The Exploration

  “You are a product of your environment.” The number one resource a person can have is another person. We are surrounded by resources, it is just a matter of choosing the right ones to have around.  Sometimes your vision gets blurry and the things that you should see are clouded by opinions that simply don’t matter. I have let some very important people disappear from my life because I was too scared to tell them that I believed them when nobody else did. Making decisions based on the opinions of others is a terrible habit. When the preconceived ideas of others have more say than you do, you have lost control of your life. Other times, I have let my closest friends influence me. They say that a certain person is not worth the time, or they are crazy. I have begun to separate myself from those thoughts, and those people. I pursue what I want. I see the light in people when nobody else does. People make assumptions based on their own views. If you have friends that are staying ...

“There are always distractions if you allow them.” Distractions will ruin your life if you let them. First off let’s start by defining a distraction. Definition: Dis·trac·tion /dəˈstrakSH(ə)n/ 1. a thing that prevents someone from giving full attention to something else. Ask yourself, what is drawing your attention away from what is important? What is stealing your effort? What is preventing you from accomplishing what you wish to accomplish? I have many distractions, and I used to have more. Every waking instant of the day I would think about something other than the task at hand. I soon realized the effort I was putting into the things in front of me was nowhere near the best I could do. I was wasting my time thinking about things that didn’t matter.  Now, I still have distractions, but I have learned to control them. I have learned to keep my eyes and mind on what is important. I have created a formula (will be shared later) that keeps my mind focused on the things important to ...

  “Life is a journey where you choose the direction.” The way we go in life is determined by how much we control it. Some love control, others go with the flow.  The question to ask is what do you want? What kind of life do you wish to create? In my opinion, a life can be lived in 3 ways: -With a map -Without a map -Blindfolded When you travel with a map, you have a purpose. You wake up every single day with a goal in mind. You are driven by this goal, every single action you take is in effort to achieve this goal. This life is predictable. This life is secure. This life is mostly comfortable. You know what you are going to do because you have a plan. There are little surprises. Traveling without a map is somewhat risky. You don’t know where you are going, but you can see what is ahead of you. You recognize some places you go, but others you are completely lost. You are in control, but not in control completely. You control which way you go, but you don’t control the outcome b...

  “Balance is not something you find, it is something you create.” Life is meant to be lived. To live it, we must find the balance between: work and play, joy and pain, love and sorrow. Without the bad, there is no good. We live through the bad and that is what makes the good, good. Life is a long road of chasing the highs and feeling the lows. The lows hurt, and the highs restore. What happens if we don’t recognize that the lows create the highs? When we don’t recognize the purpose of the lows, we are stuck in a constant low.  I have met people who live their life chasing the highs because they fear the lows and guess what? They aren’t happy. In fact, they are the saddest people we know. These people do not recognize the effect of balance. When the pain is bad, they decide to avoid it rather than dealing with it. We have all been in a place where running from fear or pain seems like the best idea. We look for any way out of the current state we are in to make things feel bett...

“It is only alone, truly alone, that one bursts apart and springs forth.” Being surrounded by people allows us to feel comfortable. We feel safe, secure, stable, and know we have people to fall back on. When things aren’t going well, we know who we can talk to. There are so many perks to have people around, so why would it be good to be alone? Being alone helps you discover things that you cannot possibly discover with others around. We learn things about ourselves when we are alone. When you learn to be alone first, you become better around others.  My vulnerable self hates to be alone. I find my heart searching for someone to talk to, any sort of companionship where I can get my mind off of the solitude I am facing. I have to convince myself that being alone will build me into the person I need to be. No person can make me feel how I can make myself feel, and that’s how it should be. When it comes down to it, you are alone when you are born and you are alone when you die. There w...

“The only way to get experience is simply by living.” When I started looking for ways to change my life, I realized I needed to change my lifestyle. I always felt like I was lacking insight on certain things and just couldn’t relate to some people. My goal has always been to try to understand everyone’s story and never judge until I know. I grew up in a place where judgment is prominent and made it my goal to give every single person a chance. To give everyone a chance I have kept myself open to new experiences. Being open allows you to develop in a way you never could emotionally if you stay guarded. Become vulnerable and you will become capable of understanding others.  By the end of my life, the person I am will be carved by my experiences. Every single time I experience something new, it is a story to tell.  Key: You can’t take a walk in somebody else’s shoes, but you can take a walk with them in your own shoes. Give people a chance before you judge. Sometimes the ones yo...

  Outlet “Ideas are just ideas until they are written down.” Here I am, writing because somebody told me this exact quote one day. I was always full of ideas. I didn’t often voice my ideas but when I did, I would always tell my dad. My dad would tell me every single time that I needed to document my ideas. When faced with a pen and paper, the words never came out. I was never able to put the pen to the pad because I felt like it would never be as good as I saw it in my head. I was afraid. Afraid that nothing I wrote would ever be good enough so I never documented anything.  This fear carried on for years. One day, this quote popped back up into my mind and I thought to myself that I just need to do it. I began by writing down my raw, real thoughts in a moleskine notebook. The thoughts were short and few and far between but they were there. Soon enough, journaling became an outlet. Through writing, I was able to gain control over my own thoughts and feelings. I was able to cons...