This is something I have been wanting to share for a while. Spending time where I grew up always inspires me and gives me a perspective that I fail to find anywhere else. I hope this speaks to you.

IT'S ON YOU.

That is where it starts. That is where it ends.

It’s on you and what you want, and how hard you are willing to hustle, and how relentless you are going to be when they tell you to give up.

Because people will tell you to give up.

They will look at you with crooked faces. They wont understand your drive. And they are going to look to bring you down because they don’t know any better. They havent had the guts to go for it themselves, and so they will try to tell you. “No. Impossible. Not worth the effort.”

Forget them.  Forget them and all the barriers they try to place on this life of yours.

Wake up. It’s your life.

Stop acting like the world runs you. Like the magazines run you. Like all the people who have never perked their ears to really listen to you have a say in what you are going to do with these footsteps of yours.

It’s yours. You are free.

Don’t wait. Don’t stand in the corner for direction to reveal itself.  Just. Start. Sprinting. Peace will flood in when it’s right. But you have to move to find the peace. Peace comes through footsteps.

Think about what stopped you yesterday. Who was that person? What were they afraid of?  Why did they govern you for so long? You’ve got one chance. You’ve got one shot. The world won’t cry if you never use it. It’s on you.

Look around. Forget the box.

Forget what you think the world is all about. Forget the status update. Forget the selfie.

Here is what the world is really about: Humility. People. People helping other people. People trying to make this hard thing, this impossible thing, more graceful for others. That is where the joy is. That is where the peace is. That is the beauty of every thread of life. We were never designed to go at this thing alone.

Strive to do good. Strive to be the best version of yourself. Reflect. Learn from the yesterday that made you feel weak. Stop letting people bend and break your heart. Play the music louder. Scream if you need. Walk away from that toxic person who never had your goodness at the forfront of their mind. Walk away. Your goodness will be at the forfront of any mind that loves you fiercely, with no sense of tomorrow. You deserve that. The best of it. You have to learn to want that for yourslef.

You’ve got a voice.

Most people would kill to have one. So learn how to use it. Start small, start slow, start however you want. But start. Use that voice of yours for something good, something worthy, something that thickened your skin and buckled your knees and ramshackled your heart.

Screw December 31 and the resolutions you’ve stacked away in a closet for the start of a New Year. It starts now. It starts with a single question that turns out to be the answer to everything:

Are you worth it enough to start?