Hopes and dreams don't rain down from the heavens, they are grown up from the soil with the work of your hands.

Like most people my age, the adult world (my parent, my teachers, my extended family, TV shows) continually told me how great I was. I could do or be anything! I was so smart! I was so creative and talented! I made the world better just by living in it! And, like most people my age, I was thus imparted with a sense of entitlement.

Yeah, I said entitlement and I totally understand the negative connotation that has. Come on, you know on some level most of us 25-35 year olds out there feel like the perfect life is just one day going to rain down on us from the heavens. Jesus loves me. I am a unique snowflake. I know I'm not better than anyone else, but I'm different because I have all this amazing potential.

Look, I know you don't think you piss excellence any more than the next guy; neither do I. But we as a generation are nonetheless deluded in our expectation that someday we will shit greatness. It'll just fall right out of our asses. Perfect house perfect spouse perfect car, career, kids... Guess what? THERE IS NO GUARANTEE.

You know what happens when you tell an entire generation how unique and special they all are? You set them up to fail. Sure, some will be lucky, but most of us have been first overwhelmed with choices and next disappointed with reality when we discovered how difficult it is to actually live up to our ideals. Once cut loose from the apron strings of college, we fled to what, on paper, are easy, stress-free lives as junior engineers and associate coordinators and freelance data jockeys. Only they aren’t easy or stress-free because we thought we were better than this... We were told we were better...! Astronaut! Movie Star! President!

My peers, unlike the adults and institutions in my life, had a different message for me. I was not special or better; in fact, there was always something wrong with me. I was too fat, I was too weird, I was too quiet or too slow or too nerdy or even not nerdy enough. Under the duress of constant (possibly self-imposed) rejection I learned what it was like to struggle, and to persist. I learned that respect doesn't fall from the sky, and neither do success or happiness. All three must be earned.

I struggle every day to be where I am and to get to a better place. Just like generations of people have done before me I have discovered the tried-and-true method of working hard and sacrificing for the things that I want. I know that I am a rat in the race, and there is no time for resting on laurels; there is no time for being comfortable--the time for comfort and resting is retirement! So now, today, I’m going strong in the pursuit of happiness and enjoyment. I’m working hard to live my life on my terms and have as much fun as possible.

Guess what? The tried-and-true method works! I’m happy and I’m having lots of fun! In fact, I have way more fun now than I ever did when I lived the easy life of admissions counselor for recruitment and publications coordinator and soon-to-be-Mrs. JH. Forget that crap. Forget complacency.

So please, don’t marvel at me in awe of my "interesting life." Just know that I’m earning it.