Hey there!

How’re you doing today? I gotta say, it’s great to be able to just pause and take the time to talk with you. Sure has been a while, huh?

Yeah, I can’t believe how busy things have gotten lately, either. I really do hope that you’ve been doing well, though. I think we all need to have someone check in on us every now and then, especially young twenty-somethings starting out on their own. Our parents aren’t always with us anymore, but that doesn’t mean our friends can’t and shouldn’t try to be parental figures for each other now and again. Bottom line—we could all use someone friendly to support and comfort us every now and then.

College stress? Yeah, I just graduated myself. It’ll be nice to not have to worry about papers and exams looming over my head every December and May, but then again, I studied to be a teacher. Now it’ll be me writing those dreaded exams. Trust me, I know it sounds backward and evil, but someone’s got to do it, right? Besides, I think I could do some real good as a teacher — help do my part to reverse all those negative stereotypes, y’know? Ah well. At least I can dream about it.

Relationship struggles? We’ve all been there, dude. Trust me, I know how agonizing it can feel to hold out for that one special person that’s supposed to click with you, fit perfectly, and make everything just make sense. If you can find someone like that, never do anything to screw it up. You don’t know just how precious that kind of a connection is till you nearly lose it or lose it completely... Well, lemme tell you this: a friend of mine once asked me how you go about finding someone with that magical connection to you. My simple answer is that you don’t — it happens to you in the most unexpected way possible and in the most inopportune fashion. You also have no idea as to which part of your life will lead you to that person. For example, I’m all set to marry a beautiful girl that I knew in high school and went to college within three weeks, but if you went back six years, there’s no way that you could have convinced 16-year-old me of the scope of events that would occur in the years to come — all from bumping into one random girl while at a weekend-long winter camp session. Basically? Never lose hope that the person you’re meant to be with will enter your life. Never put any kind of timetable or schedule on it, because if you do, I swear you’ll be disappointed. No one person is exactly alike, and our collective fates are completely individual and separate. Don’t feel discouraged when everyone around you seems to be forming happy relationships—many rarely remain so. Bide your time, wait for the right person — that person will come. All the while, keep an open mind and heart, and the beautifully chaotic, natural order of life will attend to the rest.

Sorry, I ended up talking way more than I’d planned to. Gotta head out, huh? Yep, no rest for the weary with our busy schedules. Well, anyway, I’m so glad that we could sit and talk for awhile. I really hope we can do this again sometime.

See you around!