Blaze your own path.

I learned a very long time ago to follow my own path.  It seems what I’m destined to do.  Somewhere along the way, those people that kept telling me what I should be doing, gave me enough reason to turn my back on them, and simply walk away.

I come from a small town in Texas, where the status-quo is to work your ass off the rest of your life and retire.  Give your life to the company, and hopefully one day you’ll still be able to enjoy what is left of your life.  In all honesty, I cannot find a positive way to say that....  So yeah, I found a high paying temp job, worked there a few months, when it was over, I pooled my money and left.

Sixteen hundred miles later, I was standing in the most beautiful place I have ever seen.  Though it was a struggle, I clawed out my life there, and worked so very hard to keep it.  While I was there, I was immersed in beauty, and learned the skill to see the true beauty in life which in turn showed me how to  truly believe in this amazingly beautiful thing called life.




Somewhere in that land of beauty, I also realized something about the world today.  The mentality that is held in my old hometown did not apply anymore.  Every time I landed a job, I would end up becoming one of the best workers, if not the best worker, but it never mattered, when the company downsized, I was gone.  Many times the company suffered because of that, which I always found humorous.  There used to be a rule, “You take care of your workers, and your workers will take care of you.”  That rule no longer is in existence, I learned there, no matter how hard you work, you are just a number, and they don’t care about you....

Eventually, I could no longer keep up with the economy and had to walk away from the beauty that had cultivated my soul.  I cannot put into words how much it hurt having to leave a place that was such an inspiration.  Mountains, forests, and the most beautiful sunsets upon broken horizons.  So many waterfalls within a short radius, and mountain vistas that were to die for....

Somewhere along the way, I learned what would end up making me who I am.  Its honestly what I live for.  This life is too short to kill yourself for someone else.  Do what you love, or you are not truly living.  I am, at my core, someone who will not live this life and not truly live anymore.

My parents were always quick to point out my laziness or some other short coming after the failure of North Carolina.  They harped on what I did to pass my time, they never saw me looking for a job in a place that had no jobs.  And for some reason, they were surprised when I found a job shortly after I moved in with my Aunt.  Mom still thinks I’m addicted to games, and that they’ll ruin my love life, which is the biggest load of BS I’ve ever heard.  It just goes to show how much my parents never really knew me.  I respect them and love them, but they obviously will never understand me.

I learned to live life by my own rules, and those rules work.  Enjoy this life, find the beauty, revel in the small things.  Never let your happiness be taken away, and fight for love, always fight for love.  Be at peace within your soul, and laugh at the goodness of a joke.  And always, above all else, remember to smile.

–Dan