The end of the presidential election sparked storms of calamity all over the nation. Social media brought about a visible divide amongst voters. Those who were pleased with the outcome, those who were devastated at the lost, and those who did not cast their vote and found both candidates to be of little to no interest.

In seeing the emotional outrage among so many people, its connectivity with what many of us face throughout our personal lives approached the surface — failure.

Candidate Hillary Clinton said something that stuck with me during her remarks after losing the race. She said that just because the outcome was not what was intended does not mean that you should ever stop fighting for what you believe in. I’d like to take that a step further in saying that you should never give up on your dreams.

Hanging up your tenacity, endurance and persistence is staring your demons straight in the eye and saying “you win.” Your power is relinquished, which allows outside circumstances to dictate the person that you are. Life is not an easy thing. It comes with many different challenges. Though, we are all human, which makes it safe to say that we have faced many of the same battles.

Regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, class and the like, we were created with the ability to be something great. The challenge is whether or not you are willing to truly work, toil and climb for what you want in life. Regardless, giving up is never an option.

-Jas