Get Back Up
Mastery over your own mind is crucial aspect to every life, it is what causes us all to move forward, and to become the best version of ourselves. When you start this process it can never end, not because of the possibility of failing isn't there, oh no simply because you would never even want it to.
The rush you get when you finally accomplish something you have worked hard for and the sense of how much more you have to do for your next goal. It always keeps you going forward. Now you can get knocked down, you can get beaten to the curb, and you can even get to the brink of death, but no matter what you must get yourself back up.
The reason why you must get back up every time you fall is because you have the potential to become something more. Every single individual is a catalyst for improvement, a crucial aspect to world change. The world can only change if each part does prior, the world is us. We are the world incarnate. People, creatures, nature, are all what the world encompasses. IF we change only THEN can the world change. Now where does this come down to you?
Every day.
Every day you have the opportunity to change the world, or more particularly SOMEONE's world. You can make the difference in someone's day just to make it a little bit better.
Make a Change in your immediate surroundings. The potential you have for good can make even the worst days better, and you can find even a happy person and make them happier. (It's actually easier that way) Yet it's even more beautiful when you can make a sad person happy.
Make a change within your family. Try to expand your family's tastes in music, food, literature. Expand their own likes and interests, they can do the same for you! Share what you love and listen to them when they do the same. Be someone they can count on. Be family.
Make a change in your community. Go volunteer, go teach, go play with the neighborhood kids, go challenge the city to make things better where you live. Change the way recycling is done in local places, make potlucks where people bring healthy non-GMO foods, have a day in the park where people bring fruit and veggies. etc.
Make a change in yourself. It really comes down to you, and if you can expand your own prowess, your own abilities, then you can use them for the greater good. Expand your mindset don't let the common herd mentality or past experiences cloud your present judgement. As they say "live in the moment", for really its all you have. All you're guaranteed at the very least.
Lastly, Make a change in the world. Changing the world isn't as hard as it sounds, it simply starts by you just DOING IT. You have to make a difference in all aspects of life, like listed above, but just by doing so you have already changed the world. All you have to do after that is spread it out more!
Fitting Into Your Potential
Becoming an ULCian doesn't just mean becoming part of a group that aims to change the world. It means becoming the best version of yourself you can be. ULCians have an inherent capacity to improve. We can all strive for higher and higher goals, and achieve them with the help of each other. There is an auto-didactic (self-learner) nature and polymathic (jack of all trades) nature as well.
The whole balancing the Four Pillars philosophy was created in order to keep a balanced life. I believe that if your life is in chaos, or even just mildly unbalanced, it can prevent you from improving yourself.
Take for example you strive hard and hard to increase your muscle mass by working out regularly, BUT due to stress and constantly workload your emotional and mental pillars are out of sync. Thereby causing ripple effects on the body and preventing you from improving
Conversely if you focus purely on your brain, and spend all your time learning, studying, and testing. That you forget to take care of your body, then you would be scrawny and weak. This happens a lot with the "nerds" of high school and college.You just have to keep gaining muscle and strength. Pure determination.
You can't let one aspect of life deflate the others, or your progress WILL halt.