"Finding Yourself"?

"People change so that you can learn to let go, things go wrong so that you learn to appreciate them when they're right. You believe lies so you eventually learn to trust no one but yourself...and sometimes good things fall apart so things can fall together."
- Marilyn Monroe

Who Cares What Your Stupid Friends Think
: this is an article that I'm in love with. I recently discovered the site Thought Catalog, which is awesome. It's just little random articles written by 20-somethings who seem to know what they're talking about...or at least I like to think they do. The articles range from 10 Lies Nickelodeon Told Me, 21 Ways You Should Take Advantage of Your 20s, Summers Now vs. Summers Then to A Scientific Scale For Rating Brand Names. This stuff is genius. I love it all. These are some of the only materials that cause me to behave like my Grandpa Bob would, and PRINT them out so I can keep them handy. These 20-something articles are turning me into a 60-something man...which doesn't exactly make sense, I realize. So, back to this article. Read it. Or, just read the below listed quotes which are my favorites.

"We're so insincere about who we truly are. Facebook and all those other social mediums have become so large I wonder if we're actually able to get out from under all the showing off and just be ourselves."

"You can't find what truly works for your life if you spend all your time being something you're not, listening to people who you aren't and adhering to rules that were not created with you in mind. If you want to do something--just do it."

"You need to find people, places, and things that are compatible with you."

"If we're all going to grow up one day to become the people we're meant to be, then we've got to start trusting ourselves and believing the real us deserves some love. We need to strip away all that insecure sarcasm."

"Find strength in the vulnerability of putting yourself out there exactly as you are."

"My main point is this: there aren't any rules to becoming you, so please just let go a little. Laugh at yourself. Make a few mistakes if you want. Take it from me. You can't control the world. You can't plan everything. If you want someone who loves you for who you are--and really I think we all want taht--then you have to be willing to be that person first."

"Stop caring so much what everyone else has to say about it and own it. If you want to do something that everyone else says is a mistake--do it. Live a little. Take a chance. Get burned. Get loved. Get f-cked."

"You only get one shot at life."

"There's only one real outcome anyhow: you become the person you were always meant to be."

Isn't this kind of what college is supposed to be about: "finding yourself". And shouldn't that be a self-journey? Don't let others keep you from doing what you want to do. I like that motto. And that's all I really have to say about it...