"Keep chopping wood, good things will happen."

If you're anything like me, you've dreamt up a grand vision of how your life will be. You're gonna have it all honey, the house, the car, the man, and the dog! You see this vision so clear you can taste it, smell it, almost feel it in your hands. You did everything right. You went to school, you got the grades, you joined the clubs, you put your best foot forward and now the melodies will rain down from heaven right...?Except it isn't always right, or at least right now. Most times, things require much more patience and time than you thought. Often times you'll make progress just to hit another wall, but what we need to realize is, it doesn't get easier we just get better. We think of our glo up's as training montages in movies. We're going to decide we want something, do some slight work, and have said thing fall right into our laps.

In real life, it doesn't work quite like that. We may spend yearsss in bad situations whether that be living arrangements, jobs, relationships or lack thereof. But what we need to realize is that these are all adding to our arsenal of experience. It's building us up to where we need to go. The universe does not send us challenges in vain, it sends trials tailor made to our situations. Challenges that we asked for to cultivate the skills and experiences we need. Some challenges may be themes in your life, a grand lesson that keeps appearing until you've mastered it. When you rise to the challenge you progress in life, when you give in to defeat you stay stuck and in a loop. For a long time, I was upset with God and resentful that so many people seemed to be living better lives than me. I felt that I deserved a lot of things that I hadn't yet earned. I threw a tantrum and got in my own way because I thought that this would get God's attention and get him to expedite my overdue blessings. I learned two things to be very true.

1. Everything is everything, what is meant to be will be.

2. No one is coming to save you!

Have faith in your destiny BUT know that If you want it you gotta work for it; point, blank, period! In this age of ease, access, and microwave successes we tend to lose track of just how much goes into building anything worth having! We forget that the real work starts after our 10,000 hours in training. A great reference for this in one of my favorite films of all time Kill Bill Vol. 2! A doe-eyed Beatrix Kiddo is sent to train under Pai Mei. Upon meeting him, she confidently rattles off her skills as an established assassin; to which Pai Mei laughs in her face and insults her. Beatrix is infuriated! So much so that she tries to sneak and hit him with a rock during a sparring match. Pai Mei quickly humbles her by putting her in an excruciatingly painful arm twist. In that moment, she realized she wasn't as advanced as she'd thought. We then see Beatrix undergo "the cruel tutelage of Pai Mei," a relentless training process that goes on for months in some of the worst conditions. Gradually, she becomes harder, better, faster, stronger and she leans on that training to save her life countless times throughout the film.

It can be discouraging to realize you've finally climbed a mountain just to come up against an even bigger one but it's encouraging to know the mountain behind you prepared you for the one ahead. If you want to get where you're going, it's best to get going! You're going to have to keep chopping wood and re-committing each day. It's not going to be glamorous, it's not going to be instant, and it will probably be UNCOMFORTABLE! But one day you'll look up and you'll be that person you were always meant to be, so you better get to work because the dream ain't free!

-XO

DotCom

10,000 HRS Later