Have you ever found yourself pondering life? We’ve all had those spilt second moments of clarity that give us a peek into life’s true meaning. It’s these random flashes of complete understanding that make it seem like we have our feet on the ground and our heads on straight. Sometimes they’ll hit you as you’re laying in bed waiting for sleep to come. Sometimes they overwhelm you when you’re immersed in nature. Sometimes they just come out of nowhere and shake you to your core. No matter the time or place, these eye-opening moments of reality always manage to put things into perspective and stress how crazy this adventure called life is. Over the years, I’ve experienced these deep thoughts when I least expect them, but they always serve as great reminders to appreciate my time on this earth and to spend it wisely. So if you’re in one of those moods where you’re searching for some inspiration or just need to take a step back to see the bigger picture, you’ve come to the right place. Read on, my friend.

1. There are so many people out there in the world who we don’t even know exist and we’ll never ever get a chance to meet. So the people you do get to interact with are lucky as hell.

2. Your relationships are, in a nutshell, a byproduct of proximity.

3. You’re stuck with who you are, and no matter how much you try to change your outward appearance with makeup or clothes or plastic surgery, you will always be you deep down, so embrace it!

4. Your life can change in a split second with no warning. And how you deal with it is what makes you the person you are, because life is based on your experiences and how they’ve impacted you.

5. Luck or fate is the destination, but choice defines the route.

6. The future and what is to come is all based on what you do with the present.

7. Failure doesn’t really exist; it’s just the result of giving up.

8. The pursuit of complete happiness is what you search for your entire life. We can feel sporadic moments of pure bliss, but we will never be fully content with what we have. We will always be looking to get more out of life—new goals, higher dreams, better relationships, a healthier life, more experiences. We crave endlessly until we die.

9. Learning doesn’t mean you are wise, it means you are full of knowledge. But it is how you approach that knowledge and what you do with it that can give you wisdom.

10. Judging others comes out of our own insecurities.

11. Everyone makes mistakes, but it is how we handle them that make us the people we are.

12. If you put effort into a relationship, it will be noticeable. And even if it doesn’t work out, at least you know you tried.

13. The only thing to distinguish between dreams and reality is the physical touch of your feet on the ground to help you make sense of the world around you.

14. “Take advantage of the time you do have before it’s gone” is a major understatement. The time you have right now better be well spent because you never know when it will run out.

15. The one thing we all hope for most in life is to be loved. Whether that means finally loving ourselves or accepting the love that others feel towards us, we just want to know love.