The Book Of Ryan
by Ryan Baker
This work is lovingly dedicated to:
Lindsey Morton, Lauren Bryant, and Angela Laroque
for giving me the inspiration and insight I needed to write this work.
-On Life-
Life is one kick-ass gift. Just think about it- every day we're given just that- another day. Twenty-four hours of sunlight, air, water… and life. It is the beginning of a new day. You have been given this day to use as you will. You can waste it or use it for good. What you do today is important because you are exchanging a day of your life for it. When tomorrow comes, this day will be gone forever; in it's place is something that you have left behind… let it be something good. But if there were no tomorrow, who would you call today? Who would you see? What would you do, and where would you go? Such questions probably never enter people's minds, and it is just a shame that it is so. Everybody just takes it for granted that when they wake up the next morning, that another day is going to be there. But just assume for a second that it wasn't going to be there. What would you do that day that you normally would just put off until later? Think about that one for a second. That's why we should stop putting things off and start living in the moment. Somebody once joked with me about doing things that are totally random and spontaneous… and at the time I laughed. But she was telling the truth, life truly isn't life with no spontaneity. You need to open your mind and open your heart to life's great hidden treasures. There is so much out there to see and appreciate, but you have to be willing to look in the first place. Go out there and open your eyes. You might be surprised at what you see. Take a minute to take it all in and appreciate everything, because everything is beautiful in it's own special way. You just have to know where to look.
-On Success-
"SUCCESS." Go ahead, say it to yourself. What does that word mean to you? If you've unfortunately melded into the rest of society, then what that word means to you is high corporate towers, corner offices, stacks of one hundred dollar bills, huge yachts, private jets, and gardening services. And to some narrow-minded people, well, then that is all that it's going to mean. I'll come right out and say it. Success, in their eyes, is but an illusion. A mirage induced by their own narrow thinking and one-track mindedness. Success isn't about any of that. In one hundred years, do you think that it's going to make a difference how big your bank account was, the sort of house that you lived in, or the kind of car that you drove? Well it's not. And yet most people's ideas of success only reach that far. Success goes farther then that, it reaches deeper. It's real hooks lie deep within the human spirit and the human heart. Successful is the person who has lived well, laughed often and loved much. Successful is the person who has gained the respect of children, who leaves the world better then they found it. And successful is the person who has never lacked appreciation for the earth's beauty, and who never fails to look for the best in others or give the best of themselves.
-On Friendship-
Friendship is one of those things that has no substitute. It has no equal, and cannot be replaced. We all need our friends to help us down the flowered path of life. A lot is going to happen to you from when you first set your feet down on that path to when you finally take that leap of faith off it. And for all this there's nothing better then to have a good friend to fall on. Friends share our smiles when the times are good and hold our hands when times are bad. They can be your guiding light, your angel under cover, and the one thing that you can lean on and trust to help you stand. They'll back you up until the end, take your side, and never leave until it's over. Good friends are one of life's true gifts, never give them up. Never. Lots of people in life will come by calling themselves your friend, but in reality, there are only a few people who will really be there when you need them. The most valuable move in life that you can possibly make is find a good friend or two that you can fall back on always, and always be there for them. If you back them up, they'll back you up. Friendships rarely last a lifetime, but the ones that do are irreplaceable. From one side of this world to the other, there's nothing that can replace one good friend who will hold your hand through all of life's hardships. Friendship isn't about who's going to the movies with you, and it's not about who walks next to you through the high school hallway. Friendship is about respect, love, and giving. Friendship has to be balanced on both sides of the equation. But take care of your friends and they'll be your angel standing by, now, forever, and always.
-On Happiness-
Happiness. The only word in the English language with no definition. Happiness is what you make it out to be. The definition of happiness is but what you make it out to be, nothing more, and nothing less. To find what happiness is for you requires some soul searching. It isn't as simple as surrounding yourself with friends or playing all the computer games in the world. You have to get in touch with your life's inner fire. What's feeding that fire for you? Happiness is completely different for every person that knows it. Some people find true happiness hiking down a trail through the thickly populated woods, others find happiness in a sailboat in the middle of a lagoon. However you define the word, then that should be what you aspire to. We can only get as far in life as our aspirations reach. And when we catch up with them, then happiness can be found there. The key to happiness is to set your goals and then to reach them. There is no such thing as an unrealistic goal or a realistic goal, only harder to attain ones. If you keep an attitude that a certain goal is unrealistic, well, then you're right, it is unrealistic. Attitude plays a large role in the pursuit of happiness. The Constitution of the United States reserves everyone's rights to the pursuit of happiness. This is very well written, because all that we can ever really ascertain is the pursuit of happiness. Happiness is that one pot of gold that is always just beyond our fingertips. Think about it- if happiness were one cloud that you finally landed on, where would you go from there? Where would you draw that line? Happiness is not a destination that we can finally arrive at, it's a journey. And the journey is everything.
-On Goals-
Henry David Thoreau once said "If one advances confidently in the direction of their dreams, and endeavors to lead a life they have imagined, they will meet with a success unexpected in common hours." Those three lines speak volumes. Goals are what we make them to be, everywhere from taking the garbage out to standing on top of the world, goals are what we decide them to be. Goals are that little bit of inspiration and aspiration that reside in all of us. We all have our little goals, and it is those few little goals that give us drive and direction in life. We all have our things that we're trying to get, we all have a certain something that we fight for, we all have our own places we'd like to get. Goals give us something to keep our eyes one while we're climbing the mountain of life. A look towards the goal keeps your drive and your inspiration in check and gives you something to keep going for. If we lose sight of our goals then it can become confusing and we may lose touch with what we're fighting for. Everybody should set their own goals and keep them in check, always.
-On Love-
Love. What a wonderful way to end this book. Love is that carrot on a stick held just within our reach that we touch on every now and that keeps everything else in check. Some say that love is what life is really all about. Some say that love is just another piece of the puzzle. I disagree with both of these statements- I think that love is kind of like a keystone- a pivotal point of everyone's lives. We all need someone or something to love, a thing to drive for. Somebody who is truly in your corner and who can give you a hug when you need one. Love is one big piece of life's jigsaw puzzle, and every other subsequent piece hooks into it and depends on it. For if love is taken out of the equation, then there is a big hole in the middle of everything that can absolutely not be filled by anything else. Love is a special piece of everybody, and it is that one secret garden inside all of us. If you can hold on to one thing and keep one thing in check, then hold on to love. Love is the lens through which all can be clarified and understood, love is the glue that binds everyone and everything in the world together.
-Epilogue-
A lot of people inspired the writing of this work, but in particular, I would like to thank Lindsey Morton for the inspiration to put it all down in paper. I hope that these pages will open something up for every one of you that somehow finds a copy of this work, and I hope as well that all of you go on to live a rich and successful life, and remember, through all the people that you'll meet, after all the things you'll see and do, all the places you'll go, and all the experiences that you'll have, the journey is everything. And that journey is the inspiration and the passion that is a part of all of us.
To Ryan's home page
Back to Matt's home page