I am on a mission to greatness. I won't stop just because I get hit a little. I will overcome all that I set out to overcome. I am the head and not the tail..... even thou I'm here to serve and bless everyone I meet I'm also here to do God's work.  Watch me overcome all that they say would break me.  I've died many deaths, but I'm still alive still breathing still fighting for my destiny.  I will not give in. I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.  Life hits hard but I'm not afraid to take a hit.  I've being knocked down many of times, but not once have I ever given up.  When I was in high school, I was told I wasn't good enough. I was mocked and laughed at each time I touched the track, but  only a few times have I stopped and said I can't carry on.  No matter how embarrassed I felt in the race I kept running. I finished and that to me was way more important.  I remember when I lived in the Bahamas, we had a meet, I was forced to join the track team.  It was a road race.  In that race, everyone ran one mile. Not me, the coach gave me three miles to run!  At one point I stopped, sat down, and said I'm tired I can't go on  My coach drove up to me, and said you can do this.   I got up started running again, when I saw the girl who was collecting the baton from me, a burst of energy filled me up.  I ran as fast as I could to her feeling proud that I did my part.  At the end of the day you wanna be sure that you did your part no matter how life shakes you, no matter how many times you feel to give up, always see to it that you did your part in the race of life.   Stop for a brief period, but don't stay down, get up and keep on running, because each step will take you closer to the next person who's gonna carry on from where you left off.  Make an impact!  Make your life count.   Decide today will I stop, or will I continue to the finish line..... as I say that I remember when I had one final race in order to make it to champs.  No way I was gonna be left behind for the entire school to laugh at me and ask me how I was training all  school year and didn't make the team. This day I felt great, as if I was on top of the world. My coach had this "magical" portion that he gave us to prevent lactic acid build up.  There was a huge problem however, this portion cause me to run to the bathroom first.  This time nothing happened. I didn't wanna go use the bathroom on the track. The gun went up and I heard “set” then boom.   I was off, three and three quarter of a lap to run.  After the three quarter I felt my butt giving way and next thing I know I was messy all over I was so embarrassed but I wanted to make the team so at the moment I decided should I  stop running or do I continue; with three laps to go I decided to keep on running..... you don't know how badly I felt but I was leading and no way I wasn't gonna make this team.  The faster I went the more I messed up myself, but I kept running,  At the finish line, it was so bad I slowed down and someone passed me.  I was second, but I made the team. Sometimes I feel like I wasn't the one who finished that race, it was the will power inside of me, because if it was all up to me I would have ran off the Track in tears.   The tears came after the race was over and reality kicked in on the race I just ran, that was definitely me.  I'm just a young girl who grew up without her mommy or daddy,  but I still had someone to watch over me.  I always felt incomplete as if I haven't yet found my place in this world. As if I don't belong at any of the locations that I choose. I don't know if that's the universe making me uncomfortable so that I can always push towards my destiny, or it's just the fact that because of my abandonment issues, I'm too afraid to belong- thinking “I'm gonna be left behind again”. Here I am at my final race, nationals for my college.  I felt great, and ready to go, next thing I know I'm running and my body just started shutting down.  I was wondering what the hell is happening to me?  I stopped,  this girl ran pass me, and said “do not stop,”do not give up!”  I started running again.  As I crossed the finish line,  I was out! I woke up 10 hours later in the hospital!  After that I never ran again, but I plan to do road races, and so forth if that's how life is gonna knock me down,  at least I'm gonna go out fighting. Sometimes people don't seem to understand me and I get it.   I'm a difficult person at times; sometimes I lock myself away into a shell and no one can get me out of it. I'm just locked away with my thoughts and my dreams. Many times, I see people for who they are, but still I choose to find one good thing in them, and see who they are capable of being, if they only allow themselves to be set free.  There was once a time I was so sad and hurt, you could see my collar bones before you see me. I use to board because I lived so far away from school and after training it was so hard to get a taxi to go home. One night I went for dinner, and only a spoon full was on my plate.  I said to my dorm mother “where's my dinner what's this on my plate?”  She looked at me and said I didn't deserve to eat!  I cried like a baby that night. Fast forward one year later… keep in mind why you have to be careful what you wish for.  I was at champs running, but before the race like a week before I wrote in my dairy “lord please let me contribute at least one point to this team before I leave”,  so here I am running the steeple chase, and the same portion I spoke of earlier started act up inside my belly.   I was in 7th place which would give me 2 points!  This was champs!  I was afraid that I would mess up myself again, so I slowed down, and this girl ran passed me, and I finished 8th which is only one point!  God does have a sense of humor too. We didn't win the championship.  I was crying, everyone was crying. When we went back home, they had a meeting. The dorm mother was furious, she argued with my team members. Those who were supposed to score big didn't.  She was like “.all you guys did was waste time..... you think you are too big and it got to your head.”  This girl was supposed to give 8 points only gave 2 ,she's was like “you only gave two points and Kelly who wasn't expected to give any gave us a point if you guys had scored we would have won with Kelly one point!” 😊   So the woman who said I didn't deserve to eat, because I wasn't doing anything turned around, and praised my one point that I gave to the team. That was one of the best feeling!  I remember the throwers coach saying to me “that one point gonna take you far in life.”  Indeed it's taking me far, allowing me to know that it doesn't matter how many times you score all that matters is that you score. Before your journey ends, and it's all over, it doesn't matter what people say to put you down once you score they are the same ones who gonna come praise you. That one point taught me that it's very important to keep on going no matter how many times people put you down. This guy who always sold in front of the school gate used to watch us train and he nicknamed me “ever last”, and in deed I have to admit even though it was embarrassing and hurt my feelings, I did use to come last a lot in training, but I never stop running no matter how embarrassing it was.  I always kept going. Sometimes I don't even know why I couldn't push myself.  In my mind I'm motivated and I'm like come on Kelly you can do this but my body movement was restricted.  I couldn't push myself to go faster, but I didn't give up and quit.   I kept going, even when I heard everyone laughing. I kept on going...... inside I was a winner, and a fighter even thou on the outside I was losing and everyone was kicking my ass.  Inside I never gave up, and I'm thankful for that little fighter because whenever life hits me hard, that little fighter finds a way to hold on and not give up. I remember this one time, I was at sports day and I signed up for the three thousand meters.  It was my first time running that race, and it was 10 laps.  Of course I won because I was running against non-professionals.  I remember one of the coaches laughing at me and saying “you final won a race!”   I felt embarrassed yes, but little did he know that I've won many, many races mentally emotionally and spiritually. When a person doesn't understand, or knows your story, it's no need to worry about what they have to say because it's always based on their own insecurities.  They will try to hurt you and bring you down with their ignorance.  They don't understand your battles and how much what they say, and do to you affects you.  Throughout all those impurities, I found a loop hole to get by and kept on reaching for the stars and kept on believing and fighting for my life and my dreams......