No Stress by Jashell

No Stress by Jashell - July 2017 Scholarship Essay

My life has certainly been a roller coaster that has surely called for a lot of stress within my family and I. Things happen throughout the course that one has no control over and it just has to be dealt with. One of the biggest characteristics of me is my ability to not stress out. So if was asked to participate in a TED talk, I would make it about remaining calm in stressful times, because they are plentiful. If I were to over-stress in every chaotic situation that has happened to me, I would not have gotten through any of them and made it as far as I have. You cannot make it through a tough situation with stress as your motivator. Stress will only bring you down, it will never lift you. Stress is doubt in one’s ability to make something happen. When people stress, they are not believing in themselves and showing great weakness. And thus, when you don’t trust in yourself, how can you get through a situation. It is difficult for somebody else to believe in you if you don’t even believe in yourself. I tend to be very optimistic and believe that practically anything is possible with the proper mindset and work ethic. No situation seems to challenging for me, and I’ve endured some of the worst.
Life is not a cakewalk, not everything is easy. Although I haven’t entered adulthood quite yet, I’ve experienced this first hand. I’ve had to go through countless family deaths. People I thought would be around for most of my life’s duration. People that I wish I could see one more time. I’ve had people walk out of my life that I truly cared about. And I wish that one day they will return. But again, that’s just a wish, and wishes do not normally become reality no matter how hard you wish. I know what it’s like to be without a home, traveling and living in different hotels with my mother and siblings running on strictly willpower. I know what it’s like to try out for a team and not make it, year after year, slowly killing the passion you once had. I’ve been there, I was placed in all these situations and more.
All of this was incredibly difficult and I wouldn’t ask anybody not to care about these things and to just forget about them, because I certainly didn’t. I would ask whoever should deal with tough situations to stay strong and don’t let anything keep you from getting stronger. That’s how you get through it, you have to look at how you must continue to live your life afterwards. There’s a time for mourning and a time a let it all out, and that’s fine. But you cannot let it linger. Don’t let sorrow or stress sit around and eat away at you. It will be impossible to move on and everything you go through will make you weaker and tear you apart if you let stress rule. You cannot let your life be diminished to nothing because of past experiences, that is letting stress win. Anything is possible, and no situation is too tough for one to handle. So take the time you need to regroup over the event, but then breakthrough and improve from it, making each moment a learning experience and not a detriment to your life.