“If you really want to do something, you’ll find a way. If you don’t, you’ll find an excuse.”

So many of us come up with excuses as to why we can’t do something. Truth of the matter is, most of us could do something about it, but we choose not to. If you really want something in life, then what are you waiting for? If it’s something that you really want, then you will do something about it. If you don’t, then you must not really want it that bad.

“Every single thing that has ever happened in your life is preparing you for a moment that is yet to come.”

We may not know it now, but every moment in our lives, good or bad, big or small, is leading us to a moment that we’ve been waiting for. We all become frustrated with things, I know that I do. When I’m in school, I just keep thinking to myself “why do I study when it gets me nowhere” or “why do I even try”. The only thing that keeps me going is to know that one day it will all pay off. I’ve made it this far, I can’t give up now.

“There are things that we don’t want to happen but have to accept, things we don’t want to know but have to learn, and people we can’t live without but have to let go.”

Although we don’t want certain things to happen in life, they still do. We don’t have any control, but we do have control over how we handle these situations. Everyone eventually loses someone or something that they never intended to lose. It doesn’t make it fair and it doesn’t make it okay, but its life. Life is a funny thing, isn’t it? At times, it can be the greatest thing and at other times… not so much. Sometimes it brings you up just to knock you down, but its like Dory from Finding Nemo says, “You know what you gotta do when life gets you down? Just keep swimming, just keep swimming, just keep swimming, swimming, swimming.”

My quotes

“Don’t become so caught up in life itself that you lose yourself.”

Sadly, our world is not all that great.  I don’t even know how to begin to explain our generation. The only thing I have to say to our generation is that you can’t expect others to respect you if you can’t respect yourself. Don’t change yourself just to “fit in” to society because you do not want to be like today’s society- sorry not sorry. A lot of people don’t even notice it, but they begin to lose themselves; don’t be one of them.

“Always fight for what you believe in, even if you’re the only one fighting.”

If you don’t stand up for what you believe in, then you’ll never get anywhere in life. At some point you have to make a stand. You can’t just sit back and expect everything to work out perfectly. If you want to make a change, then go out there and do it; be the change. Even if you’re the only one fighting, at least you fought for what you believed in and you stood your ground. It's like my Granddaddy always told me, "winners never quit and quitters never win."

7 Things I Wish Someone Told Me When I Was 15

1.       Don’t ever give up on your faith no matter how hard life gets. – Every single day there are going to be people that let you down, but God will never be one of them. All of my life, I have always tried to keep a strong faith. Now, I truly know that faith is what keeps me going and faith is what saved me. I would be nowhere in life without it.

2.       Spend as much time as you can with your loved ones and never take time with them for granted. – Recently, I have lost two very important people in my life that I never dreamed of losing. It made me realize that I have wasted so much time doing other useless things when I could have spent that time with them. When you lose someone, it makes you realize that your loved ones truly are something to appreciate and you should never take the time with them for granted. I would give anything to talk with my Granddaddy or Aunt Debbie again.

3.       Growing up seems fun, until you actually grow up. – When I was little, I could not wait to grow up. I was so ready to be in high school, get my own car, and have my own house. To be honest, all I want now is for everything to slow down. In two years, I will be out of high school and then I will be out in the real world where so much is expected of me. Nowadays I just wish that I was little again.

4.       Just because you were friends, doesn’t mean that you always will be. – I really wish that someone had told me this advice earlier. As I have grown up, I have learned who is really there for me and who never really was.  It’s weird. When you’re younger you think that you and one person will be best friends forever, and for some people that may be the case. All in all, I ended up with some great friends and I wouldn’t trade them for anything.

5.       Don’t ever change yourself to be “accepted into society.” – Someone, somewhere is never going to accept you. You could be the nicest person in the world and someone is still going to find something wrong with you. The person you are is the person you are meant to be. God made you the way you are for a reason and if other people don’t like that then too bad.

6.       If you have family, then you have everything and more. – My family has been through heck and back this year. Things happened this year that I would have never dreamed in my worst nightmares. One good thing came out of all of this though… it made my family stronger. My whole family is already close-knit, but we really became close this year. When everyone else walks out, family doesn't. They are always there for you. 

7.       Always believe in yourself no matter what the circumstances are. –In life, there are always going to be people that want you to have low self-esteem about yourself and people who don’t want to see you succeed. The best way to get back at those people is to prove them wrong. Become successful and work hard, because it will take you far and it does pay off in the end.  

The Unexpected

I knew that I should've done something, anything, but I couldn’t move. It was like I was on a roller coaster ride that couldn’t stop. Everything around me was spinning and all I heard was screaming. I heard my name being called over and over, but my feet wouldn’t react. I tried to yell for help, but no words were coming out. All I could see was my best friend trapped inside the house of flames and a bright light that kept getting brighter and brighter. Next thing I knew, it went completely black.

Astounded, my eyes flew open. “Oh, thank goodness,” I thought, “it was all just a dream.” I woke up to get ready for another long day of work at the hospital, trying to shake the nerves of the dream off.  Once I got to work I tried to call Jake to wish him a happy birthday, but he wasn’t picking up. “Hm,” I thought, “maybe he’s still sleeping.” I went about the rest of my day waiting for Jake to call back, but he never did. When lunch time came, I decided to go see him since he wasn’t returning my calls. When I got inside, all of the lights were out and there wasn’t a person in sight.

As I drove back to work, I tried not to worry. “He’s probably just out with some friends or something,” I thought. When I got back to the hospital, I looked over the list of patients. I was reading through the list when all of a sudden I dropped the clipboard and fell to my knees.  There on the paper in black print said “Jacob D. Crews.” Suddenly, I realized the dream wasn’t a dream. It was all true.