A really good friend inspired this. You know who are.

If you want something in life, reach for it. There might be roadblocks along the way. But it will be much more worth it in the end if you struggle a little - or a lot - along the way.

My "along the way" has consisted of quite a lot. I have struggled myself, so I want to help others struggle less. I consider myself an empathetic person. I recently read a Huffington Post article about empathy that opened my eyes to the practices that I've already discovered, but this article helped me realize the depth of some of the times I've helped other people. The article explains an example of a flight attendant talking to a stranger. I usually tend to try helping people I know, so this definitely encourages me to try reaching out to those I might not know as well.

I personally want to make a difference in the lives of others. If I didn't have a fear of public speaking, I'd want to be a motivational speaker, but that's not in the cards. I'd never want to be in the spotlight that much, figuratively and literally. I don't think that's my calling. I don't really know what it is that my so-called "vocation" is.

A high school friend and I used to joke that if we weren't seriously dating guys by age twenty-five, we'd become nuns. Here I am at twenty-two, almost twenty-three, and I'm still not. I'm probably - 99% - sure that I'm still not going to become a nun (haha), but that doesn't mean that I know what else I'm doing with my life. Growing up in Catholic school probably instilled that possibility, even if it's not a realistic goal or aspiration of mine.

I'm just taking my life day-to-day. It's a simple way to stay sane in a crazy world that we cannot control all factors of, no matter how much we try.

So for now, I write. I think. I speak through words on pages, in online documents, in my notes on my phone, and in articles I write here.

When the inspiration comes, I write. When I don't have ideas, I rest. I live, I breathe, I exist. Even if I don't feel successful for today, there's always tomorrow. And you should see this too, no matter what you're trying to do. If you're going to school, if you're working, if you're raising a family. If you're doing all at once. If you're not doing any of those. You are valid. You are important. When people try to put you down, or make you feel less than you are, remember that you have your own timeline. You will get there when you get there.

Even if you don't know where "there" is. Your "there" is different than someone else's. Your "there" is your own. Do not rush yourself on your journey "there."

I'm writing today to tell you that it's okay if you don't know where you're going yet. I took the road less traveled, and now I don't know where the hell I am some days. But I'm here. I'm writing, thinking, and learning, along the paths of life.