Own It

Listen, no one can fix your problems except you. People can tell you what to do, where to go, who to talk to, and a million other things, but in the end, you're the only one who can decide what you do. No one can make you do anything. If you want your life to be better, then take the initiative that only you can take to make it better. It's not anyone else's job to take that initiative. They can't, and it's not fair to ask them to do that. People are not there to be tools used to mend your broken self. They're there to help you keep all the pieces in one place. Only you can put them back together. Only. You.

Own your life, because you can't sell it to anyone. Period.

Sentimentality

I feel like people are sometimes too sentimental. People for some reason feel the need to capture every second of their lives on film so they can remember it forever. Photos become priceless, souvenirs become revered. I just got home from a two week vacation with my family, and I took the least amount of pictures I've ever taken on a vacation. I figure, why worry about getting a picture of everything I see? There's plenty of pictures I would miss. I've begun to value memories over photographs. People are so upset when pictures are destroyed, but what they don't realize is they still have the memories that the picture was telling. I'm going to try to stop finding sentimental value in everything I come across. I'm too much of a pack rat, and I need to learn to let go.

On a second note, parents and technology that is familiar with my generation are really interesting when they interact. My mom has recently become addicted to Facebook, and she makes a big deal out of it. In fact, she was mad that I didn't want to be her friend on Facebook. It's a website! Get over it! People take the Internet way too seriously. Chill out, you're just looking at a bunch of pixels that people use to hide their insecurities.

One last note, I've finally realized that I am changing lives. I don't mean I'm just making people feel better about themselves. I mean, I've helped people start over. I've been carrying around a journal with me since January for anyone and everyone to write in. I had a couple of people from a table next to us in Los Angeles at breakfast write in it, and this is what the first guy, Bobby, wrote:

'In recent months I have become more and more of the person that I swore to
myself I would never become. I feel as if sorrow and depression are self
inflicted & this I've done to myself. In this book, I am starting anew.
Becoming the person I truly am; therefore, not quite becoming at all. I am just
letting go of everything I am not & leaving it on this page. I wish to
pursue a new life - happy and humble - in which I wake each day with eagerness
for the following hours. Thank you...whoever you are. This book has set me
free.'

I helped him out in a way I never imagined possible. I helped a total stranger who I had never met before in my life who is three years older than me. What's even more amazing, is anyone could have done this. But it was me.

Am I supposed to be something more?