The Pursuit

In my opinion, the best worded phrase in a historical document* is found in the Declaration of Independence. This phrase is very renown and goes like this: 

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

The part I want to focus on is the underlined, bolded, italicized part(so it cannot be missed!!); "the pursuit of happiness." Even our forefathers knew that happiness was not a given right, but the pursuit of it was. So, how do we then attain happiness?

Well, like stated, it is a pursuit. To pursue something is to seek after something; in this case, happiness. Happiness must be something we seek out every single day. We must seek happiness in all we do: in every breath, in every step, in every word, in every action, in every decision. The biggest lie that we can ever tell ourselves is that we are entitled to happiness. That we have worked so hard and we are now entitled to this. Truth is, we are only entitled to the pursuit.

So, whatever it is that you are going through in your life: whether it be a relationship, school, work, sports, acting, singer, whatever it is, you must pursue happiness. You must seek it out with all you've got! If you want to have that smile on your face, that smile that you actually mean, you have to seek it out in everything you do. There are many things in life that you can attain through connections or just pure luck, like landing that perfect job, meeting that dream producer, landing an audition in that dream movie. But, once you get that job, record deal, or leading role, what must you do? You must continually work at it, must continually grind, must continually seek it out! It is never finished, it is never accomplished, it is never done. It is a pursuit. 

Happiness is attainable, it is very, very attainable. But, where will you look for it? Guess it's just yours to pursue.





*Besides the Bible, of course.

YOLO

YOLO- You Only Live Once

This, without doubt, has become one of the most overused phrases of this generation. Ever since Drake first released "The Motto" you can't go anywhere without hearing people use this acronym. Maybe, this is just another excuse people have so that they can feel the right to do anything they want. For example, you're eating a bowl of cereal, but all you have is a fork. YOLO! Or, all that's left is the butt of the bread. YOLO! Or, there's a full bottle of Jack Daniels. YOLO! Or, there's no more parachutes, but you really want to go skydiving. YOLO! Or, you've never jumped out of a moving car before. YOLO! Or, you have a fully loaded gun...okay, okay, okay. This is the annoying, obnoxious, overused YOLO that we are all used to today.

But, maybe, if we all look at the term YOLO in the correct manner we can find that it actually is a  very useful and helpful phrase. How many of you guys see a beautiful girl standing across the way, but are too afraid to go talk to her? And girls, how many of you have done this same thing with guys? How many of us have not gone in for a kiss, because we feared rejection? How many of us have not gone after a dream, for fear of failure? How many of us have not applied to our dream school, for fear of not being accepted? How many of us have quit something that we loved, because it wasn't the 'cool' thing to do? Fear of rejection, fear of failure, fear of isolation, fear of embarrassment, fear of so many things keep us from achieving what we really, really desire in life. These are the situations that we need to be reminded that we only live once! We have one life, we have one chance, we have one opportunity. 

Sometimes doors may be repetitively opened, but maybe it is only open for a short while. Why should we just sit here and watch as it closes? We should we hesitate? Why should we watch that perfect girl, that perfect guy, that perfect job, that perfect friend, that perfect dream, that perfect opportunity slip right through our fingers? YOLO! You only live once! If you fail, then move on! What is the worst question that you can possibly ask yourself? WHAT IF? And what is the only way to avoid that question 100% of the time? By never letting your fears keep you from trying! If you always go for it, then you will always know what the result would have been! Eliminating 'what if' forever.

Don't let fear of failure, keep you from doing anything. The greatest minds in the world fail time and time again. But the difference is that they don't quit, they don't give up, and they don't let fear stop them! You only live once, you can either spend that life wondering what if, or you can spend that life knowing what if; because you never let fear stop you. 

Quotes:

"You never fail until you stop trying." 

“I have not failed, I have just found 10,000 ways that don’t work”

“Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new.”

-Albert Einstein

"The only thing to fear is fear itself."

-Franklin D Roosevelt

"Don't let the fear of striking out, keep you from playing the game."

-A Cinderella's Story

"There are three types of people in this world: those who make things happen, those who watch things happen and those who wonder what happened."

-Mary Kay Ash

"You only live once, that's the motto...YOLO"

-Drake

Equal as Forks and Spoons

"All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others." Is that an Animal Farm reference? Yes, yes it is. This quote seems to be very relevant in my life right now. Maybe it is just me, but I feel that the people I sometimes find surrounded around me are very, very judging. It isn't necessarily just the words they are saying, but also has a large part in their tone and their body language. Don't get me wrong, I definitely deserve to be judged. I am bad, I am a sinner, I am a mess, I am a disgrace, I am a hypocrite. But there is only one person, one being, that I will ever let judge me; and that is God. I am sorry to those who may not be religious, but bare with me. Every person on this earth makes mistakes, I think we can all agree with that. And if we have made even one single mistake then who are we to judge another's mistakes? Exactly. We are nobody. We have no right. It would be like a fork judging a spoon for not being able to stab at its food, while a spoon laughs at a fork that cannot scoop up its soup. Bad analogy I know, judge me about it. We all possess our special skills. We may be able to do things that others can't, but we are also unable to do things that other people may be able to. We have no reason to judge any person.

So why did I start off with this quote? It is because I feel that society has planted this into our minds. We all walk around like we are the hot sh*t, like we are the bee's knees. Sorry to break it to you, but you're not. And neither am I. WE ARE ALL EQUALS. Not on different levels, we are all on the same level.

Okay, being religious we are consistently told this. But why do I feel like I am being judged more by my religious group of friends? Does it not say in James 4:11-12:

" ¹¹ Brothers and sisters, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against a brother or sister or judges them speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it. ¹² There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you—who are you to judge your neighbor?"

Those who consider themselves as being religious should know this better than anyone. Not because they are better, not because they are more worthy, but because these are the words that they have decided to live by. I am not saying that I do not judge, I definitely have my moments, I am saying this because I want to bring it to the light, to get people thinking about the topic. To those whom are religious this verse says that there is only one judge in this world: God.

And to those who are not religious does our Declaration of Independence not state:

God Overcomes

The cross symbolizes so, so, so much. But there is one thing that has just crossed my mind. Ready, set, read!!

Okay, so Jesus(the perfect man, God's son, fully God and fully man) was sentenced to the most brutal death one can imagine! He was beat with over 100 lashes(over double what is considered automatic death), he then is spit on, crowned by thorns (are you joking?? Could you imagine the pain?!), forced to carry an extremely heavy cross for miles and miles through a village of mocking people. He was spit at some more, punched, kicked, thrown to the ground, dirt kicked in his face, and received very gruesome taunts. Then after all of that was nailed to a cross, I said nailed to a cross!! Had nails hammered into both wrists and then had his ankles nailed together! Do you have any idea the pain it would be to receive nails through your flesh, nerves, tendons, muscles, bones? I don't want to know that pain.

Oh, and did I mention that this whole time He had the power to end all of this?? To end all the pain, to end all the torture! But He loved us SOO much that he didn't even NUMB a single nerve. He didn't numb out a single ounce of pain! He felt every single whip to his back, every nail, glass shard, and more that ripped his skin off, felt every single kick, felt every thorn to his head, felt the pain of carrying the cross, along with carrying every burden of every man, of every female to ever (I said EVER!) walk this earth(whether that be Adam, Eve, Abraham, Moses, Napoleon, Henry V, Shakespeare, Hitler, Stalin, me, you, and every single person that hasn't even yet been born).

Back to the point. Actually, all of this is the point.

All of this was put onto Jesus, the perfect man, the son of God, fully God and fully man. And what happens after all of this? He conquers death, yes I said conquers death!! Have you ever heard of a man who has been dead for three days, thrown in a tomb, had his heart stopped, no food, no water, no oxygen and then all of a sudden, three days later (BAM!) he's walking around completely alive? Nope, just Jesus! Could you imagine the power it would take to bring a man back from the dead? That is an insane amount of power and strength! But who has that strength? Oh, that's right GOD!!! God has the power, has the strength, and has the love to do so!!

So, if God was willing to put the perfect man, the son of God, fully God and fully man to death just so He could overcome it, then why should we ever be discouraged? Why should we ever fear? Why should we ever doubt?

We so quickly allow ourselves to get down when things aren't going completely as we planned. Well, next time you feel discouraged just remember this: God put Jesus through all of that so He could use Him to overcome death. So, what makes you think he won't use you to overcome whatever that obstacle in your life may be?

All In

Sometimes the hardest things in life is chasing after a dream. Chasing after something you really, really want, but fearing that you just don't have what it takes. Whether that dream be acting, singing, becoming a doctor, going to Harvard, or being the world's greatest hobo, we all feel that little bit of fear. And, sadly, that fear is sometimes enough to hold us back from ever truly reaching after that dream. So, instead of going after what we really want, we go the typical route of life for security: we graduate high school, go to college, major in whatever we can get a job in, graduate, maybe go to grad school, and live our whole lives in a cubical. But, in the end, what do you have? Nothing more than a heart of regret and a head filled with 'what ifs'.

Honestly, screw security. Who cares about what the world says we should do. Who are they to decide what we do with our lives? If you want to act, then act. If you want to make music, then make music. If you want to write, then write. If you want to be homeless...don't do that, that one should probably be avoided. The only thing we should be seeking out in life is happiness, not security. If you have a dream, chase it so fast, chase it so hard, chase it with all you got, chase with every single ounce of energy that your body possesses, so that at the end of the day you don't have to ask yourself 'what if', because you'll know. That's the only real security you need in life.

And often we fear that we won't have the support of our peers, fear that we may be teased, that we may be ridiculed. But, truth is, you will. Everything worth chasing in life has a group of critics on the other side. But if you don't bet on yourself, no one will. So take all your chips, take every single chip, and slide those all to the middle of the table. Put every chip that you have and place them on your dream. Don't be half in, quarter in, mostly in, but be ALL IN! If you really want something, if you really want it, then take all you've got and chase that dream. Chase it so fast, chase it so hard, chase it with all you got, chase it with every single ounce of energy your body possesses, so that at the end of the day you don't have to ask yourself 'what if', because you'll know. Yes, that needed to reiterated. Be all in. Because if you believe in yourself, they'll come around. So take your chips, be all in.

Trial and Error

Just know everything has some sort of beginning. Shakespeare didn't start off by writing Romeo and Juliet. Michelangelo's first painting wasn't the Sistine Chapel. Alexander Graham Bell didn't invent the phone on the first try.
Life is all about trial and error. It is about experimenting. It is about trying, failing, then trying again. It is adjusting time after time, day after day. It is about never giving up. That's what life is about. Trial and error.

Follow Your Dreams

They told the Wright brothers they were crazy. They told them there was no way that humans could fly. They told them they were just wasting their time....