New Chapters Await

I so often hear both adults and teens refer to high school as the best four years of their lives. All I can do is remain silent and think how very depressing that would be if that were the case. Being that I've been out of high school for quite some time, that would be an awful reality if it were true. But where did that perception come from? Whether it be listening to too many loops of John Mellencamp or spending too much time on the Jersey Shore it's a mentality that is highly incorrect if you are living your life properly. 

My belief is that every stage of life is it's own chapter waiting to be written. So much of how we look at our next chapter has a bearing on its substance. I do note that there are things we face we have no control of: unemployment, sickness, loss of a loved one, etc. But factors outside of that are up to us. I get super disheartened when I bump into people who have been out of high school for ten, fifteen, twenty years and all they can do is chat about what was and not what is. My heart is sad for them. 

To all the graduates of 2014 I say, take life by storm. There will be bumps in the road, because if there aren't you're doing something wrong. Life is about growth, personal challenge and stretching yourself in ways that make you a better person. Do not settle for what is expected. Rather, make a bucket list of what you wish to accomplish in one, two and five years. Write it down and each day make it a point to get a little closer to those goals. It's up to you to go to your goals, your goals will not wait for you. 

So with summer's arrival don't let it be a blur. Do a few things that add to the you. Yes, I did say that.
A few pointers for rocking out the summer of 2014: Go on a road trip and let yourself get a little lost and don't use a gps; actually ask someone for directions. Drink every kind of slurpee at 7-11 before the end of July. Watch a sunrise and a sunset in two different places you've never been before (that could be Chatsworth or Collingswood). Catch fireflies. Swim in a lake under a full moon. Put your phone down and have coffee or iced tea with someone who means the world to you. Pick blueberries or strawberries and eat more than you pick. Sit under a canopy of stars. Buy someone in uniform a cup of coffee or bagel when your at Dunkin Donuts or Wawa. Send someone a note, by mail, telling them how you appreciate them. Go to a park and swing on a swing and try to reach the sky. 

Life is too short to not do something with it. Make whatever stage you are in life your own chapter that you just don't want to put down. When we live fully it's pretty cool how satisfied we become with taking the next step into the new chapter that will hold all new memories and experiences that are all our own.