An epic weekend in Atlanta: 26 Born day Edition

Ladies and germs....what does it do??? Now I know been away from this blogging thing for a while, and a lot of things have taken place on the blue rock that we call earth. I will address those things in a later post but for today's read, I will share will you, the readers, about the events that happened about two weekends for my born day. It was truly one for the record books that I will never forget anytime soon. So on that note, lets get on with the post.

THURSDAY
So my actual born day was two weeks ago on Thursday, but I wanted to celebrate it for the whole weekend. What better place to bring it in than the capital of the south aka Atlanta, GA? I have everything planed for that weekend so the only thing left to do was to get the rental car. I go to Enterprise to pick up the rental and I get stuck with a Chevy spark. Now for those who don't know, a spark is basically a really small car. Keep in mind that I am 6'3, round 244, and wear a size 15 in shoes. My big behind had no business in that car. It was so small that I let the seat all the way back and my knees were hitting the steering wheel. The struggle was way too real for a young king like myself. So after a phone call, I got everything fixed. Now before the new rental car, I went to IHOP with my mom for my born day breakfast. Everything was going good. I got my eat on and I was almost out of the door until my mom told the them it was my born day. Of course, they came around me and sang happy born day to me. After it was said and done, I trade in that small spark for a grown my dodge charger. After loading up the car, I was on my way to the A.

After a good two hour drive, I finally arrived at the aquarium. Now since it was my born day, I got in for free. When I got inside, The kid that lives within me was in full affect. I have never since something as amazing as this before. I went into the different displays and saw all types of marine animals. The one that had me in awe were the whale sharks. To describe how big they are would not do them justice. It just one of those things you just have to see. Despite whole big they are, they swam so gracefully in the water. Some other animals I saw were sharks, otters, sting rays, bottom nose dolphins, and an albino alligator. After spending a some time in the aquarium, unfortunately, it was time to go. Before I headed to the car, I grabbed a bit to eat, paid for parking, and then headed to Lenox square.

On may way there, I ran into that awful Atlanta traffic. It took me close to a hour to get to the mall. I braved traffic, and finally walked into the mall. Now when I got in there, i got lost since it was only my fourth time in there. Once I find a map, I stopped by urban outfitters and hanged with my amiga for a while. We caught up, helped me pick out a shirt to buy, and then it was time to part ways....for now.After I left, I was on way to my friends place, but there was just one problem: My phone kept dying on me. Lucky enough, I found a Starbucks and charged my phone just enough to get on the road. At about 10 pm, I arrived at my friends place, caught up with them, and got my drank. After it was all said  and done, it was time to hit the day to prepare for the next day.

FRIDAY
Friday comes along, and of course I am still bring in my born day. On this night, I had a little get together but before we get into this, we have to talk about what happened before to the party. I get up, grab something to get, and then start drinking. I mean why not, it was happy hour somewhere in the world. Around 2, my friends and i decided to got my favorite pizza place in Atlanta. No normally that would have been a 20 minute drive but because the interstate was backed up, we decided to that the back way which ended up being close to a 40 minute drive. After we arrived, we ordered a pitch or beer, a pizza, and some wings. since it was my born day, I got a free shot on the house. after that, we head to a party store to pick up some supplies for the party, the liquor store to get some beer, and then we went to see my homies at work. After it was all said and done, we got back to the crib around 6:30.

So before the party started, me and my friend deiced play beer pong to kill some time. Big mistake on my part since I suck at that game. By the time the game was over, I have drunk about three cans of beer and i started to feel drunk. Keep in mind that I had been drinking all day. To get sober, I drunk a little over a gallon of water, and ate some crackers. I stayed using the bathroom for the next hour and a half. After a game of phase 10, I got sober just in time because folks started arriving to the party.

During the party, of course there was a lot of drinking involved. I mean what kind of part would it be without drinking. During the course of this party, I was drinking, I was drinking. I mostly had beer with a few shots of vodka. I was feeling nice. We were playing all types of drinking games, and the music was banging. Everything was going good until i made the foolish choice of taking two shots of Henny during true of dare. From there, things went down here for me. After the party was over, i slicked passed out. After waking up, I headed straight to the bathroom in which I proceed to throw up. It felt like i was throwing up my soul. While i was throwing up, I kept thinking "why did i put all this poison in my body?" Lucky for me, I felt better and then passed out on the couch for the remainder of the night.

SATURDAY AND SUNDAY

Basically, Saturday and Sunday were basically the same day in this epic weekend Besides one or two differences, I did the exact same thing on both days, but they both were amazing. On Saturday, I woke up from my liquor induced coma with no hangover. Yay me. After drinking some water, I started to look for something to eat. Lucky I had the mind set to get some waffle house the night before. While I am eating that, everyone starts to wake up and begin to eat as well. Throughout the whole day, all we did was look at YouTube videos, eat, and talk about  different topics. Around 11, we went out to wet willies and meet up with some folks we went to school with.After we left there, we went to the grocery store, watched some Netflix, and then went to sleep around 3.

Sunday morning, we all woke up slowly one by one. We started off by watch Dexter on Netflix. After about two episodes, everyone went back to sleep. When everyone got up for good, we basically chillaxed the whole day. We finished up season three of American Horror Story, and then got something to eat. After about 2 hours of looking at YouTube videos, we picked up our friend from work. Then about 10 minues later, I got on the road, and headed back to my city.

All in all, I had an amazing weekend. it was truly one for the record books. If someone were to ask me what was the best part of that weekend, I would have to say spending time with my friends. Don't get me now, all the other things I did that weekend was EPIC!!! I had an amazing time, but being around my friends truly made my weekend special. I don't get to see them everyday so when I do see them, it always special and never a dull moment with them. Well folks I think that wraps up this post. As always, life, be great, do dope shit.

What if......

So today marks seven years  to the day that something  happend to me. On this every day, 10-30-207 on a tuesday afternoon,  I met someone  who would life a very lasting impact on my  life.  Now if you have read my previous  post, you know who am referring  to. For those who haven't,  read Nothing  Was The Same. In a nutshell,  I  met someone  special  that day who at the time was nothing but a perfect stranger,  but as time went and passed, she would evolve  from a friend to a person who  means the world to me. Since I  did my last post about  her, has anything  changed.? Did I tell her exactly  how i feel about her? The  answer  to those questions  is no.

The reasons why  is that i still don't  know how to tell her, I didn't where she stayed at, and i knew she was happy.  Well since then, I  have  found  out that she still lives in Atlanta and after talking  to friends, I  came to the conclusion  that I  could  make her happy  as well. Even though all of the advice,  I still haven't said nothing  to her. Part of the reason i haven't  said nothing  is my feelings  for her go on and off , but they stay on must of the time. The other reason  is i honestly  don't  know  what will happen.  As the day has went on, I have been living in the world  of  "what if" about this situation.  "What if".....a world I strongly  recommend  no one pays a vist to.

WHAT IF.....
What if the reason we met that day was for a reason?
What if i had realized  my feelings  for her earlier?
What  if i told her how i feel? 
What if she has/hade the same feels for me as I do her?
What  if we become  a couple?
What if we are  meant  to be/soul mates?
What if all this is happening  to  draw  us together  down  the  line? 
What if we had done this from the start and not wasted  so much time?
Last but not least. ...What  if we are not meant to be?

To be honest, I will probably  never  know the answe to some of these "What ifs" since the  answer to them only  lie in the past. I can speculate  on them as much as I  want, but at the end of the day it wouldn't  change a thing. All I focus  on  is the here and now and the facts.  The facts are; we met 7 years ago, we haven't  seen each other in 6 years, and we haven't  spoken  in a out a year. The facts are that alot of things can happen  during of all of this  time. I know i am definitely  not the same  person I  was back in 2007 and I  know she is not either. If we were to meet, I don't  know if i would  feel  have the same feelings  for the
2014 versions like i do for the 2007 version.

At the end of the day, I can completely  change this whole situation by being up front and just tell her the truth. Tell her how much she means to me. Tell her that I truly miss her. Tell her that i just want her to be happy.  In a nutshell, l can tell her all the things i should  have  told her from the start. After that, the rest is up to her. She can either take accept  my feelings  and return  them, she could  reject them, or she could put me in the infamous "friend zone" area. Anything  would be better than living in a world of "what if". Eventually, I will man up and tell her everything  one of these days and I can move on with my lif3, whether  for better or worse from the  situation.  Hopefully  next year, I won't be writing again about telling her my fellings.  Well folks  that  is all for now.  I usually  say live, be great,  and do dope shit at the  end  of  my post but for this one, I will end it by saying live your truth  no matter  what it maybe.

Current Mood: BLAH

I don't know what is going on, but lately I haven't been feeling like my usually, awesome self. One my say that I am in a runt. I don't know when this actually began, but one day I just felt nothing. I didn't feel happy, sad, or anything in between. It's like all my emotions have left the building, and I am just a empty, soulless, shell of my former self. It seems like all my creative juices, and awesome vibes have been replaced with just working all the time. In a nutshell, you can say that I Have become a cooperate robot....*Plays horror music*

Now to be fair, I can not blame my current issue on just my job. Everyone has to work in order to do just about anything. I see plenty of my friends working, but still find the time/energy to have fun and enjoy life. Some find time to travel, some find time to party, hell some even find time to start up their own businesses. If everyone else is doing such awesome things, then why can't I do the same as well? To be honest, I don't know.

If I am to be completely honest with myself, I am doing the one thing I am tell people not to do: just exist. I truly not living life to the fullest. In fact, it really feels like I am just settling. Settling with having a job that pays less than $8 a hour. Settling for still being in my hometown while just about everyone i know from her has left and started a new phase in their lives. Settling for living at home with my family. Last but not least, settling for the fact that my dreams, goals, and ideas or just too unrealistic to come true. Boy, when did I turn into a lame version of myself???

What can be down to get my groove back? To be honest, the answer is so simple. Basically I need to do three things. The first thing is to get back to what made me who I am/was in the beginning. That means getting back to my art, getting back to discovering new and exciting music, getting back to writing, and getting back to following my dreams and making them a reality. Basically, I need to reignite, and follow my passion. The second thing is I need to move. I am believe your environment has a huge factor in the energy have. Lately, my current surrounds have not been sparking the creative energy that lies within me. Every time I leave and go out of town of the other hand, I feel inspired once again the the mojo comes back in full force. Last but certainly not least, I have to trust and have faith in the plan that God has for me. Everything happens for a reason, and I do believe all of this is a part of a bigger picture. I believe that for to do what God has planned for me, I have to go through all of this to become a strong and better person than I am currently. The good book say that God will not put more on than you care bear.

In summary, am I a slump right now? Yes I am. Will things get better? Eventually, I don't know when.  In reality, all I truly know is this is happening for a reason. What that reason is I have the slightest idea. Whatever the reason is, I hope that will be able to see it, and learn from the experience. All in all, while things may not be ideal in my life right now, things could be way worse. I won't complain about how things are right. I just going to embrace this phase in my life, learn from it, and my the necessary changes to it. Sooner or later, I will return to my awesome self once again. As chance the rapper say in Good Ass Intro, "Even better than i was the last time baby ohh ohh ohh ohh ohh I'm good." Well folks, that is it for now. Until next time...Live, Be Great, Do Dope Shit.

One for the record books

Ladies and germs, once again I am here to say some things and hopefully y'all will read it. If you read it, I appreciate it. If you don't read, whatever. Now usually I have a topic that I write about that can be talked about on a broader term,and sometimes I write about something that has happened in my life. Well folks, in today's edition I will be writing about a personal event that recently taken place. Now if you follow me on the gram, the book of many faces, or twitter, then you already know what I am talking about. For those of you who don't, well I am talking about one of the best experiences I have had thus far in 2014. I am talking about none other than the best concert of the year.....Outkast At Last.

Now before I go into details about this amazing event, lets back track to how this all started. So on a random weekday on a hot June day, I was chillaxing as usual and looking through the different social media networks that I am apart of. At this point, I am on the gram when all of a sudden I see a post about an Outkast concert that was taking place in Atlanta in September. Before I got all hyped about what I just saw, I had to reread what i just saw. Outkast....having a concert....near me.....in a few months.....needless to say a young king like myself made it my personal mission to be at this concert.

 A few days later, they revealed when the tickets would go on sell, and it just so happen that day would fall on a day I did not have to work. It seemed as the universe was telling me to go to this event. They also revealed who would be their opening act for that day who just so happen to be two of my favorite artist; Kid Cudi and Childish Gambino.The tickets were going on sell at 10 in the am, and I was determined to go to this concert. I went to be bed early so I could get up and buy a ticket. In the back of my mind I knew would be at this show. Boy was i mistaken......soft of.

Its the day when the tickets go on sell. I get up at 9:30 am, and I am pump to get my ticket. For once reason or another, I end up falling back asleep and waking back up at 10:45 am. To say I was in panic mode would be an understatement. As soon as I got on the Ticketmaster website and tried to buy a ticket, the message SOLD OUT appeared before my eyes. As the words set in, I was truly depressed my one chance to witness the best concert of possibly all time was out the window....or so I thought. It was after reveled that Outkast would be selling tickets for a second show at 2 pm.There was no way I was going to miss this show. When the time came, I had my phone, laptop, and tablet on the website because there was no way on Gods green earth was going i going to miss this chance. So after a hour and 15 minutes, I finally got the all sought after golden egg known as an Outkast concert. 

Fast forward to three months later, it is the day before the concert and I am so ready for it. I have the next four days off so I can truly enjoy the weekend and all that it has in store. I get up and go get my rental car for the trip. I went and got my work out on, then around 1:30 I load up the car and got on the road to Atlanta. About a hour and a half later, I get in Atlanta and then link up with my family. They were in the process of helping my cousin move so I decided to help out. What I thought would be a quick way to kill some time turned out to be about a five hour moving session, but I didn't mind since that is my family. After that, I had to Stone Mountain to hang with my college friends. While I was there, I got my eat on, played some games, and got my drank on. Needless to say after the drinks I was in no condition to drive to the place I was going to crash at for the weekend. So I end up crashing at my friend's house that night. The next day, I wake up with liquor still in my system but after getting some food in my gut, I was back to normal. After a few hours, I got in the shower and then got on the road, heading to Outkast concert.

Now after getting lost a few times in downtown Atlanta, I finally get to my destination. Its about 3:30 pm and there is a line of people that are waiting to get into the venue. After a few minutes, they begin to let us in. As I walked in, the first thing I noticed all the tents that were set up in the park. Then as I walked farther along, I finally saw the stage in which I would witness a performance of a lifetime. Near the stage, they had three screens. On one of the screens, it displayed what time each act was supposed to preform. First up would be Janelle Monae, followed by Future, 2 Chainz, and last but not least Outkast. The first performance wasn't to start until 5, so I walk around searching for something to eat there. As I looked around, I saw that they have pizza, hot dogs, fries, fish and chicken among other stuff. Then they had water, soda, beer, and wine there as well. One thing I notice was the price of everything was high as hell. I mean $9 for one beer??? The fuck??? Nonetheless, I end of up getting my eat on then about an hour later, the show began.

It is 5:20 pm and no one has hit the stage yet. All of a sudden, this dude comes on the stage and starts rapping. Apparently he is a local rapper because the crowd, mostly made up of locals, knew all the words to his songs. This lasted a good 15 minutes and then the real opening acts came up to perform. Each act did their own thing differently, but gave the show a ton of energy. The first person up was Janelle Monae. That is one beautiful woman. She performed songs from both of her albums. There are three things that made her performance amazing. One was she had a live band. When she performed Prime Time and the guitar solo came up, it was just magic. The second thing was that she had fun, and you could tell. She was dancing, acting randomly, and playing around. She even jumped into the crowd for a few minutes. The third thing is the connection to the crowd. You could tell that the energy she was receiving from the crowd was given back to us in tenfold. After she got done, the  DJ played a few records while the next artist got ready to hit the stage. So about 5:45, Future came on the stage. He got the crowd hyped up or "turnt up" as he would say. He performed songs from his mixtapes and albums The one song that he didn't performed that I was looking forward to was Tony Montana. He was on stage for about an hour then the DJ start playing some more records. About 7:20, 2 Chainz aka that artist formally known as Titty Boy came on the stage. Now I not the biggest fan of his so I really did not get into this segment of the concert. He preformed songs that he was the star of as well as song that he is featured on, which is a lot. During his performance, he brought his kid on stage and they seemed to have a good time together. After his last song, he thanked the crowd and exited stage left. All that was left was for Outkast to hit the stage. After the DJ played more records and teased the crowd, Outkast had finally hit the stage.

When they hit the stage, it was about 9:30 in the pm. Big Boi represented Atlanta with the Braves jacket that he had on. Andre 3000 had on a black jumpsuit with a red price tag hanging on the side. He also was rocking a blonde wig and some white shades. As soon as they stepped on the stage, the crowd went wild. OUTKAST!!! OUTKAST!!! OUTKAST!!! OUTKAST!!! That chant went on for about 3 minutes and then they started to perform. They perform songs for all of their albums. They rocked the crowd with those hits, and the crowd were singing the lyrics word for word. Some of the songs they performed together was Rosa Parks, B.O.B,Git Up Git Sum, So Fresh So Clean, SpottieottieDopelicious, and the Whole World just to name a few. During their performance, they brought out Sleepy Brown, Bun B, and Big Gipp from Goodie Mob. About half way into their set, they separated to preform their own songs.First up was Big Boi. He preformed Kryptonite,The Way You Move, and Ghetto Muisck just to name a few. Next up was Andree 3000, and he performed Prototype, Hey Ya, and a few other songs. While he performed He Ya, he brought a few females from the crowd and they were dancing to the song. They would get back to perform a few more songs together. Towards the end of the show, the introduced their band, and the back up singers. After one more song, the show had ended, They had performed one encore, but I didn't stay to listen to it. The park was packed, and a young king was not trying to get stuck in the park, downtown Atlanta, and/or in that traffic.

All in all, I had an amazing time at this concert. It was everything that I expected and more.The music was great, the energy was amazing, and the crowd was crazy. This is probably the best concert they I have been to in my 25 years of living. I will have memories that will stay with me for a life time and then some. Hell if I ever have kids, I will most certainty tell them about the time that I almost didn't see Outkast performed, but had an amazing time at their concert. Well folks, once again it has come to the part where I end another post. Thank you for reading this and as always.....Live, Be Great, Do Dope Shit.

366 days and counting

Well folks, it has officially been a year and day since I began the current chapter of my life; working at Dixie road express. Now I bet yall wondering exactly what I do over there or what is it. Well, basically I'm working at a gas station "shopette" on an army base in Fort Beginning, GA. Now through out this year, I been going through the ups and downs with this job. At first it was alright to work there, but now I just ready to quit. To understand how I gotten to this point we have to start at the beginning.   
 
Let's rewind back to January of 2013. A young king like myself was a newly college graduate.  I was on top of the world at this point.  I believed that I could get any job that I put in for in a heartbeat. Boy was I wrong. At first, I was just applying at jobs that were paying a good amount.  I figured that I would land one of these jobs with no problem.  Unfortunately that was not the case.  After a few months of getting rejected from these "good jobs", I started applying anywhere.  I applied at grocery stores, fast food places, clothing stores, and basically anywhere else you can think of. You would think that one of these places would have hired me, but no.

One rejection that stands out to me is the one I got from Target. I had a phone interview with the manager and I told everything was going great. In the back of my mind, I knew that I had finally landed a job. Again I was wrong.  After the interview,  the person who was conducting the interview told me that not only did I not get the job, I was not qualify enough for the position.  Not qualify???? How hard is it to be a store associate? Even if I didn't know certain things, I would learn them since they would have to train me. Apparently, Target did not share the same mind set as me.

After months upon months of getting rejected, I honestly gave up on the fact that I would get a job. At this point, I got rejected either because I had a degree or I didn't have enough experience.  It seem like all my friends were landing jobs and I was just doing nothing with my life. My family and friends would tell me that you will get a job eventually. It seem that my eventually was taking forever to get her. All of that would change one faithful Tuesday afternoon.

One random Tuesday on a hot summer day in June, I get a call from my dad talking about a possible job opportunity.  He gave me the number to one of his friends, and after talking to her I went on to apply for the job. About a month and a half later,  I got a call for an interview for the job I had applied for. I went to the interview,  killed it, and got the job. Finally after months of apply, hoping, and get rejected, I finally landed a job. 

Now since I been working there, my experience there has definitely had its ups and downs. When I first got there, everything was good. I was glad to be working, learning new things,  and earing some money.  About 4 to 6 months in. I definitely wanted to quit.  The reason why was I wasn't happy with the job anymore,  I wasn't making much money, I was bored,  and it felt like the job was draining my soul. Then after may of this year, there have been times that if it wasn't for my mom answering my calls while I was on break, I would have definitely quit. Besides the reasons I mentioned earlier,  I wasn't getting along with the new manager *still not by the way*, and to be honest,  I just didn't care anymore.  I didn't care if was late coming to work,  I didn't care if I got in trouble,  I just didn't care about the job at all. Quiting/getting fired would not have been the worst thing to happen.  Over time, I have started to care again, but not that much.  I just in the mind frame of just keep quiet, do what you are told, and leave.

My first official day of working for the company was August 13th and I have been there ever since.  If you would have told me I would be working here for over a year ehen I started, I would have laughed and just say ok if you say so. During my time here, I have seen people come and people go. In fact, there are only 6 people who have been there longer than me. All my other coworkers have left for mostly the same reasons that I have given. I have had plenty of ups and downs with this job. There has definitely been some interesting things happened there as well. The one thing that I am most thankful for is meeting some of the people there. I consider them my good friend.

With all of this said, I am so ready for a new job. I believe I have learned all I can from this job, and with more bills and these student loans piling up, a young king definitely needs some better. Even though I have been rejected by jobs and it seems like history is repeating itself,  I am not worried.  If it took me a long time to get this current job, then I know that something will come along eventually.  As my mom always ssy, I will get a better job when I least expect it. I just gotta keep faith and keep putting in eork, and that is what I plan on doing. Well folks,  that's all for now.  As always,  live, be great,  and do dope shit.

The day the world became less funny

I had just gotten home after a long and hard day at work. First thing I do, as always  is say hello to the family, eat dinner, and change clothes.  After I do all of that, I usually get on my phone and see what people are talking about on the social sites. As I scroll down my time line on Instagram, I saw news that really shook my soul and hurt my heart.  On my time line, people were given their condones to an actor/comedian who was found dead in his home. This person has brought a lot of joy and laughs to the heart's of millions. This person that I am talking about is Robin Williams.

Now at first, I did not believe it because someone is always getting killed of via social media every week. I need actual proof that this great man had left this plane of existence.  As I went on the Internet to confirm this information, deep down I hoped that this was just a hoax. I hope that Robin would make a joke about this mistake. Sadly,  this would not happened.  As soon as I googled his name, two distinct headlines popped up. The first one was that Robin Williams had died.  The second one was that he had died from apparent suicide.

Why would a man who brought such much joy and happiness into people's lives decide to just end his own life? As the hours went by, the answer to that question would be revealed.  According to his publist, he was suffering from serve depression lately. As other news sources would reveal his long battle with depression and his struggle with drugs, it just caught me off guard.  I would have never thought some one who was has wonderful as him would be battling with such tough demons. As i proceesed all of this information, it saddened me that he felt so down that he found death as his only solution. It also makes me sad that he felt like he couldn't tell someone about what he was dealing with.

It has been 24 since thus news has broke,  and to be honest I am still hurt and sad about his passing. I think i have seen just about every special tv has been shown about him. This man was a huge part of my childhood. He played in so many movies that I watched as a kid. These movies brought me laugher and joy, and left fund memories of an exciting time in my life. Even as I write this piost, I can't help but to think of some of my favorite childhood movies such as Hook, Addlian, Jack, Ms. Doubtfire, and countless other movies. This man not only touch my life, but countless others as well.

As I close this post, I will leave on two notes. Robin Williams was a great person who brought great joy, laughter, and happiness while he was on this earth. His legacy will be never be forgotten, and the he made us feel will remain with us for life. The other thing is it is OK to get help if you need it. No matter how bad things are going, it will get better and suicide is not the answer.  If you are going through something or know someone who is, then talk to someone and/or get help. The world would be a really dim place without your light so don't blow it out. Once again, rest in paradise Robin Williams.  You will surely be missed,  but definitely never forgotten.

Three things to live by

Well once again,  we have another addition of Life and Times of an Extraordinary Original.  Now for this post, I will talk about something that I always say in all of my post; Live, be great, and do dope shit. Now in an earlier post I did touch on this subject, but for some reason I feel the need to talk about this again. Could I say the same thing all over again? Well that is a strong possibility, but if someone learns from this then so be it. Each thing has its own meaning/value, but it all adds up to one thing in the end : HAPPINESS.

Live
"To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all." - Oscar Wilde
From the time you are born, you have a life. Depending on certain things, you can either have a short life or a long life. Rather you are alive for 8 years or 70 years, you can either live or merely exist.

To exist is to do just that, exist. You don't do nothing worth anything. You just go along with the status quo, play it safe, and basically all you are doing is living in the background. You may have dreams/goals that you want to achieve but you don't try to go after them because you are afraid to fail. You just let you dreams die and you live in the world of shoulda, woulda, coulda.
To live is one of the bravest things to do. There's a reason why people say everyone dies but everyone lives. To live means to step out of your comfort zone. To live means to doing what you love. To live means to step out out of the norm. To live, in a nutshell, means to do exactly what you want to do, no matter what other's say.

If I had to give an example of living vs existing, I will use this example. A person is working a normal 9 to 5. The job pays the bills and is a OK job, but this person doesn't like the job. The person has a dream/passion that burns within them that they want to go after and make come true. The person who just exist will not go after their dream, continue to work at their job that they don't like,  and one day say "I wish I would have." The person who lives will go after their dreams. They will be willing to do any and everything to make this dream in a reality.  It make take the person months or years to may their dreams come to. Hell the person may even fail but at least the person has tried and didn't let themselves fall by the waste side.

Be Great
"Success comes in can, not can't" - Unknown
What does be great mean? It means whatever you do, be great at it. It also means to be the best version of yourself. Each person has a something that they are good at. Whatever that may be, be the greatest at it. Don't let nothing or anyone stop you from being great  Each day as a new chance to do something that will improve your life or someone else life.

Every person has the potential for greatness within themselves, yet few people live up to their greatness. Why is that?  Well one of the biggest things that stop people from being great is fear. Whether it be the fear of failing or the fear of rejection, fear will cause a person with God given talent to just settle for less. In order to become great, the first thing you have to overcome is fear. Once you overcome that, you can truly start being great. Most people see fear as a sign to give up. I believe otherwise.  A wise person once said "If nothing never scares you, then you are not dreaming big enough." Don't see fear as a sign to give up. See fear as a sign that you are on the right path.

Another thing that stop being from being great is what people say. A person may have a goal that can come true, but because of what people may say they give up before they even begin. You going to hear people say things like that is a dumb idea, I hope you have a back up plan just in case, or I wouldn't do that if I was you. No matter what you do in life, there will be at least one person that will try to say something that will make you want to give up. I here to say don't do it. Continue to follow that dream that you see, and prove everybody wrong.  Success is the not only the best revenge,  but it also the best way to prove the naysayers wrong.

Do Dope Shit
"Life is what you make it" - Unknown
Each day that you are on this plane of existence is a new change for you to do something amazing. With the amount of time you have in a day, you can do something dope. Now what is considered dope various from each person. What I consider dope is doing something new, being yourself, doing exactly what you love to do, etc.  Doing something dope can be as simple as going to the park to enough the weather or something complex like starting up your own business. Whatever you choose to do, the most important thing is to enjoy it. Life is unpredictable. One minute you are here, the next minute you gone. While you are still, why not do something worth remembering.

At the end of it all, these three values are add up to one thing: HAPPINESS. No matter who you are, every body wants to be happy.  There's no drawn out path for happiness.  Some people will spend their whole life trying to find happiness. Now I am not saying this is a sure fire way to be happy. Each person has their own way to be be happy. I just suggesting a possible way for for something to find true happiness.  If I can help someone find what makes them help, then this post has done something worth wild. That will bring a form happiness to me. Well people, that is all for told. Just like this post say, live, be great, do dope shit.