I made a wordle using the words off of the first page of this blog.
Check it out.
Really don't have much to say right now. As expected I've been ridiculously busy lately, and it's definitely started to take a toll on my mental health I think. Last week's Labor Day weekend couldn't've had better timing. I'm really excited that Fall Break is just a few weeks away - not that I have any solid plans, but it'll be nice to have a little time off for myself.
In the meantime, I've been making an earnest effort to work hard and try my best academically, athletically, and extracurricularly (is that even a word? hmmmm....).
This is a pep talk I wrote to myself a few nights ago and posted onto Facebook. I figure readers might benefit from its positive message as well, so I hope you guys don't mind the long wall of text. Yes, it sounds cheesy. Yes, I probably sound like I'm trying a little too hard to be enthusiastic. But these are genuine feelings and I hope that anybody reading can take these thoughts to heart
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This week has been so tiring, and I'm sure everybody can attest to that fact (esp. Juniors. OMG, JUNIOR YEAR ASDFGHJKLFFFUUUUUU). So many of us have been feeling sick, exhausted, and generally overwhelmed by everything. Many of us also have personal issues that get in the way of us focusing and putting all of the energy we wish we could put into our work. Our world lately has just been difficult to deal with.
And so, it's become ridiculously easy for us to just sit back and complain about how things are, to find fault in stuff, to just give up. To call ourselves failures. To want to not do anything but stay at home and just avoid the world.
But why not take these things as challenges instead? Why not use the tough things thrown our way as motivators to work our hardest and do our absolute best?
The time we waste time carping and cavilling about problems could be used so much more effectively:
Instead of sitting around whining, why not use a few minutes to take stock of your situation, figure out "what's next," and then put things into action? There's no point in dwelling on mistakes, especially when they can be used as tools for learning (either to avoid making the same idiotic mistakes, or even better: for bettering ourselves as people).
I don't remember who I heard say this, but it's a phrase that resonates in my mind:
"If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem."
I promise to hold myself accountable for my goals.
Rather than whining that (a) Litmag hasn't been published because our staff has poor communication (b) I didn't do quite as well as I could have on that APUSH test because I just fail at history in general (c) I don't have enough time to do all of my homework well,
do something about the problems! (simple solutions: (a) work on talking to each other more often, especially in terms of one-on-one interactions (b) study more! (c) reconsider more time management strategies)
I know that there's no point in blaming outside influences for my failures when there's *always* something I myself could have done better. But as long as I admit my faults and can find ways to work with them, no matter how far astray my path ends up I can still reach my goal.
Most of all, we can't be afraid to fail:
all of the "what ifs" only serve to hold us back. The hard work will pay off in some way or other, it just has to be given some faith.
Don't create invisible barriers for yourself: The only person who can seriously put limits on what you can and can't do is you!
No, you don't have to be naturally talented to get places. I'm definitely not smart or really good at anything (in fact, I'm rather useless if you put it that way -
I'll admit I've felt a lot of insecurity about that fact. But an advantage I *do* have is an incredible work ethic and enthusiasm for what's next. This next bit might sound a bit cynical or negative, but I'll say it anyway: It might be unfair that I have to work extra hard to get the same grades/keep up with the rest of the team/be as "awesome" as others, but a lot of times life is unfair. The thing is, we're still so blessed to have the resources we do have - And we're so lucky that we can use these resources work to make things a little more fair for people who have less, for those who truly do have a hard life.
The truth is that all anybody can realistically ask of us is to do our best, and that's what I aim to do as often as possible.
I think however that in our day-to-day life it's so incredibly hard to put 100% into stuff when so much crap gets thrown in our way and distractions are placed everywhere. It's certainly a Herculean task to truly "do your best" when it's so much easier to just sit back and complain that things are hard. But if we can face these challenges head-on and earnestly work to learn from our mistakes, we can make this a better world. I genuinely think that our world would be about 5 billion times more outstanding if we did.
How do you react to the crap life throws at you? Will you wallow in despair, telling yourself that you're a failure? Or will you actively work to find a solution and put it to action?
Take the challenge. Be outstanding.
