These are quotes I return to often. Not because they're famous, but because they articulate things I learned through experience before I had words for them.

The rearview mirror is for glancing, not staring.

This one stuck with me for a very literal reason. I used to ride back from college staring into my scooter's rearview mirror, trying to catch one last wave from friends before we split off. I nearly missed a speed bump doing that once. It was reckless, and it made the lesson uncomfortably clear: looking back unnecessarily costs you what's ahead.

Most people jail themselves simply by believing they aren't free

paraphrased from my good friend, the compile artisan

When I joined college, the culture shock wasn't just about the parties or the noise. It was a feeling of profound inadequacy. I looked around and saw people who had already lived entire lifetimes of experiences: relationships, heartbreak, adventures - while I felt like I was still reading the prologue of my own life.

I constantly measured my quiet life against their loud and fun ones and found myself wanting. I sat listening to their stories, fighting a heavy sense of despair, feeling like I had missed the boat on being young.

It hit me that the cage wasn't real. I hadn't "missed the boat". I was just trying to board someone else's. I realized that my worth isn't tied to a checklist of teenage milestones. I was imprisoning myself by believing there was a correct way to have been young, and that I had failed at it. Except now I know that I'm living my timeline, and they're living theirs. There is no reason for me to rush.