the greener grass syndrome

I've written about this topic before, but I just wanted to post this. This was a short speech I put together when I was asked to give some advice to the graduating seniors of AAIV. It's something that I think applies to all walks of life, but has been so evident in my life and my friends as we left college a year ago.

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I want to talk to you about what I like to call the greener grass syndrome. Some of you next year may be off the new jobs, new cities, more schooling, going home, maybe even staying here for another year. Some of you may be dreading when this school year ends and some of you may be so excited for your next steps.

Whatever it is, realize you are where God wants you to be. I'm only a year ahead of you guys. My friends this year have gone moved west coast for jobs, worked long hours during their gap year, my roommate finished his first year of med school, and I just finished my 10th month of work. Some went home to look for jobs. Some found them, some didn't.

You know what I noticed that all of these people have in common? Everyone wishes they were somewhere else. They see greener grass. My roommate looks at me and says, "Man, I wish I had a job." I look at him and think, "I wish I was in school, meeting new people." Then our friend at home looks at both of us and says, "I wish I was living in the city," and we look back at him and say, "I wish I had the time you had." And the gap year premeds wish they were in medical school already, and the medical students now wish they had taken a gap year.

I'm not saying "make the most of any situation." In fact, I'm not your situation "bad" at all. As christians, we can make more powerful claims than that -- that you are literally exactly where God wants you to be. Right here, right now, and you will be in a month and in a year. You are on the green grass that God has set for you, so stop looking at your neighbor's yard. Literally my smartest friend has probably applied to over 100 jobs now and hasn't gotten any offers. And I have many friends who have great jobs and are making much more than me. Your situation next year doesn't define you in the least bit.

It's so easy to look somewhere else though, right? I wish I was living in Seattle, where I can hike up mountain tops on weekends rather than staring at the Midwest's flat land. Or in California, where I can go outside in a sweater in the middle of the winter, rather than put on five layers in Chicago's brutal winter. I wish I was on the east coast, close to family. But when I think that I miss out on what God has in stored for me right here, right now. From the communities he wants me to engage, new places that I have yet to experience, to old places that I haven't finished their stories yet.


 God has put you exactly where he wants you to be, so find out why. Pray to him, and seek his joy wherever you are. The green grass is wherever you can find the peace of Christ. Congratulations, class of 2015, and I pray that this coming year you will fight to see why God has brought you to wherever you are going.