The highway of life is not always smooth. Some roads are full of potholes that send much more than our coffee flying all over the windshield, making us want to stop driving and get out. However, you cannot let a few accidents keep you from reaching your goals. I am Max Tapper, and I am here to give you, my fellow students, some advice on effectively responding to life’s challenges.
1. Have Thick Skin
This is a phrase that I feel holds a very concrete definition, as people will say to you how they feel even if it makes you uncomfortable or indignant. Criticism is undesirable but one must accept it without letting brutal honesty devastate them. No matter how many verbal rocks they throw, you need to embrace the need for improvement and be confident in your abilities.
2. Accept the Things You Cannot Control
We all want to make our move in this worldwide competition that each one of us participates in every single day. Regardless of how hard you try to develop your skill set and knowledge, there will always be someone better or smarter. This is a matter of fate. Others having success over you cannot slow you down for oftentimes, your true rival is yourself.
3. Have Faith in a Positive Outcome
It can be very discouraging to repeatedly aim for success only to keep falling short, but you must keep aiming. Hard work does not always immediately pay off as you are likely to make mistakes while practicing or performing. Nevertheless, your decision to continue striving for ideal results will ultimately determine your success. I believe that it all works out for those who try.
4. Realize That It Will Never Be Perfect
Even the most beautiful things may have a few white spots left or a speck of dirt. We try very hard to avoid such errors in our work, but they are often unavoidable. You might only get a B in your math class, but at least you are passing with a decent grade. One must do their best to do their best. If you do not try, you will get nowhere toward mastery.
5. Enjoy the Ride
My sociology/criminology teacher once said that if you realize that life is tough, it is going to be a good life. We have all faced a lot and are still facing a lot. Nevertheless, it is essential to be positive even through adversity. My worst days are when I am unable to see the long way that I have come and the even longer way I will go. Let the future bring what it may, but if we make time to smile and laugh, we will be more than fine.
