The moment you realize life is incredible
My awe of life was catalyzed by this one moment. Not a book, quote, or convo.
Let’s disregard the conversation of whether life has meaning or not.
Let’s ignore the voice in the back of our heads that debate the value of the frequent mundanity versus the infrequent highs that seemingly make life worth living.
My awe for life stems from the fact that things are in motion that we do not realize.
If you stay still, others will move.
If we all stay still, the earth will still move.
There is never a moment of stillness outside of us.
But inside…
Inside we can stop and smell the roses.
Inside we can go back in time and reflect from a 3rd person POV.
At the moment, we feel like we are not enough, aren’t doing enough, aren’t progressing.
But over time, you realize that you are magnitudes different and miles farther than you were then.
When my shifts are over at 11 am, I look at the iPad that I desperately looked for to clock out and realize that I was at work at 5 am.
A mere seven months ago, I was stressed out looking for a job to afford a coffee and six hard-boiled eggs, now, I get annoyed when I am scheduled for too many hours, and I get disappointed when I drink too much of the free coffee available to me.
I spent a significant portion of my teenage years looking forward to the time when my efforts toward vanity paid off. Every 5 minutes checking a mirror to see if my jawline looked decent, pinched my stomach to check my body fat percentage, flexing my left bicep because it was lagging behind my right bicep. Submitting horrible selfies to modeling agencies and imagining a life as a model.
I am now, on paper, validated by others. I got what I wanted with modeling. I now have four more abs than I initially shot for; I have state records and wins in more sports than I even watched on tv when I was younger. It seemed just to be something that happened rather than the reality of the work put in.
*I share the steps that got me here, physically, in my ebook https://ethancastro6.gumroad.com/l/aesthetic*
From thoughts pondering on the days when I was smart, initialized by my slowly descending grades.
To taking an IQ test, qualifying & being admitted to the organization I have aspired to since elementary school.
Is the reality: What it seems like in hindsight? or What occurred in the moment?
Did I really go through internal struggles? or Was it an exaggeration?
Everything seems so much easier in hindsight; hindsight requires no willpower; it stimulates wishful thinking, which is a simulation of what could’ve happened.
When you look at [figurative] old photos, and then at the [figurative] mirror, you realize you’ve come much farther than you realize.