1. We are all searching for things we already have.
Yeah, it may be 2017, but we are still taking almost everything for granted. We’re all richer than we think, luckier than we think, more blessed than we think. We search for things like love and adventure, but those two things are actually right in front of us. Our friends, family, pets all have fallen in love with who we are, and our adventures – we can choose to create those the minute we step outside our door, or even in the confines of our own home, really. Think about it.
2. Someone you just met can do more for you than someone you’ve known your whole life.
Coincidence allows you to meet really interesting characters. The philosopher, the comedian, the instant best friend, the fun one, the old friend (whom you haven’t talked to in forever so you feel like you’ve just met them all over again) – they’re all insanely significant because they bring out a part of you that is important to progression. Sometimes, meeting new people allows you to see things and situations from different perspectives.
3. Words are really really important.
Words are truly underrated. They can make or break how you understand a situation or how someone feels. It’s better to try to tell someone about what you’re thinking or feeling than to not try at all. It’s like love – it’s one of those things that plenty of people (including me!) try to write about, but not enough people attempt to do so because it seems too complicated.
4. Embrace life’s difficulties; don’t run from them.
I’ve always been fascinated by Friedrich Nietzsche and his influential philosophies about human behavior and life. Specifically, he talks about how difficulties in life should be welcomed by people who seek fulfillment, but also how hardships and joy operate in some sort of osmotic relationship, where not having one results in not having the other.
Put simply, it’s a more logical and realistic approach to the speed bumps of everyday life. To be truly happy and fulfilled, we need to recognize how these difficulties push us to really thrive in life as individuals. It’s kind of like how we have prerequisites for certain courses at university; failure acts in sort of the same way as a prerequisite for success. Turn these moments into lessons and take them as opportunity, because growth is NOT about success.