The mind goes, lost. It defaults to I had it, I loved it, and now it's gone. But underneath that, there's a chance to take the pieces of what remains and go down a new path. To find something just as or even more beautiful. And then you're going to have to be adventure. Is it ideal at first? No, but it's usually not the ideal that prompts our most important change. It's life's turbulence that pushes us to seek out something new. You know, I love taking this little trip down memory lane, right? Because, you know, it's the business ventures that fell apart that caused me to look in the mirror and choose to be more. It's the projects that then just didn't end up being that good, right? That allowed me to see this journey as a creative one. Where hey, some projects hit, some don't, but it's not personal, it's a ride, and what an opportunity. And it's the breakups I went through. And while sure, a few were definitely brutal, they gifted me with an opportunity to personally level up, to dial in my understanding of what really matters to me. I can think of physical setbacks, monetary obstacles, all these things that hurt in the moment. Now I'm not sure I could have controlled the initial emotive response, right, the human reaction, but learning to ask, well how can I get better from this? That's a different question. How can one month from now be amazing because of this situation, regardless of how it feels in the moment? It's not the flag or the wind that moves, it's my mind. So how will I choose to paint the landscape around me? How will I choose to give meaning to the things that will ultimately comprise my reality? That's power. Now I've always felt it easy to conflate like finding value in our lives with being happy all the time. But again, we're emotional creatures and life can be challenging for all of us. I don't think it's possible to be happy all the time. That's not the goal. The true victory is in finding gratitude along the way, in pausing and asking, how can I take this seemingly unfavorable result and find a way to win from it. Because guess what? The sad truth is most people don't do that. Most people walk right by that stuff. Most people chalk up the Ls as Ls and leave the good stuff behind. If you know there's a win in everything, you ask that your mind look for it, the reality you create will be one much different than someone undergoing the exact same circumstances with their eyes closed. Remember it's the mind that moves. It's you who writes the script who controls the narrative. And that's not a burden, that's a gift. It's what makes you more powerful than you could ever imagine. Why is it that the average person seeks out the advice of what feels like a million people before consulting himself? Knocking, looking, hoping, is he looking for answers? Or looking for permission to be who he already knows he is? Is he looking for insight or just validation that his reflection is in fact okay? See, I think we all deep down know who we are, know what drives us. And even if we don't know exactly what the destination looks like, our hearts know the direction best suited to begin the pursuit. So how is it so easy to forget? Why do we get our antennas crossed? Even life becomes about meeting requirements and fulfilling obligations, checking off boxes and checking in on time. We forget the basics. We forget to live for ourselves, As if our job is to play a part, not direct the movie. And playing a part is living up to expectations. Directing the movie, well that's creating your own expectations. This world, your world, it belongs to you. It's a world with both unimaginable happiness, bliss, moments of ecstasy, and the occasional suffering, chaos that we have to navigate through. But I think all of it comes down to whether you trust yourself to live it for yourself. To remove the shackles, take the training wheels off, stop asking permission, and do what you've always known was the right thing. That part never changed. It just had to wait amidst all your looking for external direction for you to pause and find the internal courage. Freedom is not a life without chaos. It's trusting yourself to determine which dragons you will slay. It's not a life without battles. But fighting those battles that result in your liberation, dismissing the oppressors that build fences in your mind and chains around your soul. I've thought a lot about the idea of a life well lived. What it means, how it feels, and it seems to me. It's about intentionality..'s not that you'll avoid getting lost along the way, but it's the WHY. Why we endure these things makes all the difference. Is it for a better tomorrow or simply to get through today? And it's amazing. Accidentally stumbling upon that which scares you. And intentionally facing that which scares you are so different. That their occurrence is triggered completely different neural networks in the brain. See, overcoming fear is ingrained in us we want to grow we want to evolve we need more the question is whether you will step out of the line that someone else made for you and live a life that is your own and if it's crazy let it be crazy if it's unique perfect stand out and if it scares you, my God. If it scares you, don't turn back. Don't you dare turn back. can give the permission to follow your intuition and your curiosity into tomorrow. Let the stakes be higher, but the rewards be meaningful. Let the chaos be your own to tame and to master. Every twist, every turn becomes not only a part of you but a chapter in the story of your becoming. And as the seed you've held in your hand for so long finally meets the earth and grows so high that it connects you to the heavens, remember that this is your life. It's your obligation to live it fully. I've come to accept the fact that I'm a loser. The more people say otherwise, the more I prove over and over again that it's just who I am. Stuck in my ways, and outside or outcast, out of my mind, losing. See, it started with my old identity, who I used to be, I lost that. Then I lost those people that made me feel small, the ones holding me back. Bye. Would the street continue? You bet. Lost that need to please others. Hey, turns out I know what's best for me better than they do. Lost the things being done out of obligation and not purpose. Lost the wrong metrics I was using to measure success. Gone. Lost my way so that I might find something better. That was hard. Thought I might lose my mind that I found it. Just lost my old way of thinking, and hey, that's a win. Lost yesterday, found tomorrow. Lost scarcity, but found abundance. I lost to the people who were more talented, better skilled, the ones who outclassed me fine. Showed me what it took to win. I lost my heart a few times. That sucked, but looks like it still works, so we're good. I lost my purpose, followed the shiny objects instead of the things that matter, but sometimes seeing what doesn't shine puts a spotlight on what does. Keeps me swinging from star to star, and yeah, I like it again. I lose my discipline from time to time, but hey, regret hurts more, so I force myself to find it. As I write this out, speak it into existence, I'm losing track of time, all is forgotten, but I think that's how it should be. Thank God. Sometimes I wonder... why. Why does this season of life feel like it's one undesirable outcome after another? What happened to the law of averages? When is the wind? Where is the light at the end of the tunnel? Why would I continue going in this direction? When it feels like that spot on the horizon I've been chasing has eluded me. Why? Why are my results not aligning with my output? It's hard to wake up and do this. It takes all of me to give this much. Sometimes I wonder where is the delayed gratification everyone speaks of? Where's the fruit of my labor, the arm on my shoulder that says this is why it was all worth it? Why hasn't the payoff shown itself? Why? And why does it seem like every curveball materializes at the worst possible time? Why won't my body cooperate now? And why doesn't it seem like every curveball materializes at the worst possible time? Why won't my body cooperate now? Why won't my body cooperate now? Why doesn't it seem like every curveball materializes I need it most? Why does my mind play with the worst case scenarios? Why does an already challenging path have to be more difficult than it is now? How many ways do I have to feel pain? Why does discomfort follow me around? Why won't life let me shake this? Why? Well maybe, just maybe, it's to show you how strong you are. What you can endure. Because deep down in your soul you know you are the one percent. Because if you can push through this, you can push through anything. I don't know why life gives us its lessons when it does. Why the world seems to stack it on when we're at our most vulnerable. When the ground beneath us is most unstable. But if you can find the courage to step back and see this for what it is if you can hold on to the idea that this is happening for you you'll come out of this a different person you don't need to perform a miracle when you're at your lowest. No, the courage, the power, the strength is in showing up. You need to continue forward. Let go of the week, the month, the year. Sometimes we are tasked with pushing through the moment, the hour, surviving the day. And sometimes there is nothing more courageous than that. Nothing more powerful than seeing more. it turns into down the road, when we look over our shoulders and are grateful we never stopped. So yes, this season might seem like a nonstop barrage of obstacles and misfortune. Why? Perhaps because it's life allowing you to plant your seed now. So that when spring comes around you are provided something you've never had before. You arrive at that spot in the horizon you've been aiming at. And yes, the results might not feel like they're aligning with your output. Why? Perhaps because when the compounding reaches that magical point, that point of statistical significance, and the desirable things happen then, as quickly as the difficult ones do now, it'll all make sense.