Youthful Life: X

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 It is an outdated, and unrealistic expectation for the majority of people.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 - We each process the heavy things that happen in our lives differently. There is not one way to do so. The tough reality is that some of the things can happen to us can be so traumatic that we never move through it. Some of what we endure sticks with us for the rest of lives. The hardships that come our way may be too much for us to bear. Sometimes it may just be too difficult. Sometimes we cannot be okay because we just flat out are not. This is passing.  "The life of the dead is placed in the memories of the living" Marcus Tullius Cicero *This post is my unadulterated verbal processing of losing someone important to not only me but one of my best friends. They for me were the first to move beyond race in my small town in encouraging the friendship I have with their child. They always made me feel comfortable, welcome, and wanted in their home and their presence. They went out of their way to accommodate me when genuine authenticity. They do not even know how impactf...

Truth - We are all connected. Take a second to pause and reread that statement again. I said we are all  connected. But what does that actually mean? On so many different levels, people all around the world - beyond social media or complicated internationalized market economies but rather the metaphysical notion of the human condition. It is both possible for us all to be different and yet the similar/the same in so many ways. It's both our adherences to rules, regulations, borders, governments, etc. that have separated, segregated, and stratified us. We have come to believe that we are better than our neighbors near and far. In doing so, we have missed out on the opportunity to connect via that common humanity. It's time to reclaim our worldwide community - it's time to go global.  "The differences between people need not act as barriers that wound, harm and drive us apart. Rather, these very differences among cultures and civilizations should be valued as manif...

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 - No two people are the same. While the things that connect us may not be as visible as the things that distinguish us from one another, they are still important. With that being said however, our individuality is both literally and figuratively what makes us different from any and everyone else. There are times when our uniqueness is recognized and valued, but even more so instances where it is overlooked. Our lives are painted over with a broad stroke of a generic narrative. The reality is, our stories, and the colorful illustrations that go with them vary. Treating people as persons instead of collective people can have some powerful impacts. Time to find your inner purpose - this is finals season. "The world is the true classroom. The most rewarding and important type of learning is through experience, seeing something with our own eyes." Jack Hanna   College is not for everyone . Let me say it one more time for dramatic effect. College is not for everyone. Th...