Learning to Live

Sometimes we wish life away and sometimes we complain it is going too fast. We are constantly being challenged to live in the moment, and for some people that's easy. But for a lot of us it's incredibly difficult. The future is constantly looming before us and the past has shaped us into who we are. It becomes to difficult to know what to focus on. The past is important to remember, but we must also recognize how fast life is moving. As cliché as it is, we cannot always expect a tomorrow. I am already thinking about how time is running out with my college friends. After we graduate, life becomes real and we won't have as much time to spend with these people. This is a scary and sad thought, but we cannot let it consume us. I wish I had some awesome advice in regards to thinking about the pace of life and how we should go about it, but all I can think of is to simply become aware. Be aware of the fact that life is constantly moving and will never slow down.

I had an awesome conversation with one of my friends recently that led to us talking about our fear of looking stupid. The conclusion that we came to was that if you actually want something, you need to go out and get it. In this day and age people are so afraid of being judged and making a fool of themselves that they let that stop them from getting what they really want. They are content with settling because they cannot stand the idea of putting themselves out there. We should not let our fear stop us from getting what we want. Oddly enough, I also finished a book that dealt with this same idea. Spencer Johnson's "Who Moved My Cheese?" tells the story of four fictional characters who have to adjust to change in their lives. It's a quick read (93 pages) and I recommend it to everyone. (I seriously finished it in like 30 minutes, take the time!) The"cheese" mentioned in the title is an allegorical representation of whatever it is we want in life, typica...

A month ago my Grandpa Royce was boppin' around on his segway. He was 85. 85 and on a segway. It doesn't get much more legit than that, folks. Unfortunately, we had to say goodbye to him 2 weeks ago. His cancer came back and it came back fast. We thought he would be around forever because that's the kind of guy he was, but of course that isn't possible. It just goes to show how important it is to appreciate the time you have with your loved ones. Oddly enough we are all doing really well with how fast it all happened. Perhaps it's because it doesn't quite seem real yet, but I think it's something else. My grandpa was a fighter. He was a tough guy and I think the rest of my family would agree with me when I say that he was ready to throw the towel in. He lived one hell of a life and he knew he didn't want to live without something to live for. If he couldn't do the things he loved, then what was the sense in living? He knew this, he understand thi...

This past weekend I had the opportunity to cross something off of my bucket list that I have been wanting to for awhile now: a road trip to Chicago. When I first brought up the idea to my parents, they were like, "Okay whatever, Erin is just rambling like always," but once I got serious things quickly took a turn for the worse. My dad began to stress about every possible thing that could go wrong (typical): -My car breaking down -An accident involving my car -Triple A leaving me stranded 400 miles from home -Me being unable to drive in the city thus resulting in some sort of accident (There's a theme here if you can't tell...) -My safety (Notice what comes last) Anyway, I decided to ignore everything my dad said and go for it anyway. This was probably one of the best decisions ever. By choosing to not say no, I took control of my life and did what I wanted to do and I was rewarded with a wonderful experience that left me with so many fantastic memories. ...

The world would be such a different place if there were no expectations. There would be so much less disappointment. When you think about it, most disappointment stems from some sort of expectation. We wouldn’t fail because we couldn’t expect something to be better than reality. I know that this is fairly negative thinking and there is a completely different side to the idea of expectations but I challenge you to look at things in a different light. Imagine life as a child who knows nothing, expects nothing of the world. They live their lives in constant wonder. Life is a one big surprise to them. How cool is that? If we expect nothing from a day, then waking up is a miracle in itself. If you don’t expect anything, then every moment is a wonderful surprise and we can’t help but to be filled with joy. “Instead of filling with expectations, the joy-filled expect nothing and are filled.” If we learn to control how much we expect from the world, then every good thi...

This past weekend I heard a friend of mine say something that really stuck with me. She was talking about a previous relationship and made an excellent point when she said: "You have to learn how to be happy alone." Although this seems like something that should come naturally, we live in a society where we depend on others to be happy. We are constantly leaning on our relationships to make sure we are happy. A specific example of this is how we seem to think that we need to find that one person that will complete us and fulfill our dreams of living happily ever after. And some people are in too much of a hurry to find this person that they reach out to anyone who will throw them a bone. I'm not saying this is wrong, but it's hard to be completely happy with that one person if you don't know how to be happy just being you and doing your own thing. It seems simple, but we get caught up in life and forget about how important it is to find our own happiness. We c...

As we go through life it’s easy to get caught up in overthinking everything and making assumptions about virtually every situation we find ourselves in.   Overthinking and making assumptions can lead to unnecessary worrying. If we look at the facts and accept them for what they are, we can reduce our stress and focus on living in the now. Unfortunately, it is human nature to wonder and worry. However it does help to be aware of how often we overthink. When we force ourselves to look at the facts we are reminded that the situations we find ourselves in are often not as bad as they first appear—it’s all in our head.     As easy it is to get caught up in the situations we make up in our head, we must remind ourselves to live in the present and focus on what we know and not what we think we know.   Looking at the facts is an essential part of living in the now and accepting life as it is.