When I was still an infant, and even as a young child, my mother would always say to me, "Who will be king someday?" This is one my most treasured memories of my mother. My parents told me that they named me after a great conqueror. It was not until recently that I have come to understand why they chose such a name. If you have ever read Freakonomics, then you will know that a name has quantitatively been proven to attribute to one's future. Ever since I can recall, I remember my mother standing me up, and reciting to me, "Who will be king someday?" Back when I was young, I always took it as I was special and I was the little prince who got what he wanted. Although, I never did really get what I wanted.
The reason that I have come to see why my mother would say these words to me everyday was not to boost my ego or give me some sense of a god complex; rather, it was to tell me that I can accomplish great things. The upper class and nobility of the medieval times were remembered for what they accomplished, and some of the greatest of them often started from nothing. In her own way, I believe that my mother was telling me to accomplish something great.
When I was in middle school, I did not do so well in class. In fact, I was on the verge of failing most of them. My teachers always repeated the same line to my parents, "He knows the material, but he just doesn't do the work." They would often tell my parents that I would probably end up failing out of school and not amounting to much. Well, something triggered in high school, because I went from getting failing grades, to being on honor roll for 4 years straight. I guess I finally had a goal to work towards, college, and that always pushed me ahead.
But until recently, I still had not really grasped what my mother was telling back then. Over the past couple of months, I have accomplished more than I could have foreseen I have made a complete 180 degree turnaround in my life. Through sheer determination and self resolve, I have changed. I used to not worry about anything but my mind, which is the complete antithesis of my teachers' early predictions, but now I focusing not only maintaining a sharp and witty mind, but also physical and emotional health. All three are needed to live, and I was only living 1/3 of my life up until now.
When I reflect back on the last few months, I see that I have accomplished a great deal of my goals. I have come out to all my friends, and even new people who I have met (full disclosure for all). I have started focusing not only on my intellectual health, but my physical health, too. I am looking closely at what I eat, and I have done a lot of research on different types of activities to stay healthy. I have also been able to focus on my heart. I came out to someone that I had an attraction to. While the feelings were not reciprocated, I at least allowed all of my emotional shields to come down and put my true, inner self out. Finally, I have clear direction on where my next career goal is. In a few months, I will begin filling out graduate school applications. I have come to realize, with some consoling from a close mentor, that I will not be able to achieve the type of career that I am looking for without completing my graduate studies.
When I reflect on all of this, I see that in four months, I have done a great deal. My goal of this blog was to inspire people, but I did not believe that I would inspire myself throughout the process. I am not sure what lies ahead of me, yet. However, I know that if set my mind to something, I can accomplish anything. In a way, I guess my mother does live on. I always think back to that one question and think, "How can I accomplish something great?"
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