To the Discouraged: Life is like an MMORPG

As of now, I have lived in Colorado for over a year and a half. Which means that I have subsequently lived for another year and a half, and learned a year and a half worth of things about things. Love, frustration, peace, anger. I won't bore you with the whole list.

When I first accepted this job offer, I thought that there was a specific reason for my coming out to Colorado. That God had these super divine plans for me; that I would realize my "destiny" residing at an altitude closer to the heavens. 18 months later, the revelation still hasn't come. I do not feel any more enlightened, nor do I honestly felt I've grown as a person. So what the heck?

Change is incremental. We like to hear rags-to-riches stories and all those big turnarounds in other people's lives because they seem far more interesting than ours. But the truth is, a majority of change is incremental. It's like an MMORPG (I'm looking at you, Maplestory): when you grind to level up and acquire new skills in the present, it's often tedious and seems like you're getting nowhere. But there's progress! Then, you reach a point where you achieve a high level, and you look back and think "dang, how did I get this far?" Going from 0 to 100 is not "real quick" most of the time in life (sorry Drake). I'm nearing 24 years old, and college already almost feels like a distant memory. Even when I look back that way, I think to myself "dang, that's pretty crazy." 

What am I saying? Has this late night blogging and a whole day of video games gotten me confused? Maybe a little bit, but hindsight is 20/20, meaning I really wouldn't know what the reason of my coming out here is until this chapter of my life is over. 

So to anybody struggling with the reason for their current chapter in life, here are some things that I think are important to remember (believe me, I'm still trying to grasp my own advice):
-Don't worry. If you believe everything happens for a reason, then keep doing what you're doing and don't get discouraged.
-Enjoy yourself. Don't get caught up with what you don't have; rather, focus on all the awesome things that you do. I don't care what anybody says: even dream jobs will suck, and no situation will constantly be perfect. 
-If you're not happy, do something about it. This could be actively finding ways to alter your daily reality, or simply switching your mindset from "oh this sucks" to "okay, well it's not so bad when I think about ______" 
-Don't forget what's important: family, friends, relationships, etc. 

Believe me, some things about Colorado really stink. And for the longest time, I was so mad and complained because I was being a big baby and kept thinking that the world owed something to me. I complained about my job, I complained about the culture, I complained about the demographics, cry cry cry... But the reality is not that bad: I have a job which I can easily fully sustain myself with, I've got to live in a different state which not many of my friends got to, and I know a lot better what I want from myself, my friends, and strangers around me. And weather :)

Does this solve your problems? Not necessarily, but it's a great start to feeling less crummy, that's for sure. So chin up everyone, and let's all try to have a more positive outlook on our lives!