7/13/2011
Slept on my friends floor last night. It wasn’t all that bad. Started the day kind of stiff but when I get my blood flowing, all aches seem to go away. I feel like the circulation of blood stimulates the brain as well. At times when I’m running, I wish I could download my thoughts straight into my phone. I get these wonderful moments of enlightenment similar to those moments right before drifting into a deep sleep. If only our minds could always be that open. I think we think our best thoughts when we are without pressure. The mind isn’t occupied with those everyday worries.
As I ran, I thought mainly about where I sat a year and a half ago. I thought about the simple idea of wanting to make a change in one’s life. I thought the only thing stopping us from being great is ourselves. Perhaps it is the fear of failure. Perhaps it is the comfort of the status quo. Everyone is different. Yet, I believe that each of us would like to do great things. I believe we can all reach our full potential if we take the steps.
My mind wandered to the books I love on this subject. (fiction and non) One particular book sticks out in my mind. “The Great Gatsby” is like a handbook on how to create oneself. There is a part in the story where Gatsby’s father comes around and explains Gatsby’s drive to transform himself into someone sophisticated and wealthy. He said Gatsby read everything he could get his hands on. The book leaves me feeling sad so when I picture myself as the protagonist, I always rewrite my ending. I guess I’m a sucker for Hollywood endings. My point in all of this is that education is the catalyst for success. If I were using movies to illustrate this point, I’d pick “My Fair Lady” or “Thomas Crown Affair”. In all my examples, education helped take the characters to worlds otherwise unaccessable to them.
You might make the argument that my examples are fiction. Well, let me assure you, my life is not fiction. I’ve made my share of mistakes but, the one thing I can say in all confidence is that my love of books helped me create and recreate myself. I’ve used books to spark my imagination as well as guide me through rough times. I guess I feel the more I know, the better equiped I am to handle any situation. As for my life story, that’s too long to fit on this page.
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