Life is What Happens To You While You're Busy Making Other Plans

I've been thinking a lot lately, and we all know what this means when I start thinking-- it's either going to be insane, or actually be profound and we'll all be shocked that I've said it.

It's odd how seeing a Disney/Pixar film can still have this effect on me even at my newly acquired 20 years of age.

Life is a funny thing, partially because it's the only thing we really all have in common, we will live our lives and then we'll become part of the history we all struggle to remember as soon as it passes us.

I don't intend to spoil the movie I saw today, but I'd like to reiterate to message in my own words, and in my own interpretations, just because I can-- and that's the wonderful power of free speech.

When we're young, we all have preconceived notions about what we want to be when we grow up, the types of lives we want to live, even if in the smallest fraction of full picture. The question has been asked to almost any child of speaking age-- "what do you want to be when you grow up?". The answers are as honest as you can get, nothing is tainted by the outside world yet.

When I was only 18, and a new (not to mention terrified) college freshman, I worked as an inner city tutor in a school where, for the first time in a long time, I was the minority. I found myself asking these same questions to these kids "what do you want to be when you grow up?" as if these children who could barely tie their shoes really knew. It was only then why I realized that adults even ask that question at all, call it a moment of maturity creeping into my life. We don't necessarily ask to find out the answers, which sounds like ignorance, but it's not but rather is something much more profound.

We ask these questions because it's the reaction that makes it all worth it, seeing the pure unadulterated look of joy from a child who thinks they know what they want. They have grand dreams of who and what the want to be-- even if the answer is completely generic through the ages. Some kids want to be firefighters, ballerinas, even just something as simple as parents-- I had never met a child who wanted to be an accountant or work at the mall for minimum wage.

I'm not sure how along the way we've let these dreams die-- or at least for some of us, I myself am very lucky. To digress for a moment, I am proud to say that I am growing up to be just what I always was-- I get to spend the whole rest of my life telling stories about my imaginary friends, but you might just call me a writer.

No matter who we become, we can all recall back to a time when we were still becoming ourselves, dressing up and playing pretend-- even if it meant defying logic sometimes, deep down it mirrored a real desire. To still a coin termed from Up I suppose we all have our own "My Adventure Books", even if they are metaphorical.

In this life we fight so hard to complete these adventures, no matter how big or small they may be, even if we never accomplish them it's part of keeping that dream alive. It's ironic how as children we're told to "shoot for the stars" and then as soon as we get old enough we're told "not to get our hopes up", and so as time goes on we slowly place these dreams into more productive avenues even if it means sacrificing happiness along the way in some cases.

What I've realized though is that it's not about accomplishing your dreams, or even achieving all your goals, but instead it's about not forgetting the type of ambition you once had and using it to fuel your future passions. It's not about the type of journey you take, it's about the people you meet along the way. You might never explore the deep jungles of South America, you will probably never land on the moon, and you will certainly not live forever-- but that doesn't mean you can't live every day like it is just that exciting. It's not about the things you've never done, or the things you could have done only if variables X,Y, and Z worked impossibly in your favor-- rather it's about finding that path in life that brings you the same childlike joy you once felt and never looking back with bitterness about what could have been.

Now all I'm wondering is:

has all this introspective thinking earned me my "Self-Realization" Wilderness Explorer badge.