How 2017 Began & Where It's Headed.

I'm sat at my computer, realizing how nearly a month has passed by since 2017 began, and I find myself asking "What have I brought along from 2016 and what am I going to build with it?".

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It wouldn't surprise me if quite a few people out there are thinking the same thing to themselves, trying to summarize the collective productiveness of the last year of their lives and compare it to the achievements and accomplishments others. Life since high school has not been what I'd deem 'normal' or 'ordinary'. Not to say the events of the past four years are exclusive to my life and my life alone. There exists a visible degree of abnormality and irregularity in each and everyone's life, all in varied perspectives of both individuals living the life and from the people who interact with them.

I've been in and out of jobs, homes, and relationships. There's been times where I had more money than I could spend in a day and others where I rationed the food in my cupboard because it needed to last me longer than it could. These last 4 years have contained life lessons I could only hope to pass on to my friends and family so they don't have to go through these trials in life ignorant and uninformed. The new year brought with it self reflection and deep thought about my position in life and where I'm headed. Without a place to call home, and working a dead-end part time job that barely covered my living costs, I was the very equivalent of the many college-dropouts I discriminated against. Blame, as the people before me always had done, was directed towards the cards that I was dealt in order to excuse why I wasn't more successful.

In life we experience various highs and lows, shaping ourselves from those experiences and developing our character and personality. We all have moments where we shine brightest. Memories we will treasure forever. We all have learned lessons from these experiences and we have all, at least once in our lives, experienced feelings of sadness or regret. The 'Skeletons in our closets'. The 'Demons' we have to face everyday. Take what your past has taught you and use it to build the future you envision. Use it to motivate yourself to put in a little effort everyday to direct yourself toward the future you want. Most importantly, never let your past hinder you from that future.

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"Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards." - Søren Kierkegaard

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