I Want

  Humans are naturally selfish creatures. Yes they can also be generous, but they have a penchant for selfishness. Now where am I going with this? I'm not going to start going off on some deep, insightful rant about how we need to be more generous and giving. I am, however, going to discuss wants versus actions to achieve those desires.
  Whenever I talk about my future, I often start with the two words "I want". I want to become a vet. I want to travel the world. I want to marry a Brit and settle down in a nice house in the city with a cottage on the countryside. I want to own four dogs (golden retriever, Welsh corgi, dachshund, and Westie). I want to see the Northern Lights. But the question remains: what am I doing to realize these dreams? It seems like I am constantly waiting for my life to begin, to burst into life, like I can't help to jump start any of this right now. I look toward the future because it holds all of my hopes and dreams, but is there nothing I can do in the present? I feel powerless and glossed over (maybe that's the teenager in me talking). It seems like I can do nothing but wait. Wait for what? My freedom, time, money, opportunity, the liveliness of a young 20-something year old (or again, maybe my apathy is showing). But sometimes I genuinely feel like I can only sit and wait for my time to come when I can truly live my life (Rapunzel's song "When Will My Life Begin" constantly plays through my head during a time like this). I wonder what I can do to bring myself closer to achieving these goals. As an underage teenager still in high school with limited freedom, my circle of ability to transcend my current state of mediocrity extends no further than the boundaries of this town (or my apathy is showing again).
  But this brings me back to my original question: what can I do to achieve my goals? realize my dreams? I wonder what my life will be like, if I can actually do what I want to do, be what I want to be. Will I live up to my potential? Or will I wallow in mediocrity? Only time will tell, and my effort and actions will influence the outcome.