Effort (and nothing but)

I remember it well and yet I'd forgotten...

I'd wake up to the sound of my alarm clock radio at about 6am. I'd get up and go downstairs to lace up my running shoes and go for a run. Nothing too far, just anywhere from 1-2 miles. Then, I'd go home to shower and eat a breakfast.

I'd get to school before the first bell. After 6 periods, with a break and a lunch worked in there, I'd hit the courts around 3pm with the team. Donning tennis shoes and wielding strung graphite, we would work on anything from drills, serves, and anything else that came up. Once practice was over, I'd go home to to lift weights or skip rope.

Once dinner came around, I'd eat like a vacuum cleaner. I'd even go for a second bowl of rice to chase it all down. Then its off to homework until about 11pm. Then, I'd do plyometrics or some abs. Then I'd go downstairs to to eat my 4th meal of the day: a toasted bagel with cream cheese followed by a glass of milk. Then I'd go to sleep to start this process all over again.

One of my life's lessons was learned here in high school. Effort can whatever shortcoming you might have had in the beginning. You may have "natural talent" or you may not. Whatever the case, its really the work you put into it that helps you surpass obstacles.

Somehow, I lost some of this ethic in college and in the working world. How this came to pass, I'm not even sure. Its funny how times like these can really make you you think about it.

I need to get back there somehow.