Experience

Experience is weird. If, 10 years ago, you had told 16 year old Alix that she’d be flying to D.C. for interviews, riding the metro alone, making mistakes and recovering and not having an anxiety attack, she would have laughed. She would have laughed and said “Oh that’s dumb. I’m going to be married and living in Houston and pregnant then. I’ll be a stay at home mom. Also, I’m way too nervous to do any of those things. Can we go to Chipotle?”

Experience is that thing that divides people. It’s the delineation between those people that find value in anything and those that think everything sucks. The most interesting people don’t talk a lot about how much something sucks. They’ll talk about the highlights, the good things, and let the rest go. Their experience is positive no matter what actually happened. Those with experience try new things and find good. They try old things and find the good.

Everyday is a chance to put some more notches in my belt (not like that), a few more tricks up my sleeve, forge a new way, and make a new plan. If we look at experience like that, at life like that, the pressure’s off. It’s ok if it sucks or you suck, you don’t have to remember that part. Just remember how to not suck the next time. It's all about interpreting your experience.

To today’s events, 26 year old Alix would says, “F*ck yes I rode the metro. No, no one helped me. Yes, I crushed those interviews. Yes, I tripped on the sidewalk and didn’t care. No, I’m not married. And, can we go to Chipotle?”

How’s that for positivity? Boom.