Hi there. I recently turned 18 years old and I am on a quest for fullfillment in my life and the lives of those around me. I am high in empathy which I consider to be one of my greatest assets.(Its also a bit of an achilles heel)
There have been many ups, downs, twists and turns in my life. By the first and second year of highschool, I was flunking more classes than I was passing. My anxiety and bouts of sadness were reaching new extremes, and my mental reality was nothing short of chaos. There was no end in sight to what seemed like a dark and lonely tunnel.
I found my saving grace in what appeared to be the most unruly of places. In short: A boxing gym. But this place was much, much more. It was a religion, a way of life, and more importantly an outlet for all that was unjust in my life. I began sessions with a boxing trainer a couple days a week, which soon turned into 5, training day in and day out, until nearly every square inch of my shirt was dripping in sweat.
This is the short of it. The long story is one that includes many days of suffering, tears, sweat and blood. Namely, a well-over-an-hour long commute.
I didnt even enjoy the first few months, but I kept with the routine as it was my last ditch effort to induce some sort of order into my life. It worked.
The discipline that I had newly garnered, was not easily translated into my academic life. Just like learning to box, the process was gradual and incremental.(I should note that Incremental progress has been key to sustaining my growth as an individual)
After boxing for around 6 months, I transfered out of my highschool in the middle of sophmore year. This was another key element in my growth due to the fact that it allowed me a fresh start, and gave me the oppurtunity of leaving all negative energy behind.
Today I am overflowing with gratitude. I am in a position of which I am happy to say there is no better alternative. School ends in a month, and I have commited to a college which is perfectly suitable for my needs and interests (after spending a 3 day long orientation there). I also have many projects in the making such as a podcast and a small business venture with a cousin of mine. I am a huge admirer of anything crypto related and have been invested a lot of time into learning about the cryptocurrency space in these past 6 months. The Steem community is particularly exciting as I see the potential it has to permanently alter the way we create and consume media, in a way that is beneficial to everyone involved. I have yet to explore Steemit in detail but I figured it would be a good start to make this post.
Finally, I hope to share my deep interests in a variety of topics on here and to help others going through similar setbacks with the lessons I have learned.
Thank you for reading