Life is Hard

Wouldn't it be nice if everything were easy?  If every life choice just presented itself plainly, with an equally plain answer?  Every ice cream flavor, every "soup or salad?", every time you had to think, somebody just told you the right answer?

I am taking this big bike trip in two and a half weeks and I am getting a little nervous about it.  I am doing a lot of planning; many who have been there tell me I'm even over thinking it.  I have to fit 6 months worth of my life into four tiny little bags that I will cart with me everywhere I go.  What do I bring?  What do I leave behind? What will I send home?  What will I realize I forgot about?

I told Ross my sentiments and he said its normal: he felt the same way when leaving Burlington a few months ago.  I told my girlfriend and she said not to worry too much, that I'll be OK.  My dad said "If you aren't nervous, you aren't paying enough attention."

Life isn't easy.  If it was, there would be a bunch of single celled organisms blobbing around; no evolution, no hardship, no choice.  If life were easy, there wouldn't be any fun; we would all be doing the same thing, the easy thing.

Instead, life is really hard.  You have to think, like, all the time.  About what to eat, where to go, when to talk, when to not talk.  You have to decide how you are going to present yourself to the world.  You have to decide who you are.  You have to be that thing you have decided you are.  It takes thought, execution, re-evaluation.  Its an on-going process and it never stops.  Until you die.

This is life, and you could say its really difficult, but you could also say its really interesting.  You could say its a bitch, or you could say its challenging.  It might be dangerous, but it also might be really rewarding.  The only difference between and an ordeal and an adventure is the mindset.

I've got a hell of a couple months coming up for me.  They are going to be new, different, and eye-opening.  I will face obstacles of both the physical and mental variety that I have not ever faced before.  Hopefully, I will grow as a person.  But it might also suck.

Even though I am nervous, I am not worried (and I think I've got a good handle on the difference at this point).  I will probably make it out of this alive.  I will probably see some cool things.  I will probably be bummed at some point.  And I'll have to do it all again at some point.