There came a point in my life where my potential began fading dramatically. My dreams and hopes seemed to be less attainable and I began silently accepting defeat. With little resistance I started letting my excuses define my existence. For every failure I had a reason to explain why. I was quick to judge and gave less of an effort to understand. At some point I had to accept more responsibility for my actions and decisions. No matter the situation I came to realize that I always had a choice in the outcome or in how it could play out. I could take a stand or runaway, accept abuse or fight against it, be selfish in my actions or helpful towards others, face my fears or hide from them and lie to myself. When we are young we have that crutch that supports our confidence which is called time. See time is like the air we breathe, we never realize how important and meaningful it is until it starts running out. When it's almost gone we truly realize how important each breath and moment is. It is then when we fully understand that neither should be wasted at any period in our lives. Well for me time came to get real with myself. I understood that I was falling short of my potential while wasting my efforts and abilities in the process. I realized that I no longer had any control of my past but I needed to make a firm decision on how my future would take form. What principles, values and ideals did I believe in? What was my idea of success and what was my game plan to make this a reality. My whole life I tried to be strong yet could I display the strength needed to overcome the obstacles in my path preventing myself from true achievement. I knew I had to make a choice and have a firm conviction to be STRONG INSIDE and persevere through adversity. No more excuses, no more reasoning, and no more settling. If I wanted to live a great life than I had to make a great commitment and stay strong to my beliefs.