Take Life and Smack it in the Face.

Hey, Twenty-Somethings, how's life? 

Some of us are still in post-graduate free-fall, hunting the job market arena like stealthy wolves in business clothes, resumes cocked and loaded.  Some of us have hit a fortunate turn, landing our first "real" jobs-the ones our goals have led us to.  And yet some of us are floundering while others are exactly where we want to be.  It's like a reality TV show with less of a tan. 

Yet one common thread I'm noticing among my peers is the longing to find something, whether that something is a job, a dream, or a companion.  Despite our best efforts to prove how independent and strong we are, us Twenty-Somethings always have the door open for a special person to waltz through.  We get our first places, we get our cars, we buy groceries with one serving in mind--hoping to one day share it all.  

And when it doesn't work out?  What happens when one venture turns sour?  Our hearts hurt, we doubt we'll ever be able to share again.  Some of us wallow, tailspin, or crash into Wiley Coyote's brick wall.  Then we pick ourselves up, dust off the Acme paint, and breathe.  After some hard-earned healing, we smile again.  

This time, that smile is wiser, more mature, and excited for the next opportunity.  We take the smile out for coffee, out with friends, out to the grocery store.  We are only an improvement of our selves.  Maya Angelou is quoted as stating, "I can be changed by what happens to me, but I refuse to be reduced by it."     Why should all of the pain we feel, over any ordeal, be laid to waste?  Why not take the hurricane by storm until we realize it's strength and make it our own?  Within every unexpected change, with every painful or even happy experience, comes the chance for growth.  But we must choose to bloom.  Take life, look it straight in its crazy eyes, and smack it in the face.

The danger lies in dwelling.  In finding self-pity and letting it bind around us.  How are we to learn when we are huddled in the corner or under our beds?  The darkness will never let you see the light that way.  So don't let misery lead your life.  Choose to get better.  Choose to be happy, to feel sunshine on your back as you look out at life, renewed and ready.  

Don't be afraid to make those decisions that carry heavy.  Don't be afraid to feel sad, scared, alone.  These things must be endured to laugh, to conquer, and to share.  

When I was younger, I watched an interview with the legendary Bruce Lee.  Yes, that Bruce Lee.  I've always thought he was one of the coolest icons from the past, but was nonetheless surprised at something he shared with his viewers during that interview.  What he said stuck with me, and I still think of it often as it is relevant to many details in good ol' life.  He discussed how we must learn from the properties of water.  How it moves, forms, and reacts.  I found a quote that encapsulates what I heard on that re-airing so many years ago: 


"You must be shapeless, formless, like water. When you pour water in a cup, it becomes the cup. When you pour water in a bottle, it becomes the bottle. When you pour water in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Water can drip and it can crash. Become like water my friend." 

-Bruce Lee

Flexibility is key.  Go with the flow.   Take all you can learn from this life and seek the happiness, see the good.  There will always be pain and suffering.  There will always be evil whether it's in circumstance or hearts.  

But there will also always be good to share.  And that, fellow Twenty-Somethings, is damn refreshing.