Amber's Inspirational quotes

Recently I took it upon myself to come up with the daily slogan for the little girls basketball camp at Notre Dame. Even though they may have been cheesy, when I really stopped and thought about them they made a lot of sense. The first day I used one that I stole from a camp I had attended.

The slogan was, "Hard work, it's easy." The second day's was "Hard work pays off." The slogan on the third day was "Play hard, practice harder." The fourth was "Go hard or go home."

Can you find the common denominator in all four quotes?

I put the word "hard" into all of the sayings so that on the last day of camp I could use the phrase painted on the wall of the girl's varsity locker room at Notre Dame. The quote reads, "It's supposed to be hard, if not, every one would do it. The hard is what makes it great."

Since that's a bit lengthy, I shortened it to "The hard is what makes it great."

After camp was over, I still couldn't get that saying out of my head.

When I don't want to wake up early to go lift weights, I just tell myself, "It's hard." When I have to work a six-hour shift right after returning from a demanding basketball tournament, I just tell myself, "This is really hard." And when I don't want to work on my homework, once again I tell myself how hard it is.

I challenge everyone else to do the same. Don't look at the glass as half empty, but half full. There is nothing that can defeat you except yourself. And here is my last "inspirational quote" (promise) É Just remember that "hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard."

Amber Karnes is a student at Notre Dame Regional High School.