When Life Knocks Us Down We Can Choose Whether or Not To Get Back Up

Malik McCallum, Staff Writer

What do you do when you don’t succeed?

Your answer to this question has a lot to do with your future success in life, because life is all about not giving up and trying your best or your hardest. You shouldn’t let anyone tell that you can’t do anything or that one failure means that you are a failure, because you can succeed and you are not a failure.

Anyone can succeed, and be anything they want to be in life.  There are many people in our world who are examples of how hard work and perseverance pay off. The effort required to do something and keep doing it till the end, even if it’s hard. This makes sense, because if you’re doing something in spite of all the difficulty, you’re being strict on yourself. Everyone has a life, and what do with that life is up to you. I learned to adapt. It means believing in yourself. I’ve a lot of people who went from zero to hero.

My dream is to try and become a martial artist and actor. I want to be like Michael Jai White and Jean-Claude Van Damme. These two amazing and gifted martial artists worked hard for their whole lives trying to become the best at what they do.

For these two, acting and martial arts work together. For White, diversity in styles is key. “Since I do seven different styles of martial arts, I don’t foresee myself fighting the same in any two movies. I think every fighting style should fit the character that’s doing the fighting,” says the New York native.   

Jean-Claude Van Damme feels that the only thing you need to condition yourself is yourself. “Your body has enough weight for you to be in perfect condition just working against yourself,” says the Belgian star. These two athletes and artists have helped me realize that in the future I can become a great martial artist for the world as long as I do not stop until I achieve my goal.