Sunday, June 10, 2007

The Start of Something Good

Hey mystery blank, I'm back.

Life has been pretty intense lately. I've been hustling. There's been a lot to do, a bunch of stuff on my end game list.

See, I made this list of things I'd have to do in order to get out of school alive this year. As I finished them I'd check them off. After school came PLC.

I just checked PLC off the list, and now here I am.

Without a list.

So I made a new list. Not a list of things I've got to do, but a list of things I want to do. It's not like I didn't want to do the things that were on my other list, because I did. It's just that this list is going to be things that I'm pushing for. I've got some genuine free time on my hands here, and I'm gonna take it and run with it.

What's on my list of things to do? I'm gonna put a fire pit in the backyard. Me and my dad have talked about it, and I think we're gonna make it happen. It'll be fun and useful. We've got a never ending supply of fire wood and all sorts of occasions to start fires. I love to engineer and build a one-match-wonder. I tried up at PLC, totally failed. But it's something I like to do, and having a fire pit has social advantages. We've got the location, we've got the desire, now all we need is a day to do it. Whoosh.

You know, I didn't write much this past month. I could throw excuses around like so much dollar menu food, but that's not the point. It's in the past. I didn't take the chance I had to write.

But I'm going to start taking that chance. I'm going to write more. The honest truth here is that no matter what I say, whether or not posts show up will speak for itself. Will I really write? You'll see.

My life is moving along. There's a lot of work to be done, but I'm excited to go tackle it. I cleaned my room, it's so awesome. I've got a ton more room now, and that means I can get genuine whiteboard space on the wall now. Whiteboards make everything more efficient. I'm ready to make a list, look at me go.

Good things are on the horizon. I feel like I'm starting a new life. Things are so fresh. For so long I was searching for fresh. The latter end of school got monotonous, the weather was the same, everything was the same. Fresh things kept popping in, but never the whole picture.

Now, at the edge of summer, things are fresh. My room is clean, and there's no school on Monday. I'm going to go running, and I'm going to work out for me. Not for anybody else. This one's for me. I'm going to breathe, I'm going to write. I'm gonna make it happen.

There are three ways to live your life I figure. There's the crappy way, that most people don't choose. There's the neutral way, and that's the way that 98 percent of the world is. The neutral way is where you let your natural talents and abilities and circumstances take you where they will. You roll with the punches, you roll with what's given you. Some people are more gifted than others, so some guys excel with the neutral path.

But then there's the excellent path. The path where you take what you're given and you work to make it better. The path where you sit down and think what you can do to maximize your excellence today.

We've got talents. It seems the people I associate with are really talented people. I, just like everybody else, have talents too.

And so far the talents have been working pretty well for us all. We're moving along.

But I think that neutrality has taken us just about as far as it's going to. It's time to make a choice, and I'm choosing to be excellent. I'm choosing to maximize. I'm going to work. Not in short bursts, but all day long at a respectable pace. I'm going to take it to the limit. I don't want to just be mediocre. I don't want to just take the opportunities handed to me. I'm going to get up every morning and fight for excellence.

Oh yeah, it's a new day, and that new day better watch out. I'm ready to roll.

For all the talk and big words, it's going to come down to what I actually do.

Just you wait and see.

2 comments:

Frissa said...

Wow...I think I need to make a list.

Rachel Frost said...

Yay, I made one of those today. Lessee... this is exciting. Good job, Thatcher. Keep it up. *thumbs up*