Don't be average

When life brings you to your knees, you've just got to take it. There's nothing you can do until you have caught your breath. But eventually, you have to get back up! You can't let life keep you down forever.
These past few years, I've been able to not only get by but to thrive in some areas, I've been successful, so I know what it feels like to win. But these last few months, all I can do is survive, there is no room to be better than good, and there is no way to get out until I have caught my breath. When you're running, and you keep running, and you get to the point where you believe that you are going to pass out, do you quit and still get stronger? NO! You have to keep pushing!! And guess what happens after you push through it? You get stronger, and you are able to withstand the pain even longer next time. But in the moment, when you're running, and your coach and teammates are there telling you that you've got more to do and that you can't afford to quit, you can't afford to give up, it feels like life as we know it today, is over. But as soon as you keep pushing, as soon as you find your second wind, you then realize that you can handle it, and you will be able to keep running. And if you fall, you have got to get back up, because once you're down, the longer you stay there, the harder it is to get back up. It's alright to go down, to fall, and to fail, but if you don't get back up, then you're beat.

That's how life works. If you are struggling in life, just know that you've got to keep pushing on. The harder you push, the sooner you can find that second wind. When you have that second wind, you can see that what you were going through was hard, but you are able to come out of it, and come out on top! If/when life does get you down on the ground, you can't stay there. You've got to get back up. Whether that is crawling, or getting back to your feet doesn't matter, it just matters that you never give up. And yeah, it may never get easier, but I can tell you this, today, if you keep pushing and you keep working, you will get stronger, and then it doesn't have to be easier.

I'm writing this today, to tell you that I'm tired of not succeeding. These past few weeks I've just barely been getting by. I've got C's in some of my classes, and I've never been the student to get average grades. I have been a JV player in volleyball, and I'm a competitor, I'm an athlete, and I'm not playing on the varsity because I'm performing just average. I'm tired of being average! Today, I'm going to jump up. I'm not going to crawl to my feet, I'm not going to get up slowly. I will jump up, and claim the title that is mine, and I will become successful, I will no longer be average and you don't have to be either. It's your choice.

Good Morning World

"Good morning world!" I said as I took my cup almost overflowing with coffee out onto the front porch and listened to the birds chirp and watch the fog slowly lift and smell the moisture in the air.

This paints a very pretty picture doesn't it? It almost makes you feel like you are standing there, with your coffee in hand, ready to take on the world. This is something that I haven't done near often enough. As I'm sure all of you have noticed, I haven't posed anything since Christmas, and before that I hadn't posted anything in over a month.
 Let me back up and give you all a little insight into my world. I started playing organized sports for the first time this fall. I started out behind everyone else, and it was a huge struggle for me to catch up. I played Volleyball for the season, and that was a struggle for me, so naturally I spend an immense amount of time working to get better, so I could potentially be noticed by the coach. Hours after hours I spent in the gym, and even just at home trying to copy the skills that we had worked on in practice. However, half way through the season, I realized that it was just a sport, and it wasn't worth killing myself, or depriving myself of time spent on homework and extra time away from my family. Now, when basketball season came, it was a whole different ball game (pun intended). My goal is to end up playing basketball at a D1 college, and D1colleges don't recruit people from small town Hugo Colorado unless the are completely outstanding. Knowing this, and also knowing that I was behind everyone else, it would be a struggle, and I couldn't think of basketball as "just a game" I wasn't able to be relaxed, and even writing about it makes me queezy. I poured my heart into that game, every day and every night. I was always stressing about it, and never allowed myself to sit back and think of what an amazing world I live in. It wasn't until the season ended that I was truly able to appreciate the lifestyle that I have.
Don't be so worried about anything that you can't take time to relax, even if it is just for a few minutes, to appreciate what is around you.