Transitions

To illustrate my current emotional journey, I point to an amazing song to listen to while reading this post. With this song, I hope you will read this with a calm mind. It is called "Time Forgets" by a South Korean pianist named Yiruma. Please open up another window, copy/paste this link and come right back.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anicaKGED00

Ready? Great, let's begin.

"Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened"
- Dr. Seuss

Think back to when you were an infant. Imagine all of the responsibilities you were expected to do; all zero of them. Yes, there indeed was a time when we would only have to worry about eating our food and crapping our pants. A very simple obligation indeed.

Now, think ahead to later days of your childhood. You were learning to walk and speak, and eventually, you were enrolled in school. At first, you might have scoffed at the idea of doing work, but you would eventually enjoy meeting new persons, crushing on your hot teacher, and most importantly, recess.

This is an example of a transition. For this blog, I shall create a definition to add to the MANifesto lexicon.

Transition = an adjustment period that one uses to ready oneself for new challenges and experiences.

I, for one, need this time in between schedules. If I do not receive the proper adjustment time I need, my life collapses and I am overwhelmed with stress. I am beside myself when I say that emotional collapse is terrible. However, I'm not going to dwell on breakdowns while I'm commanding you to listen to a clearly not-terrible song. Then what kind of all-powerful, blog-commanding Internet overlord would I be?


Still, I can't help but shake the feeling that I will miss being a kid in high school. My greatest memories were of my time in choir, and with my great friends, and I would be lying if I said that things will not be the same. Still, there is a golden opportunity for me to broaden my knowledge of life in one word: college.

In a short while, I will be studying Health Science at Saint Mary's College of California, a Catholic private college in Moraga, California (a twenty minute drive from my house). I will be living in a dorm with no other person to rely on but myself to eat, study and be a grown man. This is an obviously different circumstance for me, but I look forward to emerging from this as a different person; a person who measures his life in love and the occasional tear, the occasional epiphany. That is a life I can look forward to, so I cannot wait for my next life to begin.


What I learned:

• Life is what happens in between transitions
• Each new challenge is different and harder than the last one. Prepare yourself accordingly.

My question to you:

1. Do you consider yourself "ready for anything"? By that, I mean "what are your tools that you use in life's many tests"?
2. What is your next big goal? (This can be school, work, or another kind of personal achievement)
3. What should I write about next?

Leave your responses, questions and criticisms in the comment section below. Your input is always appreciated.