Dreaming

Dreams are made up of so many more things than anyone could possibly imagine. Hopes, fears, aspirations, goals, doubts, and experiences all intertwine to form your dreams. Dreaming is your body and soul developing goals and aspirations for you to attain. You dream big and aim big to eventually make it farther than you truly thought you could. Dreams, however, can be extremely frightening. Huge dreams you have for yourself can lead to self-doubt and fear. Honestly…. you can do it though! Dreams and aspirations should be so large and so extravagant that you are terrified and fearful of not reaching it. That’s what makes you work hard. That’s what makes you fight for every inch, for every step, for every small accomplishment that is a building block to the overall goal of life fulfillment.

Dreams are meant to change. Dreams are meant to grow. Dreams are meant to diminish. Most importantly though, dreams are the aspirations you know deep down inside you can reach even though the climb to get there may be unbearable and intense.

Everything you dream and aspire to do can be done with a little innovation, motivation, dedication, and inspiration. Dreaming is nothing more than your brain showing you the finish line of the journey that has already or has yet to begin. Reach the finish line and conquer everything you never thought you could because everything is possible if you just try your hardest. Dream the biggest dreams you can dream and conquer everything you’ve been told is impossible!

Fighting

Fighting for what you want or what you believe in is one of the hardest things to do in a lifetime. Facing opposition at every turn, every decision you make being harder, and every inch you go there is a margin of error that cannot be escaped. You can’t say it any better than Al Pacino’s speech in Any Given Sunday, “Either we heal now,… or we crumble. Inch by inch, play by play, until we’re finished. We’re in hell right now, we can stay here and get the crap beat out of us, or we can fight our way back, into the light.” It’s fighting for what you want in life that keeps you going, fighting for what you are destined to do. If you can’t look yourself in the mirror and see someone who you know will fight for every inch that he wants, you need to dig deep inside yourself. Digging and pulling up every ounce of motivation and determination you can find is what life is about. “Life is a game of inches, one half step too late or too early you don’t quite make it, one half second too slow or too fast, you don’t quite catch it.”

How do you go through life knowing that at every decision and every move there is a potential for mistake? You go through it like everyone else. Even the most amazing people in the world have made mistakes at one point or another. It was their will-power and determination that kept them fighting for every inch. Life is a battle, it’s a war that must be fought every day. Whether it’s something you’re trying to fight out in your career, in your relationships, or in yourself. It’s a battle that can be won over time. What is it I’m talking about? That’s your call. It can be anything, sports, relationships, classes, career choices, financial hardship, you name it, there’s a battle to be fought. But, “It’s the guy who’s willing to die who’s gonna win that inch.” No stronger words have been said than that. If you want something so bad that you’re willing to give up anything and everything else for that one thing, absolutely no one can stop you. As human beings we are programmed to do great things, each and every one of us are destined to do something to make an impact somewhere. It’s our choice to reach that destiny. It’s seeing what’s around you, the people all around you, helping you and pushing you. The pathway you choose, the destiny you have, that is your war, your battle. Fighting for every inch you want or desire is what life is. The harder you fight and the more you give into everything you do is what will define you as a person. Making wrong choices or wrong decisions is a part of everyone’s life. Building on those mistakes through tenacity and motivation to become the strongest person you can be is what everyone should fight for. Life is a pathway of hardship mixed with tenacity. What will win? No one can make that choice but you. Any fear can be overcome. Any battle can be won. Any villain can be conquered. How hard are you willing to fight? How hard are you willing to push? How much are you willing to give up? No matter what the answer, there’s a path. A path you form to your ultimate destination. Now it’s up to you to fight for every inch you want, every inch in front of you. Forget about the past and dig in, claw your way towards your goal and achieve it. It’s up to each and every one of us to figure out what you’re going to do. So, what will you do?

-Eric Welter

Failure

It is something that every person knows about, a thing that must be conquered in order to find true happiness, but what is failure really?  Thomas Edison said it perfectly when he said, “Many of life’s failures are men who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.” Giving up is giving in to everyday failures, giving up your dreams and aspirations, giving up something you want so badly you would go to the end of the world to get it.  If it’s usually something so great and so grand, why do people give it up?  Is it too tough of a goal?  Did you set your expectations too high?  I for one, give in to the thoughts of failure too often.  Too often I say to myself “I can’t do it”. College courses have proved to be the toughest thing I have had to endure in my 22 years of life, but am I really considering myself a failure when I don’t do well?  After thinking long and hard about it, the only thing I failed was myself.  I failed in time management and responsibility to do the work in which I have set forth to do and try my hardest at.  Failure is not setting your mind to something you really want because you give in to the many temptations life has to give to you.  It’s being afraid of hard work because it looks too difficult to complete.  If you don’t succeed you just have to keep trying, no matter how many times you don’t succeed, keep pushing toward what you want.  Nothing can stop you from your goals; nothing can alter your ambitions or change your desires.  It might sound a bit cliché, but you really can do anything you put your mind to.  Nothing is holding you back besides yourself.  What is failure besides an inevitability of everyday life? It’s another battle waiting to be overcome.  It’s an opportunity to grow as a person, as a friend, as a student, as an athlete, or as a human being in general.  Failure is no more a chance for personal destruction as it is a chance for personal growth.  It’s up to you to realize you need to take every failure and turn it into a positive experience.  It’s up to you as a person to make every failure a motivational opportunity, a chance to push yourself further and harder than ever before.  What is failure?  It’s the most positive thing that can happen to you, it’s an inevitable experience everyone will run into on almost a daily occurrence, but most of all, it means you’re only a step or two away from an even greater success.

 

-Eric Welter

What Is Love?

Somebody asked me the question “What is love? What does it mean to you?” the other day.  Now when that question is asked, you immediately think of all the stuff that is taught to you growing up.  What love is supposed to be, that happy fairytale ending with “happily ever after” written shortly after beginning a family.  But what is it really? Is it “finding that certain someone you can annoy for the rest of your life”? Is it loving someone so deeply and so amazingly that you would do absolutely anything for that person, no matter what it is? Or better yet, as my mom and dad have taught me, is it a decision you make every morning when you wake up, and every night when you go to sleep?  A conscious decision to undoubtedly love your significant other when the going gets rough and the clouds over you begin to turn black?

Love, to me, is having that feeling in your gut that you know if that person walked out of the room you would almost instantly miss them.  That kind of childish attachment you have to your mother when you’re little.  Love is doing anything and everything for the other person just to see a smile, the kind of smile that brightens up your world and brings sunshine into the room even when it is as black as midnight outside.  Love is going to the end of the world for that other person.  Love is being so mad at the other person you can’t even speak, then getting a hug from them that literally stops the world’s rotation and stops the movement of time so much so that you can’t help but to feel comforted by their embracing arms.

Now, I may not be an expert in this whole “Love” thing, but I don’t think you need to be in a forever long relationship that ends in “I Do” to understand what love really truly is.  You feel it from birth until death.  From the womb to the grave.  Love is everywhere around you.  Friends that go out of their way to pick you up when you’re having car troubles and family members that are there for you when you hit a speed bump in life.  Most people think love is only around when you’re in a relationship with someone, but if I’ve learned anything over the last few years of my life, it’s that love is all around.  Each and every friend you make and talk to has some sort of love for you.  After all, in the society we live in today the word is thrown around like it means nothing, but to someone on a bad day, it means the world.

What brought this on?  Me realizing I have some of the best friends in the world, the best family a person could imagine, and continue to meet new people every day that could potentially change the meaning of my life.  I’m 30,000 feet above the earth right now and know that as I fly to my destination, someone somewhere is thinking about me and is hoping I have a safe flight.  They may not have the same definition of love as I do, but in the long run, isn’t hoping I land safely just so you can text me and say hey, and hoping I return home safely so I can hang out with you one last time to have another laugh love?  I may not be able to reflect on my life and past relationships to tell you what love actually is, but I don’t think you need a successful girlfriend/boyfriend kind of relationship to understand this concept.

What is love?  Love is everywhere.  Love is grateful. Love is Kind. Love does not envy.  Love does not boast.  Love is in heaven.  Love is on earth.  Love comes from your parents, and your friends.  Love comes from every breath you make and every time you think of someone.  Love is absolute and never-ending.  Love cannot be broken.  Love is a promise and a connection.  Love is a decision (unconscious and conscious) that must be made daily.  Love is love and for anyone who reads this, I love you for who you are and what you have done in my life.  No matter how little you think you have done, or how great an influence you have been, I love you for everything you have done and will continue to do.  That is love to me… What is love to you?

– Eric Welter