In order to take joy in my linear narrative, I indulge/entertain in the importance of my past and my future. But when I want to take a break and enjoy who I am, I forget whatever I’ve pretended to be.

When I abide in acceptance, I have an effective foundation through which to implement change and become a better version of myself. (Which, ironically, would be the intention behind rejecting who I am. I resonate more with acceptance, but that’s just me.)

You deserve to be your brightest, happiest self. If friends/family can’t handle that, it isn’t your problem. Hopefully, they’ll come around, but if they don’t, I believe it’s a moot point; I believe we eventually return to a greater benevolence, rendering all that we do into a no-lose game.

Outwardly, you may have to do this or that, say this or that, but there isn’t any reason to sacrifice your inward happiness to satisfy another—that works against the purpose of the game.

Personally speaking, my experiences mirror those of mystics, in that my feelings seem independent of outward conditions.

So while I check the boxes, dot my Is and cross my Ts, I do my best to reside in the serenity of my imaginary dreams. If I can’t snap my fingers and have it all immediately, I can at least have the feeling of it. That is what I truly desire—when I have gotten what I wished for and felt disappointment and lack, I didn’t care for what I had acquired. Conversely, when I have been shorted or damaged and I was deeply abiding in positive feeling, I didn’t really care if I had just experienced a seemingly detrimental event. And due to my positive state of mind, I was able to parse opportunity from apparent negativity.

I believe abiding in positivity has opened my mind to serendipity, and consequently, my goals have fallen/are falling into place much faster than I ever thought possible. Whether that’s magic or psychology, I leave up to you.

I’ll just focus on being a happy dreamer.

For most of my life, I have focused on outward conditions—on how to arrive at a result through the mechanical projection of my willpower and logic. Later, I began to focus on my internal state, allowing myself to instinctively/intuitively take advantage of spontaneous opportunities.

Eventually, I realized that regardless of whatever I may be outwardly doing, the end of my internal struggle is the beginning of victory.

In my experience, my perception functions much like my muscles. I can contract or expand it, push or pull in a certain direction. If I remain positive and open, I can maximize my mind just like my body, fully employing my leverage and frames, instead of trying to move something heavy from the most disadvantageous angle and subjecting myself to breakage and strain.

In the past, I’ve toiled without any regard for this particular dynamic, but I now believe it is a crucial element in every endeavor.

A lot of people assume that “working what you have” is a curse to become like Andy Dufresne—digging your way out of prison a millimeter at a time.

But I’ve found that when I work with what I have, someone/thing comes along and replaces my rock hammer with a sledge hammer, then a jackhammer, than an excavator…eventually, I’m barely doing any work.

It could be a result of faith/hope, it could simply be dumb, random luck. (Hell, a lot of the time, I’m resigned to my doom if I’m being perfectly honest.) But unless there are ethical considerations, you can’t expect me to turn down tools and opportunities—that defeats the purpose of hoping for better.

When I get entangled in metrics and expectations (societal pressure), I have to remind myself that my definition of success is being happy.

In circumstances where I have achieved what others define as “success,” I have often found myself absolutely miserable. There is no success if I can’t optimize my personal state of mind.

Dreaming isn’t an impracticality—every invention started as a dream. It’s important to exercise the muscles of “What if” along with “How would that work?”

Otherwise, what’s the point of being creative? Pure reactivity is purely for machines.

Some people avoid contemplating their own insignificance because they fear it will induce a sense of powerlessness—why try at all if you’re simply a dot on a spinning blue ball in the vastness of space? But I look at it the other way: given our insignificance and impending mortality, why NOT pursue our dreams and desires?

If there’s anything to fear, it’s the power that comes with knowing we should enjoy our lives to the absolute fullest, because then we are called upon to act on and engage with our unrealized dreams.