Cultivate it.

"When you get personal with people, they will get personal with you."
-Dodie, the 80 year-old woman who owns her own antique auction shop in Sylva, NC and is considering going back to school for communication.

The paradox of life is that in the end you get what you put in. "Saving up" will do nothing to help you experience the wealth of life. The only way to really receive here is to invest. It has been said that the truly happy people are the ones who are vulnerable and open and have deep and meaningful relationships. So if you aren't putting yourself out there or putting anything in, don't complain when you get nothing out.

Take an active part in your life. It has been given to you, it is yours. It is no one else's responsibility to see to it that you succeed, that you matter, that you are happy, that you accomplish what you want to, that you get a good grade, that you get what you deserve. However, you have all the tools necessary to cultivate your own life.

A seed, when it grows, has to push through the dirt and manure to reach the air and sun. But it isn't an obstacle so much as the pathway of growth. It is the preparation to becoming the flower or tomato or willow tree it is meant to be. We look at challenges and we say "adversity" with such a negative connotation. There will be times that are challenging, times when you are unhappy, times when things don't go the way they should, times when you put in everything and still get nothing out.

Because this is life. And it is unstable, illogical, irrational, unpredictable, and messy.

So maybe you have to play in the dirt a little to make it to the sunlight. But there is no need to rush out of the adversity. No need to patch up the bad; after all, no patch is well placed. Take your time. Allow yourself to be unhappy, to feel disappointed, to lose the game, to feel hurt. And play in the dirt, work through the manure.
"Life can be carried only in the hands of the unhurried." -Anonymous

This is life. It's messy, it takes work, it takes your participation. Cultivate it.