Pride

It seems in today’s world men are always fighting for the same thing. Who has the better car, bigger house, and the most money, best job, who’s in the best shape, and who can pick up the best girls? How do you actually compare most of these things though? Each man has his own set of standards regarding taste, values, wealth, and confidence. What does it all come down to if all these things cannot directly be compared?

Pride. I believe if a man has pride in what he has then there is nothing that can knock him down. Pride is defined as the satisfaction from one’s own achievements. Taking pride in what you have is difficult when society tells us there is always more that we could do, or that someone has achieved more than we could ever imagine. Although both these statements can be true for many it all comes down to… are you proud of what you’ve accomplished? If your answer is yes, then you’ve achieved a life of happiness. If you answer no, really take time to look around and see what you have and what is in your life. If you aren’t happy with what you have, then change it. I know change is hard and scary but believe me it’s worth it, I strongly believe you will have to make sacrifices to achieve the things you value in your life which is why I have the tattoo on my chest saying, “No Sacrifice, No Growth.”

You see, I used to feel like there isn’t anything that I’ve done in my life to be considered significant, but I had the wrong mindset. I was comparing my life to those who have worked hard and achieved their life goals and seem happy when I should have been looking at my life and asking myself the question, “Am I happy with where I’m at in my life.” I really thought about my life and what I’ve done. I have been an academic success in school achieving the best all-around student award in elementary while being school president, I’ve been on the honor-roll consecutively throughout high school, I’ve maintained some sort of part-time job since the age of 12 and have never been fired or received a negative responses from any job, (also mentioning I had businesses phone me wanting me to come work for them with no resume sent in, plus having recent employers tell me I have a job if I ever want to come back), I made it into university to work towards a dream career in engineering, and I’ve successfully completed my first year. You see at the age of 19 I am still young and have a life ahead of me of achieving so much more, which I am aware of, but the message I am trying to send is: be proud, be proud of who you are, where you’ve been, where you’re going and above all work towards your goals and your own definition of success not, what is set forth by society.

You are made for greatness, it’s your job to seize every opportunity you get and live off your achievements defined by your definition of success.

-Claytona 4000