I don't know about you all, but I am thoroughly exhausted. A fifteen week class is almost too much on the old brain, isn't it? But we push on . . .
I suppose that's what I am asking you to do. Push. Through safe writing and perfect grammar for something more, something new. (Look, a sentence fragment.)
Some of you seemed to struggle today, and I may have lost one or two of you after grades were logged. That saddens me. The most valuable A I ever earned was with Jon Bolton after believing it would be that horrifying B (after all, that is what he put on my paper). And the best B I ever earned was with someone much more dangerous and looming--and I learned more in that class than any other. But, I suppose, that will come in time and retrospect when your "real lives" become your daily lives, or when you have to give a student you are just flat crazy about anything less than a 100.
I've mentioned before: what if this were the last class I ever taught? What would I give to it? What would I risk? Which makes me wonder: what if this were the last class you ever took? Are you sure you would just want it to slide by?
I remember one of my professors telling me to not be so invested, so close-chested, to my work as to not see its potential to be even better. So, instead of waxing philosophical in this Monday blog, let me ask you:
Can you?
Push harder?
Write harder?
Be better?
Or do we all sincerely believe that we are "good enough?"
Where do you see yourself backing down from the battle of writing?
And if this is all just a bit too academic, let me insert something more poetic.
I had a student back in 2004, let's call her Susan. Susan asked questions that others would have balked at, backed away from, and ignored. Susan revised and revised and revised and bled all over her page, never missed a class, peer-reviewed with a vengeance, and read her assignments with a voracity that bordered on hunger. I remember that she was tall, blue-eyed, and wore a lot of hats.
On her last paper, I gave Susan an A. She asked me how it could get better. Stayed after class and picked my brain and talked about how words were magic and how she wished she could spend every day eating them, crafting them, and making them spin in the air.
Susan had only three weeks left to live. The brain tumor was taking that spark out of her eyes with every breath she shared with me, yet, she went down fighting with a kind of courage that I have only seen in old men. And she never backed down. I went to her funeral, stood in the sweltering heat in Mississippi and listened to poetry she had written as a child--something about peanut butter. Hugged her mother and cried all the way home in an old beat-up Chevy Nova, all I could afford as an English teacher and the best car I ever had the honor of sobbing in.
And I became a better writer. It was the least I could do. I had time left. Time.
But wait. I'm not asking this kind of sacrifice of you, it's not even on the syllabus. I am asking for more push. I see those sparks, that love for words, and I wonder--
How far are you willing to go, Advanced Comp? How "advanced" would you like to be? Have you, at the end of the day, given it all you had?
And lastly, a quote:
"I'm not ever going to feel that way again. You don't get that twice."
Investigator:
"Most don't get it once." Mystic River
Writing can indeed be fun, but for most people its really quite particular. Pushing yourself to write, if you don't like writing in general, could be classified a crime in itself. Now everyone has that one paper that they truly enjoyed writing, maybe even multiple papers. Hell if you're crazy enough, every paper.
ReplyDeleteFor me its hard to push myself to do something that i am not completely motivated towards. When it comes to a paper, i am more motivated towards getting it done. That doesn't mean i don't put effort into it, but yes, i do just make it "good enough". I do enjoy a good rant on paper, but i enjoy it ten-fold when the words actually come from my mouth, rather then a hard-worked pen.
I look at most of my writings as something i have to do in order to reach bigger goals further down the road. I do express myself(as you've seen), but i just don't get a true joy out of writing. It rarely seems to lead me to shocking epiphanies or to new conclusions about my life, and I'm perfectly ok with that. I don't need to write in order to breathe. I just crave other things. Writing is all right i guess...or maybe its just all write. Either way, its not my jam, and doesn't even come close to the bread, let alone the butter knife.
I PUSH myself when i see it necessary, and I'd venture to say that i push myself even when it comes to writing. This doesn't mean that im going to harshly strive to better my writing though, because it usually does get me that A or B. But most importantly, it is good enough for ME.
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ReplyDeleteFirst, let me say I'm very sorry for you and Susan's family on your lost.
ReplyDeleteWhen it comes to writing, its very easy for me to just write "..." and turn it in. When I'm forced to write, I don't insert as much of me into it. It's a personal issue that I'm going to have to fight in order to "push" forward in my writing career.
On that note, I would like to say that this class in general has helped me find my writing voice. Knowing your writing voice probably is a first good step into becoming a better writer. Trust me.
Writing is a very impressive thing to say the least. The idea behind speaking to people through the art of writing and yes it is an art, is awesome. It is extraordinary how certain people can extract emotion out of an audience without physically saying a word. Joy, pain, happiness, and suspense are all evoked by a piece of paper that is loaded with black 12 font words. That in itself is impressive.
What are you getting to out of this Davis? Good question. When we can draw out those emotions from our writings, then we are succeeding in our "push" towards being a greater writer. I don't have this attribute at this time, but with my "push" towards being a better writer I will.
"Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up." - Thomas Edison
Always push to be better, and thats what I'm learning.
A few years ago, I had a respected teacher of mine tell me that I was the most hard-working student she'd ever met, and I'll never forget that. I will always remember sitting down with that 11th grade a.p. english teacher after school to get down to the nitty gritty-ness of a rubric that I didn't understand very well. Truly, based on pure, natural intelligence I probably was supposed to be in Honors and not a.p classes in high school, but I chose to challenge myself and PUSH, and this teacher recognized that drive in me. She could see it, and there's really nothing like someone acknowledging your hard-work, drive, and push when it comes to a challenge you've put in front of yourself. After hearing her say those words, everything became worth it. All the work that ranged from Student Government meetings, to campus ministry meetings, to getting homework done, to running the talent show, to putting on retreats, to spending time with family, and working a part-time job seemed to have paid off in that moment. For the 15 seconds that it took her to tell me that in some musty, old classroom with the mint green tiles on the walls and the scribbled on dry erase board behind me as I sat in a creaky wooden chair next to her desk...everything I pushed for was validated. Even if it was only 15 seconds, it made a difference to me.
ReplyDeletePush to be proud of yourself. Push so that people look to you for motivation. Push yourself to push others. Push for what makes your push. Family, friends, grades, involvement...you name it. For me, I never knew until that moment that what I had always done was push and push myself harder and harder, but when someone pointed it out to me I knew that I had to keep pushing because I wanted to hold myself up to the standard that Mrs. Robertson had set before me: the most hard-working student she'd ever met. Put a standard before yourself, and push to surpass it. That's what pushes me, and that's how I push myself. That moment that I'll always remember makes me work when I don't feel like it, and for that I am so glad that I went to see my teacher after school that day in 11th grade. I learned to push, and with finals next week it's time for me to surpass that standard of pushing again.
Time to push.
Humans are badass. Like we honestly KICK ASS. Every morning when I wake up, I am just ecstatic to be alive. We live in thrilling times, and I can't express to you how excited I am to be a part of existence right know. Science is advancing, resources being consumed, cities being resurrected and destroyed. Change is the law of life! I honestly can't wait to see what humanity does next, merely because it can! Humans are the most unnecessary thinkers. We are the only creatures we know of in existence that can think rationally, and what do we do with that gift? We sit at our desks with a pen in one hand, scribbling and inviting, all the while sticking our middle fingers out to the universe and telling it to "make sure it's wearing clean underwear because we don't want our shoes getting shitty while we kick its ass." (I stole that line from a friend) We invent things because we can! We push onward and explore the darkest depths of the universe because, what the hell! Might as well, right? Did you know they have a particle accelerator that can make tiny black holes in switzerland? Did you know that humans are in the process of building a computer so powerful it can save three-dimensional objects to its hard drive? The laws of physics and nature themselves are buckling, desperately attempting to make excuses for their shortcomings, never having thought we would be crazy enough to try and split an atom or reproduce gravitational singularity in a lab. We are insane, and I love it! I am just happy to be alive and I can;t wait to see what we push ourselves into next, because whatever it is, its gonna be awesome.
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ReplyDeleteI believe that there are a few group of people who will actually go beyond and "push"
ReplyDeleteNot to sound pessimistic, but most people will not have that extra push to go beyond expectations.
Most people will remain at the point where they are content in what they do, in their abilities to perform.
But a few will go that extra mile to be above and beyond the others.
Where does that push come from?
CURIOSITY.. It comes from curiosity. The more you question, the more you ask, the more you try to find a solution, thats what the push comes from
MOTIVATION.. It also can come from motivation. What you like, what you want, your goal, thats also something that can help you get that extra mile.
There is always a purpose of an action. Why do people go the extra mile if they can just run to the finish line?
Going back to what I said, there will only be a hand full of people that will go that extra mile, who has motivation, who has a curious mind, and these people will succeed in life. I dont mean monetary success, but living a life that they dont regret, a life that can be described as worthy.
And that is why you train to be curious and learn how to motivate yourself. You read outside of class, you research to gain knowledge...
You work hard to become a person with curiosity and motivation, Because isnt that what we all want? to live a life that is successful?
I was talking to a friend last night. This friend was having trouble figuring out what he wanted to write for his final paper. His assignment was to write a 2 page paper about how a topic relates to pop culture. I told him to write about something he was passionate about or something that he was really interested in (he ended up choosing how the walking dead relates to zombie movies or various decades).
ReplyDeleteBasically, "the push" is going above and beyond. But you can't do that if you have trouble writing. The only way to write a good paper is to write about something you love or are interested in. For instance if I were to write about architecture in the 1940's it would not be a great paper, because i'd be bored out of my mind while writing it. However, it I wrote about space and the cosmos (and I actually did for the last paper) I could read a research it for hours and hours. Why? Because it FASCINATES me. If you love zombies (much like my friend), then write about it. if you love television and film, write about it.
If you are writing about something you love, you will actually WANT to do the extra research and find out more. You will WANT to write a few extra paragraphs on the topic. You will WANT to write it well enough so that someone else may experience your joy in the topic. The push IS doing more than your best. It's making yourself better. It's tough, but its possible. And you will benefit from it.
Do a little more than you usually do. It'll help.
This blog is incredibly relevant to right now. The will power to do anything school related does not exist. I find myself staring into space when I am supposed to be studying. When I should be working on these blogs, I turn to Facebook for an undeserving break. I feel the call of summer and it’s pulling me away from the plains of Auburn to the smell of the ocean in Jacksonville. As one side of my brain says push you are almost done the other side laughs and says that I am already done. But reading the blog about Susan seems to change my way of thinking. I hate to admit that I would probably not be as strong as she was. If I found out that I only had a little while left to live, I would not be anywhere near school. I would be travelling the world and doing things I never thought I could do. But I also realize that if I did that, it would be a complete waste of talent. Susan’s strength lies in the fact that she realized this also and acted upon it. She could have spent her last days in leisure, doing whatever she wanted. But instead, she was in class learning how to better her paper and herself. This is truly amazing and I admire her strength and applaud her for pushing herself in the time when she didn’t have to. So I take Susan’s story into consideration when I tell myself to half-ass my work so I can get to summer faster. I remember her and I push myself.
ReplyDeleteGrowing up my dad always told me "When you do something don't do it halfway." I feel like that is very applicable to what this blog is about. Making a push. Even though I usually never want to do what my dad tells me I always remember his words of wisdoms whenever I do something. If the people closest to us in our lives aren't pushing us to reach our full potential then we probably need to find better people to hang out with. Even though we hate being pushed to do better, it is a sign that someone cares for us and that they want the best for our lives. Making a conscious effort to push ourselves and those closest to us is healthy. It would be pointless to live an unmotivated life that only possesses laziness and procrastination. Im having to make a push this week to study my butt off so I can pass my classes with A's and B's. It isn't fun nor is it easy, but that's why making a push shows character. We let our actions define the person we choose to be.
ReplyDeleteIndustrious. It's a meaning of my name. It's something that my mother prided in me for so many years. Hard working, diligent. Words that very accurately described me.
ReplyDeleteSomewhere between middle school and my senior year of high school, I lost this piece of my name. I began to settle for way less than I was capable of. I stopped pushing. I quit working so hard. I was fine with not doing the best or being the best that I could. I would put fun over working hard any day. I spent the night with my best friends and rode my bike to school the morning of an AP exam last year, barely even opening the text book or gazing at my notes. I was the girl who would constantly put making memories and having fun over everything. And I'm not saying I regret that moment of biking to school, that decision I made. Just that life isn't about being fun all the time... that the push is what makes you stronger, builds character, makes you respectable, and ultimately is what I want to be known for.
One of the many things my freshman year of college has given me is this small part of my name back. Industrious. It came back to me... the pride in the push. The delight in going the extra mile.
In school, yes. I've learned the importance of saying no sometimes. Saying no when something sounds more fun, because of the fact that right now, I am a student first. I want to be proud of that title. Student. Auburn University student. However, being proud of that involves pushing. Attending hours of psychology experiments in order to assure an A. Going to biology office hours daily because I know I am much more capable than what my first exam grade shows. Continuing to sit in the library until the wee hours of the morning, after your entire study group is long in bed. Working hard in order to be proud.
And it pays off. The hard work pays off. The result is pride. Earned pride. An ecstatic email to my mom, with the subject being, "97 on my biology exam!!!" The letter "A" being posted as my final psychology grade a couple of hours after I took the final.
It goes beyond that. It isn't just grades or school that involve a push. It's the very person of me. It's taking a moment out of my day to invest in a life... to give up 5 hours of my life every Thursday just to drive 40 minutes away and show kids I care about them. To push beyond the limits of self and reach out. To smile at people as I walk across campus just because I can. To realize the affect I can make on someone and to work to do just that. The fact is, I have four years here. Four years to push in relationships that may not go beyond my college years. So why not push... push so that years down the road someone somewhere might remember that girl from college who poured so much into them as they struggled to see the point in going on?
It matters. The push matters. People notice it. Sometimes, they even remember you for it... like in the case of Susan. And what better thing to be remembered for than the fact that you never stopped pushing, trying, investing, loving?
That push is something I honestly strive for everyday. For example, I figured this class would be an easy A... I mean it's just English Comp 2 right? Wrong. Yes that is the title of the class, but I have learned and experienced more than I ever expected through this class. And it is only because I have pushed. This class has been tough for me. But I find myself not discouraged, but even more motivated to write with a sparkle in my eye through words. To write more like myself... rather than a high school, five-paragraph essay writing robot. To not always write so formulaically and perfectly all the time.
ReplyDeleteThroughout this class, I even wonder where my artsy side went. At times, I wondered how I ever considered myself creative and artistic. It could not have just abandoned me! Could it? No. But through my push in this class, I feel that I have gained back a part of my artsiness. I remember writing a short story in third grade... about a queen cobra. If there is such a thing as a king cobra... then where is it's queen?? It is this kind of imaginative thinking that I often, along with just about every other adult, feel I have lost. But in this class, I have continued to push... and through this push, I have found a piece of my artistic and creative self.
What is it in college that motivates us to keep going, to push through the tough times? I’ll be completely honest and open and say that first semester, I wanted to give up. To flat out say, I’m done and call it quits. The adjustment was so incredibly tough and I wasn’t sure how people managed everything and still had time for a social life. Spending hours upon hours in the library wondering if I could ever be ready for the test. It seemed hopeless, like a lost dream. But then I slapped myself back to reality. Looked at myself in the mirror and remembered who I was becoming and where I wanted to go in life. I had to give myself a little pick-me-up to tell myself that everything would be okay and that I just had to fight.
ReplyDeleteI’ve never been one that has just been handed things…with the exception of being able to sing. But other than that, I have to work hard in school and I have to work hard at sports. Every year of high school, I was awarded the work ethic award. You know why? Because I push.
But it’s times in the semester like this when I question, did I push hard enough? Why are my grades so borderline and why don’t I have 100s in every class? I feel like I’m trying a whole lot harder than most, yet here I am, still getting 91 and 92 on everything. Why can’t I be the far above average student who receives the first 100 a teacher has given in 15 years? It’s because more times than not, I settle. I settle because I get lazy and don’t know how else I can make myself better. Truth is though, there is ALWAYS room for improvement!
I was raised in a household where all we are taught to do is PUSH.
ReplyDeleteThere is no such thing as low grades. Study
There are no such things as not going to college. Apply yourself.
There is no such thing as getting in trouble with your teacher. He/she is always right.
Pushing yourself is the only way to become successful. No one made it to the top without pushing themselves.
Of course, it was an occasional few who dropped out of college and became multi-millionaires and billionaires (Steve Jobs. Oprah Winfrey. Bill Gates. Ralph Lauren. Mark Zuckerberg. The list continues.) but within the time of dropping out, they knew they had to push.
Beyond their maximum potential.
And that's just what they did.
I have also been inspired by people in family.
My sister, Jessica, exhibits what it means to push. She graduated as #2 in her class, attended Stanford University with a 3.8, and is now in graduate school in England at Oxford University. She has motivated me to do better than I am and try my hardest to obtain the goals I have set for myself.
Despite what obstacles people face, I believe everyone has the ability to reach their maximum potential. All you have to do is apply yourself and PUSH.
I have had zero motivation to do any work nearing the end of this semester. Even studying for exams has been a struggle for me. I know that I need to study in order to do the best I can, i just feel like there are better uses of my time than to do work. I've always believed that if you want something you have to work for it, and now more than ever I tell that to myself. My older brother was always a good student and it all seemed to come so easy to him. That was never the case for me I have always had to give it my all I could in order to live up to the standards set by my brother. At times it was difficult and it seemed impossible, but in the end it has always been rewarding knowing I've given it my all and that I can look back on what I've done with pride.
ReplyDeleteIf you have a moment copy the link below and view this picture: http://bobbiblogger.files.wordpress.com/2011/11/heart.jpg. This is one of my favorite quotes/pictures I have in my collection. Whenever I have one of those rough mornings I now know to turn to this to get me out of bed. Purpose is what pushes me. I strive to improve, to become Robert.V.2 and better. Whether that be learning something new in class, pushing harder in my workout, tell myself I am better, or just get through the day without a negative thought. Something has to be accomplished or I feel like I wasted the day. There is no reason to not get something done, no reason to sleep in, no reason to mope around, and no excuse not to push ahead. There is no legit excuse not to take advantage of the day. Like my old distance running coach said, “Everyday is a good day to run.”
ReplyDeleteIf you dont want to copy the link the picture reads: " Having a rough morning? Place your hand over your heart. Feel that? That's called purpose. You're alive for a reason. Don't give up."
DeleteI really don’t know how I could approve my response from the first go around. It is one of my most favorite pieces of writing ever I think. Sad I wasted on the blog and not an essay, but still. Please go back and read it for me if you haven’t yet.
ReplyDeleteRe-reading that blog once more I am incredibly touched, and I’ve realized how strong of a writer you are Dr. PD, don’t take this the wrong way either I’m not butt kissing. Seriously though chills ran down my spine reading the part about your old student and especially the Mystic River quote you ended on. It also helped that I’ve been in the midst of a full-blown theology discussion for the past 30 minutes.
With all that aside; now is definitely time to push more than ever. It is finals which means (for me at least) that all the work I have put in over the entire semester could either be ravaged or very successful in these next 3 days. Oh boy am I pushing to. Right around the corner we have a glorious summer. Long days, sleepless nights, and lots of water and sun…. I really can not wait, and Those kind of thoughts are what is enabling me to push. Push through the mind numbing hours in the library and the 100 question tests. What’s on the other side of the door I’m currently pushing through? I am not sure. I am sure that I will PUSH through it though in order to find out.
This seems like it is such a relevant topic in all aspects of life at any point in time. We all need to push ourselves- don't give up, keep going no matter what.
ReplyDeleteI loved this sentence of your blog:
"I remember one of my professors telling me to not be so invested, so close-chested, to my work as to not see its potential to be even better."
Love love love. It's not about giving up because you're tired, or because there's no place else to go-- when you give up on a paper or task, you're saying that you have no desire to make it better- to make yourself better. We can't accept defeat but we do, as humans, far too often. Stopping, quitting, is demeaning ourselves into less than we are. We have the potential to be so much and so much more than we could dream but very few of us can reach that potential.
A lot of time we convince ourselves that we've reached our peak and there's no place else we can go. Not true. We can always grow, always become someone better than who we are. We have to constantly push ourselves to mature and not slack off. What's the point of being just "there"? There is none. That's stupid. Don't we all want to be remembered? How are people going to remember us if we're just perfectly average. We can't accept average. We have to keep going.
So get up, keep working. Aim towards that goal of being the best you can be whether that's in something as mundane as an assignment or as important and a new career. Never accept the present just because it's easy. We can always grow to become better and we must recognize that.
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ReplyDeletesince i was a little girl i have been pushed. driven to be the best that i can be. to better myself. would i go back and change that? of course not. it has made me into the person that i am today.
ReplyDeleteif you dont push yourself how are you going to see results in your life? meet your goals? make someone proud? without a driven instinct you can not do any of those things. it comes from within. you are in charge of your own life. no one else has control and honestly probably doesnt even care if you succeed. they most likey dont want you to succeed.
you have to push yourself to meet your goal that you set for yourself. once you make a goal you will do anything to succeed that goal. and once you achieve it, its the best feeling in the world. feeling of accomplishment.
you have you push yourself to make people proud. if you are doing the same thing you were doing 2 years ago, how can people be proud of you? you havent accomplished anything? you have to drive yourself in order for people to notice.
you have to push yourself in order to see results in your life. dont worry about what people think about you. people love when others fail. somehow it gives them an accomplished feeling? ive never understood that. you have to drive yourself in order to make yourself proud of you. you are you and that will never change.
Words, all day ranble in my mind. If only- if only I could take a pen and paper and write down every thought i've ever had. One beautiful day I had the pleasure of spending a very hot july day with my grandmother running around my small town in search of items for my new "big girl" apartment. As we pulled out of Jacks fast food for a large fry and homemade milkshake (Oh the things I miss from North Alabama!) My grandmother, a proud southern democrat and hard working retiree' noticed they left out the honey mustard that we repetively asked for. Turns and looks at me saying with a deep southern draw "Amber, you know people screw up everything now because of these damned computers. You have to do everything yourself". As I stopped laughing, I wrote it down. These words.. with so much meaning were important to me. They were beautiful. I'll never know why she compared a fast food restaurant to computers, but somehow it all makes sense.
ReplyDeleteIt's the people in our everyday life who inspire us to make ourselves better. It's the beautiful words that are left unspoken, just so we have that chance to go home and write them down, in order to read them again for entertainment. Words are simply beautiful.
Language is a gift, and each day we grow with it. Writer or no writer, if something is inspiring- write it down. Read it over again, and spread the knowledge. Thats the push. Thats what gives us purpose to do better- to be better.
Curiosity strikes my mind and I begin to wonder if the word push has the same context as it did years ago. Has what we used to push and reach for quickly turned into a dim reality of our complacent present?
ReplyDeleteJust think for a moment as to all of the things we were pushed to do as a kid.
Pushed to go to school.
Pushed to do your homework.
Pushed to go to college.
And if you grew up in the South like I did, pushed to find a good husband, get married, and have children.
Now don't get me wrong, all of these things are great! They're definitely some of those important milestones that you want to be able to check off the list once things are all said and done. But my next question is what's next? What do you do once you've pushed and pushed, reached your goals, and are now straight chillin in a hot tub with champagne and a sea of attractive men?
The answer to this is simple...well sort of. One of the beauties of life, is that until you take your last breath, you can still do more. There's always more potential- something greater that's inside you. SO if these were my last words to you, "I'd say push- because you will never know all that you are capable of until all capabilities are gone."
Dr. P I'm sure you have noticed. Every paper I wrote this semester was somehow related to the automobile. The push that you speak of can sometimes only be realized if we are passionate, hungry for more, and longing for better writing skills. This hunger is why I write about cars. Since I was about... oh let's say three, I've been head over heels in love with anything that moves. I was addicted to motion, and anything that gave me motion, or speed was my new favorite thing. Turning sixteen is a turning point for every teen, the driver's license is a right of passage. For me it was a badge of honor. It was what I had dreamed for, for so so long. I did everything in my power to avoid collisions and make my parents proud of my good driving etiquette. Long story short, they began to trust me more, and now I own three cars and a motorcycle.
ReplyDeleteAll of this is to say, we work for what we have a passion for. I enjoy writing but had I not written about cars this semester writing would have become much more difficult. My passion for the automobile made it possible for me to push through the stress and anxiety and produce a paper.
One of my favorite car racing quotes, the only one I've ever heard by an author: "Auto racing, bull fighting, and mountain climbing are the only real sports… all the others are games." – Ernest Hemingway
Push.... push.... Push for what? What in life is worth reaching? Is it what we want in life? Where we want to travel? Or is it just the ignorance that we have knowing what we want and what we can achieve are two completely different things.
ReplyDeleteHmm, now walking on the Sun, time traveling, and seeing live dinosaurs are probably an unrealistic goal. Now having a family, being a successful person, and possibly becoming president are realistic goals. There is a catch to everything though. The human mind won't feel successful just with what it wants to accomplish but what it subconsciously wants to achieve as well.
So far I've become an avid golfer, a person who cherishes family and friends, and am on my way to receiving a college degree. These are just a few things on my list, but I know I have other goals I don't know yet. That's why we push with all we have, that's why we have a drive to never back down. It is for the things we haven't uncovered about ourselves. I can't say that I'll complete my "bucket list" but I can do everything I can to with what time I have on Earth.
Writing also causes us to push for our goals, and it helps uncover what we want in life as well. What we know and what we love always finds a way into our writing. For me it is golf, paintball, family, friends, God, and my country that influences me and what I do. Call me old fashioned or cliche but I don't push for anything but what I feel is what is on my path or on what I knowingly want to get done. So I say push and push more, because you never know when you'll reach what you want.
Think of how many things we push in a day. Doors, buttons, people's nerves. Millions of things require pushing, including people. Some of us have that amazing internal drive that let us accomplish anything we set our minds to, but sometimes we need something else to drive us. A push to be better, act better, DO better. With that extra force, we can do astonishing things. HELLO, we managed to put a man on the moon. I'm sure it was hard as hell and the idea seemed crazy at the time, but a simple push kept the insane people at NASA going and we did it.
ReplyDeletePushing myself, on the other hand, hasn't been hard. I like to put a lot of effort and soul into the things I love and doing so has gotten me to some great places, like Auburn. I personally believe my ability to push is awesome and I'm not afraid to show it off.
Making myself push in my recent classes however, hasn't been too impressive. I wish I hadn't given up so early because now I'm clinging on to my GPA for dear life. Harnessing my pushing power has to be a 24 hour, 365 day thing. I realize that now and I'm hoping I'll remember it after being a lazy bum for the next 3 months. I'm actually looking forward to what my pushing will produce next year. Hopefully it'll be something I'm proud of.