Youthful Life: X

Truth - Life is a series of adjustments. We go through life taking things as they come and learning how to deal with them. Situations are fleeting, our surroundings change, and people come and go. The older we get, the bigger those changes can seem at times. We come to these realizations and have to take the time to process the information we're given and act as we see fit. Some things hit us harder than others and occasionally our epiphanies are delayed. Growing up is hard, and it never ends. Ready to go home? "Never make your home in a place. Make a home for yourself inside your own head. You'll find what you need to furnish it - memory, friends you can trust, love of learning, and other such things. That way it will go with you wherever you journey." Tad Williams I don't know about you but when I left home to head off to college I don't think I properly said goodbye - to my bedroom, my house, and most prominently my childhood. I didn't realize t...

Truth - Time stands still for no one. We blink and all of a sudden we've aged - whether or not we have grown is a completely different story. Year by year, week by week, and second by second our time moves forward with or without us. Externally we change but internally, that is with respect to our mindsets and motives, the process looks completely different. No one ever said growing up was going to be easy, but what they really should have emphasized is that it isn't a one and done thing. The day we stop moving forward is the day time stands still, and that is the way we pass away. This is my declaration of boyhood.   "Let us never know what old age is. Let us know the happiness time brings, not count the years." Ausonious My birthday is here and somehow I made it to 23 years of age. I just finished rereading all my old birthday blog posts (check them out here: 22nd   21st   20th 19th 18th ) and boy or boy has life been an adventure. People keep asking me wha...

The 20s are all about knowing who you come from. Family is one of those uncanny things in life. We have no say in the family we are born into and go through life making our own picking people along the way. The one we are given may not always be the best for us but many a times there is an underlying connection unlike any other you may ever have. Whenever I am with mine I never feel more loved, safe, and secure. Sure we have our bouts, quips, and quarrels but when it's all said and done we are indestructible unit. Each and every one of us is special in their own right. With my family I get to be the little prince. "In every conceivable manner, the family is link to our past, bridge to our future" Alex Haley There is nothing like hearing stories about yourself before you had your own consciousness to remember them. My mom always shares a few memories of her time with me in my early childhood that never cease to make my smile. When my mom was carrying my little siste...

The 20s are all about reflection. How often do you take time to look back and see how far you've come. We're often busy trudging forward and intently focused on the future that we forget that our past has imperative information to share with us. History repeats itself often but things never happen the same way twice. When we take time to acknowledge progress or to point our mistakes, we can know that our steps have been ordered exactly how they should be. We're taking the long way home.  Rolling hills, popping ear drums, and NPR discussion over the airwaves are some of my most vivid memories as kid taking scenic car rides with my dad. Sometimes he would just my siblings and I for a ride. We'd go to these hills that seemed vastly mountainous and we'd go zooming. I used to think we were going so far. "Wee," we'd squeal as we made our ascent in his red Volvo S70, and we reached the hill valley troughs "Haw!" we'd let out in our most ex...

The 20s are all about family. College is where your understanding of what family means changes. You have the chance to choose who you let in your life. You have a say in who you are connected to. You decide who gets to know all the parts of you. Chosen family is oh so very important, but the family that you're part of by nature of birth can often still have this uncanny impact on you. No matter how hard you try, you will always forever be linked to your brothers and sisters. Brothers and sisters. People who share my DNA, but what more? We're inherently similar but fundamentally different at the same time. People who look like me, who have shared many akin experiences, and subscribe to the same set of beliefs that I do. Cain and Abel, Moses and Aaron, Jacob and Esau, and Joseph and his brothers - Christian Biblical siblings (my inner religion major is having a field day) all of who's destinies were linked. I have always known that my relationship with my siblings was rar...

The 20s are all about giving and receiving love. Love is undoubtedly the most powerful force on Earth. It knows no limits, can overcome any obstacle and has changed the world many times over. Love truly does conquer all. We have to let love into our lives. We have to accept it when it is offered. We have to cherish it because sometimes it is a rarity. We all deserve to love and to be loved. Love is give and take. Love is part of who we all are. We are meant to love. It's our human nature.  This past weekend my family received some life changing news and it was also my brother, Christian's 22nd birthday. You know every single time I think of any of my four siblings I tear up and memories both fond and not so picturesque come rushing in to my mind. All I know about them is that our connection is unbreakable. I love them all with every fiber of my being. I only know what love is because I have them and their love is what I will always search for. Love is not a word I toss a...