You know, I’d never really eaten tomatoes until two weeks ago.For 21 years, I saw the fruits — oft mistaken for veggies — as nothing more than little land mines, nestled between the lettuce and turkey of my sandwich waiting to explode in my mouth with wretched sourly sweet juice.I was finally hit.I sat at Louie’s, staring into my cup of lukewarm coffee, waiting for the club sandwich sans tomatoes I ordered and trying to trace Lil’ Wayne’s transformation from the young Dwayne Michael Carter Jr. to superstar in my head.Before I could figure out just why we are all suddenly head over heels for the Young Money Millionaire, my sandwich arrived. I thought I noticed the small red stripe of the enemy sleeping between my middle piece of wheat bread and the layer of Swiss cheese, but I took a bite anyway.And suddenly, my sandwich had new depth. That tomato, the first one that snuck its way into one of my meals in so many years, opened my eyes. Now, I can’t get enough of them.And that’s why Lil’ Wayne is a tomato.Sort of. Bear with me.One reason we all love Wayne so much is the fact that he grew up with our generation. Back when he was accidently shooting himself in the chest and throwing down a few verses for the Hot Boyz, and we were busy trying to secure a slow dance with whoever developed early, we were all the same (in our minds). And as we grew and matured and started looking for more than slow dances and for reasons other than early physical maturity, Wayne was off perfecting his flow, getting married then divorced and living off his millions.We may not seem to be following the same paths, but Wayne’s lyrics became more mature, his flow more refined and his fame more exponential. Simultaneously, we learned the harsh realities of life and replaced our Hot Wheels and Barbies with parking tickets and birth control. We all grew together, and we will always love Wayne for it.Some people out there, though, still see Wayne as the 14-year-old rapper who was more famous for shooting himself than for his clichéd verses. Some people still won’t give tomatoes a chance. Some people resist change of any kind, just so they can hold on to whatever static happiness they think they have.Take chances, right?Make mistakes, right?Hell yeah, Ms. Frizzle. We’re right there with you.Because all it will ever take is an accidental bite of a tomato or a blaring of Wayne’s “A Milli” at a party, and the rest of our lives can be changed, however slightly. I will now always order tomatoes, and I will always love the greatest rapper alive.Our stubbornness, though, is not simply in pre-conceived notions — Lil’ Wayne is that cheesy, immature rapper; tomatoes taste like Heath Ledger’s career — but in our fear of change, our thought that what happens now matters so much.It may seem like a stretch, but tomatoes are all around us. We just need to reach out and pluck them off their bushes.And the best part is it’s all easy. At this moment, at this point in life, everything is easy, so long as we remember that fact. Anything we want, anything we need — it’s all right there. And if we fail, we’ll get another chance tomorrow.We often fear change in a time when life is nothing but change.Eight years ago, I was urinating myself over the thought of the long halls of Jesuit High School. Now, I’m about to graduate college.And eight years ago, Lil’ Wayne was dropping “Lights Out” and rapping over Mannie Fresh’s beats. Now, Young Money is a religion.Eight years ago, everyone else was busy urinating themselves over the end of the world when the date finally read 1/01/00. Think of how much has happened since that second the clock read midnight, and we all flinched a little inside, however secretly.The best thing about the passage of the past eight years, one spent in my higher education, is that none of it mattered at all while all of it mattered so much.It has all been fleeting, but a fleeting second can change the course of everything. Like that childhood rumor of putting a penny on a railroad track, one chance second, one exciting, blood-pumping meeting can change the course of your life, even if only for a limited time. That old cliché about being on a journey and following this path or that is only reinforced when you realize the most important lesson existing in this world is simple and the crux of your path: Everything is easy, so long as you remember it is.Everything is easy. Just remember it is.As Wayne says, “No more bandana on my dome. Bandana in my right pocket.” We’re growing up, and we can have the world if we just take it.It’s all as easy as eating fresh, juicy tomatoes. Just ask Wayne.—-Contact Travis Andrews at [email protected]