Post 6 - Agree /disagree with a quote (2)

Pearl Sydenstricker Buck, an American writer who spent most of her life in China, believed that, “Once the ‘what’ is decided, the ‘how’ always follows. We must not make the ‘how’ an excuse for not facing and accepting the ‘what.’” What I take from this quote is that once a person decides something they want to do, or something they want to achieve, they will find any means possible to accomplish their goal. If a person want something bad enough, then the “how” will not cause them any hindrance because they will do absolutely anything to get what they want. And I absolutely agree with Buck if this is her meaning.

People are defined by their experiences, and some people, because of what they have been through, sometimes experience a hunger beyond both physical and mental boundaries. A hunger that defines the person and what is the driving force behind all of the person’s actions.

Not too long ago I was in a situation where I found myself stripped off all the “power” (in this case in the form of respect and credibility from being kicked off the National Honor Society, The Honor Council, and The Student Council) I had accumulated over several years. And I hated the feeling. I despised every moment during that time when, because of my loss of power, I had to excessively prove that not all the words that came out of my mouth were lies, and that my actions were not just means to manipulate people to benefit personally from. I found myself wanting to prove to the everyone that you did not have to be a part of a labeled committee; that you did not need to have a title, to prove that you could accomplish something.

What eventually ended up helping me was my passion for music. I struggled for weeks, contemplating how I could prove to my community that one did not need to have a title do accomplish something of note on a vast scale. Ultimately a friend of mine (who happened to be in the same situation as me) and I decide to join our minds, and our talents to initiate the first “battle of the bands” in our community.

It was initially hard to gather support for our cause and to try and convince the school that our venture was an innocent one, but eventually we broke through all the stigmas that we found ourselves under. We currently are six days away from the inauguration of hard work.

I agree with Buck when she says that the “what“ is the thing that needs to be figured out and worried about, and that the “how” will eventually follow because I have experienced first-hand that the drive to accomplish something, the mental strength to prove something, can sometimes defy plain logic and help you achieve that which you hunger for.