We’re all going to stumble and fall. But the important part is that we get back up, and live life without regrets.
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I honestly believe that when it comes to life, things truly happen for a reason. I hate talking about this, but I feel like in the immensely interconnected, social-media-driven world we live in, it’s nice to ponder why we’re here from time to time. It’s like, you end up meeting someone on a Tuesday and not some other day, because well, that’s just how it was supposed to happen. One day you get hit by a bus, because, well, unfortunately, sometimes shit just happens. The point is that in some weird way, that I am having an absolutely horrible time articulating, the cosmos has plans for us all. And you know what? Is it not kind of calming to think that?
The trouble sometimes is you get stuck in this strictly autopilot life — leaving you awake at night wondering, “Is there more?”
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One of the most difficult things for me is how maddening I can often find life. It’s like each day is a VHS tape on fast forward just completely blurring by. It feels as if there are only a couple of images, places, people, things that get stuck in your brain after a day or two of utter shit, and you may find yourself losing sight of the things that are important to you. I completely understand why at times it’s easy to feel like life is that VHS tape just whizzing by, and your days are coming and going, and it is extraordinarily simple to not stop for a second and smell the damn roses. The trouble with life sometimes is you get stuck in this strictly autopilot life. The wake-up shower, work, lunch, dinner, Netflix, sleep, repeat lifestyle that has you tossing and turning at night wondering, “Is there more?”
What I’ve found is that conflict spurs action and reaction. Broken hearts and heartache cause the same in people. Life is like chapters to a book. While there’s a beginning, a middle, and an end, each day is your very own chapter. Your opportunity to wake up the next day and decide just what role you as the main character is going to play. Every morning can be the first start of the first page of the next chapter in your life, and you never have to toss and turn in bed again. You just have to wake up and carpe diem.
Every mistake, every drunken night, and every single moment of every day has lead me to a place where I can finally say with utter satisfaction that I’m happy.
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There’s one thing that I’ve always loathed in life and that is the phrase “Hindsight is 20/20.” It’s like obviously looking back I wouldn’t have dated the girl who broke my heart, or started a major in college I was never going to finish. But through every mistake, through every drunken night, and through every single moment of every day, it has all lead me to a place where I can finally say with utter satisfaction that I’m happy. And it’s not like I’m trying to boast, or to brag but it’s the simple fact of the matter that you can be too. You don’t have to be a part of the generation snooze button. You don’t have to just ride the merry-go-round in circles. It’s ok to hop off and blaze your own path and trail—and do what makes you happy.
In life, I have—on more times than I could care to count—been an absolutely huge asshole and moron, and I’ve done entirely idiotic things. In life, you make choices and decisions, you take roads and paths, and you try not to over-think. In my life, I always try my best not to look back and second-guess my decisions or my mistakes.
You hear about this bull “YOLO” and all that garbage. But the truth of the matter is a life lived without regrets is a life worth living.
You’re going to stumble, and you’re going to fall, but that’s all a part of life.
It’s about how many times you get up after being knocked down on your ass that makes some of the most amazing memories you’ll have in life.
Period.
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Photo credit: Roland Tanglao/Flickr