...and now I am here!

My dearest readers,

now that I have arrived in Madison and am enrolled in my courses of choice at the wonderful University of Wisconsin I want to provide a sequel to the last blog I wrote in Germany about seeing the end of something; now I am, apparently, beyond the point and at a new stage in life, at a new beginning, but is it really a new beginning? I mentioned in the prior blog, how “the end of something depicts not only the end of a period but further marks the beginning of something new”; and this is what eventually happens here, a new chapter is being written...for here I am.

I want to begin today’s discourse with a quote by Mark Twain who said that “[t]here is no security in life, only opportunity.” Beginning a new passage in life is always a new opportunity and shalt be perceived as such. One may be discouraged by the respect someone has for the uncertain, the novel, the unknown, but that should be an additional inspiration to make something out of this new-found opportunity. A new opportunity, is that not a great endowment in life? It surely is; and it is further a reward, a prize, because opportunity falls into the hands of the one who has done his or her work; opportunities are generated and earned by a person willing to make an effort, therefore: get back to work and draw something valuable out of the endowment you have created! It will be worth it, and you have proven that you got what it takes to process this opportunity and eventually progress in life as well as your occupation. “Far and away the best prize that life has to offer is the chance to work hard at work worth doing” (Theodore Roosevelt), and that is a prize that has been offered to me—and also to you!

Does not this new opportunity make you reminisce, ruminate, and remind you of all you had to do in order to get this novel opportunity? And you are right...you have earned it, you worked hard, you succeeded where others failed, you moved on when others quitted, you passed the finish line, you went beyond it...and are now here—at a new spot in your life, a spot you earned, a territory you have claimed and conquered. A new opportunity does not only make you aware of you being now here (whereas you were there before), at a new point in life; it is an indicator of how you have achieved a goal and in doing so paved the way for achieving new ones; you are the bearer of a sustainable life, initial goals have been achieved, news ones are ahead.

Being at a new point in life is therefore not something we should be afraid of. We shall see the opportunity it contains; and considering it the result for hard work in the past makes it more an inspiration of confidence than an uncertainty one may fear, right? Approach it with the right mental attitude, that of a winner, that of someone who finishes what he or she has started, someone that brings things to an end and is then not afraid to face new challenges in life...and that is the spirit!

Note one thing: “Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal” (Thomas Jefferson). Thus, I want to encourage you to be that person, achieve and finish...and further, once you are here, stare the next opportunity dead in the eye with the passion and confidence for another step.