Toys"R"Us and the Easy Button

Anyone remember those Toys”R”Us commercials where the kids would say “I don’t wanna grow up, I’m a Toys”R”Us kid”? I sure do. I remember being awestruck by that place as a kid. There was everything a boy could want inside those seemingly magical doors: Legos, Hot Wheels, Batman action figures, model planes, Nerf guns, isle after isle of glorious childhood. When we were young we lived for all of that. We all wanted to be Batman or Barbie. Those isles contained our dreams of who we wanted to be. But at the end of the day, all it would ever be was stuff. A means to an end. Something to be played when then thrown away after we got tired of it. Stuff. Nothing more.

Unless that stuff is in pristine condition. Then you’d be rich. And probably single.

We are a unique generation. Those of us who grew up in the 90’s and 2000’s saw the explosion of things that have shaped how we live today: DVD’s, cell phones, video games, the internet, social networking online dating, ebay, the list goes on and on. Today we want things faster and easier. News is spread instantly. Viral is an every day word that doesn’t mean sickness is spreading. Forums and comment pages have allowed anyone with an opinion to share it with the world whether it’s wanted or not. We can get pretty much anything we want at a breakneck speed. The problem is that we’ve gotten spoiled. But how?

I’m 22 years old. I’m two semesters away from graduating college, hopefully to move on to graduate school where I plan to start my career as a school counselor. I dream of doing what every man does: have a job he loves, get married, have kids, grow old with the woman of your dreams and spoil your grandkids. Sounds simple enough, but then again it’s not so simple. The problem? It’s really hard getting from point A to point B. College is no cakewalk, the work world is never ending, relationships can be hard, etc etc. Am I allowed to get frustrated from time to time? Sure. Should I be surprised that it’s this hard? No, but people now days are surprised. Why? Because we’ve grown up with video game cheats, instant downloads, wikipedia, and 80’s movie montages. We’ve tricked ourself into thinking that things should be easier than they really are. Don’t believe me? Look at divorce rates, college dropout percentages, number of people going bankrupt because of poor planning, Tivo and next day delivery. We want things easy. If they aren’t easy we make it easy. This has even crept into faith. There are people who are misleading believers into thinking that if they just be nice, read their bibles and pray that life will be easy for them, that their days will be blessed abundantly and tenfold. This is simply not true. God is not in the easy “lets be nice” business. God is in the relationship business. A relationship built on faith, grace, trust and sacrifice. And any relationship worth its salt is not easy. You may not have to agree with me, but I would say from personal experience that a relationship with God isn’t a trivial thing to take for granted.

The God who created all of this wants a relationship with you.  Mind blown.

I came to the conclusion a while back that I can’t let myself get deluded into thinking that life should be easy. We can’t work out in exotic locations for 5 minutes to an awesome soundtrack and expect to be karate experts when it’s all said and done. We can’t cut our hair, get rid of the glasses, change our wardrobe and expect Prince Charming to suddenly notice our heart of gold and not our newfound exterior beauty instead. Growing up is tough, slow, sometimes disappointing, beautiful, ugly and joyous all at the same time. I wish I could study for college in a montage, graduate and end up at my new job behind my fancy desk right after the guitar solo kicks in. I wish I had the money to do the things I want. I wish I could hurry up and marry  the girl of my dreams. I wish for a lot of things. But I’m not there yet with any of those things. Why? Because God likes to do things in his own time. He seems like he knows better than me.

Life doesn’t have an easy button. You only get out of it what you put into it. Don’t give up on your dreams because life turned out harder than you expected. You can be a grown up and still be a Toys”R”Us kid.

When you’re grown up the toys get more rad.

Random Thought of the Day
I really wish I had a penguin. I’d name him Rico. Like that one from the Penguins of Madagascar. He would be awesome.