Why do I succeed?

I succeed because I am willing to do the things you are not. I will fight against the odds. I will sacrifice. I am not shackled by fear, insecurity or doubt. I feel those emotions but I drink them in and then swallow them away to the blackness of hell. I am motivated by accomplishment, not pride. Pride consumes the weak and kills their heart from within. If I fall... I will get up. If I am beaten... I will return. I will never stop getting better. I will never give up... EVER.

That is why I succeed.

Walk in the park

Life is not always a walk in the park. In fact, life is just plain difficult at times. Yet, we all have what it takes to make it through. We just have to be willing to work for it. Success is the child of drudgery and perseverance. It cannot be coaxed or bribed; pay the price and it is yours. It will not be easy, but it will be worth it. Remember this... No man fails who does his best. Are you doing your best?

I look at every new day as an opportunity to do great things. I will always give 100% of what I can give... some days I may not be able to push as hard as the day before, but as long as I give all I can on that particular day then that's all that matters. With the CrossFit sectionals less than a week away I feel very confident in my ability. But no matter how I do I will not be ashamed of my performance. More than anything I am just excited about the opportunity to meet other competitors and learn from some of the best athletes in the world!

Be the servant

I am guilty. I have sinned. I have treated others with disrespect. I have been angry with God. My life has not always gone the way I have wanted it to. It hasn't always even been a life I would be proud to let others know was my own. I have been ashamed. I have lied. I have cheated. I am nowhere near perfect. In fact, I am very far from it.

But I am a Christian. I am forgiven. I am saved by the grace of the Lord. I am learning that it is just as important to converse daily with Him during the good times as it is in the bad ones. I am finding strength I never knew I had. I try to stay as humble as I can. I pray daily. I continue to overcome my fears. I choose to be the light that shines. I choose to surround myself with positive people. I admonish negatives in my life. I smile.

I am constantly changing. I clear my mind, body, and soul of all the things of this world and instead I align myself with those things that are above this world. I want to bring faith and fellowship to others. I choose to do that the way which best suits me. Fitness. I want nothing more from life than to make a difference. I feel compelled to have a positive effect on those who I come into contact with. To leave my legacy. To help change lives.

I choose to be the servant.

Blessed

Here is a glimpse into my creative writing ...

Blessed

By Matthew Ryan Napier 2009

In my waking life I seek those things

I picture in my head

When my mind begins to wander

As I lay down in my bed

And as I drift away to sleep

My dreams begin to play

Like a movie I have seen before

Yet, this time ends a different way

Cuz constantly I'm changing

Each day I awake a brand new man

So in the past when I've said, "I can't"

Today may bring "I can"

And when the outside world is gray

And all the smiles have faded

I remind myself to rise above

For I refuse to wind up jaded

And even though in my recent past

I've faced trials and tribulation

I keep my faith in the Lord above

To find love and jubilation

And the one thing I have come to know

In times of suffering pain and strife

Is in the end how blessed we are

To live this thing called life

I am not the majority

Before success comes in any man's life, he's sure to meet with much temporary defeat and, perhaps some failures. When defeat overtakes a man, the easiest and the most logical thing to do is to quit. That's exactly what the majority of men do. - Napoleon Hill

FAILURE. Perhaps the ugliest word in the American language. The one word that most people fear being associated with their name. BUT failure is a word that I have come to accept and even encourage. While I can certainly understand the negative connotations associated with the word, I also understand, and value even more, the positives stemming from the word failure. I choose to find strength where others only find weakness. If you have failed then you have tried. And as the old saying goes, "You win some - you lose some". Now it is completely unrealistic to think that you will have success 100% of the time, but I can promise you this, you will succeed 0% of the time if you never try!

I would rather try and fail then to be afraid and never take the chance. I also know that the lessons we learn from defeats and failures can do nothing but help us in all our future endeavors. We learn more about ourselves in times of disappointment than we can ever dream of learning in the triumphs. Napoleon Hill says it best in his quote; the majority of men will give up. But not me! Sooner or later I know that success will be abundantly waiting for me. I will not be afraid of defeat or failure. I will say this, though, I do not aspire to fail or to be defeated. My goal is to be the greatest I can be. I gather my strength from the good Lord and I pray that he will guide me.

And I have faith that He will.

Greatness

I have shed blood, I have shed sweat, and by God I have shed tears to make myself a true competitor in the upcoming CrossFit sectionals. I know that I am not exactly where I need to be, but as the date approaches I will continue to strive to excel. I will not allow myself to become distracted by fear. I will not worry about anything except that which I can control. Myself. I know, without a doubt that I have pushed myself harder in these past few weeks than I have ever pushed myself before. Both physically and mentally I have taken my level of training, and dedication for that matter, to an elite status. It is only here, at the very top, that I may achieve that which I know I deserve....Greatness!

Lessons learned

“Our lives are not determined by what happens to us but by how we react to what happens, not by what life brings to us, but by the attitude we bring to life. A positive attitude causes a chain reaction of positive thoughts, events, and outcomes. It is a catalyst; a spark that creates extraordinary results.” – Author unknown

It just so happens that sometimes, late at night, when I am laying in bed reflecting on my day/my week/my month/my year/my life that I close my eyes, fade away, and dream of the way things COULD have been. All the “What if’s?” flood through my mind like a creek overflowing from heavy rain… What if my friend Brad would have never introduced me to his dad’s weight set when I was 13? What if I would have never changed my degree in college to Kinesiology? Would I still be as passionate as I am about health and fitness? What if I wouldn’t have moved back to Austin in 2008 after I graduated from college? What if I never met my best friend, Tyler Parsons, through Advocare? Where would I be now? What if I never would have gone and watched the Fittest Games last year? What would I be doing? Would I have found CrossFit? Or better yet, would I have fallen in love with CrossFit? What if I would have been content to work a meaningless job? What if my only concern was to be as wealthy as I could? Would I be training? What if I would have let medical setbacks become excuses which I let cripple me? Would I have given up? There are so many different questions with so many different answers that it seems to cast an ominous cloud of doubt over me at times…

There are so many different paths which I could have ended up taking. With each different path I can only assume that there would have been a different outcome, making me a different person than I have grown to become today. So let me first make one thing very clear… I am VERY happy with my life and where I am right now, BUT I will say that I have been through many ups and downs throughout my life. I haven’t always had my head in the right place. I have been broken. I have been down and depressed. I have been a bad friend, a bad brother, a bad son, and even worse, a bad person. I have made the “wrong” choices many times and have hurt those I love. I disrespected family and friends and burned a hell of a lot of bridges. Unfortunately, I have been forced to suffer the consequences. Yet, surprisingly enough I would not take away or change any of the choices I have made. I wouldn’t choose any other path then the one I have already taken. If I had to do it all over again I can truly say that I would do it the EXACT same way.

There are so many lessons which I have learned throughout the pain that have helped to educate me on the ways of life. I have learned not to worry about what others think about me; their opinions do not have to become my reality. I have learned to live my life the way I feel comfortable living it and not to try and be something or someone I am not. Some may like me. Others may not. Love me or hate me. Take me or leave me. I am who I am. Most importantly, though, I have learned to live my life in Christ and to have faith that He will lead me down the road I was meant to be on. I have learned that I am strong because the Lord gives me strength. I have learned to be a positive person because I have realized that life will have ups and downs no matter what, and that there is absolutely nothing I can do to change that. I am, however, in control of my attitude, and how I react to what life throws my way is a choice. A positive mindset creates positive opportunities. It is with realization that I find comfort. And it is this comfort which allows me to put aside all the “What if’s?” in my head and focus on the one thing I can control… My future.

A very bright future at that!