The normal human brain doesn’t wake up thinking this will be its last day on earth, but it wasn’t uncommon for my friend. Recently I have lost a friend of mine to his own hand and to see its effects on the people around me has been devastating this past week. To experience all the people who loved him in turmoil and despair truly breaks my heart. All this regret and sympathy brought me to an interesting query: one of purpose and self-hope. I was thinking to myself, what does it truly mean to live? What in this life makes me want to never leave? Then it hit me. Passion. There’s nothing more in this life that can be stronger than a passion for what you love. Even if it’s a sport, a goal, or for me, family, everyone must have a desire to bear through the hard work and recognize that it’s all for the things you adore. Without this burning feeling of necessity within, some may find it hard to even get out of bed in the morning.

But we must push forward. No one knows how much time you may have left and what will come of tomorrow. But I do know one thing, and that’s to live life to the fullest (even though it may seem cliche). Love with all your heart, Laugh with carelessness, and dance like nobody’s watching, because if I’ve learned anything from those around me and the ones who genuinely teach me, you can never be truly happy until you let go of expectations for yourself and others.

Last year when I joined the surf team I was new to the world of surfing and had no clue what I was doing. I got embarrassed for being a “kook” and all of my friends laughed at me when I did something foolish or not normal for your typical surfer. I let these things get in my head, and for a while, I was only doing things that I knew wouldn’t make me look like an idiot. This stunted my growth though, and it wasn’t long before I realized that my mindset was causing this halt in progression. I learned that day that it doesn’t matter what others think of you, as long as you are happy and loving yourself. I let my ultimate passion burn through and my yearning for growth and understanding became above all. I enlightened myself to the knowledge that what I truly craved in life, was to improve.

This caused a snowball effect in my mind, and everything in my life started to improve drastically. It started with surfing, trying new things, and throwing myself out there without societal expectations was a big string cut from the puppet they made me out to feel. I got way better each day, and my surfing improved just because I didn’t care how good my friends thought of me, but how good I thought of myself. This carried over to my day-to-day life, and I started acting the way I always wanted to be in public without a second thought. Some people may think that I am weird or different, but those eyes are so diminished in the eyes of those who love me for who I am and enjoy the freedom of self.

This is a really important topic to me because I feel that my friend who is now gone would give anything to have this state of mind. This grave mistake of mine of not helping them achieve happiness lit a spark within me, to love and care for all those who may not have the self-love mindset, and to accomplish that with them. This breathing and living flame of passion must burn bright within everyone I love, so that they may feel the purpose and meaning pressing on through this dark and depressing world. Cause without a spark, there is no soul.

~The Observer