Eat Your Heart Out

The story continues to focus on commitment and standing your ground.  Penton talks about how his sister, Sara, used the same philosophy to get want she was passionate about which was a high level of education.  His sister was an extreme introvert.  She hated being the center of attention.  During a high school band competition, show won an award and when her name was called over the loud speaker announcing the name, she freaked out and was totally humiliated.  Sara was a brilliant student, though, and she wanted to go to an Ivy League college.  She and her family couldn’t afford it so Sara started looking into ways to get scholarships.  She finally realized there was probably only one option to get the education she had the passion for at a price she could afford and that was to be accepted into the United States Naval Academy.  There were a few hurdles Sara would have to work hard at to get into the academy.  She had the smarts but she would have to overcome the physical requirements and the political requirements, like public speaking.  Sara was determined and started working out.  Each day she got stronger and pushed herself further.  She staged mock interviews and practiced them over and over and worked in the community to gain confidence in herself and even got a congresswoman to endorse her.  Again, it all paid off.  She got into the academy and by her senior year was ranked 13^th in her class and was promoted to Commander of the Naval Academy Band and Bugle Corp.  The book goes on to say that if you want to be successful like the Penton brother and sister, you have to determine your strengths and passion.  Strengths are what you are good at, like sports, money, math, or drawing.  Passion is what you love, like video games, music or art.  You’re supposed to pick a couple from the lists that excite you the most and they’re probably the ones that you’d be the best at.  The next step is to quit wishing or hoping and start committing and resolving to what enthuses you.  So far, the book is kind of motivating.  I hope the book finishes by giving some pointers on how to turn a wish into a commitment.