Youthful Life: X

"The only thing you sometimes have control over is perspective. You don't have control over your situation. But you have a choice about how you view it." Chris Pine Reframing makes the picture different. Reframing is a powerful tool that we have in our arsenals to view our experiences in the ways that we dictate. Reframing let's us craft the narrative, and the story we tell ourselves about our own lives. So much of our lives can be dictated by fear. Fear is paralysis. Fear is a blockade. Fear is holding us back. Fear is not a way to live. Fear prevents us from living. Oh, what our lives could be if we lived in spite of fear. Fear, apprehension, nervousness, and all their dastardly cronies that prevent us for the fullness of life can sometimes be overcome through reframing. We can take a hardship presented to us, and make it small. We can take it is a challenge that will benefit us in the process. We can turn it into something of our own creation. It's taking ...

Truth - Each period of life is marked by pivotal events, but possibly even more so the presence and the absence of those around us. People play such critical roles in our lives. The ways that people move in an out orbit to us truly is a synchronized performance of the most marvelous proportions. As some move closer in proximity, others retreat. There we are in the center of it all, pushing, and pulling on the heavenly bodies of those around us. What happens some come too close - are they burned in the process? What about those that or depart from our gravitational field, are they forever lost to the cosmos? How do we account for drift? "We sail within a vast sphere, ever drifting in uncertainty, driven from end to end." Blaise Pascal The world is a funny place. I find myself more and more moving through it and being in awe. The world is truly an elaborate labyrinth that one barely ever makes much headway in. I think of all the ways I make my world small, more m...

Truth - People need closure. It's such a human thing - to want answers, to wonder why, and to pursue finality. We want to know the reasons things happen or don't happen. From how sinks work to the existential questions of free will and divine purpose. Nothing plagues the human psyche more than the disappearance of people, no matter how it happens. Death, departure, or evening ghosting - disconnecting irks us to no end. Here's to all the flakes, catfish, and timewasters - this one's for you; we're done getting ghosted. " Oh, what a void there is in things" Persius One of the biggest critiques I have for this day and age is our avoidance of conflict. It's not new, but with all our avenues of communication, it's become arguably both easier and more complicated than ever before. Of course there's the classic actually avoiding people, but with the advent of social media and our potentially compulsive need to document the entirety of our liv...

Truth - Distance does make the heart grow fonder but it can also make the heart move on. Physical separation had a funny way of clarifying relationships. Some of them grow stronger with more in depth conversations, more personal truths, and real candid moments. Others atrophy, collect dust, or disappear completely. If you want people in your life your have to make an effort to have them there. It takes two people to form a friendship but just one to do away with it. Who are you calling, long distance? " Each friend represents a world in us, a world not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born." Anais Nin Remember back in the day when you phone carriers used to charge you a few for making long distance phone calls. You'd wait until nights and weekends or put them on your anytime list to save your minutes. It's funny the lengths that people used to go to in order to use their time on the phone wisely. Now there's no l...

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...

Truth - I have no idea what my post-college version of adulthood will be. I can identify bits and pieces of what my version of adulthood might look like but other than that I'm lost without a guide to help me on my way. There are no waypoints, no path markers, or points of interests to show me who or where I should be. Am I grown up enough? Do I act appropriately for me age? Will I be taken seriously? I'm betwixt and between.    "You think that adulthood will hit and you'll suddenly be more capable. But that doesn't happen, ever, does it?" Sally Hawkins   My entire conceptualization of adulthood has always been skewed because I never say myself becoming one. I guess I always imagined it to be this point of arrival and knowing that I could be self-sufficient or contribute positively to society. In actuality it's not a single place that you come or even a state of being but rather a lifelong journey. To be quite honest, I still have no idea what it...

The 20s are all about having faith in yourself and others. Belief is one of the most powerful motivators known to man. Whether you're religious/spiritual or not, we all acknowledge that some things are true. There are times when we have to let go, take a back seat, and let things work out. We may not see the big picture but we play our part and things often fall into place. When we step back and take a look, the cartography is more amazing than we ever could have imagined. Are you ready to trust the process?  The phrase trust the process may hands down be the saying makes the most annoyed for a variety of reasons. You know that one of the things I have the most difficulty with is following others when I'm not in control, and also trusting people (but those #trustissues tho). Nonetheless I'm expected to fall in lone, march on, and carry out orders. Well the difference is this isn't Call of Duty. I'm not a soldier obeying orders. I'm not unaware of the great...