Get your head out of the clouds, kid & put your feet on the ground

Just like every other human being, I have a lot of flawed little quirks; one of the biggest ones that has seriously been kicking my butt lately is my tendency to get caught up so much in the future and what could happen that I don't pay attention to the present and to what is actually happening right now.

It's the summer before my senior year - it's both simultaneously scary and exciting, but I've been so worried about the future for the past few weeks that it's been making me really unhappy in the present. And you know what? I've realized that's silly. It's the summer before my senior year - I should be having a great time. I should be enjoying this generally unseasonably cool Texas summer by laughing, living, and being carefree. I shouldn't get boggled down by my worries about the future - that's still a ways away.

I've been feeling all this pressure to get everything figured out and done so that I can rest easy about the future that I've totally forgotten that the journey is the best part. The journey towards the future is the best part, and while you shouldn't completely blow off any sense of planning for the future, you shouldn't get so caught up in it that it totally consumes your life and brings you unhappiness.

So don't get caught up in it. Remember that life is really short and really unpredictable. Why worry about something that may or may not happen a few days - or years - down the road when you're living a wonderful life filled with beautiful experiences and amazing people right now? No one is owed or guaranteed another day or another year, so why aren't you living the way you want to be right now?

I challenge you - right now - to go out there and do something you love. Surround yourself with people that make you happy and bring you up. Laugh, love, and live.

xx
ola