two cents on optimism.

people need inspiration. that's what i think this world lacks.

inspiration doesn't solely pertain to romanticism and all that over-rated crap going around lately. if anything, that's a misnomer i'd like to deal with in a different entry. right now, all i'm saying is that people just need something to look forward to. something to work on. something to tell them that what they're doing or what they are is part of a greater and bigger and grander picture that we all have a stake in. that's the grand and boisterous idea. but on a more personal note, i think we all need to be inspirations to our own selves. vain. i know. if you think about it though, it makes perfect sense.

no one knows you better than you do. which makes it perfectly sensical to make yourself be something or someone that you'd like to be. confusing. very.

think about this. you have to tell yourself what you want to be. what you want to achieve. what will make you happy. you tell yourself this and you make it happen. how? you tell the whole world. announce. renounce. emphasize!

i've lately realized that we've all been tethered down by a crazy idea called settling. settling happens when we have expectations. good ones. good expectations. over the weeks, months, years, or decades, we familiarize and internalize these expectations. and in time - in good time - we reach it. and then we forget, there are better ones. i've recently told myself, never let the good things make you forget about the better things in life. and when you're in that stage where you tell yourself what you want, why would you want to like the good things when the better and the best things are up for the taking? at least as far as you hoping for it is concerned. aim high. work for it. and then see what happens!

knowing and aiming for the best is just one part of it. letting the whole world know about it plays a key role. if you have only yourself to answer to, there's much less at stake. raise the bar. make yourself the underdog. put up circumstances between you and what you want to achieve. set up walls. call them all out. and once the stage is set, you do your thing. you frazzle them with your utter brilliance and you realize, god damn it, i'm friggin' good at this! you shine the most in the darkest of times. and unless you make your stage pitch black, you won't make yourself shine the brightest.

air it out. voice it. optimism needs a voice to make things happen. enter the room at its darkest and then blow it away with how you'll make it work. all this made possible by making sure you aimed high first.

i know i'm not making sense right now. and i know i'm sounding like some optimistic hoot high on crack. but unless you say it out loud, you have nothing to work on.

i'll read this three years from now and i'll think, "good ryan, good. good you aired that one out."

:D