Howdy howdy people. It's been a while since I last wrote something with any meaning (rare occurrence) so I thought in the midst of trudging through the last few weeks of my FINAL semester in college I would attempt to write something cool.
Like I stated in the previous paragraph, it is indeed my last semester of college. My last hoorah, the grand finale, the final show, etc. Before I started this past semester, I honestly thought it was going to be a magical land of trees that would release their "answer leaves" which would fall to my feet. And in this magical land with answers a plenty I was also hoping to be boated down a calm river of classes by a pleasant, as well as attractive, maiden and that we would ultimately reach the utopia of graduation. Far be it for me to wish for such hocus pocus.
I have not found this magical land on my journey toward graduation. I am currently wading through a forsaken river, minus a boat and maiden I might add, in hopes of finding this graduation utopia. The trees I thought would submit these answers are bare-limbed, sad excuses for foliage. No magical land here people, just a desolate and forgotten wasteland.
"Only five weeks left" is what I keep telling myself. I repeat this every day. Technically I have four weeks and three days left and I will say that when I wake up in the morning. I know you're thinking that I've done enough complaining but it gets better. Within this desolate wasteland, I've found a shred of hope, a diamond if you will. It doesn't look like much at first glance but after much inspection, all of its complicated qualities can be seen. Yes, I have found something to take away from this last semester at Lincoln University.
It is not facts and numbers that interest me most about school. This type of knowledge can only go so far and then it becomes obsolete in my eyes. What really matters most are the little nuggets of information that one can take from a book, a lecture, or from any avenue of learning and apply to everyday life. The funny thing is, I've found something very valuable in the oddest of places. My Exercise and Conditioning class or PE 201. What? Why are you in a PE class? I thought your major was Criminal Justice. Oh, it is but this was one of those classes that I thought would be in that magical land with the calm river and maiden. Not so much. Not to worry though, it is this class in which I pick up a very useful piece of information.
This is where it all starts. According to the American College of Sports Medicine, for a muscle to experience growth and strength gains, it must be overloaded. "What is this?" you ask. This is when you add more weight or complete more reps to take the muscle out of its comfort zone in order for it to grow. This increase in intensity is the only way for that to take place. How did I take this information and apply it to my life? Well I do like to work out so it was helpful in that aspect but that's not what I got out of it.
After this little seed of information was read, it floated into my ear and planted itself into my brain. Because I like to sit around and think about random stuff, I backtracked to this piece of knowledge. Not only do muscles grow because of overload, I believe people are just the same. To truly reach one's potential, there must be a certain amount of stress placed upon them. Not too much because like muscles, people have limits but there is a perfect quantity for everyone. In order to grow, we must step out of our comfort zone. These changes can be subtle or drastic. As an example, I will finally be moving out of the house in August. Twenty-two years of living under the same roof as my family and it will all change in a days worth of moving furniture. I am excited about this and embrace the upcoming life alteration but it will be a step out of my comfort zone. There will surely be some growing pains but that's the beauty of it. These changes will ultimately help me grow and mature as a person. I may not see them right away but that's a fact.
Everyone will go through something that will test their limits and put them completely out of the bubble they are used to. The great thing about these situations is that we all have a choice. Not a choice in regards to when we will be thrown into the inferno but about how we deal with it. Being a positive person, I always look for the good in every situation. There have been times, even in the last few months where I've been sent into an entirely different dimension of pissed off and confused but I always look for the light at the end of the tunnel to pull be back to reality and on the right track. That was my choice, either get back on the proper course or let all the bull shit pull me under like the shadowy demon figures in the movie Ghost.
Maybe this little diamond of knowledge I have found in my wasteland is the guiding light to finding graduation utopia. The strain of these not-so-easy classes along with other real world crap is the overload that is going to contribute to my maturity. I will find graduation folks, although it is merely a step. There will yet be situations that afflict me but I'll remember the overload principle and "keep on keepin' on." Until next time. God Bless.
