...:::upside down; find the things they say just can't be found:::...

Having an iPod with a short battery life on a six-hour drive  gave me a good amount of thinking time.  And while gazing out into vast expanses of really fascinating farmland, I realized something absolutely...ludicrous? insane? paradoxical?  So brace yourself, and try to read this with an open mind:

I realized that, looking back, I've found peace with--and even embraced--the challenges and struggles that have come my way, particularly the ones I faced in the past couple of years.  <--- I told you...insanity, right?!

So this is my idealistic effort to compel you to put a new, positive spin on your life, if you haven't already.

It's no secret that life's adversities and crises are not accepted too feasibly.  Yet, at one point or another, everyone is dealt some difficulty; if you haven't yet, you will.  Fact of life.  This universal entity of despair will creep up on us when least expected (or least deserved), and slowly try to extinguish hope from our everyday lives.  Most of us view said challenges as the "end-all, be-all", and rightfully so.  However, society isn't telling us to mope (well, not exactly).  Neither is some standard code or doctrine.  We, ourselves, dictate our reactions to adversity.  There is a time to lament, understandably, but then follows a time to just move on (cue the cliche: "life is 10% what happens to you, 90% how you react").

For lack of a broader example, I'll narrow in on myself.  Because of what turns my life took, I morphed into an entirely new person (...in a good way, I hope?).  I developed direction in my life, newfound optimism, and an improved compassion for every single person, no exceptions.  I backslapped those devilish obstacles by turning them into opportunities for gradual improvement.  Ka-pow.  Definitely try it sometime.

I believe this opportunistic outlook, along with some genuine peace and love, is a great concept ever so slowly captivating humanity.  Filtering the "good" from a mass of "bad" in itself is definitely a challenge, especially considering the patches of grey that taint our world, but it is nothing we can't rise above.   It's what a promising future depends on.



just puttin' it out there...