I have the privilege of having great friends that aren't afraid to call me out whenever I need to be called out, and thankfully some of them did. It has to do with things that don't matter like facebook, instagram, twitter etc. For the longest time I have always believed that the ONLY way people will listen to what you have to say is if you have influence. The main reason I wanted to play D-1 baseball was for the hopes of getting drafted so that eventually one day I could stand up and talk to an audience and make a difference about something more important. Something that could influence the world. And the reason people would listen was because I was a professional athlete with influence. However, I never thought that could be done if I wasn't "popular" enough. Even looking at that word now makes me realize how kiddish and immature that word is. While making connections is great (and I've made a ton with bunch of amazing people) during high school it was a thing I kind of worked for. I wanted to meet as many people as I possibly could, I cared about how many facebook friends I had, how many twitter and instagram followers I had, and blah blah blah. All because the equation in my head went like this: popularity + good advice = influence. You cannot have influence unless people know who you are. I didn't want to die and leave this Earth without leaving a mark on it. I wanted to be remembered and from looking around I thought the only people that were remembered were the popular people that made a difference because of their influence, like Martin Luther King or Elvis. I believed that the only way people take you seriously is if you have some sort of status. For example, question for you... Why are you even reading this blog? What possessed you to click on this random link and read about what I have to say? Why does my opinion have any relevance to what you are doing? Is it because you heard about me from someone, are we friends, did you stumble across my instagram, facebook? Now you answer that yourself.
Now, I realize, life is not even about that! I've kind of grown up and realized what actually matters and what actually matters is being yourself. By chilling out and not trying as hard you become more attractive because you are more confident within yourself. Although I've always been confident in myself, I also needed the validation from other people around me. But now the validation is coming from within and its a more pure form of confidence. One that relies only on me. And one that is not tainted with the opinion of others. While all the stuff I said up there does help in certain aspects because half of you wouldn't be reading this if you didn't know or know of me, its a relief being able to just say who cares. Who cares how many facebook friends you have. Who cares how many likes you get on your instagram picture. At the end of the day those material things are MEANINGLESS.
I'm fortunate enough to attend one of the best schools in the country, an opportunity that barely anyone gets. To throw it away over some bullshit would be a disgrace to everyone who helped me get here. To not fully appreciate everyday and not work my ass off would be discrediting all the hard work I've put in. In class, its not about the "grade" you get. Having a good GPA is important but what professors actually want you to do is LEARN! Take what you're taught and use it in the outside world. Its not about the grade. In a couple years that won't matter. What does matter is how much you learn and soak up. Be a sponge, be attentive, and be present. The most important message I have out of all this, the most mature message I can say is: "Fall in love with the grind." Today I fell in love with the grind. Fall in love with working your ass off so you get a great job out of college. Fall in love with finishing your paper two days early just so you know you have enough time to make a better draft. Fall in love with late nights, fall in love with uncomfortable beds, and with shitty cafeteria food. Don't worry about how hard you're going to party (by all means have your fun, I definitely do) but don't make that the priority. You're life isn't about college. Don't concentrate on 4 years concentrate on 40 years. Put yourself into a much broader perspective. That's the mentality I have. Sacrifice 4 to live the next 40 however you want. In 10 years are you ever going to remember who you got with at that one party? No you're not. In these 4 years do something that sets you up to have the option to do whatever you want to do in 10 years. If you want to take a vacation DO IT! If you want to buy shoes, clothes, cars...whatever THEN do it. Set yourself up to have enough money to go to REAL PARTIES....not cramped, sweaty, drunken college ones, but real clubs and events where you have money to spend instead of living pay check by pay check. We are 4 years away from the rest of our lives. That's what growing up has taught me. Fall in love with the grind.
