Just thoughts

Well, I guess the Universe does know and I now have hard evidence to show that if your Uber driver preaches the law of attraction to you (the exact words are, “you know what you have to do to get money?” “you have to want MONEY!”), you better believe it and take it as a sign.

10 years ago, I’d never have thought anybody could leave everything behind and live on the other side of the world in a foreign country. Seven years ago, I’d never have thought I’d come to the U.S. to study, let along get a job. Three years ago, I thought I’d made a huge mistake coming to NC and should either drop out or take a gap year. And one year ago, I thought my American life was coming to an end and it’s time to pack my college life into two suitcases and head home. And two days ago, I was thinking about how to say goodbye and dealing with the five stages of grief with all the grace I can fake if I didn’t beat the odds that were stacked against me.

Well, life has a funny way of taking you seriously and calling you an idiot at the same time.

I don’t think my path to today was particularly hard or easy. I guess everyone has different standards and “comparison is the thieve of joy.” But if I have anything to say, to people who are taking a step into the unknown, this would be it:

Plan and improvise the hell out of you plan, always try to look at your cards carefully and play them like somebody who knows what he’s doing (writing down what the best version of yourself would do works for me).

Ask yourself, “what do I have to lose” constantly and answer honestly whether you can take that.

Question limitations. Test boundaries. Walk between worlds. You are gonna feel out of place, you are get lonely and scared, you are gonna think you should have done what everyone else did. Well, you do all these things and you say fuck that. And you keep going.

When depressed, try changing your state of being. It’s biologically harder to stay depressed at a high-energy state.

Seek excitement. Happiness is elusive but excitement, not as much. And if you are always feeling “hell yeah,” chances are, you are pretty happy most of the time.

The truth is, if I followed my own advice, things would have been a lot easier. But nothing teaches you a valuable lesson like your own experience. So at the end of the day, just go and live life. We are all lost and crazy anyway.