Can You Go Home Again?

When I first heard the phrase “You can't go home again,” I was quite confused about what that meant, as I did not hear any of the context that phrase came from-and didn't until many years later; after doing some research, though, I discovered that it started to hit home in more ways than I ever considered possible. The more I became a proper adult, the more I grew distant from much of what I held dear as a youth, and that became crystal clear when I went for a trip to the place I once called home and browsed some of the lit I enjoyed back then. I can't quite put my finger on why, but as I worked through them, I found the themes of insecurity and worry about the perceptions held by others just didn't grab me like they used to, and in fact were quite off putting, perhaps because I could no longer connect to them and could only see the quality of the storytelling.

It really made me wonder how much farther I've got to go to become the man I know I can be.

I know I'll have a proper job, my own place and all that jazz and I know I can handle the responsibilities that comes with, but once that comes to be, then what? One of the things I've working on is becoming more social and able to hold short form, light chats with people I've met for the the first time-skills I, admittedly, am not that great at yet-, but from everything I've seen from my friends traveling the path towards adulthood, it seems like they have even less energy and time to be social and chatty. The time thing will come with proper scheduling skills and discipline, but the energy thing is something I'm quite worried about, especially since being as lazy as I have with the energy I have(among other bad habits) has caused me to gain 40+ pounds after I stopped playing Dance Dance Revolution seriously.

What can I do to manage my energy between my 9-to-5, my life outside work and my personal time?

The last thing I want to happen is to develop a wake up-breakfast-work-lunch-work-home-dinner-sleep  only mentality because I don't have the fuel to do anything else afterward. Yes, building a box is key to living regular and building towards something more fulfilling, but when you cannot or will not let yourself think outside that box after it's built, then stagnation is bound to take place and produce a sense of resentment at the very box you built, but need to maintain in order to maintain an acceptable level of discomfort. I've seen it happen time and again, and in most cases the person was never able to break it and do something with all they've built for themselves, leaving behind the feeling of what could've been, had they found the courage to go beyond their own bounds.

As much as I despise not knowing if I'll make it from one moment to the next, I despise not growing even more.

This is why I always keep mementos of times long past in my life, so I can remember where I've been and what I took away from them. Surely I'll have to shed a few when it comes time to build the flow of my own place-don't wanna have to have to navigate a maze of crap just to get ready for the day, after all-, but as long as that wisdom and experience guides my steps, I'm sure I'll get to where I want to in life, even if it isn't in the way I expect. “Those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it,” as some like to say, and I know my history has taught me well about what to do and what not to, such as showing kindness towards others regardless of who they are and what they've done and not to tell a women that they smell pretty from behind them. They won't always be easy to accept, but I know they'll help me on my way to being the person I want to be, and if they do that for me, then I more than welcome the trials those lessons come with.

Perhaps I can no longer go home again, but that only means I have the chance to take what I've learned and build myself a new one. 

Reaching Higher

When it comes to how we grow, one of the most important factors isn't what happens on the way, but how we react to it and let it shape us as people; this is especially true when it comes to hardships and other times which change our situation dramatically, with the the most obvious choice being whether we adapt to it or rise to the level where we make it adapt to us. For most of my life, I've chose the latter, learning to live without the internet and computer when circumstances took those away and learning to live without my bike when it was taken from me in the dead of night, never to return. I can safely say each of these decisions have made me a much stronger person in the end and gave me much of the tools vital to becoming a proper adult and assessing what's truly important in this world, but as much I enjoy what I've fortunate enough to receive from these choices, the time has come in my life where I want something more than just the ability to survive and make it to the next day on a shoestring.

I don't wanna just survive anymore, I wanna thrive and enjoy things to their utmost, restrictions be damned.

I realize this more each time I get chucked off my scooter by some random rock or bump in the road, each time an external circumstance deprives me of something I planned well in advance, but eludes me by the slimmest of margins, each time I fire up my trusty work comp and can't do everything possible to research and develop my creative works, because I can't afford the means to them yet, and each time it drips a little rage into my perception and makes me wonder what I can do to counteract this condition. How I can generate income and build myself up to the point where I can attain the freedom of choices I desire to expand my horizons and see things I never could before?

What can I do to make things suck that much less?

I know well it starts with altering my current habits and building better ones so I can move and improve as naturally as I breathe, a process sure to be full of much sweat, blood and tears given to make each a reality. That said, I also know the more I commit to these choices, the more they can work within me to lay a better foundation and build a better box for me to to think outside of, something I've admittedly lacked for a lot of my development until fairly recently. I used to fear this commitment and did what was needed to put it off, but after experiencing how much sticking to my studies has allowed me to grow and gain the perspective I have now, the fear has began to weaken and I've become more willing to give myself to the grind and humility needed to make connections, build up resources and overcome the internal obstacles which convince to stay where I am and live life in moderate discomfort.

As important as it is to be happy as you are and with where you are, so is it to recognize where you can improve and do what's needed to make them reality.

For me, this means making and printing resumes, turning up job offers and networking my backside off so that the one connection I may need can come to me in my greatest hour of need and show me what I've searching for. I've already taken the baby steps towards these goals, now it's time for the big, scary leaps to reach the other side. Without them, I'll never be reunited with my beloved bike, explore and develop the way I know I can with the needed resources and realize the future I've desired for myself all this time...at least not at the rate I would like to happen.*laughs* I mean, hell, if I got this far with what little I had back then, why can't I go even further? If anything, putting in the work and building myself up will help me better grasp that as pressing as my issues may seem now, they are nothing more than pebbles skipped across the pond, only to sink and become a part of the watery whole.

Just as retrospective lets us see that the things we thought were life and death in our younger days were really just little things viewed under the huge magnifying glass of our old perception.