Day 35 -- Thought I gave up didn't ya?

Happy Sunday evening everyone! Usually, I write my blogs in the morning but as you can see, it is not the morning. I crashed early after a fantastic Bluezapalooza last night (more about this at the end) and basically woke up, ate breakfast, and drove back to College Park (I'm just realizing right now that I don't have the typical anxiety I spoke about last time I came back from being home... cool). Then I scurried off to my last stream clean-up with my club, the Sustainable Ocean Alliance :')

After doing some laundry and more or less putzing around, here I am. I still haven't quite gotten back to a good sleep schedule so I'm hopeful to iron that out tonight. Before I say goodnight, however, I'm gonna knock out some reading and writing ahead of my final week of classes (😱). Some days I think for sure that I'll never return to school for a Master's or Doctoral degree but who knows what the future holds! One thing is for certain though: I'll be out of school for a minimum of a year, probably more. I listened to this podcast with Kevin Kelly today; the first 45ish minutes were fantastically inspiring for me as a young person unsure of what to do next. Essentially, Kevin is a huge advocate for zigging when everyone else is zagging (and telling you to do the same). 

While I may not return to traditional higher education, I think the experiences I'll have outside of the classroom will be highly educational and worth much more than another diploma. Don't get me wrong, college has inarguably changed my life for the better but now it's time to try something different for a little while. Just 28 days until the first 'something new' starts! After 4K, I might have to do something even more off the wall than cycling across the country. Or maybe I'll settle down for a bit. I really don't know! And I'm happy about that :)

It's so funny how our brains work. When I opened up this page, I had several ideas of what I wanted to write about and yet I immediately went down a totally different path. 

The first thing I wanted to talk about was Bluezapalooza. Man! It was so amazing. There were hundreds of people! The music was great, people were happy, and Blue gave an amazing speech AND crushed a surprise performance of "Save a Horse (Ride a Cowboy)". To conclude his speech, Blue dropped some serious wisdom about perspective. He advised us to think about the events of each day in three parts: (1) the negative, crappy parts, (2) the mundane, boring parts that you don't really think about much, and (3) the successes and positive parts. He went on to explain that sometimes (oftentimes) we have no control over how our days go... sometimes they're all 3's, sometimes all 1's, sometimes a mix of all three, etc. But, what we do have control over is our perspective. And really, that's the only thing that matters. Blue told us to appreciate the crap and the mundane for what they truly are and remember that they're just a natural part of our success. When life seems as bad as it can get, smile and take what you can get from it. And when you find success, enjoy it for it truly is, be in the moment, and soak up all the love and fun while it's there. This explanation is of course paraphrased and not nearly as articulate as Blue's but his words last night went straight to my heart and will never leave. Blue, if you happen to read this, thank you. You and your family are special people. Never stop. Love ya 💙

Hayden