1000 Steps

When I first arrived in California, back from school, I visited the notorious 1000 steps beach in Laguna. Having heard of the recent tragedy, I am frightened to ever go back, and feel deep sorrow for the family of the boy who passed away. I firmly advise parents and kids to not follow the hype! I have visited the dangerous part of the rocks, and luckily was with a large group of people to watch out for large waves, and some decently strong boys to help get over and through the rough rocks. This time, I was equipped with two friends whom were both girls, and a very expensive camera (not an iPhone) (it was crazy cool, because I forgot how good of pictures cameras take), so we decided to skip the rough patch and head to the closest, safest spot. Here is a collection of photos that were taken that day:

wake up: getting there.

I am completely unaware of what the qualifications are on what or who someone needs to write a blog. I am going to admit, I am pretty clueless when it comes to handling my own life. When it comes to giving other people advice? I’ll admit, I am phenomenal. Another thing that I know for sure is that I am the worst writer on the planet. Okay, maybe not the worst, but I am the worst writer in a classroom setting. Some teachers have really liked me (okay maybe only one), and the rest did not see my potential (in other words they were old or paranoid), so they sucked.

Life comes with a lot of baggage. Who knew? Not me.  I didn’t realize this because my parents always tried to hide the struggle and the pain that they went through in order to make us happy, and to make it appear that life was almost handed to you. Lesson one: Life is NOT handed to you. You can live.. you avoid life.. you can lay in your bed all day with the bright light of your phone or laptop; but that my dear, is not life (trust me I have done that and still do that, all the time).

Going back to talking about English teachers, something that I have never been good at is writing long essays. When a teacher assigns a paper longer than a full page, I panic. However, it is easy for me to give advice on things I find interesting, unlike how the government and private properties are creating profound architecture to keep homeless from sleeping in outdoor spaces.

As exciting as that may be to some people, who don’t realize the benches with the arm rests are NOT very comfortable because they are not only intended for your comfort (aka because they are a step or two behind on common sense), I do not find this interesting. What I find interesting is how I can make myself happy, and others around me happy. Not only is happiness the goal, but I want to reach out and meet people that will make me more intelligent. I want to learn about other peoples’ paths. I want to learn why they love their jobs, and what motivates them to go to their job every morning. I want to learn the Who, What, Where, and Why of as many people that I can. I am on a quest for knowledge. I crave this sort of social standing. I want to reach out to as many people as possible. But you know what? I’m sure you do too. But here you are, reading my blog post, and still wondering what the next step is. 

The next step: communication. Do you have any friends that consistently stare out their phones? These friends are ACTUALLY here to help you! They are learning lessons. As you grow smarter, it becomes easier and easier to tell what “friends” are wasting your time. Some friends, you bond with on all levels, you can laugh together, cry together, and sit silent with one another, and you still seem to benefit from each other’s presence. Other friends (the ones on their phones), are there to waste your time. This is something that is learned over time. You cant find these people right away. These are the type of people that might actually benefit you in the long run (not as much as the real friend though). These friends require that you make them feel comfortable. They NEED communication to function. This type of friend is the one that sits there, and waits for fun to be handed to them. Literally. This friend THIRSTS for your attention. This friend requires that you come up with invigorating things to talk about, while they listen and may or may not give feed back. This friend is training you for the real world. This friend allows you to thoroughly enjoy conversation later in time, with someone who can hold one. This friend allows you to be curious and create questions that are exciting and new when you have an interview or a business meeting in the future. So keep those friends. Learn from them, but make sure they don’t take away more from you than you do from them. 

I hope that first step meant something. It may not be everything (it is certainly not everything), but it is a little something that helps you inch toward where you want to be, and how to execute and get further down your path of success, in any career.