Turn up the heat

Water boils at 212 degrees Fahrenheit (at sea level). I am not a chemist, however, I do know that when water boils, the molecular composition remains the same while the state changes from a liquid to a gas (vapor). It is still the same H20.

A lot of energy is required to bring water from, say room temperature to its boiling point. We acquire this energy by heating the water. As the temperature climbs, the state of H20 remains the same until that singular moment - boiling. Have you ever wondered what happens to water at 211 degrees? It remains liquid.

I think of the boiling point often when I see an athlete trying to reach their goals or grasp a new concept. I turn the above science into an analogy that helps get them over the top when everything clicks. Much energy is required to raise the temperature of water from 60 or 70 degrees to 212. A lot of energy is required to bring the temperature to even 100 degrees. When we're talking about changing its state, that's a lot of energy. Just think, how many times do we see athletes (or humans trying to achieve something) give an abundance of energy to succeeding, but keep falling short? It takes a lot of energy to be great. That doesn't mean you stop short of the goal. Maybe you need to turn up the proverbial "heat."

It takes a lot of energy to reach 200 degrees, but not much more to reach 212 and it would be foolish to stop there. The point is, I see a lot of people give up on their endeavors when they're between 200 and 211 degrees. They've toiled, struggled and worked hard and too much energy has gone into the process already to give up there.

When water reaches 212 degrees, it changes it state entirely. This just might be the case with us. If we give a little more energy to accomplishing the tasks before us, our state could change entirely. Who we are never changes (our molecular structure), but we enter a new level of living. That's greatness.