I used to be afraid of death -- of not living up to my potential and failing.

But no longer.

We might not admit it, but many of us are afraid of life -- of what we will or, more specifically, will not accomplish. Life is an ambitious venture, and if there's one thing that I've learned it's that in life, if there's no struggle, then there's no gain.



I have come to base most of my outlook on life on the Olympic Creed written by Pierre de Coubertin: "...the most important thing in life is not the triumph but the struggle." Life is hard. We deal with death, issues, heartbreak, addiction and countless other negative involuntary activities that give us an excuse to eat ice cream straight out of the carton or lounge around in sweats all day. We seek an end -- an end to the misery, pain, numbness even. But it makes us stronger.

I have always been one to invest in positive sentiments. Whether they be neon-colored post-it notes freckling my walls and computer screen, or pieces of jewelry displaying words for some sense of reassurance.

But these sentiments are superfluous and artificial. We gain knowledge about how to channel our energies from our own experiences. We must find strength within ourselves, not from mass-produced, cookie cutter pendants that say so.

For many of us, saying that we have struggled since coming to college would be an understatement -- the struggle of leaving home for the first time, the struggle of realizing we've had too much to drink, the struggle of keeping on top of our own schedules after having teachers hold our hands for the past 13 years.

We stress about money and how we don't have enough. We never seem to have what we need and we want what we don't have. We worry we won't make rent, our car payments or our grocery bill -- and sometimes we can't.

We stress about our relationships and what's wrong with them. We want to add value to other people's lives and when we don't feel someone adds value to ours, we worry that things won't work out -- and sometimes they don't.

We worry about life -- that the bad days will outnumber the good, that we won't leave behind a legacy and that our time spent here won't be of value.

But it is.

There are no such things as bad days -- hard days, yes, but not bad. Struggle is a part of life and a necessary one at that.

We all have our moments of weakness, but that shouldn't keep us from our moments of strength, or any moment for that matter. Life is made up of the big moments and the little moments and a soundtrack of white noise.

We shouldn't be afraid to live life because it is hard. We should want to live life because it is hard.

As we struggle, we live.