What The Summer Has Taught Me

August 14th 2016

The future is terrifying. I wrote a bunch of flowery ways of getting that point across but all of them sounded relatively insincere. Also, since I’m trying to be as real as possible in this post, I had to google insincere because I was spelling it so wildly wrong that spellcheck couldn’t fix it.

Anyway, the reason I’ve decided to come on here after a month of being completely absent was to talk about some things I have realized over the past month pertaining to myself and life in general. This is gonna be  kind of a mish-mosh of a list where I sort of just ramble so here we go:

• Misery does not just enjoy company, it thrives off company. If you surround yourself with people who unable to appreciate the beauty in their lives and would rather look for things to be miserable about, it will eventually rub off on you. And in turn, be the kind of person who emits positive energy and help the people around you grow.
• You are not wrong just because someone doesn’t understand your message. Galileo was called a fool and persecuted by the church for believing in the heliocentric model of the universe, however, he never gave up believing in it and today, his theory of the universe is held as common knowledge to be true. Sometimes people don’t believe in what you say until down the road when something makes them believe, but don’t discredit yourself for who doesn’t believe you now.
• Sometimes the right thing to do isn’t the easiest. Sometimes we have to hurt people to protect ourselves. Sometimes we need to let people fall to allow them to learn to stand. Don’t allow yourself to be walked all over to protect people. Don’t be afraid to do the right thing out of risk of failing or getting hurt.
• The best thing you can do for someone is to be honest with them. Honesty can hurt and sometimes honesty pushes people away, but down the line it will be appreciated and maybe even reciprocated.
• Stop trying to make the social media version of yourself someone you aren’t. Stop pretending to like foods you don’t like, shows you don’t watch, and music that you don’t listen to. Stop faking smiles and writing captions to create the illusion that things went a certain way when they didn’t. Use your social media to express you not this person who isn’t you that you wish you could be. And if you want to aspire to be someone different commit to it. Be that person you pretend to be on social media. Read those books you pose with at bookstores to look deep. Eat at the cafes you post photos of. A picture is worth a thousand words, make sure they speak the truth.
• Say what you mean and mean what you say. Sometimes life throws you situations where you have the choice to stay quite or speak up. If you choose to be brave and speak up, do so with integrity and thought, not mindless action. Don’t speak to hear your own voice, speak for others to hear you and (hopefully) listen to you. It is really easy to blow up in a fiery storm swear words and useless accusations. It takes a strong person to say what they mean in a manner that is blunt but not hateful.
• Some people will never see how hypocritical they are, and sometimes that person will be you. It is really true what they say when they say you really don’t know someone until you’ve walked a mile in their shoes. You’ll never truly understand how someone can think or act in a certain way until you’re on the opposite end of the conversation or situation.
• No matter how good you are, you are never good enough for the wrong people. No matter how hard you try, certain people won’t recognize your effort. Let people who don’t see your greatness go and hold on to those who appreciate your soul, not just what you can offer them.

Jess