Keep Going

[Jacqueline Anne Martinez]

     Happy Monday y'all!  I know it sounds crazy but I love Mondays!  The beginning of the week always serves as my clean slate to stick to my homework and workout schedules. Forget New Year Resolutions, you get 52 new starts a year to get and keep your act together!

     One of the goals I have set for this week is to continue the study schedule I set three weeks ago for the GRE (graduate school exam). I'm scheduled to take the test on February 6.  I have to be honest, I was pretty disappointed this weekend when I took a practice GRE online.  After three solid weeks of studying I didn't see any improvement in my score.  Bummer.  My first reaction after all the hard work was to give up.  What's the point?  Maybe I wasn't meant to go to grad school.  I'm just not smart enough or good enough.  The logical thing to do is quit, right?

     WRONG! I'd like to take this opportunity to share two very inspirational quotes that helped me shake off my negative thoughts:

• "Work. Work hard. Work with people who will not accept anything less than your best. COURT FAILURE. Find your limits and expand them. Take the bitter pill of over-reaching with the knowledge that failure will teach you better than success ever will."
• "Even if you come in dead last, do not give up.  Keep going."

     These quotes remind me that nothing worthwhile ever comes easy.  Life isn't about never failing, it's about overcoming the failures and disappointments and getting back up to try again.  I can't guarentee that studying like a maniac will result in an excellent score (I've never done well with standardized tests).  Even if I do horribly on the exam, at least I know that I did EVERYTHING I could to do well and I gave it my best.

     This is why I love Mondays!  I get to dust off the disappointments of yesterday and with a positive attitude, start over.