• Looking himself in the mirror, he notes his personal failures. He needs to shave. He needs to go on a diet. He needs to smile more, comb his hair maybe. A haircut would do well. Straighten his posture, wear better clothes. Hell, clean out his drawer. Oh, sheesh, and he should clean his room. Why stop there though? Rearrange the furniture he's so frustrated with, maybe fix the bathroom even.

    A daunting list, everything he's not happy with in life. He starts the water, the steam rising. He starts scrubbing with that shower gel his sister got him, the one she says smells really nice. He can't tell, they all smell like clean to him. He's scrubbing away the morning's junk and thinking about the day. He's thinking about what's left of it. Gotta call the offices, see if they've found any work. Maybe edit some papers, make himself seem more outgoing. Start volunteering at the church again, that always felt good. Look into any kind of government aid to afford going back to school. Call old friends, connect with people again.

    He's drying his scraggly hair and picking apart his wardrobe. He's thinking about all the little side projects he's left unfinished, all the little hobbies he flits about to and fro. He's considering how to mature them and make use of them in his present life. His desk's a wreck, it's beyond help. He chuckles as he lotions his feet before putting on socks.

    The air outside his shuttered and dimly lit rim is spring. The world is shifting to warm, summer weather and it thaws his soul to think of the days ahead, when he feels he could do anything. His fan brings in the soft breeze from outside, the sound of birds chirping in a nearby tree. He looks at his shoes, those cheapo brands he always gets because they're just so affordable even though they're not very good. He considers taking a walk, even though they leave his feet sore. He takes a notepad and a pen and jots down a 'To-Do' list for the day and the day after.

    It's not much of a list, but it's a start. It's something as opposed to the nothing he had, and he feels something similar to hope. It's a plan to set in motion a few small things, just tid-bits to get some routines in place. But these routines will lay the foundation for the future and he looks forward to where it will lead.