Brenda Figueroa
The Paw Print
Make your own adventure: Regardless of how trivial it is. Make an adventure out of it. Create a treasure map to the grocery store, make up a whole different identify for yourself at Starbucks, speak with a different accent for an entire day. Doesn’t matter what it is, just make it an adventure. I found that finding a bit of joy within the mundane can always make a day memorable.
Sometimes, family doesn’t know best: They love you, support you, but sometimes, they don’t get you. And it’s nobody’s fault. But because sometimes expressing who you are or what you want to do can fall into deaf ears and be taken as a joke or brushed off can be taken as a setback. Their less than stellar confidence in something you want to do can be defeating. Understand that your family is what molded you, created you, and gave you the essential materials to build a world as you see fit. They don’t define you.
Amazing people do exist: Yeah you have to go through a lot of shit-heads, but amazing people sprout up where you least expect it. If you really truly do need help, someone will be there. Whether you know them or not. You just have to be open to receiving them.
Just because you can see everything doesn’t mean you know what you’re looking for: Even the most planned out life can get derailed for the better. It’s great to know where you want to go, but sometimes the unexpected path you weren’t meant to take can lead to somewhere you were supposed to go to begin with. Don’t be intimidated by the road less traveled. Be excited since you’ll be the first to explore it. You won’t always know what life you were meant to lead.
Have one crazy day: I’m not saying break every single law man created, just be a rebel. Kiss the person you’ve always liked out of nowhere. Dance to no music in public. Let yourself go. We all live in our own protective shell within society because we’re afraid of not being accepted. As Liz Lemon says, “rejection from society is what created the X-Men.” Embrace your inner mutant. At least for a day.
Make a bucket list: Keep it some place where you can see it every day. Let it haunt you. Let it serve as a daily reminder that you have ambitions and goals. Because eventually you’re going to get so pissed off at yourself for not completing one that it might light that fire under your ass that you need.
Love: Despite whatever hardships you’ve just got out of, even if the heartbreak trenches seem to be the only thing protecting you from the world, love. Love for a day, love for a minute, love for a year, love for the rest of your life. Love yourself. Love your family. Love your gifts. Love your ambitions. Love your drive. Love your motivation. Love your culture. Love your background. Love your mind. Love your body. Just because someone breaks one aspect of love doesn’t mean they’ve completely shattered the entire definition.
What’s Been Said…