Lately, my friends and associates have hit quite a bad time with their lives falling apart this summer. Honestly, it’s almost coincidental with the fact of summer love or summer dreaming… A few nights ago, one of my readers had said she had broke her relationship off with the man she was seeing because she finally found out he had failed out of school. This failing started a chain reaction that his family has restricted his social life and it failed to instill in him a drive to want to do better. She said it has depressed her, but at the same time she wants to be there for him and hope to instill in him some hope of moving forward.

I was sorely reminded of the Heaven and Hell I went through with living life at the bottom and knowing that I was simmering in the suffering of my own self. Sure I had someone else with me, but that person also brought me down to absolute destruction. At the time, I played it off as nothing, but in reflection, I was in the Hell of all human possible Hells… Ignorance to the truth that I was nothing, I had nothing, and I refused to accept myself for the person I was. It just got me thinking of one of the old martial arts proverbs:

Why struggle with catching a carp in murky water? By the time you think you realized you have forever lost it, the carp may have ascended to Heaven and become a dragon.

The problem most of us have with hitting rock bottom is that we struggle to accept who we are. We keep trying to “fish” for the character flaws within us hoping to ensnare them… but by the time we realize that our character flaws are a part of what makes us human… We have wasted valuable time that could have been used to better ourselves or fish for more skills that make use of our unique humanity. Unfortunately with humanity comes with the caveat that we, ourselves, must figure our needless struggle should not even exist… That we must be like the waters of a river that erode the stone and flow around our adversities.

No one can help us in this darkness with simple inspiration, we must find the strength within ourselves and possibly find mentors who foster nurturing intent in order to guide us on our own personal path. This path that we can choose or choose not to walk is what I call “The Way of Perfection”. The path to greatness is one that differs uniquely from person to person. Some of us may have one that starts easy and ramps upwards… some have it difficult and it pushes to the “ungodly” limitations of their own human faith. The one thing in common that everyone shares on this journey to perfection is that there is always an intrapersonal struggle within ourselves. There will always be the one thing that will make us question our previous definitions of personal integrity and honor… Once we cleave that into a manageable topic that no longer overwhelms us. We can finally get into the stage where we can begin polishing the rough gems and refine the facets of our personalities from rough diamonds into works of beauty.

I won’t lie that the journey is hard… I finally started my journey a while back after coming to terms with myself, but through the challenges brought to me… I have not let my strength waiver. If anything, I look forward to harder challenges later in the future with hopes to really break down barriers that have lost their ability to bind me. From accepting myself, I can say I was ignorant for ignoring my own potentials. I know I am limitless now and that with my educational career just a little over half way done, I can aspire to my dreams.

This is in dedication to those readers out there who have been fighting for so long and with no hope in sight. Let this be a tribute to you and a prayer that you all will find greatness as long as you keep your mind to it.