Growing up is the biggest challenge of our lives, it's where we find ourselves, it's where we go through a plethora of challenges and then figure out what to do next. I am twenty-one years old and I still haven't figured myself out. I have made mistakes, I have laughed to the point of tears, and I sometimes still don't know who I am. A quote by Edmund Hillary could be taken in any way but when he says, "It's not the mountain we conquer, but ourselves," I believe that our path of life is the mountain, the rising action, the conflict, and the climax. What we conquer in our life though, is not the barriers or challenges that it threw at us, what we conquer is all of that and more. We figured ourselves out. Even if we don't believe that we have, we have to believe that we've made something of ourselves along the way.

We are all dynamic characters in God's book of life. We've all heard that God has a plan, in which I believe he does. We wrote us out, we are who we are because of him and sometimes when he's feeling testy he'll throw something our way, but that's what defines who we are! He gave me two sisters and brother, he was feeling really confident then. I thank him every day for my family though, and I know I've said this in many of my other articles, but without them I wouldn't be where I'm at right now.

God's book is funny thing. We have days where he makes us question whether he's there or not, or days where we are thanking him constantly for our day, our food, our lives. He does this so that we can develop emotions, beliefs, and love as well as understanding. He did this so that we know that we are human, and that nobody is going to be perfect.

it's not the situation that's important, it's how we handle it. Reactions are what separates people from one another. Yes, something bad may have happened, but what did you do to resolve it, handle it, cope with it? Did you throw a fit? Or did you accept what happened and do what you could to make peace with it? We don't necessarily control what happens to us. We have no say in what might happen tomorrow, but we do have to understand that our lives aren't going to be consistent. It would be boring if they were. Variety defines us. We experience things like heartbreak, stress, anxiety, and depression. I am guilty of never handling these things the way I should but I am human and I'm not going to know right away of how to react to these kinds of things because I'm still learning. We go through these things not because the world is against us but because the world wants to help us find ourselves. They way something is handled says a lot about you.

We need to focus on what we have and not what we don't have. It's a lot less strenuous to be thankful for what's around you. If you worry about what you don't have then your leaving your life at a plateau of emotion because you only feel for the negative. It might be regret, jealousy, or even sadness. None of those are fun, but you can do something to keep your mind off of what's not there. If you think about it, it's what you have right in front of you that has helped shape you. Your friends are there to keep your mind off of the negative and to focus on the fun things in life, your family is there to show you love and acceptance, your job is there to show you to be ambitious and set goals, and your education is there for you to grow and learn and develop into an adult. Most of all, God is there to show you that you aren't alone in life because he gave you everything you have to proud of.

Once when I went to this place called Anna's House and I ordered coffee. A pretty average thing to do. But the mug that they gave me was the best mug I have ever seen, it was this little pink thing with a heart on it and inside the lip of the mug it read "the bad news is: time flies. the good news is: you're the pilot" -Mello. Take what you want from that but just know that there are reasons why we go through what we do, and even if you feel like your life has had no purpose, look around you and you'll see your purpose.