Life will sometimes feel like a fight.

The punches, jabs, and hooks will come in\n

Yet if you stay in the ring and learn from\n

Mr. contest chair, fellow fighters, can you\n

Most often, our most challenging opponent\nis ourselves.

I dropped out of college not one, not two,\n

I told myself college isn't for me and I would\nnever go back.

I married my soul mate—the love of my life,\nmy best friend.

We were married for eight long, beautiful,\namazing months.

You heard right—months, not years.

It was like immediately after we said I do,\n

an electrifying knockout blow to our vows.

In 2015, I competed for the first time in\n

I won at the club level, I won at the area\n

Then the district level was on the way!

I was on the road, I was on fire, I was unstoppable!

After going three rounds and taking hit after\n

When was the last time life knocked you down?

Who was that lifeline that you reached out\n

Or did you hold on to your faith?

Maybe you've never been knocked down, but\n

Were you the lifeline that they were reaching\n

Were you the coach in the corner saying, “Get\nup, get up.

As I gathered all the strength within myself,\n

Instead of looking into a mirror of defeat,\n

I got my degree and I graduated magna cum\nlaude.

Yeah, after failing four times, I was still\nstanding.

After my loss at the district level, I'm speaking\n

Even after suffering loss, I'm still standing.

As for my marriage, I'm still in training.

I have not yet found Mr. right, but this is\n

And there are thousands of men from hundreds\n

Even after my divorce, I'm still standing.

My challenge to you is to stay in the ring.

Whether you're a fighter or a coach, if you're\n

in that ring throwing those jabs and those\n

ding, ding—the fighters and the coaches\n

“I'm still standing, yeah, yeah, yeah.

And even after you take a few hits, use what\n

at the end of each round, you'll remain still\nstanding.