He wiped my tears from my face and stared right into my broken soul. "Listen to me, you have the whole world at your fingertips. You've just gotta see what I can see for you." My mind was cloudy with despair, so I shrugged off his speech and continued to wallow in self-pity and regret. A couple weeks later I started to look back at that moment I shared with my dad, and I can see now what he was talking about. This hardship is only temporary, and it's making me a better version of myself everyday. And as I silently sit and watch the sunset over Santa Rosa Beach tonight, I'm reminded how vast the world actually is, and it's all mine. Going through a hard time can make you forget about all you have to be grateful for and all the wonderful things that are waiting for you out there. When the dense fog of your hardship clears up, you'll too see what I mean.
Listen to me as I tell you nineteen is a terribly wonderful age. It's full of heartbreak, curiosity, adventure, and most importantly, opportunity. You're sitting on the edge of full blown adulthood, but you can still use the "I'm in college" excuse to get away with shenanigans. You're so young and pratically drowning in potential. Whatever it is that you're going through right now that is dragging you down and making you think your life is over, you'll get past it. From every mistake and hardship you go through, a lesson is learned; learning the lesson itself isn't exactly a walk in the park, but what you take from it makes it worth the pain.
You're going to have your good days, and you're going to have days that are so bad you won't get out of bed. And thats okay, it's all apart of the process. Just remind yourself, "Okay..tomorrow will be better." Good days don't mean you're all better, it just means that you're slowly getting there. I had a great support system behind me when I was going through a hard time, it helped, but in all honesty it doesn't matter how many people you have on your team cheering you on to get better. You don't really listen to what everyone is telling you, you're only going to be truly happy if YOU decide it's time.
There are currently 7.4 billion people on earth. So tell that boy that broke your heart to get lost. There are 192 countries in the world, pick one and go explore it. Eat that doughnut. Put your umbrella down and let the rain hit your face. Instead of taking a selfie in front of the mountain, put the damn phone down and actually look at that mountain. You're only as happy as you let yourself be, and with so much opportunity and simplicity in the world it's easy to get lost in the joy that comes with it if you let yourself.
