I wanted to start this thought off with a saying: "The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." – Lao Tzu

I think that this saying is very relative to life because if you take a second to think about it, life is about starting out small and seeing big events happen. That's like taking one step before you walk a thousand miles.

Life is full of ups and downs, but the way we handle these good and bad times can define us as an individuals. They can also lead us to taking more steps forward or a few steps back. Either way we have to figure out how to take both of these possible situations and make the best out of them. That is why we have family, friends and significant others who can help us celebrate these good times and lift us up in the bad times.

These people are here for us to support us and love us throughout life experiences. The real question is: what would you like in life? Everyone has different pictures of how they "want" their life to be, instead of how it actually will be. When it comes down to what people want in life we all have the same common thoughts and plans.

Family is a huge part of everyone's life. We all grow up looking forward to that day when we find our significant other and after that when we have kids. Most people share this dream, others are perfectly content with their "childhood" family as you may call it. The people you grow up with for 18 years and continue to see and love throughout your life.

But there is that point where you start to create your own family and your parents get to become part of something larger in your life. I have learned that family will always be there for you no matter because they are going to love and support you for the rest of your life in all the moments that you make them proud and even in the ones that you may disappointment them. Either way, you are still their family and they will always care.

Friends make good times sweeter and the bad times better. Whether you have a few close ones or a group of many, they make the world go around. These are the people that will pick you up off the floor after a breakup or hold your hair when you drank too much. Your friends are the people who will tell you the truth even if you don't want to hear it — they will laugh with you until your cheeks hurt, and they will cry with you until you are done. It is an amazing thing when you can have a friendship that feels more like they are family... Family you have chosen for yourself.

Careers are important for people because it is how they will support themselves and possibly their future families too. Ever since you were a little kid, people ask you "what do you want to do when you grow up?"

This question is embedded in our brains and is a topic that is being constantly thinking about. The scary thing is once you get into college and actually have to answer that question, you have no idea. All of those things you once said you wanted to be just don't seem realistic now, but they should be. You should have a career that makes you want to get up and go to work. Be involved in something bigger than yourself and make that difference that we all want to in the world. Choose a career that represents you and something that you can truly say you enjoy doing.

Being happy should be everyone's ultimate goal. Yes, family can be difficult. Friends may come and go and careers may fail, but at the end of the day you should be happy. That is the most important thing in life. If you aren't happy it can be a game changer because then you can bring others around you down as well and that isn't what you would want. As long as your happy in life everything else should fall into place.

In the end these three things are a large part of everyone's life. They are the things that people dream of and can loose sleep thinking about. There can be high standards set for them too and living up to them can sometimes be a struggle. That is when you should forget about the pressure and the perfect image and just do what makes you happy.

Maybe you don't know what makes you happy, but I can guarantee you that you will figure it out as time passes. Just remember that life can be short and that we don't know what the next day will bring for any of us. We need to take life by the hand and let it take us on a crazy journey of a thousand miles.