Youthful Life: X

Truth - Money only has value because we have made it that way. Think about it just like we covet dirty green pieces of paper with dead white men's faces on them we could just as easily be doing the same with q-tips, buttons, or pebbles. The object is arbitrary but the way we idolize it is where it gets all it's power from. Some say does not bring happiness, and while that may be true, it most definitely gives you access to obtaining it. More money more problems, but are some of those self-induced? This is unrestricted.  "Wealth is the ability to fully experience life" Henry David Thoreau In this day and age where the vast majority of people are seriously struggling to make ends meet, it has almost become taboo to speak on the topic of wealth. Who has it? What is it? Why does it matter? There has always been this shroud of secrecy and pretending when it comes to socioeconomic status. People put on a show to act as if they have more  (and sometimes less) than...

Truth - Relationships are complicated. Think about it. You spend the majority of your formative years "single" and you're perfectly fine then suddenly expected to partner up with other people. How do you go from living for/with just yourself to potentially having someone else in the picture. Family, friends, and roommates give you practice but adding the intimacy bit makes things more intricate. You don't just know how to be in relationships, you have to learn, like everything else that is new in our lives. Then again you may not be even ready for a relationship. You might be like me, currently unavailable at the moment. "Love doesn't make the world go 'round. Love is what makes the ride worthwhile." Franklin P. Jones   My favorite question I get more and more from other is "why are you single?" In all honesty, because I'm not actively searching for someone else. At this point in my life I am already invested in the most importa...

Truth - Those who succeed may not necessarily be exceptionally talented but they do have the persistence to reach their goals. Sometimes waiting it out and chugging along is all it takes to make a breakthrough. Whereas others may give up or fall by the wayside, those who have that extra oomph in life keep going no matter what. Those who distinguish themselves from others do so by just doing what they need to longer. It may just very well be as simple as that. This is endurance. "Wondrous is the strength of cheerfulness, and its power of endurance - the cheerful man will do more in the same time, will do it; better, will preserve it longer, than the sad or sullen" Thomas Carlyle One of the most valuable traits a person can demonstrate is endurance. It's that ability to keep going regardless of what comes their way. It's those that can wade through the deepest waters that emerge not only stronger but on the other side of tidal waves. Those that able to weather ...

Truth - The American Dream is not attainable for everyone. It is an outdated, and unrealistic expectation for the majority of people. What do we mean when we use the phrase? It seems to be a nod to a time where a specific facet of society was able to be socially, fiscally, and psychologically sound due to their access to resources, education, and income. The American dream was not meant for all. More and more it has become out of reach to even those it was designed to be obtained by. What is our new American dream, who does it include, and what does freedom mean in our reimaged land of opportunity? "We will never have true civilization until we have learned to recognize the rights of others." Will Rogers Ask people what they want for this world and they'll spout off a few meaningless ideals. Peace on Earth, ending hunger, human trafficking, eradicating disease, global literacy, etc. Rephrase the question and ask what they want for their world. Bring it down to Earth...

Truth - The way we live dictates the way others experience us. Head or the heart, such is the perpetually primal dichotomy under which we exist. Which governs you? Are your actions decided by your mind or are you at the beckng call of your emotions? Both have their positives and their pitfalls, and realistically we are all someone along a spectrum of both depending on the context we find ourselves in. Generally, though we may be polarized as either one. We need both to not just survive but to thrive, but a little impulse (in moderation) can do the body some good. "We write for the same reason that we walk, talk, climb mountains or swim the oceans - because we can. We have some impulse within us that makes us want to explain ourselves to other human beings. That's why we paint, that's why we dare to love someone - because we have the impulse to explain who we are." Maya Angelou Our emotions tell us our truest feelings in their rawest form. We learn slowly over ti...

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...

Truth - We are exponentially more powerful than we every actually realize. What lies inside us is quite literally unfathomable. They say that we only ever use about 10% of our brain power but even with that miniscule amount we are empowered to do awe-inspiring things. Some may think that power is only metaphysical while others believe we are nothing more than conduits for what we siphon off of others. It has always been clear to me that our power comes from within. Those who are able to hone it are the most dynamic. They are able to most effectively use their power.   "Self-reverence, self-knowledge, self-control; these three alone lead one to sovereign power." Alfed Lord Tennison     Doubt can strike a profound fear in hearts and prevent us from reaching our full potential. By thinking we are incapable we create a self-fulfilling prophecy. We have the ability to not only make our doubts come true but to be rendered powerless against them. Doubt has the far-r...

Truth - Life is an adventure of epic proportions. Think about it. You start in this world with preset attributes, and environment. Your task is to learn as much as you can, figure out why you're here, and do something memorable while you're at it. Maybe you're meant to be the next president of the United States, teach a class of high school students journalism, or run a non-profit benefiting homeless LGBT youth. That mystery is part of the journey. How do you when you have arrived? Are you even taking the right path? Who will you meet along the way? Who are you? All I know for sure is that me, and everyone else, we're all mercenaries. "Not everyone will understand your journey. That's fine. It's not their journey to make sense of. It's yours" Zero Dean What is the meaning of life? It's the biggest question anyone can ask besides the existence of God. Everyone has tried to answer it at some point in time. Don't we try and answer it ev...

Truth - Connection is one of the defining characteristics of the human experience. We exist in communities, tribes, families, and relationship because they are what we need to sustain us. People matter, more than we realize. We are impacted by the things others say and do as they interact with us, but even more so in the subtext of when they have departed or what is left unsaid. It is true that absence makes the heart grow fonder, but sometimes absence helps you realize you were better off without them. Navigating relationships is a lifelong endeavor - this is constant contact. "Vulnerability is the birthplace of connection and the path to the feeling of worthiness. If it doesn't feel vulnerable, the sharing is probably not constructive." Brene Brown It's funny just how much my relationships have changed since graduating from college. The ways in which I approach people, the kinds of questions I ask, and the sincere intentionality behind it is all new. Without...

Truth - The greater life lessons we learn oftentimes do not manifest themselves until long after an experience has concluded. Love can be so pervasive and yet so elusive. Recognizing love for what it is can be a difficult thing to ability to cultivate. In doing so though we learn better how to choose for ourselves. We choose love. We choose our family. We choose those that we let in to our lives. We give invitations, make promises, and pledges ourselves in pacts. This is my fraternity pact. "We're on a planet. At the same time. In the Universe ... Let's do something great together!” Jeff Byington   In my post-undergrad life , the significance of my "lifelong" membership in a fraternal organization has faded into little more than fond memories of weekends spent having stupidly hilarious conversation to the soundtrack of early 2000s hits, bureaucratic unproductive chapter meetings, and semblances of interfraternal communal collaborations. I rarely wear my le...