9-11-12
Today was a day of days. Terrible memories. A scar forever on the face of our country. My heart goes out to every American. 11 years ago I was sitting in second grade with one of my favorite teachers ever.
Today, however, I was in college.
A completely different individual entirely. Well, I suppose I'm still that same second grader I once was, just wiser and slightly more grown up...just a little ha. Oh, and taller too.
Today, I sat in Honors Forum. Listening to a man speak to our class. A very successful man, who we were lucky to have in our midst. Thomas J. Calhoun Jr. See? He even sounds like a successful man.
He talked of STEM. Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. All things that I despise greatly. Well, I dont despise them necessarily, they just dont grab my attention whatsoever. Anyway, he had this nifty powerpoint filled with statistics and data about how America is slacking in these areas.
I literally have almost an entire sheet of crumpled notebook paper filled with notes and quotes that Mr. Calhoun said in class. I have it sitting next to me as I type this actually. But, the more I think about what he said, the more I keep going back to the most important quote I scribbled down.
"You should not take your gifts for granted."
I walked into that room not knowing what I want to do with my life. Hell, I walk through my entire life not knowing what I wanna do.
Success. Money. Power. A Future period.
Parental approval. Pride in their eyes. Pride in your own eyes.
All these impending dooms seem to weigh down on your soul until you either choose an occupation out of obligation or out of desperation.
You know that if you pick one thing, you might miss out on another. And if you choose one path, you might be poor forever. So what do you do?
I agree with Mr. Calhoun.
Dont take your gifts for granted. Use what you were blessed with. Do what you love.
According to the University of North Alabama my major is Undecided.
But I'm a writer at heart. Always have been. Always will be. I don't know what I'm doing with this great gift of life that I've been so graciously blessed with living. I'm not worried about becoming successful and becoming president of some glamorous company. I dont know what ten years from now has in store for me. And frankly, I'm okay with that. I dont wanna rush it. I just wanna wake up everyday and have a new adventure. Society has given us a false sense of what happiness and success is.
My father is very successful. Goes to a job where he ranks highly and makes lots of money. But, is he happy? His wallet says yes, but his eyes say no. If he could go back, Im sure he would choose a different career path. One that he enjoyed doing everyday. It would have entailed significantly less money and no chance of being "boss", but he wouldve greeted each morning knowing that he got to fulfill his passion in life.
I think that that is what Mr. Calhoun was trying to say with his bar graphs and small print I couldn't read from the back of the room. Go big or go home. Do what you want with your life. Nothing more. Nothing less.
I hope that I'm not homeless one day thanks to my pursuit of writing. But, alas it is my pursuit of happiness and if I denied myself that, I would be committing a self crime. The pursuit of happiness is everyone's right.
Not the pursuit of money or success, but that of happiness.
So find yours and spend life pursuing it, dear...
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