Let it Burn!
I believe that you can’t truly accomplish anything without putting your heart into it.
There are many things in this life you can “accomplish” by just sliding by. Be it school, work, some extra-curricular activity; like say, martial arts. Any of those things you can do without really trying. But can you really accomplish anything for yourself if you don’t?
Many argumentative teenagers such as yours truly, may say yes. But I don’t mean just doing the task. I mean getting something out of the task. However, that cannot be accomplished by just doing what ever it is you have to do. You have to put you’re heart in it to really get something out of it! Though that may sound corny, possibly even a little cliché, it’s true.
An odd topic such as this requires an example. I’ve been taking martial arts (more specifically Tae Kwon-Do) for the better part of the last 10 years. And for 8 of those years, I kind of just “did” martial arts and somehow managed to get my Black Belt in the process. I got very little out of it though. I may have managed to gain a false sense of confidence, maybe a few friends, and something more to do every week, but that’s about it.
This is mostly because for a long time I was forced to and because of that I simply didn’t enjoy it. After I got my Black Belt though, I was no longer forced to. I was free to quit now that I had accomplished the goal my parents’ had set for me. I didn’t though. I decided to press on, not just because I’m not the kind of person to do something for that long and then just drop it, but because I found that I did actually enjoy it.
When I found this, I started working. I put my heart into it. And when I moved to San Antonio I had a chance at a new beginning, a chance to let those warm glowing embers within to become a true fire. Once I got that fire burning, once I started seeing life this way, I started getting something out of it. I gained real skills, real confidence, discipline (somewhat countered by the combined efforts of hormones and natural laziness), strength, endurance, speed, and so many other things.
So let me say it again, louder, clearer! I believe that you cannot, will not truly accomplish anything in this life without putting everything you have into it! Let that fire within you BURN! Never let it dwindle or you will dwindle with it.
Note: This is not a motivational essay.