The year is almost over so

this has been on my mind a lot since it’s fall and people are starting to accumulate their “best of ‘11” memories and lists and you’re most likely looking at yourself and saying “Hey, this is not ideal. There are some things I wish were different,” and I get that — truly — but you really can’t blame it on 2011.

Saying “I can’t wait for ‘11 to be over” is a cop out and I feel like I’ve been seeing it a lot amongst my friends throughout the years, so I’m gonna go ahead and throw some oppositional energy out into the universe.
When you say “I can’t wait for 2011 to be over,” you’re really saying “I can’t wait for something to change.”

And that’s not 2011’s fault.

It’s you.

2011 doesn’t even exist.

Like, 2011 is an abstract concept that no one but people know about. Deer do not know that 2011 is about to be over. Infinity does know that 2011 is about to be over.

So when you say “2011 has really sucked and I just need it to be over” — that’s you.
You have complete and total power over that.

And I get it, I know. It’s a recession. We’re young. Things are stressful and scary and oppressive and weird and sometimes really greatl but also mainly confusing, and I know that adding “poor” or “looking for a job after school” or “what if I don’t get into the school that I want” are all really horrible feelings — but the bottom line is that they were all emotions that I’ve allowed myself to feel.

It’s not 2011’s responsibility to do right by you. Or 2012’s for that matter.

You’re gonna wake up on January first of next year and things are gonna be more or less the same in your life. Other than a maybe hangover, depending on your style, or a head ache from fireworks the night before, maybe a drive home you’re gonna be the same lady or dude that went to that party last night or stayed home and played Farmville on FaceBook. New laws aren’t gonna pass over night, the economy isn’t suddenly going to have a boner, thinking about your ex isn’t going to hurt any less. Your cooking still sucks. You still have a biology lab.

The point I’m making here is that you can do it anytime.

You can choose to be happy literally at any time.

And I don’t mean happy like, content with your life and “in a good place.” That’s not a choice. That takes really hard work and commitment to yourself over an extended period of time.

But I mean, you can choose change — you can choose to grow — at any moment of your life.
Rearrange your furniture, read some books — do something that’s different and keep doing different things that are within your realm of control. Do them all the time. Build momentum. New things, new things, new things. And eventually a big decision will come along and you’ll be in a good place to make it because you won’t be pacing around on the internet wondering why things aren’t going your way.

Things are constantly going your way.

You’re constantly given decisions that matter and you have power to choose the cool thing every single time.
You just need to realise what you have control over and what you don’t.

That's it. I love you. Have a good day.