i wrote this after my glass fell to the sand and i was (a little) surprised it did not break lol

when i rode the boat going to the island, i was *overwhelmed* and felt so small in this huge, vast ocean

the sea made me think about drowning. with all the heaviness in a man's heart, how does one sink?

i thought loss is equivalent to nothing but it is when we lose that everything goes on full repeat and apparently loss brings us everything-- all the memories, faces, events, sunrises, sunsets, now, the past, and everything in between

Here are poems i wrote when i had a break from all the working and toiling under the sun. 

In retrospect, my sixteen-year-old self would've thought that by twenty-six, I have it all figured out. And seeing that where I am today clearly tells that, well, yo, I do not.

And funny how when we were young we always have thought that happiness in our future lives depends on success, well material success for that matter. That success is spelled out with M-O-N-E-Y, and everything along with it, you name it-- your own house and lot, a car, and all the world's luxuries in between.

That by after ten to fifteen years of graduating high school, you'll have things figured out. Society has wired us into thinking that it's what should be the expectations of our future selves.

Unfortunately, though, society has NOT told us, and NOT prepared us, that failure might be along the way. So it's no wonder how people easily get burdened when they realize that the lives they live now are the exact opposite of what they thought would be-- give and take a couple of years into the future.

Personally, I would've wanted for society to be more honest to that sixteen-year-old me and tell me: Okay, so that's where you'd want to be in the future. That sounds like a good plan. But let me be honest and tell you this: There's a chance that this certain expectation of you wouldn't pan out. And when that happens, which in most cases REALLY DO NOT, hey, don't panic, and don't blame yourself. The truth is: sometimes life sucks (also, it's not usually sometimes LOL). And that's totally normal. We don't usually end up where we think we'd end up in the future, so that's basically okay.

Remember that wherever you may be, you are actually where you're supposed to be, so don't fret. What's meant for you will never miss you and what has missed you is never meant for you. Trust in the magic of your own journey, and make sure you learn a lesson or two in each chapter.

And also: SUCCESS IS RELATIVELY SUBJECTIVE, DEPENDING ON THE VALUES YOU LIVE BY. Your measure of success is different from everyone's measure of success, SO WHY DO YOU ACT AS IF THERE'S ONLY A CERTAIN WAY TO BE SUCCESSFUL?  

#ThingsItTakeAwhileToUnderstand

I did not realize all of these until now that I am twenty-six.

written by Jong