to do become cooler and cooler. From being able to drive, voting, being able to drink and car insurance rates going down, getting older provides a lot of pretty neat opportunities. After a certain point, parents even begin to trust you a little more and you get a little more freedom- like being able to move halfway around the world or something crazy like that. The truth is, without growing up, doing some of life's coolest things wouldn't be possible, and none of us would have hit puberty. AND WE GET TO MAKE MONEY.

2) No more bedtime
Remember those lousy curfews that you had growing up starting at age 3? First it was bed time at 7 p.m., and then it was be back home by 11 p.m. (9 p.m. on school nights). Well guess what, adults don't have bedtimes. Adults also get to get married, have kids and tell those kids they have bedtimes and what better fun is it to get together with your best friend every night and send your little God-given creations off to bed at 7 p.m. so you and your significant other can finally get some of that alone time you've been seeking after since high school. But really, I can't think of anything quite as exciting about growing up as having a family, wife and kids and doing life together through the good times and the 'bed' times (sorry- I had to get my one dad joke in).

3) Growing up is God's plan
You may have a god, and you may have a plan, but you don't always have God's plan. In reality, His ideas are always much better than mine, making His plans always much better than mine. I may think it's a great idea to stay 14-years-old all my life so I can play baseball, have a squeaky voice and have my parents drop me off at the movies, but praise the Lord He doesn't think that's a great idea. I've found it super comforting to reflect on one of my favorite Remember the Titans quotes, which also happens to originally come from Isaiah 40, "Even youth grow tired and weary, but those who trust in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not grow faint." No matter how young or old I am, I'm going to get tired. I'm going to experience trial, change and adversity, but as long as I'm putting my trust in the Grace of God, I can run the race set out for me regardless of how old I get. There is adventure to be had, and that adventure is only going to more epic the older I get as I grow in wisdom and understanding.

Cliff's note: There will always be life after death and taxes.

- Cliff

What I'm reading:
Wild at Heart by John Eldredge
1 Samuel
the Gospel of John

The other day on my walk to church, I passed by some of the most beautiful blue flowers I’d ever seen. They were so perfect; I didn’t even have to put a filter on the picture I took of them for social media purposes.

As I passed by these flowers and stopped to take a photo to share with the whole world (especially my girlfriend) via social media, I was stoked. I was so excited to deliver this newly discovered beauty to my small social media galaxy until, all of a sudden, the thoughts rolled in. The thoughts and fears of what others might think about this post clouded my mind as I stood there awkwardly in front of this person’s home debating whether or not to share their small garden secret with the world.

My thoughts:
Men aren’t supposed to post pictures of flowers; flowers are girly.
No one is going to like this. It’s not something I normally post.
It’s just a picture of flowers. Who really cares?
Men aren’t supposed to post pictures of flowers.
You’re a man. Men don’t post flower pictures.
Flowers. Man. No.

I spent a solid two minutes standing on the sidewalk in front of this person’s house having an argument with myself about whether or not the picture was worth posting. I was consumed with whether or not this post on social media would be something people responded to positively because, just like anything I post, I would constantly check to see how many likes, comments or reTweets I got, and depending on the feedback, it would either make me happy or sad. If people responded well, I’d smile and pat myself on the back. If it were bad, I’d feel let down and probably delete it because I wouldn’t want anything that made me look unpopular left on my profile.

I always seem to shape not only my social media, but also my life, around what will get me the most responses and most gratification. The more ‘likes’ I get from people, the better I feel. If my friends liked seeing pictures of me with cats, I’d start kidnapping cats from around the neighborhood so I could take photos with them. If I knew my friends didn’t like dogs, I probably wouldn’t post pictures of dogs (even though I really love dogs and really hate cats). In short, I don’t post things because I want to or should; I post things to impress others.

This isn’t healthy, not just on social media, but for life in general. If life were about living for the approval of others, then how we treat others, our free time and ourselves would begin to be ruled by what everyone else thinks. If each moment in life turned into its own social media post and our decisions were based on the number of real-life ‘likes’ we got, then there would be a lot of important people in our lives hitting the unfollow button.

Seeking approval from others has always been a big problem of mine. That’s why I stand in front of stranger’s houses debating whether or not to post pictures of their flowers. Therefore, I want to encourage you with this:

Post the picture.

Don’t be an actor trying to perform for your friends because that’s acting and not reality. Be yourself and play the role God has picked out for you in this great story called life. Escape the worry of what others think and relax in the promise that it doesn’t matter what they think. Everyone is weird, and you’re no different. Take pictures of flowers, post them and if someone says something, tell them to stop and smell the roses.

-Cliff