Enjoy it.

"What I wish for all students is some release from the clammy grip of the future. I wish them a chance to savor each segment of their education as en experience in itself and not as a grim preparation for the next step. I wish them the right to experiment, to trip and fall, to learn that defeat is as instructive as victory and is not the end of the world... The road ahead is a long one and it will have more unexpected turns than they think."
William Zinsser, College Pressures

We simply cannot manage life. There is not a map that will not have detours. There is not a plot that will avoid digression. But you know what I say? I say life is found in that digression.

What happens when you mess up? What happens when you get the answer wrong? What happens when you change your mind?
Life keeps going. And perhaps you meet someone new, you discover a talent, you find something that makes you happy, you help someone.... at worst you have learned and grown and evolved. You have opened a world of possibilities.

There is not day that you should not find a way to laugh and enjoy yourself. Smile in the face of life. It is too beautiful a gift not to enjoy it.

Everyone has inside of her a piece of good news. The good news is that you don’t know how great you can be! How much you can love! What you can accomplish! And what your potential is! –Anne Frank
Anne Frank suffered persecution in the Holocaust. We all face battles and challenges. Never degrade yours and act as if your issues don't matter; they do. Mental health is as important as physical health. There are things that hurt is everyday. But, that doesn't mean life-- or any single day-- is a waste. Remember that you never know how wonderful you can truly be, challenge yourself to enjoy everyday and find something to be grateful for. 
Laugh! 

Some balls are held for charity
And some for fancy dress
But when they're held for pleasure
They're the balls that I like best
My balls are always bouncing
To the left and to the right
It's my belief that my big balls
Should be held every night
-ACDC, Big Balls

Find humor in simple plays on words, in the irony of the world, in the silly things of your childhood... There is a time to be serious, and there is a time to throw your head back, clap your hands, snort hard, and laugh until you cannot breathe. There is a time to let tears stream down your face and drop to the ground, and a time to jump and dance and let your whole body be giddy. Enjoy all of it! 

"A day without laughter is a day wasted." 

-Charlie Chaplin

There will be regrets, there will be challenges and hardships, there will be pain, there will be so many things you can over analyze and get all caught up in-- but the trick is not to define yourself by those things! Define yourself by beauty! The beauty that is all around you: the beauty of the flowers, of knowledge, of friendships, of a simple touch, of love, of your own wonder. 

This is life. Enjoy it. 

Take it for what it is and make it yours.

"I do not think we have a 'right' to happiness. If happiness happens, say thanks."
Marlene Dietrich

We don't choose which family we are born into, we don't choose which country or state we live in, we don't choose how many siblings we have, we don't choose our innate talents and abilities, we don't choose the way some people treat us, we don't choose the way other people feel about us.

The truth is we choose very little concerning our circumstances. And we are indebted by nobody, entitled to nothing. However, we choose what we do with our circumstances, we choose how we live.

I believe in romantic realists. A realist accurately assesses a situation and responds reasonably and accordingly; a romantic hopes for the best anyway. Being cynical and downhearted will spare you plenty of disappointment and pain, but you, nor anyone else, will be any better for it.
Disappointment will come, people will hurt you and you will hurt people. Some people will disagree with your opinion and some will disagree with your entire existence. You will scrape your knee. You will lose people. You will fail in your job. You will let loved ones down. People will insult you. It is inevitable that there will be darkness.
But even in the dead of night, the moon offers some light.

You don't have to do things because that's how your parents did them, you don't have to do things the way your leaders did them, you don't have to do things the way your peers and friends do them, you don't even have to do things the way you did them before.

Allow yourself to grow and change. And allow yourself to be happy. When disappointment shows its face, take it and move forward. 

See the beauty in life around you. The world is alive, and you are a part of that. Make your part your own.

"The talent for being happy is appreciating and liking what you have, instead of what you don't have."
-Woody Allen