For you, old friend.

In looking back at my life I have found that there are a few cues that I would like to offer my younger self if ever the opportunity should arise.  That knowledge would look a little something like this:

Dear Alex,

It’s me, that is I’m you.  I am just a little older, a little wiser, a little closer, and a little better looking (so stop worrying, we age well.)

Well we are almost done, it may have taken longer than we would have liked but let’s face it you just weren’t ready to move forward.  There are just a few things in life that are worth working for, and more importantly doing right.  On the back-end that means you will understand frustration, you will know suffering, you will bend so far you think you have to break; these are the facts of your life.  That being said, all is not doom and gloom, first of all you endure in true Hemingway fashion. (I told you it was me, who else would equate you to Hemingway, let alone immediately follow it up with a big I told you so.)

Right now you are working through an Entrepreneurial Psychology course, yes it is a mouthful and no it is not as bad as you think.  It is not “selling yourself”.  It, in a very practical way, is defining your value and in turn defining  and conveying it in such a way that others understand that value.

As part of the self-assessment that this management class has caused me to undergo, I have had to take a step back and reassess the principles and ideals that are guiding and governing our actions on a daily basis.  It all brings me back to this quote from Adam Michnik:

Start doing the things you think should be done, and start being what you think society should become. Do you believe in free speech? Then speak freely. Do you love the truth? Then tell it. Do you believe in an open society? Then act in the open. Do you believe in a decent and humane society? Then behave decently and humanely.

This is your center and you will find it.  It takes you time (a lot so be patient) but you get here.  The benefit of reaching this through trial and tribulation is that it is no longer just words, you understand.

There is no easy path.  Endure.  Give it time.  Aim high and follow through.  Don’t cut your hair so much, you like it long. Accept people for who they are, not who you want them to be. Endure. Look for the good in everything. Stay involved. You will learn the value of F.I.D.O. Work smarter, harder, and better than the other guy, you know who I’m talking about.  Find your drive.Keep hope close.  And always be ready.

Honestly, you don’t have a long way to go. But the road you want, the road I took, it is hard.  You will work through it, at times you will look back with longing and rack your brain going over again and again trying to determine if there was a better way, if you should have gone left rather than stay right.  There wasn’t.  I am the voice of experience.  Knowing now what we didn’t know then, there was no other possibility.  You need every little tiny step and misstep that got you to me.  It is immeasurably worth every single experience both good and bad.  They shape you and you are thankful. That being said cherish everything and be thankful.

p.s. Lay off the junk food and soda, no it is not a health issue but it is ridiculous.  You should really consider taking people’s advice when they tell you to go into Radio.