Guilty Pleasure

often we use other people as motivation for our own success

we cling to the belief that we "owe" our prosperity to perhaps our parents or other people whose compassion and generosity have contributed to our progress and achievement

while keeping these people in mind is certainly a wonderful way to honor those we appreciate throughout our journey, it's easy to fall into working toward our goals out of some obligatory compulsion to appease others, as opposed to being driven by our own intrinsic impulse

with satisfying other people as our focus, we sometimes lose sight of our personal connection to our ambitions and ultimately our drive to move forward on them

we get so caught up in how we represent ourselves to others that we forget who we are and what is important to us

though the people in our lives are meant to assist and encourage us along our path, we are not meant to be spiritually indebted to them for their service

the only way we can be truly fulfilled in life is by living for ourselves

lesson: do it for you.

I appreciate you misguided dreamers

Making A Wise Investment

before embarking on any new endeavor, we typically conduct some form of research in order to make the most informed decisions

in building relationships with people, this process is especially important

while we may be able to perceive some of a person's qualities immediately upon initial interaction, there are some traits and behaviors that will only be exposed under particular circumstances

if we don't have the opportunity to experience those situations, we may not be privy to certain elements of a person's character

we can spare ourselves a lot of frustration and upset by taking the time to thoroughly examine the nature of people with whom we feel inclined to forge bonds before we allow those people access into our sphere

once we have emotionally invested ourselves in another person, a lot of pain can come with realizing that we may not have known the person as well as we thought

as with making any investment, it's wise to fully understand exactly what you're dealing with, including the potential risks

lesson: know what you're getting into.

I appreciate you hindsight