The Game

I'm 18. I just graduated high school. A lot of crazy things are happening in this day and age and in this individual period of time in my life and there's a ton of stuff I still have yet to truly comprehend. That being said, I don't know a lot, but I know enough to understand that we all have to play the game. A loud, never-ending game played by us, along with three others. Three other players who go by the names of truth, perspective, and love.

Truth

It's hard to see the stone cold truth in most things as individual beings. To see the truth, we have to gain something from an outside source.

Sometimes we let our minds run dry on a topic. We're nervous and hard on ourselves and we dwell on imperfections until they turn into something monstrous and all-consuming. On the other hand, we're naive. We assume things will be fine. We jump into feelings or mindsets quickly, thinking that what's there is pure and foolproof. Sometimes we don't take the time to step back and view a situation from further away before emotionally or physically committing.

Both sides are destructive and untrue.

We have to find the grey area. The balance between the good and the bad. The popularized and the deserted. The truth. And I believe we can only do so when we open our minds to what the world and its events have to add to our experience as we go on, day after day. It's not just you out here. Your life is comprised of how you view the day, and nothing else is surely real, but that doesn't mean your reality is true. There are other minds and hearts that tap into your story and affect your path. Those connections in addition to your reality make up the full truth in all you do.

Perspective

This one kind of connects to the whole spiel on truth, but it has its own little quirks.

If we want something more from the world than what it is currently offering, we cannot be exclusively ourselves. There is imperative room for other perspectives that are waiting to be found and understood in our minds. Empathy is key in opening new mental doors. We must understand each other and separate ourselves from our comfy, personal realities in order to make any progress. We, as humans, struggle with this though. We're stubborn and selfish creatures by nature, which will make it difficult to clearly empathize with the world, even if we want to do so.

So try and keep an open mind and generous heart.

Realize that each of us views reality in a different, specially-made light. Try to understand even if you disagree. Don't confine your worldly, human knowledge to what is within the walls of your own perspective. Live, think, and share openly and freely. See with no restrictions or restraints.

Love

The big L word.

Love always seems to be a few steps ahead of the game. We don't always know how, but it more often than not takes the lead in this everlasting race. Love is all-knowing. A total nerd. An expert on all the cheats and tricks. Love trains and guides perspective, truth, and self.

Our best companion and our worst enemy. What breaks us down and builds us up and makes the world go round. Our experiences with love are what leave our realities tainted, giving us the lenses of perspective through which we currently view our lives. Not just in the romantic sense, of course. Love isn't as rare as some of the poets make it out to be. It's abundant and constant and we're always, always, in love. Whether it be with a special boy or a beautiful girl. With a passion or a place or a song. With a friendship or a romance; it can always be found somewhere. And sometimes, that sucks. It does. But it's the closest thing we have to magic. It's what makes us feel most alive, so we never truly shoo it away.

I'll share some things.

I believe my best friend is my platonic soulmate. My love for what we have is stronger and more real than anything I've ever known. We've shaped each other and we ground each other and make each other feel worthy of greatness, and that's what love is all about.

Because we rightfully give in to being molded by love, it hurts like hell when it doesn't stay around within that specific, gorgeously compelling person or thing. It'll take a while for it all to make sense again.

Love will feel hidden away somewhere risky and wrong. But it remains. And as we ache, we learn from lost loves. We eventually have an understanding of ourselves and others that's deeper and a bit more true, although it may be colder than before.

Now the good side. The drug-like wonder of love. We take it and it's exciting. It drives us to be better for ourselves, and for them. It gives us something to look forward to. We're more generous and kind when we're high on love. We're willing to drop everything and listen, or let our guard down and say what we've been dying to say. We touch the purest form of happiness. We get a case of the "can't stop smiling".

You fall hard and you don't regret it. Its strength is incomparable and vast. Its eyes sparkle and its lips spill the most dazzling song.

Love is colorful and raw and stunning, just like the person you fell for.

Love is always ahead of his opponents. Take note of his moves and strategy.

Stay close to the love you have for the what the world brings you. Study love. Make it the most important part of you.

Love will always stay in the lead, forever and mysteriously ahead of perspective and truth, ahead of the world and ahead of you.