Being young is a bit like a disease. The lucky ones are infected with an over source of ideas, hopes, wishes, dreams, and aspirations. Some will let their inspirations overtake them, throw caution to the wind, and explore their passions as they live their lives finding out who they really are. Others will let these qualities debilitate them. For some, the very idea of doing what we crave terrifies them - these young people will instead waste their potential for fear of change. The caveat that strikes the young is the constant vision of failure, but in reality, it's actually a fear of success and what that might really mean. What happens when you get exactly what you always wanted? When you're young, you have all the potential in the world just lying before you, beaconing for you to come explore it. However, in order to do so, you must let go of a part of yourself to allow the new inside. This choice will most certainly be among the most difficult to make in your lifetime, the choice to leave yourself behind to see what comes next.
I've always been the type of person who desires adventure. I could list countless times in my life up to this point where I've laid awake at night excited for the future, but simultaneously apprehensive - always with a slight curiosity as to what it would be like if I just stayed home and waited for the next opportunity to come. I never listen to that voice. From being six years old, and crying because I have to get a huge shot so I can go out of the country for the first time, to being sixteen trying to choose whether to move abroad and pursue a new career or to devote myself to what would become one of the most influential places of my life, to now being twenty-two and again searching for the answers to where my life will head next. I have never had a problem with chasing those cravings that I find myself with. Although I do often mourn the change, I am always finding myself happily searching for the next exciting thing.
Through each of the phases in my life, I've found that I have difficulty really appreciating where I am and how special that is until that time is coming to a close. I think this is the curse of ambition. Although I am able to confidently reach toward my potential, something buried within this quality also temporarily blinds me to how wonderful things really often are. It's such a double-edged sword, if you are lacking this ambition you will stay the first place that you're comfortable forever, but if you possess it then you will never truly allow yourself this comfort because it will never satisfy you. Or perhaps just out of fear for being comfortable, because what does that really mean? To me, it sounds a bit boring. But maybe that would be nice, too. What I know is that I'm not someone who is able to find out, at least not at this point. I am infected with the beauty of youthful desire. I want to explore the world, make an impact, get lost, make mistakes, be a bit reckless, do exactly what I want, and let my experiences change and shape me along the way.
What I've learned:
Everything looks good in retrospect. Remember how difficult third grade seemed at the time? What about how bogged down we all felt our senior year of high school, trying to balance so many things at once? Look at your life now and realize that we will someday look at this time and giggle to ourselves at how easy we had it and how much potential really laid before us. I used to go a small school with only about 35 people in my class. There was once a time that I didn't even know other schools existed. I used to work at an amazing summer camp, where I got paid to play and be a leader to children of all ages, as well as be a child myself. I used to live with my best friend and have the ability to say goodnight to her in the next room everyday. Right now, I work at Disney World - The Place Where Dreams Come True. Everyday I get to touch someone's life at a time that is special to them. These are all phases of my life that will forever be things that shape and affect me. If only I could truly be in the moment, as happy as I can see I really was after I've moved on to the next thing.
Try to appreciate the special moments you're given. Appreciate them while they're happening, not just after the fact. It's ok to be in the place you are now - it's part of what will shape you to who you think you want to become. But the reality is this, every experience you find yourself a part of will cause you to reevaluate what you desire, if you let it. That's a good thing. If you ask a child who they think they will be 'when they grow up,' they will tell you the greatest thing they can comprehend at that time. Isn't that exactly what we do now too? There's always something new to learn, always someone new to let in to your life, always another adventure to be a part of. Even so, keep the ones your already have close to your heart - that way, when you do find yourself at a crossroads, you won't find yourself lost, not knowing who you are.
"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."
"To succeed in life you need two things: ignorance and confidence."
I've always been the type of person who desires adventure. I could list countless times in my life up to this point where I've laid awake at night excited for the future, but simultaneously apprehensive - always with a slight curiosity as to what it would be like if I just stayed home and waited for the next opportunity to come. I never listen to that voice. From being six years old, and crying because I have to get a huge shot so I can go out of the country for the first time, to being sixteen trying to choose whether to move abroad and pursue a new career or to devote myself to what would become one of the most influential places of my life, to now being twenty-two and again searching for the answers to where my life will head next. I have never had a problem with chasing those cravings that I find myself with. Although I do often mourn the change, I am always finding myself happily searching for the next exciting thing.
Through each of the phases in my life, I've found that I have difficulty really appreciating where I am and how special that is until that time is coming to a close. I think this is the curse of ambition. Although I am able to confidently reach toward my potential, something buried within this quality also temporarily blinds me to how wonderful things really often are. It's such a double-edged sword, if you are lacking this ambition you will stay the first place that you're comfortable forever, but if you possess it then you will never truly allow yourself this comfort because it will never satisfy you. Or perhaps just out of fear for being comfortable, because what does that really mean? To me, it sounds a bit boring. But maybe that would be nice, too. What I know is that I'm not someone who is able to find out, at least not at this point. I am infected with the beauty of youthful desire. I want to explore the world, make an impact, get lost, make mistakes, be a bit reckless, do exactly what I want, and let my experiences change and shape me along the way.
What I've learned:
Everything looks good in retrospect. Remember how difficult third grade seemed at the time? What about how bogged down we all felt our senior year of high school, trying to balance so many things at once? Look at your life now and realize that we will someday look at this time and giggle to ourselves at how easy we had it and how much potential really laid before us. I used to go a small school with only about 35 people in my class. There was once a time that I didn't even know other schools existed. I used to work at an amazing summer camp, where I got paid to play and be a leader to children of all ages, as well as be a child myself. I used to live with my best friend and have the ability to say goodnight to her in the next room everyday. Right now, I work at Disney World - The Place Where Dreams Come True. Everyday I get to touch someone's life at a time that is special to them. These are all phases of my life that will forever be things that shape and affect me. If only I could truly be in the moment, as happy as I can see I really was after I've moved on to the next thing.
Try to appreciate the special moments you're given. Appreciate them while they're happening, not just after the fact. It's ok to be in the place you are now - it's part of what will shape you to who you think you want to become. But the reality is this, every experience you find yourself a part of will cause you to reevaluate what you desire, if you let it. That's a good thing. If you ask a child who they think they will be 'when they grow up,' they will tell you the greatest thing they can comprehend at that time. Isn't that exactly what we do now too? There's always something new to learn, always someone new to let in to your life, always another adventure to be a part of. Even so, keep the ones your already have close to your heart - that way, when you do find yourself at a crossroads, you won't find yourself lost, not knowing who you are.
"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."
"To succeed in life you need two things: ignorance and confidence."