I wanted to start off by expressing my deepest thanks for your support, comments, and love for the Energy Drive. We started this movement as summer break started, and it has taught me so much and continues to guide me each day. I want to keep the movement going because of the many positive ways it continues to impact me personally and is a daily reminder of our purpose in life. So once again, thank you all so much! I’m counting on your continuous support in spreading the smiles, continuing to pray for all that we have, and serving our community each moment we get an opportunity to do so. In this blog, I want to share one of the biggest lessons the energy drive has taught me, and I hope you find it valuable. In life, as events come at us, usually one of two things happens: we either get excited by them or we don’t. Depending on the degree of excitement and value we see, we may jump on and say, “Wow, this is amazing, I commit to this and will do it.” But how many of us have made such a commitment one too many times in our lives? I am 16, and I know I’ve made a lot of them, but when I look at what I am currently doing, most of them are not there. So, was I ever truly committed? For reference, Commit Blog. This was the “a-ha” moment for me.

As for the Energy Drive, I started out with lots of excitement and energy, and in the initial few days, as it was new and fresh, I was at it with full force. But my attention soon moved over to how many likes I was getting. These are essential elements, as we want to share positivity, but they can’t be the driving force for me posting things daily.  If I genuinely believe in the cause and am committed to it, then it is the positive energy that should naturally ignite the rocket inside me to keep doing work every day regardless of the external forces. In this case, I continued for three weeks, and then we took a short family vacation for five days. Although I told myself I would post during the break, other things became more important, such as going to the pool, going ATV, going to the buffet, sometimes was doing nothing just watching TV, and finally, at the end of the day, I would say, “I’ll do it tomorrow”; that was when my rocket ship got lost in space.

This was my moment of truth, and therefore I am so grateful to each of you every day because your energy and support ignited my rocket ship again and gave the Energy Drive new life. After two weeks of being lost in space, we reignited, and the Energy Drive caught orbit again, and it is going. So, while I have written my blog on Commitment (for reference, Commit Blog) and the importance of Consistency (for reference, Consistency Blog), the direction in my life is when I get excited about new opportunities before committing to things from the source of excitement. I know that I need to learn to take a pause, think things over, and make a CONSCIOUS CONSISTENT COMMITMENT (CCC) which will lead to long-term success. And these Conscious Consistent Commitments should be enough in one’s life that we can count on our fingertips; anything more may be excellent momentary events that, while important, are not the fuel that powers your rocket in orbit.

As summer break is ending soon, I can think back on so many unforgettable moments I’ve been sharing with you all through the daily Energy Drive, such as our EPIC family vacation or the daily workouts I get to do with my older brother Parth whose birthday it is today (Aug 1st) (HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRO!) and is going to USC to save me a seat in a couple of years, to the amazing quality time spent drawing with my artistic sister—there have been so many life moments captured with my friends and colleagues at FNS, including getting the opportunity to spend three months for the first time with my Nani—the list is endless.

Though I deeply miss not having gone to my motherland, India, for two summers in a row now, the memories and culture define me and who I am, and I know I will be returning soon. I’m excited about entering 10th grade in a couple of weeks and getting to be full-time on my high school campus for the first time. I plan to write one more blog before high school starts on the key to CCC and how to ensure we stay in our lane to make CCC successful (for which I am experimenting something and will let you all know how it goes in my next blog so stay tuned). If you are interested in sharing a story or doing a blog together on a topic or subject close to your heart, write to me through www.AnujShah.com/Contact; I would love to do something together this year. Continue to like, comment, and most importantly, pray, serve, and share the love by making people smile.