"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." —H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

I think it's safe to say that almost everyone has heard all or part of the above quote. But there's a reason we hear things over and over again, and that's because they're true. Especially at this time of the year, when people are graduating and lives are changing and we're all scared sh*tless of what's coming next, every word of this quote can be so incredibly reassuring in its own way.

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do.

Ten years from now, you'll be more disappointed by the things you didn't do. Five years. Next year. Next week. Everything, every show, every book tells you not to live with any regrets, but so often I think that turns into questioning our decisions so much that we say no to anything that might be stupid or risky or spontaneous because, in a society that places so much value on futures—from college to career to relationships—we're taught to focus on consequences that MIGHT happen in the future rather than experiences that ARE happening right now. But the worst question in the world is "what if ...?" Don't let yourself have to wonder what might have been different had you taken more chances. Find out.

So throw off the bowlines.

Bowlines are knots in sailing that keep a boat secure in the dock. Throwing off those lines lets you move forward, and it sets you free. So lose your inhibitions and the things that make you self-conscious or shy or scared. The thing with taking chances is that sometimes, you have to get a little bit reckless. The thing about making a change in your life and deciding to do the things that you're scared you'll regret is that it has to be a conscious effort. It has to be a decision that you make and stick to. It has to take work. You have to remind yourself every day, but it's gonna feel so good when you taste the recklessness of that chance. It's gonna feel so good when fearlessness kisses your life.

Sail away from the safe harbor.

This is my favorite part. I love it so much I got it tattooed and made it a permanent part of me. And I think it's especially relevant now, as people are graduating from high school and college and moving across the country for new jobs and new schools and new relationships that they're hoping and praying will work out but really have no idea about. And I think there's something so beautiful about not having a clue. The safe harbor is your comfort zone, and there is a reason it's called comfort. It's because it's easy and it's peaceful and there is no fear there. But there is no challenge, either. Leave home. Cross the country for a job that has nothing to do with what you majored in for the past four years. Cross an ocean because you couldn't find a job, and go find your self instead. Find your soul in the pages of a passport and in the laughter of a foreign stranger who makes you feel at home. Move to a different state for a guy that your friends think is no good for you, but whom you love more than the world can contain. If you were wrong about anything, at least you're learning a lesson. But at least give yourself the chance to leave the safety of home and find out that the world is so much more beautiful outside your own backyard.

Catch the trade winds in your sails.

Once you taste adventure and learn bravery, let that propel you. Let it light you up and push you forward and don't ever stop moving. Tell everyone you know how scared you were and how scared you still are and how happy you are that you're doing it anyways. Let every crazy decision that teaches you a lesson be the reason you make ten more crazy decisions and learn fifty more lessons. Don't let fear catch up. When a wave comes, go deep. Let your experiences transform you into something stronger and braver and faster and more powerful. Rush headfirst, and when you open your eyes, let the new view remind you why you're here. Why every scared decision and shaking hand was worth it.

Explore. Dream. Discover.

And never stop.