This is just one chapter

As we move through life, it is so easy to get bogged down and feel stuck. We get into a rut and can't seem to find any way out. We begin to think is this it for me? Is this all I can do with my life? It is important to be present. I say this all the time. It is also important to realize that where you are right now is not where you will be forever. 

I want you to think back to when your were 15 or 16 years old. You probably just got your leaners permit or your license. The world began to expand for you. You realized you could travel to new places. You could see new things. As this happened, you were thinking about finishing high school and going to college or heading to trade school. Maybe you were just excited about getting that first job or having some more free time because you would not have to do homework anymore. You were constantly thinking about all the possibilities in life and seeing all the different options you had.

Now, let's fast forward to 25 to 30 years old. You have probably completed college, found that job or career, and started to settle in to whatever life you have created for yourself. You have stopped looking ahead and seeing possibilities. You no longer see different options for yourself. You have probably started resenting yourself or your significant other, or a combination of the two. You are starting to feel miserable and like you are in this rut you cannot exit.

It is easy to talk about these two moments in life because I have experienced them. I found my way through the second one after a few years of being angry for no reason other than I needed a better perspective than I had and I needed to stop feeding into that victim mentality that everyone loves to latch on to. I can almost everyone has felt both of these moments in life and done some reflecting.

I hated when people used to say high school would be the best 4 years of your life. This always told me everything I needed to know about them. They had given up. They stopped trying because they believed the best years were behind them. You are still a child when you graduate high school. You have experienced very little. You have so much left to learn and experience in the world. The problem is at some point as we grow, we begin to believe there is not much left to experience or we do not deserve it.

One of my really good friends was going through an incredibly difficult time in his life and he said something profound to me. He looked at me and he said, "This is just a chapter in our lives." When those words left his mouth it hit me like a ton of bricks. As the years pass, we are living different chapters. They do not last forever even if they feel like they will. You always have the ability to change the narrative and you always can look forward to a new chapter coming soon. 

The two contrasts in life I described above from when you are a teenager to young adult clearly show we move through different chapters in life. The next time you are starting to feel down and want to quit, remember this is a chapter. It is on you to write the chapter. It is on you to be the best you can be. It is on you to make sure every chapter in your life going forward is different. You have the power to write an amazing novel.

This is your life.

Do not squander it.

Be Better Than You Were Yesterday.