Each obstacle we encounter can ultimately alter our lives for better or worse.

As people, we often find ourselves in situations where the challenges we face do not provide us with the outcomes we wanted. However, it is up to us as individuals to decide how we will let this affect and impact us.

I believe we can learn from every circumstance we face throughout our lives. Each experience, whether a success or a failure, can and should be used to instill resilience and prepare us for different situations encountered throughout our lifetimes.

Three years ago, when I was a junior in high school, I created a philosophy for myself to follow when faced with hardships,

"Once you realize that your only true competitor is yourself, you will strive to make each day better than the last."

I uphold this viewpoint within every situation I am faced with. Once I began to implement it into my own life, my seemingly negative outlook on how I handled obstacles changed in the best way I could imagine.

A person should consider themselves their only competition. Once you stop viewing others and the accomplishments they achieve negatively and shift the focus towards yourself, this is when you truly begin to succeed. Self-actualization of past situations is crucial to the advancement and improvement of those in our future.

Doing this allows me to observe my own actions and ask myself, "What can I do to improve and make myself evenbetter?" By establishing this foundation, I have found myself achieving goals that I had never deemed possible and they hold much greater value to me knowing the steps I have taken.

There is something to be learned in every experience in life.

Never give up.

Compete against yourself and make yourself better – this determination will get you where you want to be.