My Motto

I overheard my mother talking about our family motto. “Never stop trying.” She said. I thought about that for a moment– never stop trying. To me it sounds more like if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. In my short life time I’ve learned that victory is around the corner and you should never give up on something you believe. There are 3 reasons that help me believe in that.

First I learned about not giving up when I was deer hunting with my brothers. 2 years ago on opening day of deer season I spent the whole day 5:00am-4:30pm in the field waiting for a good buck or doe to walk by. We sat, and sat in an old wooden chair forever. I kept telling myself the deer is coming our way. As minutes turned into hours it was nearly 4:15 the sun was just about to go down. There I saw a huge buck. I looked through my scope and could make out 10 points. As I whispered to my brother “can I take it.” He slowly moved his head up and down. I looked through my scope again putting the x right at his heart. Right when it stopped walking I squeezed the trigger. The gun shot rang out with my ears ringing I had done it. From that experience I’ve learned that you have to keep on waiting no matter how long it takes because the taste of victory is sweet.

Second I’ve learned that you shouldn’t give up on something even if you’re losing. The clock was ticking down 10…..9. My basketball team was behind 2 points. Maffitt passed the ball to me with Eddy saying “S-H-O-O-T.” I aimed at the hoop and shot. As the buzzer blared I saw the ball floating in the air headed for the net. All of a sudden the ball began to fall straight to the net. As the net widened the ball came right down. I made a 3 point shot and gave us the win. We had thought we were going to lose but we kept on trying and succeeded.

Third I learned that practice does make perfect but you have to try hard to get it. It was the summer of 2002 and I was six years old. We were at our farm called Heart6. I was going to learn to water ski. I put on my skis in the water, grabbed the rope and waved to my mom to go. She accelerated the boat and I was getting dragged behind it. I kept trying and trying and just couldn’t get up. I was just about to quit and my mom said, “Hang in there, Stephen.” I said, “I’ll go one more time.” I put everything I had into it—my mind, my body, and my soul. I made it. I was victorious.

All three of these experiences support what I believe in. They have given me proof that victory is around the corner and you should never give up on something you believe. It works for me.