Stay here.

So, I've noticed a rising trend in my generation.

We all hate thinking about the future.

I think I know why that is too.

So far, life has been pretty rough...for all of us.  School has only gotten more competitive, the internet has forced social exchange on everyone, and parents are becoming more and more careless by the day.

Whether you're living in South Brooke or somewhere in inner city Decatur...this generation is suffering from far too many things to keep life straight anymore.

Life is hard.  That's all we know.  While we're aware that the future can be better, we're not necessarily convinced that it will be.  That's why we're keeping it right here...in the present.  We can't think about the past.  We're all too busy to remember the good times.  Our good times are so few and far between that, if we didn't write them down in a journal or blog about them, they might be lost forever. 

It's sort of disheartening, the way we live.

Yes, we're lazier...but we have all the reason in the world to not trust what lies ahead of us.  We don't think straight because, even when we try our hardest, our 1 + 1 attitude won't always get us a 2.  Understand me, people?  Things that were supposed to make sense...because they made sense with every generation before us...have no structure to us.  Life becomes one big line when you have nothing to base it off of.

Listen...I'm not saying that we have nothing to look forward to...just that the lives we're all leading won't get us where we want to go...if we even know where we want to go.  Most of us are clueless on that one too.

Thoughts?

Suggestions?

Concerns?

Hate

I wish I didn't.

: (

Jacob doesn't need friends...

My life has changed.  I've become unimportant in the lives of many people.  I did it.  I made a conscious decision to stop talking to these people.  Who does that?  It wasn't even an experiment.  I just wanted to do it.  There was little thought process involved.  I'm just sadistic.

I think you'll understand when I say those people (some of you) don't "need" me.  Those that do need me have made an effort to keep me close.  We are all needed by the people around us...just not all of them.  Life isn't a fairytale.  Not everybody is going to love you.  Many of them, however, will depend on you until the day they die.

It's just one of the important things I've learned lately.

Listen.  I don't care about video games.  I don't care about movies.  I don't care about Facebook.  I don't care about pictures.  Music is dead to me.  The only thing that has any worth to me is love.  Everything I own could be gone tomorrow when I wake up...and I wouldn't bat an eye.  I couldn't do that if I woke up tomorrow and my family decided never to talk to me again...or God seized to exist.  My father once told me that we all, at some point in our lives, hang on to a thread that's just too loose...and we fall.  I'm just wondering if that thread is too loose right now. 

My friends are all but gone.  Communication is at an all-time low.  It's like I depend on the people I don't know to somehow make my day better.  I'm a missionary in my hometown.  It's strange!  I am gaining a knack for talking to people I don't know, however.  I'm liking that!  It keeps people from being lonely.

Something else I learned tonight...

Don't drop out of school.

Please.

Don't.

No matter how awesome you "know" you are...or how much you're getting for selling crack...an education will be important sooner than you think.

Here's a message to all females:

Don't date guys who dropped out of school.  For the love of K Fed, please stay away from these guys!  Their wife-beaters, spiky hair, and "sexy Chinese lettering tattoos" will mean nothing to you when you're living in a double-wide.

( + 10 points if you thought I was gonna say "...when you're livin' in a van down by the river!")

Trust me.  It was tempting.

Actually, general rule of thumb...let your father assess your boyfriend.  Let him be brutally honest.  Don't cry about it.  Just listen.  If your father has talked to him enough to make a fair judgment...he's probably right about your guy...good or bad.  Dads are harsh.  Enjoy the security while you can.

Here's a message to all males:

Don't date unsupportive girls!

( + 5 points if you know "unsupportive" is not an actual word. Thank you, Firefox.)

If a girl can't accept everything you are...the immaturity, the quirks, the less-than-stellar jokes...don't give her a second glance.

If you find yourself dating an unsupportive girl, stop.  It's as easy as that.

This works if you're a female as well.  If the guy doesn't care enough to do things you want to do and congratulate you when you've done something you're proud of...dump him.  Do it.  Now.  Seriously.

Let me end this post with a happy thought:

People DO care about you.  The world will never be as heartless as you imagine it on your darkest days.  People love you.  People want to see you enjoy your life.  Whether someone has told you that lately or not, it will always be true of every individual.

"Even my greatest of enemies will grow love of some capacity in my heart."
- Anonymous

Goodnight, everyone.  Please have a good weekend.

Your civil servant,
Jacob Smith (Dante)