Monday, November 25, 2013

A little off-center

Coming home after serving a full-time mission for two years, life is a little bit different from what I was used to. But I'm adapting pretty well. Most of the time I don't actually notice much of a shift. As I mentioned in an earlier post it's almost like experiencing a peculiar transfer. I was doing one thing before, and now I'm doing another. End of story. Here's your popcorn. Let's go do The Stuff That Needs Doing.

That last sentence may be another contributing factor. There is a season for everything under the sun, but it all boils down, for me, to things that need doing. Before it was one thing, and now it's another. But it all needs doing.

I feel so much better today after I started using my modified missionary daily planner. Having times and tasks set aside feels so nice.

Where the shift to civilian life is jarring it is so not because of the differences but because of the similarities. Watching a movie does nothing to me. It is far enough removed, I think, that I do not compare it to missionary life. When I went to Church today, however, it was one long train ride of feeling really weird. A few weeks ago I was one of those missionaries standing at the door. A few weeks ago I only ever went to the first hour of the church block because there were always other wards to attend. Second and third hours barely existed as a concept for me, only had a presence as That Thing Other People Do. Now I'm attending Sunday School and Elders Quorum.

It's not the big differences that get me. It's the little things, the tiny differences just similar enough that I can't help but hold these two periods of my life beside each other and compare them.

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