I believe in small things that get you through the day I believe in small things that get you through the day. I make it through first block math. I make it through a full hour and a half of physics. I make it through sprints at soccer practice. Then I get home, do my homework, go to bed, and prepare to do it all over again the next day. I don’t think I could make it if I didn’t take some time to myself every once in a while. It doesn’t have to be anything too spectacular. I sometimes find myself sitting in a class working for that special time at the end of the day where I can just relax. Without this I don’t think I could handle the pressure of trying to keep my grades up while dealing with homework, and working on my college application.
My dad has always been a hard worker. Everything he has achieved, he has earned. One day I asked my dad his secret and he told me that you always need something that you give yourself as a reward. He told me that he believed in the power of small things. He simply works hard allowing himself a small reward. He uses this philosophy, not only to get him through the day but also to start it. For him, a small thing is grinding coffee beans in the morning and smelling the aroma, before drinking his coffee from a special cup, finding a new place in the house to read a book, or spending a little time watching the TV with a nice cold beer. This makes him not only work harder, but at the end of the day it relieves lots of stress.
When I was in middle school, I would wake up at seven thirty, and come home at around three in the afternoon. I would come home, do my homework, and then the rest of my day was free. I used to laugh at my dad’s personal philosophy. I though it was strange that someone could be stressed by a long day. One day when I was younger, my dad came home from work he said he had had a long day; to this I replied that my day had been just as long as his had. I would soon understand what my dad was talking about.
I found the transition from middle school to high school pretty difficult. I go to a private high school in Groton MA called Lawrence Academy. I live forty five minutes away from school and I am a day student. So instead of waking up at seven, like I used to for middle school, I now have to wake up at six. Also, at Lawrence Academy it is mandatory that every student do a sport. Sports meet every day after school. I have always done sports even from a young age, but getting home at seven o’clock every night was a big change for me. I would get home exhausted, only to find out that I had another three hours of homework. I wasn’t able to handle it. My grades started sliding, and I was getting really stressed. I looked to my dad’s advice and started thinking of ways to apply it. I would get myself out of bed by telling myself that once I took my shower, I would give myself ten more minuets in bed. This made waking up at six much more manageable. While doing homework, I would tell myself that once I finished the assignment I was working on, I would go downstairs and get a quick drink or snack. After this, I have a newly found energy to complete my assignments. My dad has passed on his personal philosophy, and now I have adopted it. I believe that small things can get you through the day.