Just keep swimming

So...I have my grades from my very first semester of law school. While everyone is telling me to just work harder (they weren't grades that I wanted) I get incredibly frustrated because I really can't work any harder. I gave up happy hours with class mates, football games on Saturday, sleep, breakfast, working out, eating dinner, to devote pretty much my life to studying. 

And maybe that was the problem

Maybe I did too much. 

There was no Ashley time. There was no time for me to get myself together. My laundry piled up as well as my trash. But I was reading. And studying. And practicing. And it was all supposed to pay off. 

Well. I don't think that it did. And since everyone is telling me to change things, I'm going to do just that. 

I'm going to watch basketball. I'm going to go out once a month. I'm going to keep going to church. I'm going to keep working out. I'm actually going to stop studying to eat dinner. I'm going to get sleep. I'm going to get a DVR and actually watch TV...American Idol is back on after all. 

I say all this to make a point about optimism. I have the grades that I have and nothing is going to change that. So what do I do? Quit or keep going. And since I don't have a rich husband, looks like I'm going to have to keep going. The beautiful part is I don't have to think about those grades ever again. They're there! It's not like starting this semester is going to erase them, but I can't let them hold me back from getting where I want to get in my legal career. They are the grades for the first semester after all. And to a law student that means A LOT. But, it's just the first semester. 

True, this is the first major set back that I've ever experienced. I've never fallen so far from a goal that I reached. That saying, "Shoot for the moon because if you miss you'll land among the stars." ...  I landed somewhere around the International Space Station. Not very far from where I started. But, I am closer to the moon. So I'll just try again. It doesn't matter if I was on a satellite or the moon. The sun will still rise. 

So here's what's to be said about optimism. For those of you that suffer set backs, hardships, and disappointments in life, just know that the people at the top can't climb any higher, but you can. And no one can ever really appreciate the good times, unless they have suffered the hard. 

Keep your head up and keep it funky =)