Josh Samarco

Friends, I thought I would share with each of you that God has granted me another year to be present on this earth! I am so thankful for life itself. I consider it a blessed opportunity to be able to live and do what I am most passionate about daily. Ok, mostly. Ha! Sometimes I wish I could still play basketball every day. God is still working on me in that area. (the heart of a former basketball player)

Hey, since I only have 2 years left in my 20’s now, I thought I would share with you some key insights I have learned along the way. I hope they have helped you as they did for me.

1. You will lose some friends and gain new ones.

As many people often say, your day 1’s will always be there for you. If you don’t know what day 1’s are, find an urban dictionary. 🙂 The friends that has been by your side, usually stick with you for the long haul and the friends that you had maybe in college or high school some will not be in your life. That’s okay for the most part. God will continue to put the right people in your life. I am thankful for every friend I’ve ever had and for the ones I still have. I’m blessed that people actually want to be around me. Seriously! 😉

2. You will gain some weight!

Ha! Who could see this one coming? Clearly everyone besides me. In college, I was always in the denial stage about gaining weight. Well, after basketball began to slow down and my wonderful eating habits continued, well you know the rest. Now, I find myself looking at scales and buying bigger clothes. ha! It’s all good! I’ll lose weight one of these days. The goal is to eat healthy and look healthy. Whatever that means. I thought I should just share with you, gaining weight is real and not a fairy tale.

3. Love is for you.

Figuring out what love is, who you love and who loves you sometimes can feel like going through a maze. What I have come to learn; when you don’t rush trying to find a lover so to speak and work on getting yourself right with God things begin to work out. I sound all philosophical here but seriously in my twenties I had to truly focus on getting rid of past hurts, mistakes, immaturity and selfishness. Love is a process and it takes time. I like to call it the beautiful struggle. We all have to go through it. Continue to work on yourself and enjoy your singleness. That is the best advice I have for you.

4. Cherish those closest to you.

Seriously, the people in your life are a gift from God. Yeah, even the ones that get on your nerves. Whatever that means. If you ever get a chance, reflect on the people in your life, think of the memories you’ve created together. It is pretty awesome. I have some classic photo albums stored in my mind. Oh yeah on my macbook as well. Life is short. Live life with those that matter the most to you. You’ll be thankful in the long run.

5. Don’t give up!

Living in the twenties is hard. No, like extremely hard. Many of us aren’t and were not truly prepared for life after college. Trying to find your way in life with minimum effort and low income!? Man, what? The struggle is real bruh! I know. I’ve been there. You will not believe some of the stories I have trying to figure out what direction I was suppose to go in life. For example, one time I slept in my car in a hotel parking lot in Canton, OH. I went to tryout for a NBA D – League team and didn’t have enough money to afford a hotel room for a night. Maybe you won’t have to sleep in a car but you will have to make some crazy sacrifices to figure out what God has for you to do!

I love every bit of my life. I don’t say this prideful or boastfully but I have truly come a long way in my twenties. At least I think so. The exciting part to me is, I still have a long way to go. So much to learn, so much to do, so many people to love and care for. I am extremely blessed. Could life be better? Depends on who’s asking. As for me on this day, I am simply celebrating all that God has blessed me with. Here’s to another 28 years!