The Super 8

Welcome to my first post on my new website. It’s pretty surreal. A lot of people have asked me why I’ve decided to do this. This all has nothing to do with views, or clout, or being cool. It has to do with impacting peoples’ lives, especially the people interested enough to read my posts. It’s also an effort to be more transparent with the people in my life without having to follow a certain format of traditional social media. If I can touch one person one post at a time, I’ll be proud of the slight change I’ve instilled in the world. So, I’m thankful that you’ve made it here and I’m excited for our journey ahead.

The easiest way to start this is by breaking down what “The Super 8” means to me, and how I hope to build an entire blog around it. This is the best place to start so that we are all on the same page. These are the values and ethics of life that can help you and I create consistency in our lives. I’ll remind you of “The Super 8” and then we’ll jump right in:

• God
• Prayer
• Faith
• Family
• Education
• Sacrifice
• Character
• Discipline

God

This is an intimidating one right off the bat. Heck, I know it scares people away, but that’s not what this is. I’m not here to preach blog or make anyone follow my certain set of religious ideals. Throughout this blog, “God” is the sense of a universal higher power, the sense of putting your trust into something above yourself. For example, buying into the saying “everything happens for a reason,” whether or not you believe God is that reason is up to you. It’s a concept that adds meaning to tangible life. In any religion, acknowledging God is essentially acknowledging the concepts of trust, love, and peace within yourself and within the world around you.

Prayer

Just as I made God universally applicable to anyone who comes across this blog, I’ll do the same with prayer. Prayer boils down to hope. It’s a yearning for getting more out of life. It’s positive self-talk. It’s wishing other people well. If you believe in God, then it’s your relationship with Him. Prayer is the expression of the goodness of life. It can keep you hopeful in times of bad, and humble in times of good. However you wish to interpret prayer, it’s a conversation that aids in consistency. I can’t wait to implement this one.

Faith

Faith is the third and final religious-based concept of “The Super 8.” But, again I say this is not faith as in following a religion. I chalk faith up to be belief. Belief is a powerful thing. Belief can keep your personal motor going, and that’s special. This is something that the world today severely lacks because we can be fed so much nonsense about reality by our leaders, news outlets, social media, peers, and so many other sources. Faith in yourself, the people around you, and the higher power of life will go a long way for you personally. Faith gives you something to look for in tomorrow.

Family

Arguably the most important aspect of “The Super 8” to me, as I’m sure you’ll learn. I believe that family is anyone you love, not limited to blood relations. The most special people in our lives are our family, and that’s vital because so much of who we are is based on the people around us in our lives. Our families don’t get enough credit for impacting us as much as they do. A ton of these lessons and experiences I plan on sharing stem from what I’ve learned and done with my family.

Education

It goes without saying that education is learning. But, learning can take place anywhere at any time, it’s certainly not limited to a certain amount of years in school. There is always more to be learned, and the resources you can learn about life often come as a surprise. For example, parents don’t expect to learn from their kids as much as they eventually do… and I don’t mean learning the cool new slang terms. There is also always a high level of education through experience… especially failure. The sooner we can accept that education is always present, the more often we can accept things such as change.

Sacrifice

Sacrifice is huge. I cannot talk enough about how vital sacrifice is to life. As an athlete, a college athlete in particular, sacrifice is ever-present when I miss out on spending time with people, social events, family time, or just my summers in general. As a diabetic, sacrifice can make life way easier. I haven’t had soda or cereal in over a year. Giving things up to benefit yourself, or better yet benefit others, can really improve lifestyle. There’s no need to fit in with everyone else. Do the right things for you and those important to you, even if it’s not the easiest choice.

Character

This is a tough value to talk about for anyone, because nobody has character perfected. It’s nearly impossible to master… we are all bound to make mistakes based in our character flaws. With that being said, consistency is huge here. Finding what makes you successful as a person is the easy part. Showing that all of the time to everyone you meet is the challenge. Not wavering who we are based on who we are around or what we are doing is very difficult, so this is a lifestyle adjustment that takes a lot of conscious thought.

Discipline

Speaking of conscious thought, the final piece of “The Super 8” is discipline. Discipline is what makes people great at what they do. Odds are you are well disciplined in the things you do well. To make discipline a central value of life will help create greatness in whatever you are doing, and that will likely open doors for things you never thought possible. For example, becoming a blogger.

So, that’s the basis of this blog. I do not believe that I am the ultimate follower of “The Super 8,” but I am versed and experienced in living these values, which has given me tons of perspective to share with the world. It takes a little bit of all 8 here and there to be a college student, athlete, diabetic, son, brother, or anything else I can identify as.

I have a lot of cool stories, lessons, experiences I’m planning on sharing with whoever cares enough to read, and I’m very excited to get the ball rolling. Let’s do this thing.

— B.F.