Put Your Mind Over Matter (College Essay Rough Draft)

     "Hakuna Matata." A saying I learned as a kid while growing up and lived by ever since. It means no worries, in Swahili. I learned it from a 1994 Disney movie, "The Lion King". And so far, it's brought me really far in life. Whenever someone I do or don't know looks like they're having a rough day, I would always say it in an ecstatic and merry voice to them. And what do I say when they ask what it means? Exactly what it means. No worries. Why? Because life is too short for you to live and have fun. Every second you spend worrying about something is a second wasted on. I remember back in freshman year cringing at the course 'Physical Education' as I wasn't physically active back then. Right when I saw those two words, the only thing I could think about was running, running, and more running.

     It was one day where the whole class was going to be tested on the mile run. Which was supposed to be ran under a maximum of ten minutes. And being me, I was internally crying and bawling my non-existent tears out because it was part of our grade. But as the saying goes, the show must go on. So I stood there, behind the line that I’m supposed to cross four times in order to pass the activity, or as I like to call it, torture. The only thing  that crossed my mind at that time were hopes of my PE teacher believing that I miraculously got diagnosed with exercise induced anaphylaxis before he yelled ‘GO’.  But it didn't happen.

    So when he started the timer and yelled ‘GO’, I immediately tuned out everything. My surroundings, my negative thoughts, the people in front of me, everything. Then I started running. I mean yeah, I noticed everyone was at least ten yards ahead of me, but I didn't think about it. The only thing I didn’t tune out was the saying. Hakuna Matata. I kept repeating it over and over in my head because I came to realize that it’s not how fast or how slow you go to complete the test. It’s the amount of effort you put in the exercise. I finally grasped onto the idea that it wasn’t just a game to see who was the fastest; it was a way of promoting physical fitness throughout the US. So what was there to be worried about?

    So I managed to finish the mile in ten minutes and forty three seconds. And other than being glad about just finishing the activity itself, I was beaming at the thought that made and helped me get through it. The thought that is tattooed to my skull to not worry about a thing.

    As you can see, I'm one to learn through experiences to show my character and what I can do for myself. I always try to think of the up sides of things so I don't have to worry about the small things because of the saying that I live by. Not my endurance in athletics. And now my record of mile runs hang on my wall. It shows to me that I shouldn't think of the bad sides that make me worry a lot, it's the amount of effort that's needed for the game.