Nothing Lasts

Over break I saw the movie, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" with my entire family, which is a rare event in itself. The holidays always seem to be filled with family time at the movies. I love my family more than anything, and I realize it most when we all have time to be at the same place at the same time. I feel that during the past two years a lot has changed, and a lot is about to change in my life. Change has really helped me realized how much my entire family means to me. I view each of them in their own individual light and they all have had a profound effect on me as a person - who I am, what I want to do, and where I want to be. Thanks to them I know I will always have someone beside me when I need them most, and its a great feeling to know that you have a family that is also a group of your best friends that will be by your side regardless of how successful or how miserable a person I may become.

To the point - there was one line in this movie that really stuck with me. When Brad Pitt said, "Nothing Lasts," a lot of different emotions and thoughts ran through my head. First, it was kind of a sad and depressing moment in the movie so I immediately felt the deep feeling of sadness that was portrayed in the movie. I dont know why, but i really took heart to this line and it stuck with me for some time. It might be because so many things are changing around me - including my family, friends, and most significantly, my own personal direction. I've been trying to figure out what I want to do with my life and I constantly feel the different pressures and anxieties of being a second semester senior with no definite course or action in my timetable. Of course I want to be successful, but its also been breed into me to be my own person - take my own actions towards my own true happiness and not to stress over the expectations others place on me. This is the struggle I have been dealing with while at Notre Dame. ND forces you to think that you have to have perfect grades, the perfect job, and the perfect salary. But honestly, I dont want to believe that is me. Regardless, I have been pushed and forced into this situation as a result of attending such a highly money motivated institution.

But, than again, nothing lasts. Your friends, your money, your happiness, your significant others...nothing really lasts at all moments in time. Ya, depressing huh? But once I got through thinking about all those things I looked at it in a different direction. One in which I want to take this line, "Nothing Lasts," and make sure I do everything in my personal power to make the most of what I have, right now. My senior year (the greatest year of my life thus far) is definitely flying by as I type, but I want to make sure I spend it with the best people I have found, having the best times of our lives...together...every single day. I want to make sure I remember this throughout this last semester of complete freedom. I want to take every opportunity, take every friendship, take all the advice, and do every road trip along the way. I don't see this depressing movie line as anything other than a motivation to make the most of what I have and take every day as its own, one at a time. It makes me want to push every day to the limit - no matter if I'm studying, working out, or trying to make someone else's life more rewarding.

Its dawned on me that there are so many little things in this world that try and bring us down. Mainly, its the people that we deal with on an everyday basis that have the greatest affect on us. But really, its our own responsibility to repressed those who don't want us to have a healthy, fun, and relaxing day. I've taken it upon myself to look in the mirror each and everyday and stand there for a second and realize this is the only day that really matters. - so push it to the limit. Block out those people that don't care about you, don't concern yourself with the things people say about you, and don't deal with those who don't make you a better person or don't stand by you when you struggle.

My goal this year is to do whatever it is that makes my family, my friends, and most importantly, what makes me happy. I want to be selfish and stubborn. I want to independently make my own decisions. I want to push the limits of my body. I want to go beyond any point of where I have been before.

Basically, none of the bad, sad, painful, emotional moments are going to last. It all passes by, and those who are able to get over the fact that its only a bad point in time are those that let the good times roll and keep them rolling. So, take each new day in itself. Accomplish something. Do something. Don't sit. Get up and move.