Just a thought...

“Strength” has taken on a new meaning in my life. The word has come to encompass not only physical strength at peak condition, but also mental, emotional, academic, and spiritual strength in all conditions, but most notably, finding strength when it is almost impossible to find. To be strong in all of these areas ultimately makes a person invincible. While sometimes I like to imagine I am invincible, I know that I am far from it. However, it is the struggle for the invincibility that contains the sweat, dreams, tears, frustration, sacrifice, love, and most importantly the beauty. All of these struggles are a part of living the dream, but more importantly, living my dream. The convergence of “the dream” and “my dream” has become an important concept to me, because this is all part of a larger picture than just me. How I pursue my dreams, how I live my life, and what I choose to do with my education is just a reflection of who I am and what I believe. This is a picture that I am painting for the world to see. The people in my life have shown me their pictures and inspired me to create something so unique, that sometimes I can’t even believe it. But their inspiration reflected on me has instilled in me a great desire for people to experience the world the way I do: to see every day as opportunity and grasp that opportunity, embrace the hard times as a learning experience, laugh endlessly, give back to a world that has given so much to us, and ultimately just live. I’m not perfect, I’m not invincible, I’m not always going to have the best day of my life, I will not always perform at peak performance, I’m not going to be the best at everything or change someone’s life everyday, and I might even make some mortal enemies. But I am beginning to come to terms that all of this is okay. It’s okay to be knocked down hard. It’s okay to be frustrated. It’s okay to want to give up. Everyone is going to reach rock bottom at some point in his or her life and feel like there is no light at the end of the tunnel. This is the tipping point, the denoument, whatever other synonym would fit in here. Here is when ordinary turns into extraordinary. I will not give up. Do I know if the end will be worth it? No. But I don’t care. To me, it is not about the end goal. It is the picture I am painting, what I am taking from my life and giving back to the world around me. Accomplishing great things are only really worthwhile when they are great for the people around you. A fabulous university is not the end of my academic career. In fact it is only the beginning. I have been given the opportunity to have an impact on the world and I will not take that for granted. An athletic opportunity to pursue competitive snowboarding not only gives me the opportunity to pursue my dream to the fullest, but hopefully can inspire others to dream big. I don’t really believe anything is impossible. I believe there are a lot of barriers, but when you set your heart to something that is worth it, those barriers only make things more exciting, and I’m ready to take on those barriers with all I’ve got: sweat, tears, frustration, and all…