"Sand, it's everywhere. Get used to it." -Genie, Aladdin and the King of Thieves

Almost every trip to the beach you go on, sand ends up everywhere! You don't want it too, but it does regardless of how hard you try(unless of course you are someone like me that doesn't go into the water because your weird or something like that.....). That's as far as this sand analogy is going. What am I trying to relate sand to? Losing. Unfortunately we can't all be Charlie Sheen, so we can't all be "winning" all the time. We lose. Losing is inevitable. There will always be somebody better(unless you actually are better than the other 14 billion people on the earth-in which case, congratulations!).
     Why am I talking about losing? Well, I've just recently started playing chess again. I started out playing a level 3 computer, and I was doing well. I beat it the majority of the time. I decided to move on to a level 4 computer. My winning percentage is 17%. I'm 3-15. This last game was the absolute worst. The queen took out more than half of my pieces before I even managed to take one of their pawns. It was absolutely pathetic. By the end of the game I had lost all of my pieces and only knocked out the queen and that pawn. It was absolutely irrevocably ridiculous! Needless to say, I was a tad bit upset with myself. As you can tell, through my posting this blog no serious damage was inflicted to anything that matters.
     This past week my ultimate frisbee team lost also. It wasn't a bad loss. It was close, but we still lost. This lost came in the second round of tournament play after I had "scouted out" the other team and determined them to not be that good(shows how much I know...).
     Some losses are harder than others, but there will almost always be losses. The best way to deal with these losses is to accept that they will happen, and then move on, improving so that next time they aren't so bad.
I apologize if I sound callous and a tad bit unfeeling. This blog is more targeted at myself than it is at others. I'm trying to share experience, when I have very little. blah blah blah rant rant rant THE END

Perseverance Through the Downs and Downs of Life

Oh boy! Could I tell you stories about this one! I'll definitely share a few because I like them.
Some times are harder than other times. Other times are harder than those some times. It seems like the grass is greener on the other side 98.36545% of the time. Despite all of this hard stuff, life is good! It gets better! It might not seem like it, but life will improve! It might not happen tomorrow; it might not happen next year. Who knows? Maybe it might not even happen for the next twenty or forty years. It still gets better! Don't give up because you didn't get your way this time or the time before.-Alright, I've dragged this on long enough! Story time! I do apologize, this will be very Sorencentric because I've got some actual personal stories to tell.
     A few weeks ago I had a friend taking a test in the Testing Center here at BYU. Friends can leave notes and treats for those taking tests near the exit because everybody goes one way. My roommate and I decided to leave a note and some KitKats because she likes KitKats. We get to the TC hoping that there are KitKats in the vending machine, and lo and behold: There weren't any! We ran over to the next building checking those vending machines with no luck. I decided to hop on my bike and ride it across campus to the 'grocery store' to get these KitKats because they were that important. As I rode back to the TC pedaling my heart out, I hit a little bump and my chain fell off! I immediately got off the bike and proceeded to run[in retrospect it probably would have been faster to put the chain back on and continue riding] the KitKats down to the Testing Center! I made it there in time. The friend got the notes and the KitKats.
Through this story I get to say I, literally, hit a bump in the rode. I didn't stop though! I didn't let it get me down! I just kept on trekking and that is the advice I give to you! Keep on trekking!     
     That wasn't may only story! I'll share just one more because this is running longer than I wanted it to. As those of you who have met me know I've got a little issue with the right side of my face. I was born with nerve damage in my face and, as a result of this, ...have the beautiful smile I have. At times it slurs my speech, and I'm probably legally blind in my right eye.
I don't know how best to relate this, mainly because it has been a 'problem' my entire life. I've lived with it forever and so I've adapted to it. It's not an issue for me except when I meet a new person, and even then it's a great way to keep a conversation going!
    I don't know if I can stress this enough. Life can be hard. It wouldn't be an adventure or a learning experience if it weren't for these hard times. We need to push through them because we can. Giving up is easy. Anybody can give up. It takes a champion to say: I'll fight to the end. Be that champion that I know you are if you are reading this.