Always find a way to look forward to the future. I personally find it pretty easier, because in the worst of times it isn’t hard to imagine that it will get better. Right now I’m feeling really good about my writing career because I’m not standing idle. I’m actually doing something. I’m writing over five hundred words a day, I’m ahead on my fifty books in a year resolution, and I’m outlining a novel right now. In total, I’ve outlined three works of novella length or longer. If I actually write the first chapter to this book, it’ll be the furthest I’ve taken a project in years.

So I’m pretty happy. Content, I should say. Ever since I found out I can listen to audiobooks at work it’s gotten a lot easier, too. I don’t hate my job, I’ve found that I enjoy writing a daily blog (didn’t realize that until just now) and the classes I’m taking in college aren’t slowly killing me on the inside. There are other things, that are happening, though, that I found myself dreading. My improv group is on a serious decline into dissolution, I’m going to have to start looking into transfer programs and scholarships, and stuff like that. I find that just thinking about things like that puts me in a bad mood.

If you’re chasing something that’s moving away from you faster than you’re catching up, it’s time to stop. There will be other things that are easier catches. For example I’ve tried so hard these past five years to not be single, but I’ve learned that you can’t force these things, regardless of how bad you may want to. Exercising patience may suck, but sometimes it’s the only way to achieve something. Making poor decisions for the benefit of your short term is a terrible thing to do, and depending on how bad a decision it may have been you could end up spending your life looking back with regret.

So don’t do it, man. Spend your life working for a better future. Work for the future you want to live in. Recycle, vote, educate yourself. Learn patience. Some things cannot be forced. Tomorrow you could stumble across an amazing new job opportunity. You could adopt a puppy that changes your life. You could meet the love of your life in Starbucks today. But no, that isn’t a good enough justification to treat yourself to Starbucks again. I’m just saying a lot of life’s happiness is generated from the most trivial of things. Imagine waking up one day and playing with your dog for ten minutes. The rest of the day could be filled with joy because that action put you in a good mood to start with. If you hadn’t done that, that day could have been awful. All because of ten minutes. It’s all on your perception. Look at how bright the sun is today, not how hot it may be.

“Enjoy the little things in life because one day you`ll look back and realize they were the big things.” — Robert Brault