I just posted this on a friend's wall:
HEY! QUIT BEING EMO!! Start getting picky with everything in your life and stop accepting sub-par anything. If you find that something is going wrong in your life, stop doing the same thing over and over again and change something. If that still doesn't work, change something else. Just because you're not succeeding doesn't mean you're failing. Every time you don't succeed, you have an opportunity to learn from what happened and better yourself. Got it?
I got most of the way through when I realized that it was also directed at myself. Things around you are destined to change. That's just what happens. The only constant in your own life is your own self. Once you realize this, you've opened the door to your own salvation. The people that move in and out of your life naturally influence your outlook. It's up to you to find your equilibrium. If you're always surrounded by other that distract you from what your own true goals are, you are only hindering yourself.
Your very own success counts on your ability to discern between what your true desires are and what those around you desire for you.
For example:
I sleep on the floor. It's a hardwood floor. The only things between me and it are four layers of comforters and a rug with a few pillows for my head. There are people in my life who are high-strung on making sure I have at least a mattress, and there are people in my life who believe that sleeping on the floor is perfectly fine. Before I heard anyone's opinion, I decided one day to move my sleeping arrangement to the floor. That's where I want it. Friends still come over and shake their heads when they see what I sleep on. They try to convince me to "improve" my situation. I politely decline. That is my stance. I refuse to move. In time, my friends realize that this is where I'm content. The ones that refuse to see it my way and want to remain friends simply avoid the subject.
I know it seems like a harsh route to take, but it's not. You cannot define yourself in terms of others. That's it.
You cannot define yourself in terms of others.
Pause and read that again.
Go ahead.
You cannot define yourself in terms of others.
Weed out the things that aren't you. Anything you don't want in your life, just take it out. Remove yourself from the things that hinder you.
Another quote to a friend:
Why dull the blade that can cut through to your heart? It's like telling me to "play what's on the paper" in music or to stop dancing when a song touches me. I can, but I won't. Ever
It's like turning on a flashlight and covering the bulb. Pointless.
Surround yourself with others that complement what makes you you. If you can't find anyone, then let your light shine as brightly as it can. Soon enough, someone will be attracted to your light, but in the mean time, learn to love the "haters" and those that try to bring you down. They're the ones that see that you have something that they don't. If someone is trying to stop you from expressing who you really are, that just means that they don't want you to put their false existence to shame. Remember that every child was born with a dream. People can do what they want to trample on what you truly strive for, or they can put their all into lifting you up and helping you along. The only way to find out which is which, you first have to move in the direction you want to go. As long as you don't let yourself become too deflated or inflated, you will keep moving forward. If you see that your hope has been shattered, pick up the pieces and put them back together. If there seem to be pieces missing, they were just dead weight to begin with.
"Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away." - Antoine de Saint-Exupery
Since we all know that there is no such thing as perfect, never stop whittling away at the unnecessary things in your life until you come as close as you can. Then, teach this to the next generation...
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