Posts published during August, 2009

In a truly perfect world, there would be no losers, slackers, or poor people. Everyone would earn their respective livings and there would be no such thing as theft or underhanded politics or drug lords or disease and so on. There would no such thing as evil or crime.

Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you view it), there is no perfect world.

All of these things exist and we live in a world in which it’s difficult to fight back against them. In more civilized areas however, we are victims of another crime. It’s not as immediately effective as disease or drugs, but in the long term sense, it’s just as deadly.

I think you know where I’m getting at, but to be more precise… conformity.

Think I’m joking? Go outside to a highly popular area, and see how many people are wearing North Face merchandise – more specifically black North Face jackets. Here in Chicago (even on campus) the amount is astonishing.

Gone are the days of originality when the people would invent their own ideals, sing their own tune, and follow their dreams. Now their sense of self comes from the media and what it deems popular through mass advertising.

I may be over exaggerating, but no doubt it has become a trend. Most people buy what they see on billboards, read about in magazines, or watch on television. Most people do this – but you don’t have to.

Here are some things that you can do right now in order to become the “black sheep” of society:

Turn off the television

TV isn’t what it used to be (before Saturday morning cartoons were worth watching). The television of old has been replaced with relatively pointless drivel, that requires the attention span of your average hormonified teenager. True, there are many important channels (educational broadcasting, news channels, documentaries, etc.), but in this age of technology, we can watch all that stuff on the internet. And the best thing about it is that on the web, we can choose what we watch. No more commercials (if they interrupt my internet viewing I just switch to another tab until it’s over), and no more watching on a schedule. Why should you have to wait for your favorite show by watching peppered-in commercials in addition to programs you won’t benefit from? Again, it’s pointless.

Read

First, here are some stats from the owner of Copyblogger Brian Clarke’s ebook Teaching Sells:

Take a look at these sad facts, which are a bit outdated and are most likely even
sadder in 2008.

  • 58% of the US adult population never reads another book after high school.
  • 42% of college graduates never read another book.
  • 80% of US families did not buy or read a book last year.
  • 70% of US adults have not been in a bookstore in the last five years.
  • 57% of new books are not read to completion.
  • Most readers do not get past page 18 in a book they have purchased.

I don’t know about you, but these are really disappointing statistics. I was shocked when I read this and even more so when I understood the full weight of these calculations – even in the 21st century there are still a great many of us who aren’t learning.

Fortunately for you, it’s not hard to get decent material and start reading. Pick up a newspaper, informative magazine, ebook, web article, or literature. There’s a wealth of knowledge out there just waiting for you to grab it. The only time you should consider stop learning and improvement is when you’re dead.

Inspire someone

People are waiting to be inspired. Whether it’s by video, books, or any other medium, we are all waiting to be inspired. Whenever we hear stories of  “This young person did ‘blank’, this old person did ‘blank’, this group of people achieved ‘blank’, we become excited. Excited because we believe that there is hope for us. Maybe we too can achieve similar or greater results if we just put our minds toward that end. Maybe we can lead, maybe we can create, maybe we can change the world.

Inspiration gets people thinking and that’s what should be happening. Dare someone to succeed. Dare someone to challenge themselves. Dare someone to go against popular belief. Dare someone to be themselves.

I know it’s scary to go against what so many have accepted as right. Sometimes you question whether going your own way, is the right way. But if we live by somebody else’s rules, whose life are we really living?

Own your life. Chase your dreams. Never stop learning. Whatever else is necessary to truly become an individual is obviously up to you.

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Today, I thought I had writer’s block. I was completely stuck and convinced nothing would get me out of it. This doesn’t usually happen. The writing usually just flows and then proofreading swiftly follows.

I then came upon the true source of the problem: the Internet. Or more specifically, the Internet browsers.

My first thought was “How can this be? My lovely Firefox browser, fully customizable with it’s Google Chrome theme and multiple tabs? That’s the problem?”

Wait a minute. The tabs. Why were there so many open?

I now understand that the very internet browser I put my faith in had bamboozled me into tab-mania!  Not only that, but there were a whole host of other issues disguised as “enhancements” that caused my productivity to plummet.

Tabs

I think we can all agree that the root of the problem starts with the tabs. They encourage you to divide your time among multiple topics all in one instant.

I admit I liked the idea in the beginning. But when you’re trying to actually get something done, it really gets to be a hassle. Any random thought pops into my head (“Oh I haven’t read that yet!”) and then I just open a tab.

Solution: There are a number of remedies for this problem. For the PC users (not sure if it’s the same for Mac users) when using the internet, just press F11 to make the current page you’re on go to fullscreen. That way you won’t have any temptations to open a new tab.

If you must keep tabs open, keep no more than three active. There’s no need to 10 pages open at the same time.

Delete Browsing History

I’d like to say that this function is important, but I just don’t see the point of it. Unless you’re doing some questionable browsing or don’t own a computer hard drive cleaning program, you shouldn’t really have to use this.

Solution: Use it only when absolutely necessary (using public computers or if you leave computer out).

Faster load times

I love that browsers have gotten faster, but it’s made it far easier to waste time. The refresh button becomes a lot more tempting when you’re on sites like Twitter and Facebook. And since it takes no time what can happen?

Just because the new browsers are three times faster doesn’t mean you should waste more time to ‘even things out’. I literally used to spend hours (separated by small bursts of productivity) to just look and see what everybody’s doing.

Solution: Cut down on the time used for random surfing.  I’ve cut back on both Twitter and Facebook recently, checking in every now and then just to see what’s going on.

I find it ironic that the very upgrades we find valuable in Internet browsers to increase productivity also have the capability to screw it up. The truth behind how productive you turn out to be depends on how you use these features.

As the Internet constantly evolves, remember that simplicity is still the key to getting things done. I think we tend to forget this sometimes, myself included.

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“The challenge of leadership is to be strong, but not rude; be kind, but not weak; be bold, but not bully; be thoughtful, but not lazy; be humble, but not timid; be proud, but not arrogant; have humor, but without folly.” – Jim Rohn

Leaders believe in karma.

Followers believe in lawsuits.

Leaders have the ability to lead and follow.

Followers can only follow.

Leaders embrace their passions.

Followers embrace their paychecks.

Leaders create for other people, and if they make money from it, that’s fine too.

Followers create because that’s what they’re told to do.

Leaders understand that knowledge is power.

Followers understand that power is everything.

Leaders feel fear and do it anyway.

Followers feel fear and do nothing.

Leaders are learners.

Followers are ignorant.

Leaders live only by the rules that align with their morals.

Followers live by most of the rules, but break the wrong ones.

Leaders are weird.

Followers are not.

Leaders lie to protect others.

Followers lie to protect themselves.

Leaders challenge their beliefs.

Followers believe everything.

Leaders can choose the lives they want.

Followers accept the lives they have.

Leaders want change.

Followers want someone else to do the changing for them.

Leaders are flawed – and they know it.

Followers are flawed – and they don’t.

What do you think about this? Is this the right way to view leading and following? Share your thoughts.

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Creative Commons License photo credit: Hamed Saber

“An individual’s self-concept is the core of his personality. It affects every aspect of human behavior: the ability to learn, the capacity to grow and change. A strong, positive self-image is the best possible preparation for success in life.” – Dr. Joyce Brothers

As human beings, we constantly seek to improve ourselves physically and mentally through activities like personal development, exercise, studying, and inventing.

In this journey of self-actualization we call life, there are plenty of skills and personality traits we wish to acquire that others already have. Some of us want the charisma that James Bond exudes. Others desire the confidence to be able to become a public speaker. A fair amount of us would like to be thought of as the “funny guy/girl” in our circle of friends.

We want all of these things, but usually never put in the effort to obtain them.

Personality evolves naturally – through the effects of the environment, who you move with, and what you’re goals are, you shape your identity. And this happens over a long period of time. Most of us have had the same personality since our toddler years; still shy upon first encounters, still amazed when things blow up, still afraid when going on stage.

Now we may not be able to completely remove the traits that block us from going on stage or being funny… but we can augment them.

Personalities (like our bodies) are malleable in the sense that through practice and training, we can fix them to better serve us.

But how can you take personality traits and embody them so well that they become apart of you?

Here’s how:

Pick a subject and study them

Choose someone that you want to emulate personality-wise, and start observing them. Body language, attitude, attire: it’s all applicable. Learn things about them that could further your personality transformation. I advise you to ask someone you know that has a trait you want to cultivate and start from there. What kinds of books do they read? What are their likes and dislikes? Notice the way they carry themselves. For example, observe that a public speaker doesn’t slouch when he speaks with an audience. His shoulders are back and his chest are out. He doesn’t stand as rigid as a rock, he moves his hands with his body when he brings up various topics.

Apply what you’ve learned about them

Now that you’ve got the information you need, you have all the parts necessary to bring out your toolbox and start customizing. Of course, that was just the easy part (as anyone can simply observe a person). The real challenge is the ‘changing’. This is the part where you’re going to have to act like your ideal self based upon what you’ve learned. At first it will seem a little weird (change always feels awkward at first). But in time you’ll get used to the new you. If want to gain confidence, you must participate in acts that normally scare the crap out of you. Again with regards to the public speaking example, you should join a club or group that involves lots of improv and speech-making.

You’ll know the trait is yours when the time’s right

This what I call your ‘moment of epiphany’. There will times when you think you have all the right moves, but your personality adjustment still won’t click. It’ll seem hopeless. But then something changes in your mind. You’ll get up on stage after bombing for the hundredth time – and everything will fall into place. You’ll be the most confident person on the planet and nothing can make you feel anything less.

Some people aren’t happy with the way they act, but are too afraid to change. They think it’s too late or maybe they just don’t think they can do it. There’s nothing wrong with improving yourself. Just don’t to pretend to be somebody you’re not. Incorporate parts of the person you want to become, but don’t change what makes you who you are.

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Note: These are in no particular order:

1. Talk to yourself – vocalizing your desire can do wonders for making you put your intentions into actions. The difference between thinking “I will succeed” and speaking “I will succeed” is huge.

2. Question your motives – ask yourself why you want what you want. Is it because someone else has it or is it actually because you desire it from the depth of your soul? Think about it.

3. Write a list (on paper) – write out a list of actions you can take now, ON PAPER. Do not use the computer. The act of writing just feels like you’re putting in more effort.

4. Learn from someone who already has what you want – gain experience from those who have been there and back. Don’t compare yourself to them in your early stages because all it while do is piss you off.

5. Toss out your comfort zone – to be comfortable is to go without risk. And without risk, there will be no reward. Those who desire must take risks to get what they want.

6. Celebrate progression (no matter how small) – you aren’t in the big leagues yet. Try and live up the small victories as much as you possibly can.

7. Become passionate towards your desire – I’ll let Joss handle this one:

“Passion, it lies in all of us, sleeping… waiting… and though unwanted… unbidden… it will stir… open its jaws and howl. It speaks to us… guides us… passion rules us all, and we obey. What other choice do we have? Passion is the source of our finest moments. The joy of love… the clarity of hatred… and the ecstasy of grief. It hurts sometimes more than we can bear. If we could live without passion maybe we’d know some kind of peace… but we would be hollow… Empty rooms shuttered and dank. Without passion we’d be truly dead.” – Joss Whedon

8. Expect some resistance – it is only when you reach your desire that you can actually get what you desire. Prove yourself worthy by breaking through common forces of resistance (setbacks, naysaying, waiting periods, etc.)

9. Stop being realistic – the definition of realism in our society is “doing what everyone else does”. Almost everyone else expects you to fail while you pursue your desire or they expect you to not even try at all. I’d rather be me than be “real”.

10. Be practical- the word “practical” means capable of being manifested into actions (credit to Webster). Let’s say you desire to be a superhero. Sorry, not gonna happen. Want to grow a few inches when you’re ten years past puberty? Get lifts in your shoes. Be practical. If what you want is completely imaginary (i.e. not humanly possible) don’t waste your time.

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“There are no shortcuts to any place worth going.”  – Beverly Sills

As an 18 year old kid, I think I speak for everyone in my age group and beyond when I say that when we want things done, we want them done as fast as possible. Why do you think the majority of markets are selling products that are “fast and efficient”? It’s because the “fast product” market is the most profitable market there is.

And “fast and efficient” products get things done now. At the dawn of the internet, I can still remember my old dial-up internet connection. I would’ve killed for the technology we have now at our disposal. With food, I used to make burritos by hand. Now you can just pop a frozen one in the oven and 3-5 minutes later, it’ll be done. However, in a world going seemingly a thousand miles per second, we are conditioning ourselves to be satisfied with instant gratification.

This isn’t a good thing.

We are being misled into thinking that things must happen quickly, that no matter how fast we’re going that we’re going too slow, and that everyone else is getting there much faster than we are.

Those that get lucky and have the chance to get somewhere faster are the exception, not the rule.

Common misconceptions involving instant gratifications include:

Exhibit A: Get rich quick

There’s really no such thing as getting rich quick. Though it depends on what you mean by ‘quick’, you can’t become a millionaire overnight (except if you gamble or win the lottery, but both of those, though possible, are highly improbable). Sometimes while surfing the web, I can see ads for making money on Twitter in just 5 hours of work. While this may work for some of us, it will not work for all of us. Again, it is the exception and not the rule that can get rich in a flash while for the rest of us it will take time to make any actually money.

Exhibit B: The myth of natural talent

A lot of people like the idea of mastering anything they get their hands on in a relatively short time.  While this may seem good in the short term view, the reality of the matter of this happens because of luck. Some people can pick up skills in a matter of minutes, while others take longer to get something mastered. If you want to be good at something, don’t expect to be good in just a few sessions of practice. Not all of us can be Mozart (who composed at the age of five and became a musician at age seventeen).

Exhibit C: Relationships can be made faster

We all agree that meeting people online is much simpler and faster on the internet. Without the awkward pauses and the forced “hellos”, the internet is just about the ideal place for the average, everyday awkward socialite. Nonetheless, for everything that is gained, there is a loss. Depending on how much time you spend on the internet (which normally consists of numerous short bursts of checking Facebook, Twitter, and other sites), your relationships will grow at a relatively slow rate compared to offline. In life, friendships don’t seemingly take that long to form, but actually require hours of going out and listening to each other to build a real connection. On the net, that’s time we can’t really afford.

I think you understand the effects of being conditioned to instant gratification. But how do you stop it?

Accept the fact that things take time

As the saying goes, practice makes perfect. When you work towards an end (depending on what that end may be), there’s going to be a significant dry period. You may not see any significant results for a while. But as with everything else, patience is a virtue and the situations that require it are all apart of life. While life doesn’t last forever, it’s not like it doesn’t last at all. There is plenty of time to do the things you love. You just have to have the patience to do it.

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“Life’s up and downs provide windows of opportunity to determine your values and goals – Think of using all obstacles as stepping stones to build the life you want.” - Marsha Sinetar

Yesterday, I felt as free as a bird, ready to take on any challenge anywhere. The sky was no longer the limit, but the limit was the sky. Any obstacle that stood in my path seemed utterly pathetic. What could possibly block my way when I felt this good?

With my rock-out music on full blast and my mind set to “conquer” mode, I took action towards life like never before. I finished all of my morning chores, had time to read a few great books, and socialized with my friends as if I was the happiest man on Earth.

Then,  today the unthinkable happens. Some random event goes wrong and my entire being (my  ego, cocky attitude, pride) goes down the drain. I feel angry. Just yesterday I felt on top of the world and now… nothing.

Everyone feels this way at times. Depending on whatever outside force acts upon them, the day can be one of the best they’ve ever had… or it can be one of the worst.

Now we can’t control every aspect of our lives. There’s no point in trying. But what we can do is treat life like a roller coaster we’re riding on. The twists, turns, loops, and flips; we can adapt to those instances in life.

Accept what comes with patience

Before you can get on the ride of life, you’re going to have to wait in line. As with everything, first and foremost, we must have patience. Whenever I’m impatient, I get irritable. But in the end I realize that there’s no point in being angry. The waiting time won’t change, but your attitude can. Long waits may feel like eternity, but it’s up to us to stay calm and look forward.

The feeling in your stomach is natural

As we rise to the highest peak on the ride, there’s this feeling in our stomach as if it’s doing flips inside of us. That feeling is natural. There will be times in life when you’ll want to unleash your wrath upon everyone. You’ll feel cheated by life and all who enjoy it. You’ll see life as unfair. But in reality, everyone feels this way. Everyone has bad days.

The downs are what makes it fun

The car is about to tip over the peak and you can feel the fear welling up inside of you. What if you don’t make it? Maybe I shouldn’t have ridden in the first place.

You can’t stop feeling this way. You will doubt yourself, but it won’t matter.

The point of life is not to have everything work out perfectly. The downs of your life are undoubtedly annoying when they come up, but trudging through them is part of the fun. As the roller coaster goes down the track, you’re screaming. You don’t know if you’re happy or sad or scared – you’re just screaming. You’re just letting life happen. And it’s exhilarating.

Get excited for the next ride

When the roller coaster ends, you don’t instantly realize what’s happened. Suddenly you’re standing on the pavement. Everything’s right were it should be. You’re almost surprised you’ve made it; surprised that you’re still alive. Then you realize that there are better rides out there and you want to ride again. Despite the fear you’ll soon feel, despite the risk of “failing”, you still seek the thrill of life.

See? Life really is like a roller coaster.

“” Life can be like a roller coaster…
And just when you think you’ve had enough,
and your ready to get off the ride and take the calm, easy merry-go round…
You change your mind, throw you hands in the air
and ride the roller coaster all over again.
That’s exhilaration…that’s living a bit on the edge…that’s being ALIVE.”

-Stacey Charter

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Having a blog for about 5 months has been a really fascinating experience. It’s like I’ve been a roller-coaster ride throughout this entire summer. Meeting new people, building relationships, creating valuable content… it’s something that is much more difficult to do offline. Though blogging is no substitute for meeting others face to face, I like what I do.

Blogging is fun. Whenever I write, it doesn’t feel so much as a chore as it is getting your voice heard. But I have to admit, there are days when I feel as if I have no idea why I’m writing a certain article.

Honestly there have been articles in the past that have been posted that I really hate. And reciprocally there have been no mention of those posts anywhere on other people’s blogs. I know why I did this too: for traffic. Just to be able to say “Yes, 100 visits today!” provided me with momentary pleasure. But unfortunately I’ve alienated people from my brand because of churning out crappy content. This is exactly what the experts talk about when they say value begets value.  I’ve learned my lesson.

Back to the point of this post which is adding the act of blogging to your to-do list. For those of you who don’t know, I will be returning to college near the end of next month. It’s by no means a party school, so the workload is going to be tremendously time consuming. But I don’t want to lose the audience I’ve cultivated by writing this blog. So I’ve decided to take these steps in order to continue sharing my experiences and advice during the next school year:

Video posting

Social media video seems to be catching on quite fast. If I don’t have enough time to write, I could always start posting videos and share content that way. It can also potentially bring more people to this site and add like-minded individuals to the community.

Short, but valuable posts

Whether or not I can write long posts anymore will depend on my workload on any given day. Short posts that have loads of insights may work better in the future. Great ideas for this format are posting quotes or short advice pieces. This could be an interesting route for the blog to take.

Schedule some time to write

Though you won’t always have time, it’s important that you schedule some time to free write. Spend time brainstorming ideas for posts. There’s no law that says you can’t jot down an idea wherever and whenever it comes to you.

Consistency

Writing on a regular basis is central to your staying power within the blogosphere. As you can probably tell if you’ve been here awhile is that I post about three times a week. Not much, but it works for me. As long as you don’t go weeks without posting anything, you’ll be fine.

Blogging can be an important part of your life, as long as you make it a priority. Make it fun. It doesn’t have to be a hassle. If you can make time to complete other seemingly impossible tasks, then you can blog. It’s not hard at all. I’m 18 years old and I still find time to write.

Since this list isn’t greatly specific, I recommend checking out Darren at Problogger and Brian at Copyblogger for tips on blogging. In the mean time, for the rest of the summer (until the end of September) I’ll be writing comprehensive posts.

I’d also like to thank all of you for reading my blog and sticking with me through this difficult process of getting my blog out there. Thanks so much!

John

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“Opportunity may knock only once, but temptation leans on the doorbell.”

As a flawed individual, I admit that I have a great many temptations. However, through some great force beyond me, I’ve recently managed to scrap one of them.

One of my most notable temptations was playing video games. I’d say it was like an addiction. I would play the same game over and over and over again just to see if I had exhausted every ability, every strength, every upgrade that was advertised on the back of the game box. The worst part was that, before I knew it, the day would be over. I would feel great immediately afterwards, but the next day  I realized all the time and effort that I put into my video games was wasted. I didn’t get anything for getting a high score. Nor did I really learn anything particularly useful.

It was slowly taking over my life, and I knew that I had to do something about it.

It’s funny how I finally got a hold of this temptation. The simple solution was going to college and interacting with people. In addition to that, I got bombarded with hard work straight out of the gate. Within a matter of months, I overcame my temptation of compulsively playing video games.

As you can tell from my story, temptations can be nasty things. They’re okay in moderation, but if you keep on indulging in them, there’s no stopping them from becoming your “Achilles heel”.

Here are some tips I’ve compiled in order to help the rest of you eliminate the temptations that may be negatively affecting your life:

Distract yourself from it

This is where willpower truly comes into play. You have to smother your temptation with another engaging hobby or activity. While I was in college, I was in constant activity, whether that included going to class, working on a paper, hanging out with friends, trying out for a sport, etc. Since what I had on my plate was enormous, I didn’t even have time to think about video games, let alone play them.

Slooowly kick it out of your life

Once you’ve mastered the art of distraction, you’ll have to slowly detox your lifestyle of the temptation.  Don’t think that just because you’ve taken it out doesn’t mean it hasn’t left it’s mark. They could easily reappear at anytime, so want to keep on your toes to make sure it doesn’t happen again. Eliminate anything that reminds of your temptation. You’ll always have the memories of accidentally giving in in order to indulge, but use those instances as reminders to stay true to yourself and resist your urge.

Temptations reveal a lot about the tempted

Let’s take my former video game addiction as an example. The thing I really liked about my video games is that they all allowed me to upgrade and improve my character. My power at level one would be nothing compared to the champion I become on level 11. This kind of hints towards my appreciation for growth and improvement in myself and in others.  So as a tip, find what good your temptation brings out in you. What are your personal traits that lie hidden within?

Within us all, there is a primal urge to concede to temptation. It’s easy to give in to urges that have splintered your lifestyle for so long. However, it’s not impossible to break these temptations. All you have to do is strengthen the willpower that gets you up in the morning, that keeps you and your family happy, that drives you to live the life you want. Now do you want to have control over your temptations? Or do you want your temptations to control you?

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Creative Commons License photo credit: Casey J.

“The best day of your life is the one on which you decide your life is your own. No apologies or excuses. No one to lean on, rely on, or blame. The gift is yours – it is an amazing journey – and you alone are responsible for the quality of it. This is the day your life really begins.” – Bob Moaward

Life is exhilarating isn’t it? We are bred to get up early, brew our high brow coffee, put the kids in school, go to work, have dinner with the family, and go back to bed just to do it all over again in the morning.

Hmph. Doesn’t seem like much of an adventure, huh? Well, it doesn’t have to be this way.  We’re in the 21st century. You don’t have to toil in the farms or risk your life in dirty factories anymore. Your life is your own and no one else’s.

That is why I proclaim that we treat our lives as if they are adventures. As if they are journeys. As if they are quests. Never-ending stories of constant enthrallment.

They don’t have to be jam-packed with activities, costly, or even death-defying. All you have to do is cram as much value as you can in the time you have.

Here some quick tips to note before you go out and explore:

Go on a trip

There’s no better adventure than going on a trip with family and friends. It’s just you, them, and the world at your fingertips. What more can you ask for?

Redefine your weekends

Use your weekends productively. Instead of flopping yourself in front of the boob tube, try going outside and doing something. Exercise to strengthen your muscles or hang out with friends to strengthen your bonds.

Inspire yourself

Do something you’ve never thought possible. You may have been hesitant to take the plunge, but now is the time to do it. Remember that the “impossible” is what nobody can do until somebody does.

Of course, not everyday will be great day for adventure. There will be ups and downs in your trip. But always strive constantly to make life memorable. Because when you can look back on the days past and say with a smile “I remember when…”, that is when you are truly living an adventure.

What’s going on in your life? Is it already an adventure? If not, how do you think you can make it one? Are you living the life you’ve always wanted?

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Creative Commons License photo credit: wili_hybrid