1 Life Is Hard. Life Is Finite. But Life Is Good.

So. We swam, we made it, and were born. Mom and/or dad managed with varying success to keep us sorted out enough to become our own person.

Please state the nature of our expected role in this life.

There is, against all indicators, no ready tutorial that will guide one through their days which offers assurances or accurate predictions as to what one can expect on a daily, weekly, monthly, yearly or any other basis. You can help yourself to any college degree you prefer. None of them promise anything. Or perhaps, it is more the case that all they *do* is promise. The missing detail in most youthful arrangements are the request that assurances be defined. The warranty, if you prefer.

One can set out and subsist on a continuous diet of should have, would have, and could have. It never really ends until we are through with it, ultimately. And the most sage replacement would have to be the courageous dive into the horror stories offered by those who went for what we are considering. And it indeed requires courage to be confronted with the real-world consequences of choices we think are our best bet. Because it is always the case that the outcome is not what we had in mind...

Frame And Form

Marine Biologist, Astronaut, Skater, Artist, Star Chef. Here's a few directions one can run towards. There are so many other avenues to walk, I could type for literal months and still sell short all the ways one may choose to find meaning, satisfaction and excellence. But for most who stumble on the headstone of my words, I have been tasked with delivering bad news: The odds are that you ultimately don't know what you want.

Like the early parts of adulthood, this first chapter infers potential, chaos and uncertainty. This symmetry is no accident. The same as your attempts to walk, run, and later ride a bicycle, becoming an adult occurs on a curve. Failure and curiosity are your first significant relationship, if you ever hope for a taste of meaning.

You're young. The closest to bulletproof that you'll ever be. I'd say that if ever there was a time to be foolhardy and adventurous, this *is* the time. Hangovers, regret and heartbreak are promised tomorrow, but as for tonight, best you not hesitate or flinch! It's one hundred percent true-- you only live once. Hard lessons and a world-ending headache are not cheap, but a fair bargain for most of you, for what you might experience in your reckless adventures.

Once you have the taste of something long dead on your tongue, and a well-earned respect/fear of liquor, I would say we can begin to delve into the subtle art of being grown up.

How Supersedes What

You can always change your goals, and your agenda. You can always move somewhere else. There is always another job. There are a maddening number of fish in the sea if he or she was not your soulmate after all. I am no sort of expert, but would still readily argue that what is most important in life, is the attitude, or angle of attack you adopt for trying to accomplish what you set out to do.

You might be running after fame, or simply to keep your bills paid. You might want love ever after, or just to end sleeping alone. Big or small goals mix together. The mindset and your personal habits are the biggest tools in your arsenal to make all these big dreams and small goals within your reach. I mainly understand this myself from DOING IT WRONG! And the bad news is, this will probably be how you eventually make progress yourself.

If you approach every day with the goal of not messing up the same way twice, it won't foolproof your