Stress accumulates the more I get annoyed. The more I get annoyed the easier and more I get irritated. The next thing I know I find myself in sickness – a sickness that could’ve been avoided all along had I kept my composure, and not let an external circumstance define or shape me but rather see it as a happening, not as who I am. What happens happens but the view and interpretation belong to man alone. Man’s view can’t change what happened but the aftermath could be molded; thus, modified to fit the interpretation of the viewer into an optimistic outcome rather than a predicament.

I experience more of what I accept and less of what I neglect. I must credit Aldous Huxley for stating and I quote, “Facts don’t cease to exist simply because we ignore them.” Another man once said, “You could ignore reality but you cannot ignore the consequences of ignoring reality.” Some things are subjective, others are objective. I could form my own opinion about the subjective but must align my thinking with the objective lest I suffer from cognitive dissonance and get left behind living in an illusion perpetuated through radical liberalism.

A lot of things I see aren’t what I see but what I perceive. I get lost in those perceptions I interpret to be organic when a lot of the times they’re a disguise to tamper with my emotions to make me more susceptible to an agenda orchestrated through its disguise intended to give off a perception or false identity, a cover, if you will. Sometimes defeat lies within the confines of perception and not reality. I’m beaten by my perception before I even get a chance to face reality. Thus the saying, “The battle is won or lost in the mind.”

I’m wondering what to do as if what I do defines my identity and substantiates my value.

What is is not because it is it’s because consciously or unconsciously I chose it to be. I must decisively choose my life.

Mindfully, what I take seriously maximizes, what I laugh at minimizes. The size of my problems are often determined by how seriously I take them.

True contentment encapsulates and resembles luxury.

Fearlessness gives me leverage but arrogance sets me up at a disadvantage.

Rational thinking is attempted expertise on the macroscopic world but it takes discernment to analyze the microscopic world which is the foundation of the macroscopic world. Sometimes rational thinking doesn’t always get the job done.

What, who serves me? Look at life from this point of view – in all of my approachings and doings. Nervousness, shyness and the alike stem from uncertainty; certainty accustoms when I approach with putting myself first. Never play another’s game. In all of my doings ask who or what benefits me.

People’s mentality changes with society. The social state determines people’s outlook on life. Social media overtook the world and so people need to adapt to the frequencies and changes brought upon the world from and through social media. If social media is a filter for authenticity then maybe that’s the direct link with people wearing filters and not being their authentic selves.

Dangerous is he not concerned with society’s expectations nor the social ramifications of not following the trends.

There is a possibility that how I think and what I think is programming. Have I ever considered the possibility that my thoughts are not my own? Where do I get my thoughts… these thinking patterns? I ask where I came from but I never ask where my thoughts came from or if they’re my own. I’m not my thoughts – they’re simply vehicles I could choose to ride or not.

There are consequences for not acting like myself, for I reap what I don’t want; I live in the alternatives… in the sides.

It’s in my fighting that I see the quarrel in my life. When I accept reality the fighting ceases and all I see is the possibility for growth.

Facing myself is one of the hardest things I’ve done because in the midst of facing what I am I’ve had to swallow my pride and come to terms with myself. I learned that I was never this idealized version of myself that I thought I was. Who I am doesn’t exist and cannot be momentarily defined because my identity is ultimately forged throughout my lifetime. I could change what I am but that change only births from primarily confronting what I am.

When I live without regard for the measures of society I truly live; it’s a heartfelt energy from my core that resonates do deeply almost everybody feels it on a quantum level – including the magnetic fields of the earth. Heart energy emits the strongest and furthest and it only forms through authenticity; that is, being honest to the core with thyself.

Free myself from others’ opinions and expectations but not from my responsibilities and obligations.

It’s much better to be authentically insecure and owning up to it than being superficially secure – for nothing can manifest.

Tensions block the way. Ease paves the way.

Empathy comes from understanding. To be understanding I have to be open-minded. To be open-minded I need to set aside the ego.

Detach from the outcome. Only then will you be free. Though your bones may be broken refuse to break another’s for only then you’ll have peace and maybe just maybe a speedy recovery, for healing must come from the quantum level in order for it to be projected onto the physical level.

Where were the bold? Where were the courageous? Dispositions that lack nobility end up becoming society’s favorite.

Relationships that have gone south when they meant to go north sometimes never knew their worth when times went worse.

Find the silver lining from the silver bullet.

Authenticity is not encouraged. Individualism is dead. You must follow the trends to be liked… to fit in.

In every horror movie dealing with the paranormal the main characters almost always faces the inevitable repercussions that beget them when they lift the veil from the normal to the paranormal.

A lot of our confusion of self – identity come from wanting to fit in and adhere to the trends and the status quo. We’re listening to what others are telling us to be… to what we should be.

Your best ally is your mind. If you learn how to control your mind you can control not the world but your world.

All we are is chasing a feeling.

Never conform yourself to another’s perceptions or expectations. The right people and things will fit into your mold.

Don’t write advice based on comfort. Write advice based on growth.

Those that don’t fit into your mold don’t fit in for a reason – don’t waste your time lingering over it.

We all want to be accepted but never settle for being accepted at your own individual expense – intend to be ace[ted for who you are – yet, not solely for who you are but rather an improved version of yourself – for those who do the work are worthy of the rewards.

You had no knowledge of it, then you became aware of it, then you were curious about it, you then tried it and you liked it… fell in love with it… abused it, and all the while you knew you were using what was destroying you but you kept using it anyways not for the taste but because you were addicted… knowing that eventually it would lead to your death. What you once thought would help you in your time of loneliness and pain actually took your life away – including the possibility to feel love and joy.

Some people live life one – sided. They listen to and pay attention to the things that they want to hear out of their convenience and comfort but neglect the things that they don’t want to hear – sometimes its those things that they don’t want to hear that are what’s best for them so they never really live up to their full potential because they don’t embrace every side.

If you don’t face your demons they will eventually eat you alive.

Never starve yourself of certain leisure in attempt to ensure disciplinary use over that leisure. What will happen is that once you’ve starved yourself enough and finally give yourself a taste of that leisure you will indulge in that leisure which defeats the purpose you had in mind which was to starve yourself of that leisure to have more self – control. Instead you ought to balance yourself.

Why do we feel the need to burden others? Is it because we’re hurt? So in a way of deflecting the blame on us (which is easy to understand because no one likes feeling blamed or ashamed or we all have trouble taking accountability) so we latch the blame onto others so that we feel justified for our actions because we can’t cope with the fact that what we did was wrong. To take accountability is not shameful – it’s responsible. What’s shameful is not that we mess up. What’s shameful is that we don’t improve. To feel pain or make mistakes is what makes us human but to not own up to them and bounce back makes us lesser than being human… for humans evolve and not dissolve. Life is always going forward never backward.

Drew Soliz has been writing since he was in middle school in 3rd grade. As he says, “writing is a vehicle I could use for my imaginative mind so I could process my thoughts more clearly and find steady ground where they could hopefully and eventually take root.” This is his first submission to a literary magazine.