Part Of It

We now return to our regularly scheduled Relient K album breakdown!

"It's not the end of the world,
Just you and me.
We're a part of it everyone, 
We're a part of it everything.
And when the nightmare ever does unfold,
Perspective is a lovely hand to hold."

I've been working with brevity lately and I'm afraid that today is not going to be any different.  One of my most developed character traits is longwindedness, which, in addition to being a word that I just made up, is not always the best way to approach situations.  I mean, it gets the job done of course, but there's nothing wrong with a brief word here and there.  But it already seems like that train has sailed...

I've got some homework for the readers.  I'm only going to post these lyrics.  I might post the video.  But I only want to work with the chorus here.  There're obviously some verses, but they will not contribute to my new desire to be brief.  If you really want to do some further exploration (and you do), listen to the song on your own.  It's a quality piece of music...

Sometimes we try to take the world and shrink it until it fits into the palm of our hand.  That way, we feel, we've got everything under our own control.  We can spin it until we find the proper trajectory and axis, thereby assuring us of the life we planned for.  But the earth is not made of Shrinkydinks.  It's full of confusion and the unknown.  We really never know what's going to befall us next, as much as we might prepare for it.  We can walk around and be absolutely convinced that we're going to marry that special friend of ours, or that we're going to get that promotion, or that we're going to change somebody's life, but it seems that that life we're trying to change may very well conspire against us.  Now this is not some sort of warning post or anything like that.  I'm simply pointing out the fallacy in putting so much stock into planning.  We don't know the whims of the world.  We are but pawns in a giant game of chess, only able to see a few spaces ahead and unable to jump over other pieces until the way has been cleared.  It may not be the best metaphor in history, but I believe it works for our purposes...

I do have a point here.  The world doesn't end when calamity strikes.  It's up to us to realize this.  Life goes on, perhaps bigger and grander if we allow it to be.  It will suck for awhile.  Change is not the easiest thing to get through.  But with the proper perspective, we can make it through.

Notice that I said "we."  I didn't think anything of it until 30 seconds ago.  But it's true.  When you awake from that nightmare, you're not going to be alone.  It may be the end of a relationship (or any other important status symbol in life), but it's certainly not the end of everything.  The world goes on.  People still love and care about you.  You are worth it.  Perspective is the key.  Hold fast and keep on going.

There seems to be a general trend to this album...