Mountains

  I climbed a mountain yesterday. It was steep, cold, and I fell a hundred times. But I climbed it. 

  Each time I fell, I landed on mud and hit my knees. Of course it hurt each time, but what was I going to do? Just stop and go back down? Then what's the point of trying it? To take a nice picture at the bottom and upload it with #fit #explore? Then go back home and tell people about your awesome weekend and crazy hike?

  That works great if you're a Kardashian and your very way of life depends on your image. So tell me office drone, retail associate, EMT, forklift operator, line cook, business owner, does it? Or are you sitting there wishing you would have climbed that mountain of yours? Are you sitting there tired of telling fake stories, or how you wish you could, or how someday you will? 

  Last year alone, how many excuses did you make NOT to do something? And I'm not talking about traveling the world or starting a business, but just going to the gym once a week, trying that new restaurant down the street, meeting your significant others friends, signing up for a class, taking that hike you've heard about a million times...

  Surely you've heard the old saying, "at the end of your life you'll regret the things you didn't do, more than the things you did do." 

  I spent a lot of time in my 20s saying no. I swear that was my favorite word. And every time I tried to force myself to say yes, I would moan and groan about it so much that when it came time to do the thing, I was miserable about it. So after i turned 25, I tried something, for every 5 no's i gave, I made sure to give one yes. And as an introvert, even that was pushing it. 

  I would cringe at the thought of going to a bar with MY OWN friends, or even worse, a party where there could possibly be the chance of there being people I didn't know. But the more i said yes, the easier it got. The more people I met. The more connections I made, and with those, memories. Before i knew it, I had said yes 10 times to my 50 no's. Then i made it 4 no's to 1 yes, then 3 to 1, and now, it feels like I say 1 no to 5 yes. 

  Look, the point is, don't waste your 20s, your life, because we have one. Now that I'm making up for all my lost time, I'm always wishing I had said yes more. But it's never too late. 

  But of course, I suppose this whole post is pretty cliche, and yea, it definitely is. Because I've read this myself all before, but damn do I wish I would've known how true this was. It's everything. You can spend your life in a dark corner, comfy womfy in your bubble, or you can decide to step out every once in a while, to shut up and go outside, look at the beauty around you and live it.