A view into my deep and thoughtful self

So I've recently been reading Harry Potter 4 in an attempt to brush up on my Harry Potter background before I go and see the new movie, and in the process I figured out that Harry's fourth year was the same as being in ninth grade. This of course got me thinking about my own ninth grade experience and I realized that it will have been three years since my ninth grade year! It doesn't seem even close to being that long, in fact it seems like I was just in ninth grade, but in reality I will soon be beginning my senior year in high school, a time that in ninth grade seemed so very far away, but time passes quickly. Those three years have blown by extremely quickly, and yet it struck me how much I've changed in those three quick years. I have grown and developed mentally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. For example three years ago I had not started running, I was slow as dirt and didn't even know there was such a sport as cross country. Now running has become a very integral part of my life and has taught me a lot about myself and about life in general. Furthermore I've also become fairly fast, at least I would like to think so :), and I have been a varsity member of the cross country team for what's now going on three years. So that brings me to my point, my one decision to try out running and join the cross country team has had a very profound impact upon my life, it has allowed me to meet new people and create new friendships that I value highly and would probably have never had otherwise, and it has made me a better stronger person. And so as these deep and philosophical thoughts were going through my head, as I sat there reading a Harry Potter book, I began to think about the future. In just another three very very short years my life will have changed dramatically. I will have graduated from high school, left home, and gone on to experience one semester of college, in a college that will probably not have very many of the friends I have had for the past few years, and some of them since elementary school. Furthermore I will be halfway through serving a mission, all in just three years. It's a sobering thought, and a scary one as well, and it made me realize that the decisions I make each day, such as the decision I made to run cross country, will define in a large part who I will become in the future. I believe the past three years, and the three years to come will be and have been a critical defining point in my life. And so I'll reiterate essentially my point in this post, each decision we make, and each moment we choose to take into our hands or let slip away, will define who we are, and who we will become. It's up to us to make the best of it and to settle for nothing less than our full potential.