I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE

Okay, you guys. I have to get out of my brain what has been festering there for the past couple days. This is to no one specific, (and at the same time it's to every individual person I know) because we all see it happen to people all the time. Don't take this post personally, or do take it personally. I don't care. I'm not here to offend, nor am I perfect at what it is I want to talk about, but man I can get passionate about it.

Lookit.

I am sick--SICK--of watching people I know and love sacrifice their values, beliefs, goals, dreams, ideals etc. for something easier and of less worth. I'm not just talking about people who share the same faith as me, I'm talking about any body with a brain and a pulse out there who, for whatever sad reason, chooses to live a life of dull dreams and mediocrity.

STOP IT.

THIS IS YOUR LIFE. What the heck are you doing with it? If you've got standards, uphold them. If you believe in something, stand up for it. If you've got goals, fight for them. If something/someone is in your life that is keeping you from your dreams, aspirations, longings, etc., ELIMINATE IT. Reject whoever tells you that you can't. Remove whoever tries to make you settle for less. As human beings we all have the ability to think, choose and act. CHOOSE to live your life before someone or something lives it for you. ACT! Do not be acted upon. Don't take no for an answer. Give a big you-know-what-hand-gesture to whoever tells you that you can't. This is your life! It is awesome and full of fantastic, incredible opportunities. Dream big! "But Samantha," you may lament, "my parents are losers who don't believe in me," or maybe, "but I really love him," or perhaps the greatest excuse and lie of them all, "I'm just not that kind of person, being successful/happy/great just isn't in the cards for me." et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.
Do you see how none of those excuses or sad thought processes matter? Stephen Covey said, "You are a product of your choices, not a victim of your circumstances." So stop playing the victim, man up and live the life you wanna live. 'Cause it's tickin' me right off.

Are you picking up what I'm putting down?

It's about backbone, people. Grow one. Whatever your value system may be, stick to it! Don't bow down to the first numb skull who tries to fool you. I understand how effortlessly easy it is to lower your own values and standards to meet another's instead of upholding your own. I personally am guilty of this. Do you ever feel good afterward? Have you ever said to yourself, "yeah, I'm glad I did what that person persuaded me to do instead of what I morally believe in." No, you haven't. No one has. So stop it! Stop being weak. THIS IS YOUR LIFE. EVERYDAY MATTERS. YOUR LIFE MATTERS. Choose what is important to you, and chain yourself to it. The word is integrity. Another word is tenacity. A metaphor is a backbone. Stop being weak and giving in to things less important, things of little to no value that you choose just because it's easy. Why does everyone want what's easy??? What a boring, flimsy, inconsequential individual--the person who always chooses what's easy. My dad said to me once, "Anything WORTH achieving, is going to be difficult to achieve." He's exactly right. So get over it, people. If you want a forgettable, mediocre life of no lasting value: let every change of the wind affect you, believe in nothing, give in to anything. Best of luck (not that you need luck, because this option is very easy.) On the other hand, if you want anything more than mediocrity, you better pull up your bootstraps and grit your teeth.

The unhappiest people I know are the ones who allow their circumstances to control them. The happiest people I know are the ones that ACT for themselves and create the life and love they dream of.

I guess I'm done with my rant. I love you all. I really do, and that's why I had to get all this out of my brain.

"What will be your greatest work? What will be your most important creation? I will tell you. Your greatest work, your most important creation is and ever will be you. What kind of person will you become? By this I do not mean what kind of role in life you will take. I don't mean will you be a lawyer, surfer, homemaker, engineer, computer programmer, accountant or the like. I do not refer to what kind of car you will drive; what kind of clothes you will wear; what kind of house you will live in; what kind of spouse you will marry; or what kind of family you will raise. I mean, when all of that is removed and there you stand alone, who will you be? I mean, you."

-Lawrence Corbridge