Best Summer Ever Week 4: Half Asleep

Last summer an acquaintance asked me whether I was happy with how life has treated me so far. I can’t remember the exact way that he phrased the question, but I remember being intensely bothered with the underlying implication that life is something that happens to us and that we have little control over our current situation.

It’s absolutely not true. “I’m not a dog,” I thought. “I am an active participant in my life.”

I could have majored in economics instead of history. I could have gone to Harvard, community college or dealt crack on the corner. I could be living anywhere right now, rich, poor, grossly fat, built, or impossibly thin. I could be a barber or bearded truck driver.

But I am 24, in Minneapolis, with a law degree and a corporate job because of the decisions that I made. I’m working on the beard though…

Sure, surprises and luck happen along the way, but conscious decisions inform how I can create opportunities and grab the ones that present themselves.

Well, usually. I don’t know if that was true this week. Everything was scheduled out. I showed up at work, gym, biked, walked the dogs, cooked… I was on autopilot and that is a little scary.

It wasn’t a bad week, but I wish I was a little more present for it and intentional about my actions.

I think that’s where blogging comes in. A life unexamined, right? Writing about the day forces me to think about what’s going on and stop milling around half asleep. That’s how people stagnate and start waiting on chance to improve their lives.

I rather create my opportunities than waiting for luck announce itself, and that starts again this week.