People Shape You

I heard a lot online as a kid that the people you choose to spend your time with build and shape who you are. I thought that it didn’t make any sense. I was me, not someone else I thought. Later into my life I realized that saying was actually what made me me. 

My mom is the most obvious example of this. Being raised by her most of my life, I saw what she believed and how she acted as a kid. She was and still is a role model for me. I adapted a lot of what she believes, whether that be political views or something way simpler. Without her, I don’t even know what type of person I would have become.

Now of course a child looks up to their parents, but I also have realised that my friends have shaped me maybe even more.

My friend Danny always speaks how he feels, no matter what people say or think about it. I respect that so much and it’s made me want to be better and always speak up for what I believe.

My partner, Ben, has also shaped me a lot. He showed me music, media, and so many of my interests. That has built to finding more things I’m interested in and more to talk and learn about.

Be careful with who you spend your time with when you are growing up, but also be thankful for the good people you get to spend time with and learn from. It will really build you as a person. I don’t think people think about how much the people around them truly shape them, and I believe that we take that for granted.

 Can’t let go

I won’t go into too much detail, but I used to be a person lets just say I wasn’t proud of. Back then I didn’t hate myself for who I was, but after I changed I realized that wasn’t really me.

Originally when I first looked back, all I felt was hatred. I was confused and didn’t understand what made me the way I was. It made me so angry. Thinking about the impact that person made on other people is what made me the most mad. People seeing me when I was at my worst, I knew looking back those memories would always stick to some part of everyone’s brain who was affected. 

As time moves on, I don’t hate that old me as much though. I’ve tried to change my mindset a bit. That me was still a person, and the impact they left on me could still have some positive impacts. It had to have shaped something good about me now. Even if it didn’t do that, at least it could be a learning experience. I learned and changed a lot from what I used to be. 

I think using the past to learn and grow is important. Many people tend to want to forget past mistakes and experiences, but I think that from personal experience its best to use them as a chance to learn and grow.

Nostalgia 

Every now and then I like to go back and do things I did as a kid. My biggest example of this is playing old games I used to play. Every few months I get the urge to get my old Xbox360 out and start up a new minecraft world, or I want to get out my old Ds and play through a pokemon game. These always make me a little emotional. Reliving these old experiences and memories makes me feel like a kid again. I think most of the time I enjoy the feeling of being a kid again more than the actual games themselves. I used to spend so much of my time playing them as a child. 

Another thing I like to do sometimes is go back and check how old youtube channels are. Besides playing games, watching youtube was probably my second biggest use of free time. These videos are what inspired me to play the games I did as a kid. A lot of the channels are nowhere near as popular as they once were. I don’t think that’s as much on the youtubers. The quality of their videos hasn’t changed, but their audience has grown up. Most of them realise that and now just do youtube as a hobby. I’ve seen these people I used to watch and look up to start families now and figure out life. It makes me really happy anytime I see someone I used to watch and look up to so happy now. 

I wouldn’t say I took them for granted, but I definitely miss the childhood experiences I had and never even thought I would as a kid. A lot of kids including me look forward to becoming an adult, but now that the time for that is almost here, I find myself wanting to go back most days and be a kid.

Small wins

I heard something online the other day that stuck with me. “Enjoy life and celebrate the small wins.” It’s very simple, but also effective. Most people spend a lot of their time thinking about the negatives in life. I am still guilty of this, but some days thinking back to that quote makes me happy. Work towards a goal one step at a time. Progress takes time and patience.

An example of this that I’ve noticed in my life is working out. About two months ago I began tracking what I ate and going to the gym. After the first few times I noticed no change. It takes time though. A good way to put it is like this, one workout probably does nothing for your body, two, three, still probably nothing. But one hundred workout outs, three hundred does, they add up over time. It’s a slow process.

That’s just one example in my life, but there’s so many more. Take a new hobby for example. Lebron didn’t just get good at basketball the first time he played. An artist wasn’t good the first time they painted. Everything in life takes time to learn, and a lot of people don’t realize that. So many people drop new things in life way too early because they don’t see results instantly. 

Enjoy the journey to success and celebrate small wins. Once I was able to lift a slightly heavier weight I felt so happy. No matter what journey you are taking in life, whether it be a hobby or something even bigger, enjoy the small wins and the progress you do see.

Everything takes time.