20 Things I Learned by the Time I Turned 20...

I could write some long winded intro about the list I'm about to throw at you but I'm not going to.
I've learned a few things in my 20 years and a handful of months and I'm gonna share 'em.

Sweet and simple.

1. Being drunk is not an excuse for shitty behavior. Ever. "Sorry I was drunk" should not be given as an excuse for acting poorly and should not be accepted as an excuse that someone tries to give you. Control yourself. If drinking turns you into a bad person don't drink. There. 
2. Messing up is okay. Sometimes you don't get the grade you worked for or the job you wanted. Messing up is okay. It's okay. Everyone does it. If you make a mistake and you learn from it then you will be a better person in the end. It's called "failing forward." Fail. But use that failure as a springboard for progress.
3. Learn to appreciate being single before trying to commit your affection to someone else. If you aren't happy single then you aren't happy with yourself. Nobody can make you happy with yourself besides yourself. I firmly believe that. 
4. Appreciate people for who they are and not who you want them to be. I struggle with this. So bad. But putting unrealistic expectations on people to be something that they are not creates a lot of pressure for them and a lot of disappointment for you.
5. Beware the people whose charming qualities start to become annoying. Do not read that as "beware the people that do things that annoy you on occasion." There is a difference. For example: Laziness can disguise itself as a chill and laid back attitude. 
6. Intentions behind actions can mean as much as the actions. A question I'm trying to remember to ask myself when someone does something that pisses me off is "Why are they doing this?" Sometimes people rub us the wrong way with purely good intentions. Naggy mom? She's doing it because she cares. Even if it is annoying.
7. Pursue your passions. Pretty self explanatory. 
8. Stand firm in your values. They make up a large part of who you are, and places like college really test your values. Don't let stupid stuff like college change who you are or what you value. 
9. The little things matter.
10. Empathy is a dying character trait. As time progresses people are becoming less willing to put themselves in the shoes of other people. So many problems could be avoided if people would just take a second to see a situation from the other person's point of view.
11. If you screw someone over apologize as soon as possible.
12. Nurture the friendships that are important to you. Don't be afraid to cut off the ones that are holding you back.
13. Slow down. Living fast means dying fast. Take some time to appreciate the scenery. 
14. Work hard and play hard. In that order. 
15. Focus on your strengths and stop trying to mitigate your weaknesses. You'll have a lot more self-confidence that way.
16. Give back. Volunteer. Do what you can to make the world a better place because this is the only world we have (until we colonize Mars). Go out of your way to make those less fortunate than yourself have a good day. You'll never regret it.
17. Be a kid sometimes. Even if you can legally be tried as an adult in the court of law take the time to be a little (note that I said LITTLE) immature. You can have fun as a young adult. Or at least that's what I'm told.
18. If you can schedule a nap time for yourself DO IT. Just do it.
19. Laugh at all the sex jokes they hid in the cartoons you watched as a kid. Understanding them means you're growing up. Growing up can be shitty sometimes. But not when you realize Spongebob and friends told a lot of dirty jokes when you were younger (Sandy Cheeks in Bikini Bottom? I rest my case). 
20. The meaning of life is whatever you make it. Nobody lives the same life as somebody else. So nobody decides what the meaning of your life is but you. Do what you feel in your heart whatever it is you were put on this planet to do.

I'm so wise. 

Today I found on Tumblr

This seems familiar...

Thank You...

Good God above I have not blogged in what feels like months (because it has been months).
So let's play catch up with my life, real quick.
In about three days I will be halfway done with my undergraduate career which means I am one step closer to being a real adult and I'm not sure if that should be exciting or terrifying or both.
I haven't failed any classes yet, so that's a plus (there's a pun hidden in there if you want to look for it).
I still climb things for a job.
I got a second job as an addiction recovery technician so that's crazy and cool.
I am now in the process of planning a week long service trip to somewhere in the continental United States for this next winter break.
I'm still sarcastic.

Everything is as it should be, so let's digress.

What a semester. What a school year, really. Has it been the best year of my life? Probably not. The worst year? Definitely not.
But there has been a good amount of struggling (what's college without struggling, though).
I'm prone to falling victim to stress, anxiety, and over-thinking. And I'm really good at thinking myself into a bad mood. And I will be the first person to say that I am a LOT to handle. And there are two kinds of people that put up with me: the people that have to and the people that choose to.
The people that have to are family. The people that I am biologically related to. And they've been doing it for 20ish years so they're really good at it.
The people that choose to, on the other hand, are miracles in human form. I do my best to put my best foot forward in public. Whether that be at work, in class, or some other function that puts me in view of strangers. And I'm really good at that. I'm really good at making it look like interacting with strangers is my favorite thing in the world. And I do enjoy doing that. That's why I'm involved in what I'm involved in. But it's exhausting.
Interacting with most people makes me tired. Usually in a good way. It's comparable to that satisfying exhaustion you feel after you leave the gym. You want to rest but you're happy because you think you did something good.
My batteries do not run on social interaction. I am, by definition, an introvert. An outgoing introvert, yes, but an introvert just the same. My focus is largely centered on internal stimuli and critical thinking. I value one on one time with people, especially people I am close with.

And I can tell you right now that I would not have made it through this semester without some seriously appreciated one on one time with some seriously awesome people. And I hope they're reading this and I hope they know who they are.
I do not open up the vulnerable side of me easily. I do not give people all of my trust easily. I am not the kind of guy that puts all of his eggs in one basket, so to speak. I am not usually someone who takes the risk of throwing everything that I am into relationships. I like to hold back and keep some things to myself because, despite a lifestyle that has me interacting with other people constantly, I like to live a private life on occasion.

So to those people that I have taken that leap of faith with: Thank you. Thank you from the bottom of my heart and from ever fiber of my being. Thank you for laughing with me and being there for me when laughing is the last thing I want to do. Thank you for telling me everything is going to be okay when the future looks bleak. Thank you for not running away when you realized that being my friend might be more difficult than you thought. Thank you for rising to that challenge. Thank you for listening to me rant and for listening to me freak out. Thank you for pushing me to find that happy place when I would rather just sit down and give up. Thank you for lending me your strength when I have exhausted mine. Thank you for smiling when you see me even when the look on my face expresses emotions that would imply that I am less than thrilled about the day. Thank you for talking about deep emotional stuff even when there's a million other things you'd rather be doing.
And thank you for being you. Thank you for being at the right place at the right time so that your existence could give me one more good thing to cherish.

Thanks for being there.
-- Tyler


Today I found on Tumblr:

Same, I guess.