Youthful Life: X

Truth - Life is full of ambiguity. Things never happen the way that we imagine them to. As much as we try and plan it all out, life always does it's own thing. More often than not, things tend to work out for the better, or at least gravitate towards some semblance of relative normalcy. That randomness that we all dread and strive to avoid though can be inevitable. Sometimes we have to embrace the haphazard nature of life, and just go with it. Doesn't make it any easier venturing into the unknown. "There are no strangers here; Only friends you haven't yet met." William Butler Yeats   One of the most dubiously exhilarating, and simultaneously most terrifying things in life is moving to a new place. There's new people and places to discover. Things to do, food to try, and connections to be made - the possibilities are endless. At the same time, you're absolutely all alone, fear can be truly debilitating, and doubt can settle in. It's this con...

Truth - Giving has to cost you something; time, energy, or something material. Sacrifice is inherent to giving, It is only by giving that get something. That something is exponentially more important than the that you incurred. It is the difference you made is someone else's life and subsequently your own. This notion of community service as being selfless is untrue. Community service is about building connection and this idea of detached philanthropic efforts is part of the problem.  This is humanitarianism. "The humanitarian lays stress almost solely upon breadth of knowledge and sympathy." Irving Babbitt It's the season where our morality apparently starts to kick in because the jingling bells of donation cans, gift drives, soup kitchen serving, food pantry stocking, retirement home card making and all the rest become abundant. In our oblivious excess, we somehow see the poor, the hungry, and the homeless. I struggle living in a city when it comes to givi...

Truth - The only way to go in life is forward. We learn from our pasts in order to change our futures. It is absolutely imperative that we keep moving. We have no other option. The only alternatives are to stay where we are or to go backward, neither of which will get us to where we really want to be. Whenever we get stuck in our ways or end up repeating the mistakes of the past, we are tasked with figuring out what is going to move us forward and doing so. No matter what happens we must forward march. "There are far, far better things ahead than any we leave behind." C.S. Lewis This whole being an adult thing should really come with a roadmap, guidebook, or at least a YouTube tutorial. How is anyone supposed to know what they should do, say, or go? Each and every day brings new challenges and somehow you're obligated to overcome them all or succomb to defeat. That's a lot of pressure to be under daily. It's on you and you alone to ensure you are progressi...