Life is what you make it to be; simple as that. There is no magical complex formula for life. When people ask how did that man or woman get that job? that car? that house? those abs? The most coherent and sensible response is “self-motivation equals self-fulfillment.”
I believe in the power to self-motivate. For me, I want to become an actor. “I want” the first two words that any successful person starts with. Success is the achievement of one’s goal; whether that be recycling or littering, if that person achieves their initial goal than they are successful and self-fulfilled.
Acting onstage is as fulfilling to me as harpooning whales is to Captain Ahab. As a child I dreamt of becoming a professional actor after watching the suspenseful and jaw-dropping (pardon the pun) Jaws. With the above analogy in mind, I will presume that as a child Captain Ahab dreamt of becoming a fisherman after witnessing a harpooned whale. Unless you are a Pre-Cog from Minority Report, dreaming gets you no where. I learned this the hard way when I auditioned for Fiddler on the Roof in the sixth grade. Though I had dreamt of a beautiful flawless audition in front of the judges, in reality, the audition was a complete disaster: no lines memorized, no character, clumsy feet, and the worst of all, a singer who went from the key of A to the key of “What was that?” I learned then—after a lecture with my paps—that in order to make your dreams reality, you need self-motivation. I finally began taking my acting serious at the beginning of my high school career when my theatre teacher told the class “theatre is a mirror held up to society.” From the violent plays of Shakespeare to the comedies of Neil Simon, they all say something about society.
Since the beginning of high school I have acted in ten main stage productions, as well as countless in-class scenes and monologues. I attribute my theatre success to my constant rehearsing of new maneuvers, accents, and improvisations. Without these daily exercises I would not be nearly as good as I am today, which is not to say that I do not have room to improve. That is what is so beautiful about a passion, you can never perfect it. If one chooses a job that is intern their passion, there are always new adventures and activities to do. For a teacher: a new book, a new lesson, a new student. For me: a new script, a new set, a new character. For Captain Ahab: a new boat, a new rod, a new whale.
The world is a fair place; you get what you put into it. That is why when I grew up I will be an actor. That is not arrogance that is what I want. So when I am older, acting, and self-fulfilled, I will remember the basis of my quest: self-motivation equals self-fulfillment.