Tuesday, December 24, 2013

"Sometimes": Wisdom from a 17-year-old me



Sometimes. 

It's a powerful word.

I just came across a class journal of mine from high school, and I wanted to share one of its entries here. It doesn't have a date on it, but it was written some time between Jan. 23 and Feb. 15, 2003. My senior year.

I was a 17-year-old starting my last semester of high school. I was waiting to hear back from colleges, wondering where I would end up, what I would do. My "whole life" was ahead of me, and yet I had enough experiences and years to reflect on where I had come from. I was in this middle place, about to jump - looking forward and back. Wondering and waiting.

I hope you connect to at least one of the lines in here. If you do, please share what it means to you.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this poem. It was untitled, but I call it "Sometimes."


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  • Sometimes life throws you a curve ball.
  • Sometimes you're not prepared.
  • Sometimes you pretend to be surprised by something, but you were really asking for it all along.
  • Sometimes you have to screw up to learn a valuable lesson, and if you've really learned it, you won't go near it again.
  • Sometimes you're excited by the future, but you desperately want time to stop because you have no idea what you're going to do.
  • Sometimes it takes a long time to figure out who you are, and as soon as you do, you're afraid you've become something you don't want to be.
  • Sometimes simple is best.
  • Sometimes your best friend is the person who can look at you and, if nothing else, at least understands you.
  • Sometimes being understood is what you're really after, and just that fact makes a lot of nonsense go away.
  • Sometimes planning is nothing, 'cause doing gets it done.
  • Sometimes what you don't have in your dreams and goals looks a lot different when you stop and look at what you've accomplished now.
  • Sometimes you wonder if you would be an entirely different person if you changed just a few aspects about yourself.
  • Sometimes people just don't care.
  • Sometimes you have to care anyways.
  • Sometimes the one thing that keeps you going is knowing that people have great expectations for you.
  • Sometimes you don't believe you're great until someone tells you you are - someone you trust who can tell you why.
  • Sometimes your eyes can say everything you need to.
  • Sometimes where you are determines who you'll be.
  • Sometimes important memories are forgotten, making you lose a part of yourself.
  • Sometimes the least you owe someone is a smile.
  • Sometimes love can't be understood.
  • Sometimes peace is possible.
  • Sometimes you have to be proud of who you are, just because.
  • Sometimes you have to risk being stupid, failing, because no one ever did a great thing without letting himself [or herself] go.

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There it is. 
Which one was your favorite? Which one did you disagree with? I'd love to hear about it below.