Conversations with Friends that Lead to Lessons Learnt

Yesterday I found myself listening to a friend of mine tell me that I should stop worrying so much  about my future but rather learn to let go and live in the now. I can see where he was coming from but that just isn't me.

I believe that if you really work hard for something and goal for it and visualise it and put your all into it that you can achieve it. It's part of who I am and how I have been raised by my incredible parents. I am not saying that as soon as you visualise something or goal for it, that it will happen. I am not saying that because I am in Gen Y/Z that  automatically means that as soon as I think I can do something, I believe that I should get it and that no one can stop me. Which is one of the reason's I dislike generalisations against groups of people.
 
What I am trying to say is that I believe in hard work, in trying your best and proving people wrong. I believe in having a goal and a plan to strive for and work towards. That is why I am so focused and determined to get in contact with bloggers, writers, designers and editors; because my future depends on how hard I work now. It's why I get so excited when I get a reply from a designer or when I get chosen for a university scholars program. The future is exciting to me and that is what keeps me going.

Many people out there and many of my friends would completely disagree with my view on life.
People say to me that I should just go with the flow and live in the present and that I shouldn't plan out my life. That I should let myself  'let go'. But the thing is I don't have the ache to 'let go' like many of my peers do. In fact one of my favourite things to do on a Friday night is sit back and read a fashion magazine and then cut out all the ads from it that I like and stick them up on my wall. It inspires me and makes me feel like I am one step closer to the world that I hope to live in.

After having the conversation with my friend yesterday it occurred to me that I'm not like some other teenagers and that I am different to those people in the way I think and portray myself. I have learnt first hand that this causes friction between people and can hurt and end relationships. Though I have also learnt that there are people out there just like me and people that can understand who I am and what I live for. I have learnt that everyone has different values and goals and that the eyes of those people all have different perceptions of the world. That is what keeps the world running and what makes us human I guess.