“Learn from the sunsets in the rear view mirror… live for the sunsets yet to come.” -Unknown

I’ve risked looking like a fool for love, for my dreams, and just for an adventure. Those memories stick with me forever and there isn’t a day I’m ungrateful for the risks I’ve taken in the past. Being a fool is underrated at times and as I look back, I’ve took less and less risks to put myself out there. I care about other’s opinions. Have you ever heard that question, “if today was your last day alive, would you want to do what you’re doing today?” I live by that quote all the time, but at what cost? I am 28 years old still trying to figure out what I want to do. As soon as I think I’ve figured out what I want to do, there’s the thought out there in my head that just tells me that it’s not a good idea, or that it could take too much time. No closer to marriage than I have been in my life. Trying to figure out how I’m supposed to be continuously improving while being happy with what I have always tears me apart. On one hand, I want to love what I have, but on the other hand, I want to keep building up and am not willing to settle for anything lesser. If that’s selfish, I guess I’m selfish. For me, there’s no compromise when it comes to always improving and settling for comfortable.

I’ve always believed that happiness is like hunger, in order to stay happy, you have to keep feeding yourself those things that make you happy. It’s not easy for me to explain it, or put it into words. People to me, they’re fuel. I get a lot out of someone else’s energy. That can be a positive or a negative thing too. I automatically get connected to those people that continue to want to improve and I automatically get tired of people that are always stuck doing the same thing. We all know the person that is always complaining about the same thing every time, but they’re still doing the same old thing and they don’t step out of the situation for a little bit to see that they’re the only thing keeping them IN the situation.

In a relationship, there are times where I think I almost miss fighting. Not just to fight, but I’ve come to realize that agreeing on everything just doesn’t make sense. Struggle is something that I crave. It’s why I like running, it’s why I do everything that I’ve done and why I always pick up more and more hobbies. There’s beauty in the struggle and I want to keep struggling in a way to keep improving myself.

In my eyes, the biggest mistake you can make is just seeking comfort or growing up to just want to be comfortable. I don’t want that for my future wife. I don’t want that for my kids. I definitely don’t want that for me. I always want to keep chasing that challenge.

Let this pandemic be the reason that you choose to struggle and chase the challenge as often as you possibly can. Take it as the sign that you are being given time to start over. If God (the higher being, Mother Nature, whatever you want to call it) feels that our world should be stopped, we should listen and just stop. Good luck to you on your journey!