NYSTATEOFMIND.

New York State of Mind.

When I try to explain life in Maine to people who live in New York, I often come up with a quick-but accurate sentence. "It's comfortable". I've quickly realized that is what Maine has become for so many people in my life. Including myself.

My co-workers and I were sitting in Bryant Park today enjoying some free Coke Zero and some "Crumbs" cupcakes...somehow we ventured into the topic of marriage. All of us quickly agreed that neither of us really want to get married. With that revelation I thought to myself-this might be the first time I have been in a group where everyone seemed to have the same views on marriage.

If I were to talk to a handful of people I know in Maine, 80% of them are either married already, or hoping for that day to get married. I was always puzzled why people my age, were so quick to get paired off. And to eventually get divorced. Then I put a lot of things together and came up with a solution:

Comfort.

The difference between most young people who live in NYC and young people who live in Maine-is the pace of life. Maine oozes comfort and a relaxed attitude, so most people nestle inside the comfort and accept simple ambitions in life. As society deems it, they do it. It makes me sad that some people either don't realize their full potential, or don't have the ambition to reach it. It's about the comfort of a place like Maine. The pace of life is so steady and slow, it's really easy to get lost in time.

In NYC, the energy is equally addictive. People are always racing. Chasing after their next appointment, their job, their home, or after their dreams. Being a part of that energy makes you want more for yourself. Time doesn't become something passive anymore. It becomes precious. Every second spent, could be spent doing something else, so you better be spending that five minutes the most productive way you see imaginable. Talking to people in NYC is all the aspiration you need. Most people are out their doing what they need to do to reach some kind of goal. There seems to be a greater feeling of purpose that people have for their lives in NYC.

So that's the difference. When you are in an environment that nurtures comfort and a slow paced life. You will become consumed in that and your life will quickly become a nice big fluffy pillow. It sounds fun. Great even. But most people seem to look back at their lives and have more regrets and thoughts of "what happened to the time" when they are in a constant state of comfort.

When you are in an atmosphere where you are made to believe that time is precious. You believe it. And you want to make the most of what you are doing. At the end of the day, you can usually list of the events that happened in the day and feel overwhelmed but satisfied with what your day was filled with. Not knowing what will happen next and always racing around, breeds a sense of discomfort. But that discomfort is a catapult to work for something.

I would rather not be in a sense of comfort everyday. Comfort entails a lot of the same thing over and over again. That's how things become comfortable. They have been done over and over-therefor they are easy and simple. But I would rather live everyday knowing that something great can happen if I work for it and if I am always going after it. And not knowing when it's coming is discomforting. But that is fine with me.

I wish a lot of people my age found their sense of purpose within. Not what society is telling them to do. Not what their peers are doing. But what genuinely makes them happy. What they would love to wake up everyday and love to do. Not feel comfortable with it, but have such a passion that a sense of the unexpected is welcomed in their lives.

We are young. We still have so many exciting years to live. So don't slow down now. Because time isn't slowing down for you. And if anything you are chasing after time, it certainly won't come looking for you.