Don't You Forget About Me

Don't you forget about me...a sentence that sums up a fear many of us fear. What are we leaving behind? What will we be remembered as? Will we leave an impression? So many questions with so few answers. Every time I hear the song "Don't You Forget About Me" I wonder what am I leaving behind to be remembered by. I fear I am leaving nothing, that I am nothing, leaving no one to remember my time on this earth. "Don't You Forget About Me" will never be forgotten or the cult classic movie it is associated with, The Breakfast Club. The ending of that movie is forever engraved in my mind with Judd Nelson shoving his fist into the air and that song playing in the background as all of the breakfast club voice over the letter they wrote

That letter states a scary truth how people view others in the most simplest of terms the most basic definitions, which becomes true even after your gone. Your whole life becomes boiled down to one definition of who you are and how people remember you. Whether we mean to or not we label people and see them as one type of person. People who leave a legacy are viewed under one term. When you think of someone famous anyone dead or alive think of that definition you associate with them. You probably have only one or maybe two things you think of. Now go research that person, really research them not just a quick skim of Google. You'll probably find there is a lot more to that person than the one or two terms you think of them as. That's what the breakfast club tries to teach us that we have all types of emotions, apsects, talents inside of us but at the end of the day and at the end of our lives people tend to remember only one or if we are lucky two things about us, which makes you wonder what are people remembering?

My greatest fear is that I won't be remembered, that I will never achieve that icon fist in the air moment. I want to engrave myself on this world and leave an image of me that people will remember. How do I create that image? How do I shape it to be what I want? How do I know i'm leaving the right one image of myself? I worry about that with every decision I make. I wish I could be remembered as everything I am but I know that's not the case. As more time keeps passing and the older I get I fear people have already created a view of me I cannot escape. What if I have missed my chance?  You only have one shot at that one side of you that people will forever remember. I want to make sure it has the good feelings and the lasting power like Judd Nelson's Iconic moment. I want to be remembered for my heart and talent and not the confusion I feel now.

We all want to be remembered, to leave a lasting impression on this earth. We all wish that people would remember everything about us but sadly that's not the case. People never remember the complex but they do remember the simple definitions they create for themselves. What image are you leaving behind? are you shaping it in to what you want? all we have is the one chance and once people have the image of you shaped their is no changing it. start now before it's to late, don't let yourself be forgotten or worse remembered as something you are not. If the breakfast Club and it's ending taught me anything it is we all have the chance to be remembered but you have to choose how you want to be remembered and make it happen for yourself. you can achieve this:

I will achieve this. I will have my moment with my fist in my air that all will remember. 

You won't forget about me.

One Tree Hill Life Lessons

I've been watching One Tree Hill recently and it has gotten me to thinking about lessons I've learned from the

show. One Tree Hill has relationships, thoughts and events that really make you think about your own life. Now some of you may be laughing at me thinking I'm dumb to take life lessons from a TV show, but One Tree Hill to me is more than a TV show. I've grown up with that show watching it through high school and

college.Many of the quotes I turn to for inspiration or guidance are from this show. Like this quote below, 

we have to continue to believe in our dreams and wishes if we want them to come true because we never know when that might happen. I often forget to believe in my dreams, instead choosing to believe I am foolish for believing in something that will never come true, but this quote reminds me if I want it to happen I have to always carry it with me and believe. It's not easy to keep a dream in your heart, especially when everything and everyone is telling you you should give up, but it wouldn't be a dream if it came easily. A dream is something that has to be worked for so when it comes to fruition we realize how lucky we are to have it come true.

Another Quote that sticks with me is this one:

In life we often become obsessed with the end result instead of the journey we take to get there. We become so concerned with finding the perfect job, finding our true love, getting married and starting a family, we forget to enjoy all the mistakes and all the twists and turns that get us to the destination. This quote reminds me that every mistake, every fall, every adventure is part of the journey. if you let fear hold you back you might miss out on a better destination than the one you wind up at.

Along the same lines of worrying and fearing the journey is the obsession of happiness as a destination. The quote below describes what's wrong with thinking of happiness as a destination.  

We're taught that we need to be happy and that it is something you can search out an attain by having the right things or the right job or the right partner, but happiness doesn't work that way. One Tree Hill reminds me that true happiness is a mood not a place that you can arrive at. You can't picture happiness as being achieved by having the right job, or the right house, or the right amount of money. If you picture happiness that way then you may never be happy. Happiness is a mood it's not always there it comes and goes like any mood, but if you view it as a mood instead of a destination you may just find happiness more often.

If you find yourself unhappy or afraid or your life not where you want it think of this quote:

I think of all the time we waste trying to figure out why our life if where it is and try to put the blame on others but the truth is we are where we are because of ourselves. We can try and blame life, circumstances, fate whatever target we find to blame, or we can accept that we shape our own life. Life may not always be fair but if we fight back and chase after what we want we can achieve our dreams. Every choice we make every, every decision we decide takes us a step further on the path. So make the right choices if you want to stay on the right path because if you wind up on one you don't want to be you have no one to blame but yourself.

The Last lesson and one of the firsts One Tree Hill taught me is this one:

The fact of life is we are all struggling with something in our lives. Each person you meet is battling something that you may have no idea what it is. Remember that the next time you insult someone or judge someone. We have no idea what each other is going through and the struggles that each other faces. It can make a person feel incredibly alone to know that they are just one of many fighting through life. If you can find that one person, doesn't matter who they are if they are a friend, family, significant other, the journey will seem a little less lonely and scary. All you need is one to make you feel connected to the world and remind you you can make it through.

In life we are struggling to find the answers and find the help to make it through. Some people turn to God, some people turn to science, some people turn to books. I turn to anything that sticks with me, whether it's a tv show, a book, a person, history, myself. Anything that can help make sense of this journey we are on I gather and store in my mind for those times I begin to doubt and wonder what I'm working for. Whatever you may turn to I hope it reminds you to enjoy the journey and not be afraid.