5 Ways To Channel Your Inner Tiger

 

Because if you’re not living life like a tiger, what’s the point? 

 

I’ve had tigers on the brain for a few days now, since I’ve started to write a short story about an imaginary one, and also because I like to think they are my true spirit animal. Unlike my imaginary tiger, these majestic creatures are not to be trifled with. I started thinking about all the reasons I love tigers and I realized it’s because they are everything I aspire to be; strong, fierce, and fearless. Here’s how we could all channel our inner tiger.

1. Be Fierce 

Tigers above all are fierce creatures, always protecting their own and never backing down. They are at the top of their food chain and every other animal knows and respects this. Just by looking at a tiger, you know it’s powerful and dangerous, which only adds to its beauty. This is the number one reason I feel such a kindredness with tigers and I always strive to be fierce, a force to be reckoned with. Never tone down your fierceness for anyone and never let your confidence waver, a tiger certainly never would.

2. Be Independent 

Tigers are naturally solitary creatures. It is very rare to see tigers traveling in packs because they can fend for themselves. As an only child, I am in love with my alone time and wouldn’t give it up for anything. As important as my friends and family are in my life, I have always relied on me to get myself through everything. Being independent is one of the most important traits to have in such a harsh world as ours. You have to know that the only one you can truly depend on is yourself. Tigers are sure of themselves which is why they do so well alone. If you have you, you don’t have to worry.

3. Be Fearless 

There’s not much that frightens a tiger, as they are the ones to be feared. Tigers go into just about any situation fearlessly because they know when it comes down to it, they will prevail simply because they’re that awesome. This is the way I always want to be. Obviously as humans, we have a lot to be afraid of in life, but one of my biggest mottos is if it scares you, it is probably worth doing. Step into the unknown with the heart of a tiger and you can face anything.

4. Be A Fighter

Because tigers are at the top of their food chain, they will fight and eat just about any other animal out there. They are born fighters with their strength and agility, and they don’t often lose their battles. In life, we have to fight for everything we want, wether it be professionally, socially, or personally. Everyone has something worth fighting for and if we channel our inner tiger, we can win over the obstacles that stand in our way. When things get hard, don’t back down because you can’t win if you don’t fight.

5. Be Strong 

Strength is a tiger’s most important quality, it’s basically the reason they are the hunters and not the hunted. Fun fact: although they prefer to use their sharp teeth to rip apart their prey, a tiger can crush the skull of a bear with the swipe of one paw. I’m not saying we should go around crushing skulls, but if we had a tiger’s strength inside of us, imagine how powerful we could be. Life is often unkind and brutal, but being strong enough to handle it is what’s important. Even if you don’t feel strong, the will to push on through the pain is that strength. In the darkest times in my life, strength is the main reason why I channel my inner tiger as much as I can. It reminds me that I’m stronger than I know and capable of handling anything the world throws my way. So take it from me, life is better when you find your inner tiger and stay fierce!

Do Not Worry

Because life after college can often hold uncertainty for most of us, it’s hard not to worry about where we will be employed in the future, or how we will make our money and how much, or who we will spend our time with down the road. Although we know worrying cannot solve anything, it is a constant burden for us. But that’s just the point. None of us can know the future and what it holds for any one of us. We must live life in the now and accept that the future is beyond our grasp.

Today, I had my first job interview. It went well, but as it’s only preliminary, it didn’t do much in the way of boosting my confidence. When I got home from the long traffic-filled drive to downtown LA and back, I absentmindedly scrolled through my Instagram feed, and came across a Bible verse. “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” –Matthew 6:34 This passage was exactly what I needed to hear today. I know a lot of people aren’t religious, but I think this speaks to anyone and everyone who worries about what tomorrow will bring, how they will provide for themselves or their loved ones, and anything else they are unsure of.
  
Call it the universe, or fate, destiny, or God, but I think if I were to ask, most people would say that they believe the future will work itself out, one way or another. Whatever happens in our lives, the earth will still turn and life will go on, no matter what events or choices present themselves in the process or how much we worry about them. In the midst of worrying though, it’s hard to remember that tomorrow will take care of itself. Because I have my faith, I can rely on God to provide for me, even if it’s not in the way I expect. I know not everyone has that same belief, but it’s better to have faith in something than spend my time worrying about the things I can’t possibly know.
  
Today, I needed to be reminded to take a breath and let tomorrow be tomorrow. Of course, I do want to do my part in taking the right steps towards my future, but in the end nothing is up to me. My life has a path, and I cannot know where it will lead or what is along the road, but I know that it can’t ever stop. Life is inevitable, we might as well live it to the fullest in the present. So if you’re troubled about what your future will be, don’t because tomorrow will take care of itself and each day has enough trouble of it’s own.

They (Used to) Tell Me Dream Big

    As a recent college grad, one of the most asked, and possibly most feared questions we can get is what are we going to do now. Some people know exactly what they are going to do right when they get out of school and others have absolutely no idea what they are doing with their lives and are scared stiff at the very prospect. I however, am somewhere in the middle of these two. Right now, all I know is that writing is my passion and that’s all I really want to be doing, and I want to be doing it within the entertainment world. Of course I’m terrified, but I’m also excited to start being who I was always meant to be.

    Now when I tell people that I’m an English major, another one of the most asked questions and subsequently my pet peeve of a question is ‘so are you going to be a teacher?’. The answer to this overly asked question is unequivocally no. As I’ve told many many people, it takes a certain kind of person to be a teacher, and I applaud them, but that’s just not me, it never has been. I think my dreams have always been bigger than that and I’ve known that I wanted to be a writer for most of my life. Sometimes I wish I was meant to do something else, like being a teacher or wanting to work a regular nine to five job, but it’s not who I was meant to be. I was meant to be a writer, a storyteller, a creator of the impossible just by using that thing called imagination and something as simple and complex as words. The art of stringing together words to make thoughts, to create something out of nothing, is what I am absolutely in love with. This is the reason I can’t just settle for anything less than what I want.

    I know there are so many older adults who believe that I should get a ‘practical’ job because you need to pay the bills somehow and because being a writer doesn’t pay much and because breaking into what I actually want to do is hard work and not a lot of people make it. Thinking about it, it’s sad that when I was little, I was told I could do anything I set my mind to, which I still believe to be true, but now that I’m older everyone is telling me just to get a job that pays better. I respect the opinions of my elders, I really do, but at the end of the day I have to do what’s right for me and I know I need to try to make it in my chosen field. Being a creative writer may not be practical, but it’s what I love and trying to do anything else before I’ve even tried getting jobs I actually want would be giving up on my dreams essentially. Sure, some people say it’s just putting them on the back burner and you can still write in your spare time, but let’s be honest, settling for a mediocre dead end job just because it pays the bills is a dream killer and a soul sucking abyss of awfulness. At least that’s the way I see it.

    To an older generation, I get that following my dreams does not seem like the smart way to go, maybe not the most lucrative at first, but I truly believe that I can do great things within my field, if only I am able to get there. This generation is full of people who have created jobs because they simply didn’t want that general nine to five job they knew they'd hate and successfully did something about it. If I don’t try to live my dreams, I’ve already given up completely. And that's just not going to happen because if there’s one thing I am, it’s a fighter. I know what I want, I’m never going to stop fighting until I get it, and when I do get it, I’m never going to stop being passionate about it. So for all of you with dreams you long to achieve, but might not have the support you want, be brave, be bold and do what you love because you only get this life. Don’t waste it trying to fit into some sort of societal mold. We may be learning how to adult, but never forget who you really are.