just another pep talk to myself

one thing i know for certain, you shouldn't pass the blame or the gratitude that is due to yourself onto other people or things. whether things are going good or bad (or for most people, a mixture of both), there is no one else who can truly be held accountable for the direction of your life besides yourself. no matter your background or your environment, no matter which village your tribe came from, we've all been given the ability to see, reflect, and realize that most of where our lives bring us is up to us.

and that especially goes for invisible forces. gods, karma, the stars and the moon.... none of this should stop you from taking control of your own path. when you fuck up, you fucked up. no one else. there's no blame to be passed. the sooner you learn to take the blame for the things you've done wrong, the sooner you can learn and possibly better yourself and move on. and when you do good, when you're getting shit done, when you're smiling and enjoying the rewards of your effort... just know that's on you. you did that. you made that possible. take a little credit before you pass it off to someone else.

when touchdowns are scored, don't point your fingers to the sky. losers never blame god in the post game speech. winners should abide by the same rule. when it's your turn to give the acceptance speech, walk up to that mic, thank yourself and quickly leave the stage. that's not a lack of humility. it's humility in its most extreme form. being able to look at yourself and realize that you actually are capable of greatness takes a shitload of humility.

and when you lose, you lose. don't look around to point blame. you knew from the get go when you signed your name up to play that this might happen. you can't assume that just signing your name will get you through this on its own. you gotta earn what you get. there's no handouts. you get the same sand everyone else gets to build castles.