Youthful Life: X

" Let us be about setting high standards for life, love, creativity, and wisdom. If our expectations in these areas are low, we are not likely to experience wellness. Setting high standards makes every day and every decade worth looking forward to." Greg Anderson Something is different. Everything is different. In an instant, my life, and my understanding of it changed. Have you ever met a person that radically changed your perception of what was possible?  Everything is brighter, more hopeful, and greater now. The bar has been raised for the better. I am without words to describe this feeling. Wow, just wow. There is something special to be said about the people who enter or pass through our lives who expand the realm of possibilities, hell, somethings they show us a whole other world of opportunity we never knew existed. We are woefully limited by the scope of what we know to be possible. Much like self-fulfilling prophecies where our predicted behavior determines ...

" It is only through labor and painful effort, by grim energy and resolute courage, that we move on to better things." Theodore Roosevelt Time heals most  wounds . As I progress further into adulthood those words ring true. Much of the things that used to bother me, be on my mind, or take up my time don't anymore simply because most of them are temporary. Temporary issues warrant a proportionate response, oftentimes acknowledging it exists, and minimizing it. Oftentimes issues truly get blown out of proportion when with a little bit of time their impact is short-lived. If things only last a little while then those things really don't need to matter that much. Having more time to focus on what does matter means making the most of that time in the best of ways. Happiness by way of healing I am realizing happens when I'm not paying attention. One day heaviness is on my heart, I process through it, learn from it, and depart from it, but still a bit of weight re...

" An apology offered and, equally important, received is a step towards reconciliation and, sometimes, recompense. Without that process, hurts can rankle and fester and erupt into their own hatreds and wrongdoings." Margaret MacMillan Stop apologizing for the harm other people cause you . Stop forgiving people before they have done the work to ask for it or to change. Stop letting well-meaning people or “good intentions” dismiss their impact. It’s their job to own their impact; not yours to rationalize it away. Hold people accountable for their actions and their impact. People don't get to barrel through lives or the world without being prompted to look back and see what they've left in their wake. When we don't address the harm and its cause we deny ourselves healing, and closure, and let someone continue their behavior without knowledge of its impact. If we care about people, particularly those close to us, we will hold them accountable. We are obligated ...