Escape From Reality

When I was younger I often found it difficult to find my voice, difficult to get people to hear me or even see me. So I would dive headfirst into books or video games, anything to take me to a different place. While I know this isn't the best way of doing things, I found something within those pages. I found myself, the person I never truly knew. The person who loves a good adventure and is always ready to crack a joke to help someone laugh. The person whose only goal in life is to make people smile when the world around them does everything it can to cause a frown. I saw myself, my true self, in the characters I read about. It gave me hope that even someone like me could make a difference. The story that shaped me the most was The Screwtape Letters By C.S. Lewis. In it, a demon named Screwtape sends letters describing how to bother humanity to his nephew Wormwood. The story paints a vivid picture of the little things that get under our skin and multiply into much larger issues. That spilled coffee or tailgater that gets you frustrated to begin the day and snowballs into a full-on argument once you get home. That little look at someone you find attractive turning into an affair. It opened my mind to what we as humans struggle with on a daily basis and taught me to just let the little things go in life. If someone is tailgating you, just keep driving. Nothing I do is going to change their attitude so why worry about it. This world we live in would be a much kinder place if we could all learn to just let things go. The only thing a grudge does is poison your own mind because they've already forgotten how they wronged you. The only reason that pain still exists is that you keep it alive. So I live every day trying to make the people around me happy. It isn't always easy to find that happiness within myself but I always try. I work every day to forgive those who may have wronged me and trust me, it's a daily process to be sure. But in the end, it's worth all the effort. If one person can stop that cycle of anger, it's worth it all.