by Craig Hysell

When you are actually trying to do something with your life, things get hard. Real hard. At least for most of the successful people I know.

This is okay. It’s your passion that will see you through. If you’re doing something you really want to do, were meant to do, the hard times are always manageable. Quitting, no matter how hard things get, is not viable.

Most people that really try at life realize they must make sacrifices, trade old friends for new ones… or none, reorganize priorities, create new disciplines and open (or kick in) that terrifying door to the unknown.

There is a ton of sweat equity. There are countless hours of stress, hard work, sleepless nights. This goes on for years and years. It is actually a simple process: wake up, work really, really, hard, stay present, go to bed. Repeat.

Simple doesn’t mean easy. A lot of people equate simplicity with ease. This is a shame.

Yet, through all these trials, you will find that, if you walk a righteous path, you are NEVER short of help. You must be open to help and… this was a very hard one for me… you must actively seek it.

I have always been independent. I have always been a bit socially awkward. A lot of people mistake this for arrogance. I can be too blunt, too sarcastic. Yet I try to remember and relay that the way I see things is not the only way. I constantly seek to educate myself. I try to always learn. I have learned that I cannot do it all anymore.

More importantly, I don’t want to do it all anymore. A team is more powerful than an individual.

Over the last four years, this little project of ours that has evolved into CTF has allowed me to meet many talented and incredible people. That which you see before you today is built by them, by you!

I used to always say that hard work creates it’s own luck. I still believe that. However, luck also plays a role in luck (weird right?) and I have been very, very lucky to meet the people that continue to help CTF grow into the righteous monster it is quickly evolving into.

This new space is the beginning. But it has shown me what we have done as a community since 2010. I am awestruck. You guys are incredible. Every one of you that came in, swung by, picked up a brush or a hammer or a saw or a board, everyone of that came out on Saturday and PR’d the hell out of The Move, everyone of you that fed us, checked on us, supported us, high-fived us, donated your things, your time, your sweat and your specialties, everyone of you who built this place with your work and your love: thank you. This was an amazing experience I will never forget.

CTF: built for the community, by the community. That’s pretty powerful and amazing stuff. This is family.

I say it all the time. Superheroes without capes.