Think about any regret that you’ve had. Did you make the right choice at the time? What’s changed? Maybe you shouldn’t have chosen that major, or perhaps she really wasn’t worth your time after all. Maybe you should’ve done more and talked less, or maybe it’s the other way around. The question is, who knows? The important thing isn’t making the right choice, because there is no right choice. The important thing is to simply make a choice. The feeling of regret may be terrible, but it’s not the worst thing in the entire world. In my experience, it’s a lot more painful to have regrets about not doing something, than it is to regret something you’ve done. This isn’t a perfect rule – killing someone, for instance, may alter that idea – but in everyday lives in a civilized persons life, I think it’s a good rule of thumb. Would you rather feel regretful about not asking that boy you like out, without knowing what the outcome would’ve been, or would you prefer to ask him out and regret the poor choice of words that made him decline? The point is, doing things might give you a lot of regret to cope with afterwards, but you’ll grow more as a person than you would from not doing something and regretting it. No one says it’s easy to do things you might regret, but maybe it’s worth it in the long run.

Remember that life isn’t a sprint, it’s a marathon, and regrets aren’t anchoring you down – they’re simply small bumps in the road, that’ll help you grow stronger, and finish stronger.

All of this isn’t very useful though. Letting go of society’s idea of who you are is one thing, actually improving your life – and the lives of those around you – is another. Not everyone should disregard the norms of our society, because they’re there for a reason, after all. But I’m under the conviction that if you hold yourself back simply for the sake of conformity, you’re an idiot. Society should be about the best for us all, not just preserving status quo. Where am I going with all this, though? So far, I’ve just rambled on, and frankly I’m not even sure what the point of these thoughts are, but does it really matter at this point?

It’s a strange world we live in, why not just enjoy the ride, even if it means not conforming to our surroundings? I like to think that’s what I do, and what others should consider.

It’s not that simple though. All our lives, we’re taught how to live, how to succeed, and what success looks like. We know we aren’t going to live forever, but we act like we are. Thing is, life isn’t a game, you can’t lose. You can’t win, either. All you can do is enjoy the ride. We all have different ways of doing that, and not all of them makes us, in traditional sense, happy. Just because you have an urge to dedicate your life to your career, because of how you were raised or how you want to see yourself, doesn’t mean that’s what makes you happy, but that doesn’t make it a bad choice. Truth is there are no bad choices. One choice may be bad for one part of your life, but your life isn’t weighted in choices, nor in length or anything else. Life is without facts; there is nothing specific you need to do with it, so why not do whatever you want? As some people have worded it, you can’t fold life. You’ll always get a new hand, you’ll always keep playing. Dying isn’t loosing either, because it’s inevitable. We shouldn’t fear death, nor should we embrace it. We should simply accept it as part of life, just as we accept the fact that we need food, drink and air to keep on living our lives.

Therapy and medication can maybe help you get back on your feet mentally, but you’re the one who needs to push yourself to do what you want to, whether or not that makes you happy. You are not without purpose, but the only purpose your life has is the one that you assign to it, so stop acting like you’ll never die, and start acting like you know and accept that fact!

I hate christmas. Don’t get me wrong, I’m no gringe – I love my family, the food, the presents, the stockings and candy… but I really, really don’t like christmas as a tradition. I don’t know when I came to this shocking realization, but I don’t doubt that the feeling is very genuine. Christmas is, to me, simply a vortex of haunting traditions. While these may indeed be fun and nice, the overly static state of this drives me insane. Maybe it’s just because I’ve spent the last 18 years of my life celebrating christmas in basically the same way, and I’ve never had a chance to do anything else, or maybe it’s because I’ve never been that much of a family person to begin with. This year, I want christmas to pass as fast as possible, so we can get to the real deal – New Year’s Eve – and then get on with our lives. I’m hoping that, by this time next year, I’ll be far away from my family, at least during christmas, so that I may avoid having to spend another day – the same day as every year – in the same way as I have every year.

I know what you’re thinking — “it’s just because you’ve never tried anything else! You’ll come crawling back in a couple of year!” While I’m inclined to believe that statement, simply for its ‘obvious-factor’, I really hope it won’t come to that. Spending time hanging around the fireplace, reading a good book and eating delicious food is always welcome in my book – I just don’t get why we have to limit it to one month, more specifically one day, a year! Can’t we just do these things once the snow starts falling and we actually feel like it, instead of being confined to some outdated religious calendar, telling us when to do what?

Maybe I’m putting too much into all this, maybe it’s just a tradition, and maybe I’m just not a man of tradition. Sometimes though, it’s good to open your mouth and shout out to the world: “Fuck your gingerbread cookies, I demand justice!” My job here is done.

In our time, we’ve adopted a strange way of thinking when it comes to relationships, looks and personalities. There are basically two schools: one says that looks are the most important aspect of a person’s character, the other says it’s completely irrelevant. However, this seems a bit extreme doesn’t it? With that in mind, it’s easy to just classify people’s relationships in very shallow categories, and not doing anything effective when evaluating people’s appearance or demeanor.

The truth, as I see it, may not be so straight forward. While looks are traditionally seen as the catcher, and personality as the keeper, it may not be so simple. Sure, first glances will often create a specific emotion, but the question is whether or not that emotion is based entirely on looks. Because you may (or may not) know more about people you’ve never talked to, than you’d think.
Think about how people in our society spends money on their clothing, hair and body. Why do they do this? To get attention? Maybe some, but for most “normal” people, I’m sure it’s about feeling good about one self. You want your appearance to match your personality, that’s natural. When I smack on a pair of jeans, an old t-shirt and a loose flannel shirt over that, it’s not because I want to turn heads, it’s because that’s what I like. Comfortable, yet me-ish. Of course, my choice of clothing won’t cover my entire emotional spectre, let alone my entire personality, but it’ll give a pretty good look into the guy I am. If I suddenly came to  school dressed in baggy-ass pants, a huge white tee and a black cap, then I’d turn heads. First of all, people don’t know me as a person who’d dress that way – that’s a style more befitting of a different subculture or mindset. Second of all, I doubt I’d be able to bear it in any way, at least I’d look pretty silly.

With this in mind, it’s not hard to figure out that your style in clothing, hair and (maybe) even your figure, often reflect some part of your personality. People very rarely look at me and assume I play football, listen to Dr. Dre and party every night. That’s not judging me based on my looks, that’s just assuming that I dress to fit my personality, and I personally hate it when people call that prejudice. If I see someone who’s dressed in baggy-ass pants, a white t-shirt and a black cap, I’ll probably assume they listen to hip hop or rap music. Because that’s the connotation that particular style of clothing has – largely because many rap and hip hop artists wear those kind of clothes themselves, so it’s a very natural assumption.

To take another example, girls (or boys, for that matter, but I’ll use myself as an example again). When I look at girls, the things that initially catch my attention isn’t her face or body (unless it’s really eye-catching, like being overweight or having humongus breasts), but her style in clothing. Little things like her shoes, jewelry, tattoos. That way, it’s easier to determine whether this particular girl is your “type.” Don’t get me wrong, a lot of girls can be incredibly beautiful without being my type, but that doesn’t make them attractive to me, no more than on a very shallow level anyway. I try not to put too much negativity into that word, shallow, as it’s not meant in that way. My point is simply that clothing will, more often than not, reflect some part of a person’s general personality. What clothes you wear is often defined by what subculture you belong to: if you listen to and have friends who listen to, say, rap music, there’s a good chance that’s how you’ll dress.

Watch out though, because looks can be deceiving. This isn’t a bullet-proof system, it’s just a defense to the so-called “shallow evaluation” of people, based on their looks. Don’t judge, peace and love!