Hit Me Baby One More Time

“You want a hot body? You want a Bugatti? You want a Maserati? You better work bitch.” Britney Spears isn’t necessarily the ideal candidate I choose towards when I’m looking for some inspiration, but in this case, her song is 100% accurate. Everyone wants the glory, the prizes, the benefits, the luxuries, and the accolades, but many don’t want to exude the effort and hard work it takes to reap life’s rewards. Unless you were born a Kardashian, I can promise you that nothing you do in life will come easy, because being an adult is difficult, and life is the hardest thing you will ever do. Everyone you know faces obstacles and hurdles, and we all have a plethora of circumstances we can justify as excuses for why we aren’t able to accomplish certain tasks. However, the truly ambitious and tenacious people don’t let bullshit get in the way. Weak people come up with reasons why life is keeping them down, strong people find solutions, point blank. Don’t eat with me if you’re not even willing to set the table. I’m tired of being walked all over without people suffering the repercussions. Get right, or get left.

It’s easy to be lazy and to quit. It’s harder to continue when the going gets tough, but everyone is capable of persevering. If anyone is out there telling you that you don’t need to work hard for good things to come your way, then those people are not your friend, period. So many people are the ones keeping themselves down and getting in their own way. You think any successful person in your life got there by sheer luck? You’re not seeing the blood, sweat, and tears they poured into their triumphs. The problem is so many people are too stubborn with their thoughts and resolute with their actions. They believe they know the best way to go about something and refuse to be told otherwise, not understanding that they are limiting their own potential and chance for growth. Tough love is a vital necessity in life, and you are doing those you care about a disservice if you placate to their feelings rather than their capabilities. It’s a shame everyone wants to be overly sensitive and rather than facing the man in the mirror and bucking up, they cower behind the cajoling words of someone telling them mediocrity is acceptable. You can hold on to the bitter anger poisoning your soul of the person telling you like it is because they see your potential and want you to rise to the occasion and instead turn towards the person coddling your insecurities just to be your best friend and forget who was always there for you from the beginning. But know if you do this, you will remain stagnant and sedentary and just another number in the masses of unnamed and unrecognizable average joes. It’s easy to give up, but it’s also exceptionally foolish to do so.

My naivety and lack of life experiences recently got the better of me. Having dealt with tumultuous breakups in the past, I thought I knew and understood what heartbreak was, but unfortunately, I was woefully ignorant to what it truly felt like to have your heart ground up and pulverized. I know I need to be better about letting the negativity just roll off my back, but I love so hard and so very strongly, that the heartbreak equivalent of having venomous saliva spat back into your face is almost too much to bear. Yet, I keep going and persevering because that’s what strong people do. Even when the sleepless and tearful nights swell my eyes shut the next day, I will never forego my training and responsibilities because people are counting on me. And most importantly, I am counting on me. The rest of the public could give a rat’s fart on where my emotional stability sits that week, as long as I put on a good show in the cage, and I promise you this, I’m gonna break some fucking faces come August 10th. My dreams are louder than my tears and I refuse to let anyone, let alone myself, stand in the way between being a loser that settles and being a champion that never relents.

Everyone goes through phases where they think they know it all, but if you’re the smartest in any given room, you better take your ass to a different room and be open to learning that maybe there are better ways to go about something. I think one of the hardest things to witness is someone you care about clearly making the wrong choices and decisions, but there is nothing you could do about it when they don’t listen to any advice or reason. Just hopefully people aren’t making life-ruining mistakes. One of the worst things to witness is someone drowning all because you can’t convince them to simply stand up. The water really ain’t that deeps fam. The best thing we can do is to surround ourselves with likeminded and hard working people; the ones that push us to excel and don’t allow us to fall through the cracks of an average individual. Remember those who were there for you through it all, the good and the bad, and don’t bite the hand that feeds you. If I’m with you, I’m there for you always, not just when it suits me and things are all peachy keen. Always here for you no matter what. I am beyond lucky that my partner in life works so hard to push me and make me a better person, competitor, coach, and fighter. I’ve never seen any other person work so incredibly hard to ensure the success of those around him and I admire his mindset at being able to handle anything life throws at him, even when it’s absolute trash he doesn’t deserve. I guess that makes him not only a black belt on the mats, but in real life as well.

I’d like to conclude this blog post by saying that life does not owe you shit. You don’t get rewarded by sitting around on your lazy ass and expecting everyone else to cater to you. You want something? Go out there and get after it. You want money to be able to do stuff? Do what you can to find work and don’t think that you’re above any particular job. Just because it’s not “fun” doesn’t mean you’re too good to do it, then you have no right to complain about not having the funds for extra curriculars. If you’re not willing to put in the time on the mats to prepare for a competition, don’t whine about falling short of your goals. And one of the worst things you can do is be envious of someone who worked hard for their goals while you put in zero effort in life and now have nothing to show for it. You may think you’re happy now, but what about in 10 years when you’re slaving away in life with nothing to show for it? Put in the time now and you will 100% reap what you sow. Plant the seeds now so that one day you can sustain yourself from the produce you grow. I’m also done with offering advice when people ask for it, because god forbid you say something people don’t want to hear, and then they refuse to heed your warnings. Don’t ask for advice and then be upset when you receive it. Don’t ask me how to lose weight, and when I talk to you about nutrition goals and exercise you then ask me for a supplement to take instead because it’s “easier.” Life doesn’t work like that. Nothing worth having comes easy, which is why my ex is no longer in the picture (badum tssss). You get what you work for, not what you wish for. The world is full of willing people; it’s just that some are willing to work for it and others are willing to let them. Be like Britney, and work bitch.