To be young and completely free. People my age have a tendency to feel stuck in a certain path while others have bought a van to live in the forest. Who’s right? My perspective...both. My biggest lesson from growing up in a convoluted family tree is that life is not a straight line. There is no magic 8 ball, no cookie cutter and definitely no instruction manual. As Sly & The Family Stone say, “Different strokes for different folks.” There are more ways to live this life than the pressured path of social norms.
Follow Your Heart
Nobody knows the pull of your heart better than yourself. Not a therapist, not your best friend and most importantly, the naysayers. Personally, I struggle with my “brand image” if you will. Since I grew up in a small community, reputations and one bad decision can define you. My high school classmate once said, “it’s great because everyone knows what you’re doing, but then again everyone knows what you’re doing.” All my decisions were based on how other people would see me. To this day, I still reflect back to “what would they think” when making decisions. Ultimately, the only “they” we should care about are those blood cells in our heart (saying this louder for the people in the back aka myself). Who is impacted if you move back to your hometown? Who do you bother if you want to live in a tent? Who is in awe if you are the CEO of a Fortune 500? Is your happiness and free spirit worth the random 3 second comment from an old buddy or a humble brag at the once in a decade class reunion? What matters is how you live your life, each and every day.
Take off the Training Wheels
You don’t learn to ride a bike without daring to pick up your feet. It takes a touch of fear to really grow, much like water to our new quarantined gardens. I believe we are all afraid of failure. We don’t want to try a new hobby because of the cost or to take on a new task at work without appearing incompetent. I try to live by the saying, “Live in the uncomfortable until you are comfortable.” Trying new things is what turns us into more worldly people, better people. I’m learning that you have to want to grow in order to reach your dreams. Start small, end big. We don’t watch sporting events because we know the outcome (unless the illuminati is real). We watch for the thrill of the unknown. That’s how we should be living our lives. Unknowing.
Life is full of twists and turns; the game board even says it. We cannot plan for the future step by step. If we do, we will be bogged down in normalcy without a chance to grow. Some people don’t want to grow, and that’s fine. However, life and all it’s “accidents” continue whether you are ready or not.
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