The Struggle You Are Up Against Makes You What You Are

The Struggle by Grizfok

Aside from this song being a killer indie anthem with a jivin', late 1960's style, nearly Doors-esque keyboard riff....what exactly is it that makes The Struggle by California-based band, Grizfolk, hit home?
The lyric video, for one! A grown man, clad in what appears to be a Boy Scout's uniform, battles the dry, dusty desert mountain terrain as he overcomes various obstacles: shooting down tin cans with a slingshot, running, and climbing to the top of the mountain as his combat boots slip and slide on the loose, desert sand.
Then, there's the lyrics. Maybe it's partially the phase of life I am in right now, but Grizfolk's words really rang true.

"You're young enough to say what you feel 
So say what you feel, say what you feel
Sometimes, it's all that we got, it's all that we gotThen, it's gone." 

I bet many of my "regular readers" will relate to that. Most of us are beginning our college journeys and we are starting to feel....well....older. I know we aren't yet noticing the way the lines in our forehead are deepening each time we glance in the mirror, or finding more and more gray hairs, stressing about mortgage payments, or playing soccer mom/dad....but if your experiences are anything like mine, you are noticing the way "real life" is on the horizon. Or is it actually here? 

In any case, it does not matter how old you are or how old you feel. You're young enough to say what you feel. I believe he is saying, "It doesn't matter how old you are - speak your mind!" If he meant to exclude certain age groups, he would have said You're young enough to say what you feel. Unless you're 18. Then you're much too young. Your time has come and gone. Grow up. Get a job.

For me, saying what I feel has been a monumental "struggle" I have had to overcome recently. At times, I can be so bad at communicating my dreams, my true heart's desires, and even just little tidbits of thought because I am afraid of what will be thought of me. I am afraid people will formulate these awful opinions of me.

"She's lazy!" "She's a quitter!" "She's too young!" "She doesn't understand!" "She's a fool!" "She's...."

I have come to realize this very simple fact: "SHE CAN DO WHATEVER SHE WANTS!"

To me, this does not translate to going out and dancing on tables with a shot-glass in my hand on weekends (sort of an exaggerated image, I know) or rebelling for the sole purpose of rebelling, because I'm out on my own and why not? 

What it does translate to is: I am my own person and I am going to follow my heart. End of story.

"He turns around and sees the world he knows fall apart."

So, before I made the above revelation about my philosophies of life, I "saw the world around me fall apart." I'd be willing to bet that, once again, my fellow college freshmen and soon-to-be college freshmen have seen similar tragedies. You get to college and start out in the field you have known, practically your entire life, that you were going to pursue....and then you realize you hate it. Or, possibly, you have been a straight A student your entire life, you get to college and make D's on your first two exams. Maybe it's that you're completely and utterly LOST as to where to even begin with choosing a major. It could be that you are so far away from the ones you love and who have been an element in your everyday life up until now. It feels like losing your right hand. 

You are ambling through your new life without a plan, without a course of action because you don't know how to function. You may only be a few hours from home, but the place you are living is foreign, strange, uncomfortable. It's like someone blindfolded you, spun you around 100 times, then set you free at night in the woods. 

"The struggle you are up against makes you what you are."

You may not know it in this disorienting, befuddling, discombobulating moment, but what you are going through right now is going to mold you into something. You are either going to wake up one morning and make the decision to overcome and succeed or continue stumbling blindly, a pawn at the dispense of the hands of time.

After all, a diamond is just an ordinary piece of coal that handled stress exceptionally well. 

If you liked The Struggle, be sure to also check out two other great songs of theirs, Vagabonds and Hymnals, on SoundCloud. They have a very unique style - while The Struggle, to me, seemed somewhat "1960's Brit-pop revival", both Vagabonds and Hymnals gravitated toward that indie-electronic feel. Although my only download is - and will remain - The Struggle, I'm sure there are some who will enjoy Vagabonds and Hymnals just as much!