We've all seen them, and my mother is a huge proponent of them: "Life's good" T shirts that usually portray the stick-figured man or woman enjoying some leisure activity. They're a classic shirt now and the company has sky-rocketed in popularity over the past decade. Kudos to you, Life's Good. I've never owned one of the shirts, but when I saw my mother wearing one recently I stepped back and realized that "hey, maybe those shirts are right."
During the summer before my senior year at TCU, after returning from Scotland and living in Fort Worth, I realized that no matter how terrible my life may seem in a moment, as a whole it is good. Over the course of the past year I've built upon this, and I've begun to understand on a personal level that even when everything seems bleak there is still good and happiness to be found in my life. This mindset has proven revolutionary to my outlook--it certainly is not the mindset I had in high school. Being able to step back after something negative has happened to me and realize "wow, this isn't so bad and here's how I can handle it to make it better" has been invaluable to me during this transitional phase of my life, and my life as a whole.
So while I could whine about being a recent alumnus and not being in college anymore amongst all my friends, complain about my new job, or how I have no time to myself anymore...I can't. I know college was just four short years, that all my friends are now experiencing the real world's exciting opportunities and are happy in their own rights, that my job is fulfilling and will only get better as time goes on, and that I can still make time for everything I want to do. With that being said, it's safe to say that I'm lucky. That we're all actually lucky. Most of the people (all two of you) who will read this will be able to identify with much of what I've said, and I hope you realize how awesome your own rollercoaster of life is. The highest highs make for the lowest lows, but the lowest lows don't last forever and only make us stronger when we persevere through them--making the highest highs that much better!
With where I am in life right now, I can truly say I wake up happy everyday. It's an irreplaceable feeling and I hope you can have it too. Life really is what the T-shirts say: good.
-H.G.