Every single choice you've made in your life has led you to where you are now. Right now, reading this sentence.
Often people ask me how I ended up in Hawaii, how I became a swimwear model or a full time musician, how I met the man I am soon to marry, how I find the motivation to compete in body building competitions etc.
The truth is it has been one gigantic crazy beautiful mess. Literally. It has been a combination of unfortunate events, luck, terrible decisions, addiction, depression, optimism, trial, error, small accomplishments, huge failures, and a heaping pile of hard work. The kind of hard work that makes you want to crawl into a hole and hibernate for months at a time while contemplating never showing your face to the world again. It. Has. Been. Exhausting. But so worth it. I think people are asking these questions not only out of curiosity but also because they want to pursue something in their own lives but don't know where to start?
In that case, it doesn't really matter where you start as long as you start something. All you have to do is make a choice to start taking small steps in the right direction. Its incredible where your own two feet can take you if you just point them in the direction of your wildest dreams. Then one step at a time, before you know it, you're there. You made it. And then you think "but what is making it?" And you keep going, with a whole new set of wildest dreams and the journey continues.
For the record, I am not the greatest singer, I'm not the best guitarist. I'm not the prettiest model or the strongest athlete. I'm just me. I smash it all together, I do my best, I don't give up, and here I am. I face my fears and present this semi-organized mess to the world and hope for the best. That's all there is to it. All we can do is our best, when we do, we cannot lose.
Furthermore, Comparing one journey to another is like comparing sushi vs. donuts in a culinary standoff. While sushi is delicious, and everybody likes donuts. Would I ever eat the two together? Probably not, but they are equally enjoyable in their own way. They simply cannot be compared. My point is, don't worry about what other people are doing, they are in an entirely different category with a completely different set of circumstances, strengths, weaknesses, and priorities. Ive had many people perceive me to be "selfish" because sometimes following your dreams looks that way. Until wahlah - your "evil plan" to brave the world and create your own happiness looks like a masterpiece and then suddenly they wanna know how you did it. What we must understand is that there is no way to happiness, happiness is the way. If you love what you're doing its going to look like perfection from the outside but only you will see know hard it was to get there. Only you will know the struggle. And thats ok.
Your journey is beautiful and crooked and just as it should be. If you get lost just ask yourself what you can do today to continue your journey toward whatever it is you want out of this incredible life we are gifted.
-VP
