Ride of my Life

Tic toc tic toc tic toc…..I could feel the room become a million times hotter. I felt like all of a sudden the classroom was 10x smaller. I could feel the drops of sweat start to trickle down my forehead. I could feel a migraine coming into my small brain like an avalance on a sunny day. I could feel everything. Well….almost everything. I was in the middle of a three hour class…Journalism 452…and tragedy struck!

I slyly started reaching down to the floor with my right hand in hopes of finding what was lost. I felt nothing. I flailed in frank frustration like a 12 year old girl being attacked by a friendly grasshopper. I panicked. And after a few moments….I simply gave up my search.

When a contact lens is lost….well…..you’re pretty much screwed. You are faced with the infamous Contact Lens Dilemma. You have two options. 1) You can continue on with just one contact, allowing you to see perfectly from one eye, yet ultimately resulting in a HUGE headache due to the inbalance of vision. 2) Take the other contact out leaving less strain on your optic nerves and completely minimizing the risks of headaches…resulting of course in horrible vision. In a class setting, a horrible vision just isn’t what you want. In a class that only meets once a week, I couldn’t afford to miss anything. My eye sight without the contacts is absolutely horrendous.

So what did I do. Well…after about 10 minutes of analysis on the dilemma…..I decided that I didn’t like my two options. It was a lose-lose situation. I had to find the contact. I continued my search. The class was full and there was a girl basically in my hugs, sitting right behind me. I couldn’t push my chair back to leave space for me to search. So I did the sidewinder search….basically forcing my forehead past the person-on-my-right’s shoulder. That was fun.

Well….to make a long story short. I finally found the contact. However, it was broken in half. In those 10 minutes I spent thinking….the contact was drying up. It turned into dry plastic. I had accidentally stepped on it….and it broke. Bummer.

So with about half the class time remaining….I decided to suck it up and take the pain of having only one contact lens in. I didn’t want to have to walk home blind. And there was this hot girl that I spotted in class too that I wanted to check out…haha…

Moral of the freaking story: Don’t think too hard. The window of opportunity comes and goes. Decide what you’re gonna do and just do it! Anything else will just give you a headache.

-Mickey

OF THE DAY AWARDS…
Highlight of the day: My portuguese class ROCKS! Also, first day of BodyHype rehearsals this semester was tonight…dang I love dancing!
Lowlight of the day: Besides losing my contact lens, the lowlight of the day was that I missed 24 (you know…the show….with Jack Bauer). But it’s okay I guess…I taped it. Crush of the day: Rebecca Gold.

Sometimes it’s fun to wake up in the morning, look outside and just enjoy the beauty! The snow is absolutely georgeous. Especially before it’s been shoveled, peed-in, or snow-angeled. It’s just amazing! With such beauty such what I saw today…how can anyone deny the existence of a God. It’s breathtaking. Really.

I must admit I normally don’t like snow at all. Yes…i’m from Utah….I know I know….i’m supposed to love snow. But usually I just find it very uncomfortable. It’s freezing! It’s cold! Especially here on the east coast where the wind just goes right through yah! But today…as I was looking out the window….I realized that snow is starting to grow on me a little bit. I stopped to recognize the beauty (in the luxury of a warm dorm room)…and I enjoyed it.

Speaking of beauty. Oh how I love the Brazilian people that I served for two years (August 2003 – August 2005). They are such a beautfiul people. Today I spent many hours on the pay phone inside Frist (using up a bunch of international calling cards) rekindling great friendships with those friends. I was so excited. It was so great to speak with them. They bring joy in my life just as I bring joy into their life. And that’s the biggest understatement of the century. Those two years I spent in Brazil were much more than merely bringing joy into people’s lives. I brought a way of life into their lives. I served as the instrument in God’s hands in bringing the eternal and everlasting gospel of Jesus Christ into their lives. Trust a kid when he says it…they are eternally grateful for the service that I did to them. As I spoke with them on the phone I could hear tears of joy, sniffles of happiness, and sobs of nostalgia. I know that I mean alot to these people. And indeed, they mean alot to me. They helped shape my character. They helped mold my soul. They helped me gain the vision of things that truly matter. If there is one person that needs to do the thanking…it is me to them. I spent hours today speaking with various families that I had served and loved during my time in Brazil. I was pleased to hear of their progress. I was indeed…very very happy to know they were okay and that they were continuing in the ways of the Lord.

Today was awesome because of that! I was able to speak with my Brazilian friends. Soulmates. They all begged and pleaded my return. I promised (and I will keep it) that I would return someday to walk those hallowed streets, sacred ghettos, and so special grounds of Brazil. The time I spent in Brazil was indeed the best two years of my life thus far. I’ve only been home about 6 months so far. But oh how I miss life in complete service to God’s children and His Kingdom. That time was a special time in my life. And speaking with those beautiful families today strengthened my testimony that God is so merciful with his children. God is so kind. God lives and loves all of His children…whether you be in the jungles of the Amazon or in the confines of a small dorm room. God lives. God loves.

Okay gangstas…you ready? You ready for one sweet-diggity-dog blog? If so….put your hands up. High. Wave ‘em side to side. You doing it? Okay good. Keep wavin’ ‘em and now say “Mick Hagen is the biggest nerd on the face of the planet!”

Okay. I think we’re ready to move on. Enjoy the blog. It’s a blog about life. Keep it supa fresh. Keep it wangsta, gangsta, and kablamsta!

SHOUT OUTS TO THE BLOG KING OF PRINCETON, JOSH WEINSTEIN (www.freshprince.us).

-Mickey