I signed up for Facebook during it's initial rise from the ashes of MySpace back in 2007-2008. At that time, I was old enough to be present during the tail end of the MySpace craze; I still remember some people adding music and freaky designs to their pages. Personally, I had no incentive of making a MySpace as most of my social interaction was out in the neighborhood, playing every day with the kids on my street. I suspect that Facebook was trying to be similar to previous social networking pages and had interesting sections to describe yourself. One of those is the title of this post, Favorite Quotes.
I honestly can't remember the last time I updated/added to my Favorite Quotes section of my profile. Looking back, each quote represented a part of my teenage self; they were a minute representation of my growing personality.
“[We do it] Not because they [the goals] are easy, but because they are hard.”
I remember I enjoyed this quote because at that time in my life, academics were kinda beating the shit out of me. I was (and still am) an extremely lazy person and that year was when I seriously transitioned from having too much fun in elementary and middle school to the rigors of high school. I was incredibly unprepared; I hated studying and learning because all I wanted to do was play computer games and hang out with friends. I saw this quote and it kind of instilled some kind of motivational spirit in me. I wanted to achieve something that would be difficult to get because the path to get there is hard. By going down that winding road, I can improve myself along the way. The difficult journey itself will prepare me for anything.
Nowadays, I would say I still adhere pretty adamantly to this quote. I went to UC Berkeley where I got completely beat up, eaten, and shat out. That didn't stop me from giving up and those hardships have prepared me well in turning me into a fully functional adult.
“Lost time is never found again.”
Ok yeah this is an easy one. Don't waste any time! In middle/high school, I was pretty addicted to video games, especially online games such as Runescape and Maplestory. Looking back though, it was kind of nice as I was able to bond with some of my friends through those mediums. I was just really worried that I was wasting time because I was seeing everyone else around me excel in their classes, sports, and social relationships that time wasting always felt like one of the primary factors of my issue.
I would say I'm much better now by better optimizing my time. I don't have a strict time stamp schedule set up, but I am much more mindful about how I spend my time. I always set aside time for personal growth (learning a new skill, workout, etc.), friends, work, and exploration. I also learned how to better diversify my time.
“Your future is in your own hands.”
I was on the full Obama train back when he ran for his first term. Growing up I really only knew about one president, George W. Bush, and the early 2000s politically and economically wasn't the greatest. I distinctively remember sitting in my parent's room, watching their TV late on election night to see all the major broadcasting channels declare Barack Obama as the president of the United States. It was a very memorable moment. No idea where I grabbed this quote, but I liked it because of the simplicity and how it felt like it summarized his own path. Whatever happens next will be up to me.
I'm still young and there's still so many decisions that I make that can affect my short and long term future. I need to be mindful about what I do and quickly learn from my mistakes.
“Friendship is like peeing on yourself: everyone can see it, but only you get the warm feeling that it brings.”
Uh honestly, I thought this was a hilarious quote back then. Like so funny that everyone on Facebook should see it. Yeah that's about it. I'm very glad my humor has evolved (well I hope people think I'm funny now).
“You have enemies? Good. That means you’ve stood up for something, sometime in your life.”
I think I was kind of an edgy teen. I'm the type of person to believe that not everyone can agree with everyone on every topic; there is always going to be friction. Sometimes I believe people should have strong opinions and stand up for themselves. This can sound stubborn, and many times it is, but it's something I've always believed in. I understand that listening to others is incredibly important, but groupthink can sometimes be extremely bad.
As an adult, I feel like this quote is even more relevant. Some grown (knowledgable!) adults can be so incredibly dumb.