A Short Essay on Success

“If you think you are beaten, you are.

If you think you dare not, you don’t.

If you like to win, but think you can’t, it is almost certain you won’t.

If you think you’ll lose, you’re lost.

For out in the world, we find

Success begins with a fellow’s will-it’s all in the state of mind.

               

Life’s battles don’t always go

To the stronger or faster man,

But sooner or later the man who wins is the man who thinks he can.”

-Anonymous

                Did I write this?

                No, my name is not anonymous.  This is so amazing that I would have put my name on it if I wrote it. 

                My dad always recites this for me.  He has it memorized.

                As you’ve probably guessed, I’m on Walter’s side in A Raisin in the Sun.  That man has an honest dream, and he believes he can succeed with it, and for that I commend and support him.  I don’t care what color your skin is, what religion you follow, or anything else that makes us all different; as long as you understand that your culture, your history, your disadvantages, your “limits,” and your failures are no reason to quit trying to succeed. 

Bittersweet Symphony

                I’ve heard people talk about how it’s too hard to move up in the world because the competition is so far ahead and so ruthless in its tactics.

                But looking at the competition of the late 1800s and early 1900s, it’s clear that moving up is possible.

                You may say something to the effect of “business now isn’t like it was in the past,” but did you consider that maybe you aren’t like the Americans of the past?

                During the time these men were advancing to power, the United States was fairly fresh out of a Civil War that tested “whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure.” Those would be the words of the Gettysburg Address.

                According to Lincoln, what was that nation dedicated to?

                It was “dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.”

                All men are created equal.  There are no ifs, ands, or buts about it.  “Created equal” does not mean that the government sees them as equal.  It means that they are created equal by their Creator,  who, according to the Declaration of Independence, endows each and every man “with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

                “Pursuit of Happiness.” Read that again.  I’m pretty sure it still says “Pursuit of Happiness.” If you haven’t caught the message yet, read it again, and I’ll help you out this time; “Pursuit of Happiness.”

                Now let’s look at the synonyms of pursuit.  They are as follows, according to the results on Bing: “striving toward, quest after/for, search for, aim, goal, objective, dream.”

                I’m fairly certain that “lack of adversity,” “being provided happiness by the government or another power,” and “everyone being cordial and nice and helping you to happiness” were not in there.  Did you want to read through the synonyms again?

                “striving toward, quest after/for, search for, aim, goal, objective, dream.”

                Hopefully you got it the second time.

                If you haven’t noticed, we will all face adversity in our lifetimes.  The rich of the Industrial Revolution certainly didn’t go without it.  The women who fought for the right to vote and the blacks who fought for equality and the men who founded the nation that gives you the right to pursue happiness certainly didn’t have it easy.

                I don’t have it easy.  I’ve got an immune deficiency that may prevent me from fulfilling my dream of serving my country. 

                Nearly every single day I can hear someone complain about an insult from a person who honestly won’t matter to them in the long run, or about how they’re depressed because they never seem to be able to get what they want, or some other complaint relating to how the world doesn’t provide for their every whim.  Maybe we’re just a bunch of pansies now.

                We all face adversity.  Throughout history and up to the present there have always been obstacles.  Those who succeed are the people who overcome those obstacles.  You have to have the courage to overcome the obstacles.  Sometimes life will suck, but you can overcome, just like the Americans of the Civil Rights movement. 

                “It’s a bittersweet symphony this life.”-The Verve

St. Elmo's Fire

                So I guess this week I can get something off my chest, for a moment at least; but I’ll never be able to get it out of my head.  I guess you could say the same about Gatsby.  He could never get his dream out of his head.

                I do have one key difference with Gatsby.  He is fighting to bring back the past; I am working to forget it.  I never will, though, I can’t.  It is a part of me.  Anyone would probably say I’m being too hard on myself, but I don’t think so.  I think I’ve got it about right.

                When I refer to the past, it’s basically the stuff right up until Christmas break of my sophomore year.  A certain something transpired then, but I won’t get into those details.  I’m going to confess to what I thought before, and what torments me from the corner of my mind each and every day. 

                When I was younger I felt like I was entitled to more, that I was entitled to utter happiness.  I guess I kind of got that way after being the kid on the playground who decided what everyone was going to do at recess.  When I moved to Troy halfway through the second grade I didn’t have that power anymore, but I felt like I still deserved it.  My mind started freaking out as it realized the truth.  I was subject to fits of self-pity that would be followed by anger and ended with depression.  In one of my moments of anger I came a few inches from bringing a golf club down on my sister’s head, but common sense caught me just in time.  Then, in the 8^th grade, I utterly annihilated the heart of a friend through Facebook chat (no details, sorry).  Often in the period of depression later I’d sit listening to The Wall, a Pink Floyd album that fit my mood very well.

                As I entered high school I started to improve, I started to learn.  The anger phase was easily skipped if I flipped on depressing music.  Christmas break of my sophomore year provided inspiration, and I refused to let go of it.  I quit the Pink Floyd and started playing music that helped.  I started thinking, too, forming my own solid opinions instead of letting them be controlled by my emotional phase. 

                Yet even today I hear the voice inside that wants to freak out.  Whatever piece of me I’ve stationed to guard its cage feels more and more strained every day.  It’s been months since I’ve gotten another resurgence of strength (Paityn Donaldson will probably know what I’m talking about if she digs into her memory of last year, but I’d appreciate it if she didn’t leave it in the comments when she remembers).  I doubt I’ll ever be free, but there’s no way I’m letting that thing get control of me again.  I've got to get moving.

                Well, that was quite personal.  Wasn’t expecting that, but oh well. 

From the soundtrack of a good movie:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UaGsbv2skr8