Champion

Last year at good old Pineview, I picked up a lot of phrases from Katie the roommate of the century. And I still use them, out of habit and also love. One of these was "Champion". We call each other champions, we call ourselves champions, sometimes sarcastically but mostly when we've done something awesome.

 So today, I found a new blog. (I always get so excited when I find a new blog. It's one of my favorite things. I've been adding some to my sidebar.  Take a peek at the wonderfulness there.)  And in reading this blog, I found a phrase that made me think about this champion habit.
"It's the hard days that make you a champion." (stolen from someone named Molly who I don't know)

Truth. It is the hard days that make you a champion. And I think I figured something out. Even though I always wait with bated breath for the weekends and especially the weekends when I get to go home, a life full of weekends would suck. Happiness can't come from a life filled with self-indulgence. The things that make you a Champion are the times you tell yourself "no", and the times you make yourself read just one more chapter or write just one more paper or smile at just one more person or go to the freaking gym even though you are cold and soggy and there are friends reruns on.  Champion status is gained through eternal perspective, and the realization that who you are tomorrow is directly dependent on who you are today.

This reminder is well-timed, due to the approaching blow to sanity also knows as finals week. There are three weeks left in the semester.This week I have a final paper due in every class, a bunch of books to read, a schedule to work out for next semester, and a whole heap of work to do.

Goal. Make it through the hard days, and do it with a smile. Remind myself that I chose to be an English major, and that means that I do not get to complain about the seventeen pages of researched arguments due this Friday. Because I volunteered. And dilligence always counts for something. No matter how inadequate I feel, I am equal to the task. And when this semester is over and I come out fighting and triumphant, I will be a champion. A champion with bags under her eyes and a whole bunch of stuff left to do, but a champion nonetheless.