Recently I saw a poster or something similar that read "In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: it goes on."

Hopefully, at least someone else in the world finds this quote as cheesy and dumb as I think it is. How unoriginal can you be? Anyone with a somewhat developed brain can deduce that life will go on. It's a relatively simple thought.

Still, this annoying and blatantly obvious phrase has been swimming around in the back of my head the past couple of weeks bothering the hell out of me. And as much as I hate to admit it, it helped me come to a (less cheesy and dumb) conclusion about life.

Duh, life goes on. You do something embarrassing and it's the end of the world; people forget it in six weeks. You get a bad test grade; next test you do better.

It knocks you down, you get up, you go on. Rinse. Repeat. Blah blah blah.

But here's the thing. In these scenarios, you fall down and you rise from the ashes a better person, more humbled and knowledgeable. But what about when that doesn't happen?

I think the lesson actually worth learning is more complex than those three words people repeat so often.

It's this: Life will go on with or without you.

Whether you're there to be bettered by whatever situation life puts you through, it's going to move on regardless of whether you're ready for it to or not. This puts a sense of responsibility on you. It's your job to be willing to keep up. If you fall behind then it's going to be painful to catch up.

This is kind of a harsh truth, but it is the truth. Growing up, this becomes more and more obvious. We all fall behind at some point and it's not a bad thing in itself. It's just a part of being human.

But then the sun rises, it's a new day, and we have to get up and keep moving forward.