"Paths" by G.

So one day, your cute little baby self burst forth from your mother's womb and another new soul was granted the flame of life. For the sake of clarity, lets say that the minute you were born, the secret Google factory in the sky created a blank map, just for you. It only started with that single dot; the starting point. But as you've lived, the map has started to develop, showing the paths you've taken and the mental choices you've made. And thus we get to my topic today.

Imagine your stuck at sea on a boat. Not the nice yacht in that Andy Samberg thing, but a small dinky little speedboat. Your map is blank, and all you can do is fill it out as you sail around. That's pretty much how we begin life. But it's not all about discovery. I like to think of the beginning of our life as a single line. A small, vertical line on that blank map. As we learn to walk, talk and eat something other than super nutritious baby slop in a can, that line slowly inches upward. But its not until we are older that this line, this path, can start to branch out. And that's what I want to focus on today; the paths that life presents us with.

Know that quote from Robert Frost? You know, the one about taking the road less traveled and it being all the difference? While we all start out on the same highway, we get older and start learning more about ourselves and the world around us, and then exits start to appear along that great highway. Different paths. Once these paths become available, potential begins to sprout. One path could lead to fame, another to happiness. Or hell, the wrong choice could easily lead us to ruin. So many paths, but only the right route leads us to what we want. And since most of us don't have a real solid idea of what we want anyway, I guess we all really are just lost and confused trying to figure out things on this human laden sphere we live on.

But you know one of the things that scares me the most? Regret. A fear that I'll look back and regret not taking that chance or making that choice. If we don't try to do something then our map is just going to be that single straight line, from beginning to end. But you know what, one of those paths could be a turning point. It could be that career you've always wanted. That person you had a crush on since forever. Losing weight, discovering a talent, helping other people; whatever it is, it changes you. A simple change of direction of your route on that map... it could take you to places and heights that for now only exist in the back of our mind.

But there are only two hard things. Choosing your destination. And taking the right route. And that's the ultimate challenge in life. I know I regret alot of things, but if you take that chance or take a different road, that potential for something good is always worth it.

Thanks for reading; by all means share your thoughts on this.

"Searching" by G.

I admit, I haven't existed for very long on this living sphere that floats all on its lonesome in the blackness we call space. But I think that for the time I've been alive, and from what I've seen, we all seem to be searching. What do we search for? A meaning? Our better half? Maybe... just those small moments of peace in a chaotic world. Whatever it is, our search seems to be a life long endeavour. The subject of our searches is the missing piece of our puzzle. The final piece that would make us feel more complete. You know... maybe if we all lived in a cave in the mountains with unlimited time to meditate, we could find the answers to our everlasting questions. But most of us don't have that luxury. Through the hustle and bustle of life, we get minimal time to just think about ourselves. I would love to think that I know every aspect of myself, but I know that it's simply not true. We could have strengths that never blossom because we never take the initiative. We could have weaknesses that are just waiting to rear their ugly heads when we try to take risks. But the one thing that we truly know little about is what we want. Not material things or career goals, but what we really want. And its that ambigious goal; that unknown question, that sits in our minds somewhere, just out of reach. Right when we think we know what we want to do with ourselves, a monkey wrench gets thrown into the machine, and we have to start searching all over again. But there are the lucky few; the lucky who find what they are searching for, and make it their reality. This is what we strive for. To find what it is we really want, and then to achieve it. For many like me, this search is just beginning. For many others, their search is winding to a end. And in between all this detective work, there are the few who have found their missing puzzle piece, and filled that void in their soul.

If you've been visiting this blog, you know that the times that I write are far and in between, and there isn't much I can do to change that at the moment. But I hope that what I do write sparks a fuse in your mind in some way. Thanks for reading.

"Revive" by G.

It's a diverse world man. Different people, with different jobs, different work, different backgrounds. But some things remains the same; stress, worry, and just being deathly tired. Some people wake up like a jack-in-the-box with the Energizer Bunny's caffeinated blood running the five minute mile through their veins. Oh, how I envy them. We mere mortals must pump ourselves full of coffee or soda or whatever it is that gets you through the morning. But those people, they are already at the table with their glass of orange juice and their newspaper with a smile as big as the rising sun, while we are struggling to drag our sorry hide out of our beds, cots, the ground, or my cardboard box house. Damn. But I'm drifting from my focus here; let's get back to it.

The human body can only take so much. Stress, bad nutrition, a punch to the face; whatever. It seems like we never get any time to recover from the constant mental and physical assault that many of us subject ourselves to. But I can't deny it any longer, if we don't attempt to revive ourselves once in awhile, the consequences are extremely detrimental. Remember, nothing is worth sacrificing your physical and mental health completely and utterly. I don't care how important you think it is. Health and our general well being branches into many aspects of our lives whether we like it or not. But many people, myself included, tend to neglect these things, because of all the other stuff we have to worry about. To take on our challenges, we ought to be in optimal form. Walking around like a drugged zombie on PCP is not the best state to be in, being the upstanding citizen that I'm sure you are.

So this is just a reminder from your friendly neighborhood random once-in-a-while blogging person. Take care of yourself. The things that seem to be minor troubles can easily manifest into bigger problems that you will have a harder time fighting off. It's not just physical health. It's happiness, how content you are, whether your happy with your life thus far. Don't think that the answers to these questions will miraculously appear; you need to address them. But take time to think, to take care of your mind and body, and to revive yourself. Today I broke a glass and realized how tired and shaky I was. Don't let yourself find that out when you fall asleep at the wheel, go blank on that big test, or get injured while playing a sport. We all have our work, we all have our goals; many of us work very hard and pour much time and energy into what we do. But your well being supersedes any of that. Just take some time for yourself, and revive; you won't regret it.

G. on the PMA.

Today I wanted to talk a little bit about something I've been thinking about recently. The PMA. It stands for "Positive Mental Attitude". Surprisingly, the first place I saw this was in a article I was reading about the art of survival. You know, getting lost in a foggy forest or being stranded in the middle of a desert, and somehow staying alive. But no matter what I read about this, the PMA was something that seemed to be held in especially high esteem. Something worth more than knowing what plants are edible, or how to gather safe drinking water. Because without the positive outlook, all this would be for naught. And the more I ponder it, the more I think that having a PMA is universally useful, not just something for keeping sane while your trapped in a rainforest.

Why are we negative? Because its incredibly, mind bogglingly easy. And really, who doesn't like easy? Me, I love easy gosh darn it. Why didn't I do my homework? Because the prof gave too much of it, duh. Why am I always broke? Because the economy sucks... nothing to do with me gambling it away at the Horseshoe casino, oh no. Hey, don't you look at me like that. Let's just blame it on Bush; it seems like everyone loves to do that. But once we get past the wonder of the easiness, negativity brings absolutely no results. In anything. When a kid misbehaves and his mom starts yelling at him, does the kid just magically behave? No. And if he does, it's out of a fear of a punishment, nothing more. When people get mad at each other, they love to argue, but naturally no one wins until they decide to make peace and resolve their differences. So basically, negativity sucks. But we always love to do the easiest thing; negativity takes little effort. The easy button might be evil; beware. So, what do we do?

At this point, a heavenly choir starts to sing, and the letters "PMA" float down from the sky and miraculously land on a perfect lotus flower. Where negativity fails, the positive mental attitude will take you far. If you do end up in a Bear Grylls- like situation one day and just walk around saying your life sucks... well good luck with that. Having the positive mental attitude does takes a good amount of effort. Scary, I know. You'll have to develop such things as self-control, appreciation for others, and even respect. What is this madness? It's the fact that with a little effort, developing a PMA brings an actual result; you deal with life better, you deal with people better, and you have a better chance of surviving in the wild than that guy in the corner there cutting his wrists.

Being positive all the time is difficult, but the rewards are much greater than negativity, which is only enabling our laziness and inaction. So yeah, times are hard, life likes to kick us all in that place from time to time. So if you want to taste the power of the sun, drink Sunny D; I recommend it. But if you want to taste a little bit of victory, stay positive. Go run outside and start dancing like a lunatic. Take a risk. Do something you've always wanted to do. When you have the PMA, that easy button isn't needed anymore. I know this all seems obvious, but sometimes we need a reminder... and occasionally a little smack on the head, like in that V8 commerical.

Alright! Another rant in the bag. Thanks for reading.