Turning 25.

I have officially been on this planet for a quarter of a century.  Some observations thus far (in a handy-dandy list of 25 to mark the occasion):

1. There are always options.  
2. Know that those options have consequences.
3. Take responsibility for your actions and accept the consequences.  Nobody has sympathy for a "victim" who puts themselves in harm's way.
4. That being said... shit happens that is out of your control.  Focus on what you can control.  Revert back to 1.
5.  Be selfish.  No one cares about your struggles more than you do.
6. Most people are just trying to survive their own struggles.  No one cares about your struggles more than you do.
7. Once you've got your life under control, then you'll be in the best position to help others.
8. Take care of others, not because you're looking for them to one day return the favor.  Then you'll get an idea of what character means.
9. Continual reliance leads to dependence.
10. Be what you want to see in the world.
11. If something is important to you, involve it in your life daily.
12. Procrastination means that what you are currently doing is more important than what you “should” be doing.  Use that knowledge.
13. Your time is finite.  Find ways to get rid of or minimize what is not important to you.
14. Taking small steps now creates change for the future.
15. Your gut instinct is based on the culmination of experiences that bear some relevance to the situation at hand.
16. If you place yourself into more situations, your instincts will serve you better.
17. You can't truly experience everything.  And you don't need to.
18. Listen to others' stories.  Visualize yourself in their shoes.  Experience the past with them.
19. Question everything.  But take into consideration the answers that are given.
20. Curiosity leads you down some interesting paths.  Follow them.
21. A life well-lived is ultimately judged by the person living it.
22. So keep your opinions of others’ life choices to yourself.
23. Honesty is so much less work.  But it ain’t easy.
24. People make time for those who are important to them.
25. Death is inevitable.  Continuing to focus on the end makes you lose sight of what is happening now.

Only What I Can Carry.

As I wait to board my plane to Texas, memories of who I was a few years ago pop up in my mind.  See, this is the first time I've been in the DFW area in over a year... an area I spent living on my own for over 4 years.  And though I look forward to seeing a lot of the friends I had made during that time, I can't help but wonder if never leaving would have satisfied me. 

I can understand why many people yearn to firmly plant themselves.  There's a feeling of relief.  The tiresome explorer getting to his destination and, with what energy he has left, impaling the ground with his flag to claim his plot of land.  There's a sense of control.  My territory... my rules.  There's a semblance of stability and certainty.  I know what to expect in my own little world, and it changes only at my will.