Picket Fence?

When most of us are little, we think of all the things we want to be when we're all grown up. For girls, it's babies, and really cute husbands. For guys, it's the perfect car, and cool stuff.

If you asked me at 10 years old what my wedding would look like, I could tell you every little detail.Of course, now that I'm grown up (almost), I understand that I was foolish to believe these things would all come together. I mean, hell.. I wanted peacocks!

But I still believe in the possibility of Prince Charming. And that's where I think unlike many girls my age, I differ.

People complain a lot. We complain about our hair, our weight, our jobs... We complain that men are all dogs, or that women don't understand. But the truth is, more times than not, we put ourselves into the predicaments we are deperately trying to pry ourselves out of.

We wash our hair too often, or not often enough. Use the wrong shampoo, or conditioner because "This one does the same thing but is way cheaper". We drink ourselves into comas every time the weekend comes, we get the jobs that we know we don't want because we have to pay the bills somehow. But when it comes to love, we do that all wrong too. We pick this girl because she's so hot, or that guy because he's exactly what our parents would want for us. Or worse, we choose not to pick at all, leaving us in an intoxicating sort of limbo where we dance around with the idea of someone, but refuse to devote ourselves one way or another.

It's fear that drives us into these awful decisions.. Fear of spending our well earned cash on something that isn't worth the money... Fear of being sober and dealing with reality... Fear of not finding something closer to what we really want. And when it comes to love, we fear the results of our choices. That this guy will be just like my ex, or that girl will hurt me worse than my ex, and if I don't enter into anything official, I have nothing to fear at all.

The thing we have to come to terms with is this: life is made up of risk and opportunity. Each opportunity has it's own degree of risk. But the moment we decide to never wash our hair, drink every day, work jobs we hate (or degrade us), or decide to never open our hearts again- that is a risk that runs 100%. It means that you will be unhappy. Guaranteed.

So let's all make promises to ourselves- gals and guys alike. Promise to give yourself a chance. Promise that in all those opportunities, you'll pick the ones that you feel are the best for you. Pick the best shampoo, drinking habits, careers, and love interests that you can. And see it through. Sure, there's a chance it won't work out. But there's a chance that you'll find something so amazing!

That's the difference between children and adults. As we get older, we start to lose faith, hope, and positivity. We forget what our parents told us every night before bed. That we "can be anything we want to be. Anything is possible." We replace these thoughts with our sad pasts, bad experiences, and most of all, FEAR. This is no way to live life. But somehow, we end up right there in it again every time bad times strike.

A teacher of mine always says "With great risk, comes great reward." I'd have to say she's right. Step out on the ledge, and just... jump.