“Desire is the strong wish, longing or craving to do or have something truly important to you.
It is something that originates deep within your core; the very center of your being. In some cases, it might be so intense, it becomes a welcome distraction. A sense to the extent that it can even be felt in a physical sense.
We all know how important goals are. But if there is no hunger or urgency attached to accomplishing them, then they are nothing more than items on some generic bucket-list. An array of things merely meant to be crossed off.
But what it really comes down to is the depth, width and breadth of your desire. Your passion. Your will to work. Sacrifice. Persevere. Achieve. And ultimately succeed. You need to have desire in such an abundance that the gain becomes worth overcoming all of the pain.
If you choose, you can always pay lip service to your goals. You can elect to go through the motions just to check things off your list, so you can say that you did it or something.
But if you have a burning desire, something that you are willing to sacrifice for and has become a part of you, then you have a desire that has captured your heart. You nor your spirit will not rest until it becomes yours.
Words you might choose to describe “guts” – a trait not readily grasped or easily defined.
In 1929, when pressed by a reporter for his definition of “guts”, American writer, and Nobel Laureate, Ernest Hemingway responded in his typical, storied fashion, saying, “By ‘guts’ I mean, grace under pressure”.
If you think about it, there are all sorts of moments in everyday life that call for “guts” – grace under pressure; walking to the podium to deliver a speech to an auditorium full of strangers, being the only one to stand up for what is right, admitting you have failed.
Performing with “guts” – grace under pressure – illustrates the very essence of competitive athletics.
History is made time and again when “guts” overtakes talent. Where the “can’t possibly lose powerhouse” is upended by an underdog, a team that literally scratched and fought their way past a supposedly superior opponent. Over and over again, talent, preparation, strategy and reputation alone have succumbed to unrelenting effort, unbridled passion, courage and “want to”.
Guts.
More often than not, champions are forged solely and entirely on “guts” – grace under pressure. Playing through exhaustion and pain. Staring down fear and failure. Performing on a plane that one never imagined existed.
Dan Gable, a world-renowned collegiate and Olympic wrestler exemplified this when he said: “Gold medals aren’t really made of gold. They’re made of sweat, determination, and a hard-to-find alloy called guts.”
This team possesses that hard to find alloy.
This team has guts.
Time and again you have found a way to press on, to fight for one more point, to block one more shot, to come back one more time. You have faced the uncertainty that accompanies injury as well as the anxiety of knowing that the next serve could be the last for all of you as this team. Despite all of the adversity – you have pressed on – playing with “grace under pressure”.
Playing with guts.
Once again, you will need to dig for that hard to find alloy tomorrow.
You will need to mine the vein that runs deep within your team. Find a way to revel in the moment that you have created for each other this season and make this day your day. Find comfort and strength in the bonds you have forged and embrace the challenges you meet – “as one”.
You possess the alloy of champions ladies.
And your opponent will know it soon enough.
(Happened upon this from 2009 during the WIAA Girls State Tennis Tournment. Homestead went on to win, capping an amazing season.)
“As a single footstep will not make a path on the earth, so a single thought will not make a pathway in the mind. To make a deep physical path, we walk again and again. To make a deep mental path, we must think over and over the kind of thoughts we wish to dominate our lives.”
– Henry David Thoreau
Maybe you have noticed a transformation.
Perhaps you are gaining a sense of this.
Feeling its tug. An awareness of gravity. How the mass of your collective thoughts, words and deeds have led you to this instant.
Impacting someone. Making something. Leading somewhere.
For they all matter. And even now, both they – and you – are still being shaped.
Taking all that you have been up to now – and making you into what you are to become. The embodiment of all that is the best in you; character, excellence, perseverance and leadership.
Your intentions then finally and irrevocably become reality.
A convergence of age, ability, experience. The confluence of discipline, desire and dreams. In something altogether new. That will stand alone. That will never happen precisely in this fashion ever again.
Long ago, each of you entertained the smallest germ of a thought. A glimmer of a dream.
At that moment, you decided. You chose a destination.
But a path was needed. Direction determined. A pace to be set.
You let go. Abandoned yourself for one another. Subservient for a greater good. Exerting the will to expend yourself in all aspects of your being. Succumbing to a level of self-discipline that ultimately created this extraordinary circumstance.
Creating a singular vision, originating from a common perspective.
“The soul attracts that which it secretly harbours; that which it loves; it reaches the height of its cherished aspirations; … and circumstances are the means by which the soul receives its own.” – James Allen
What your souls harbor is especially important right now. For as I speak, what you have always wanted is right there. In your path. Within reach.
The allure of what lay just ahead may be tempting. You might want to peek. To veer left a little. Or to the right. To get up on tippy toes to take a gander. To peer over the top.
Yet, you must not stray.
To look ahead is to leave this moment. Lifting one’s gaze up, around or under will skew your trajectory. A change in perspective will reduce focus. Obfuscate vision. Dissipate intention. Impede effort. Foster missteps.
You could lose sight of your path.
Distractions are apt to be abundant. Self induced. Born of doubt. Fear. Expectation. Anticipation. Yet focus is not meant to exist in the absence of distractions. It is a trait intended to exist in spite of them.
So just as you chose this path, you must now decide to maintain focus.
To honor your vision regardless of the situation. Committing to preserve that most singular and proper perspective. To abide by the very essence of discipline. Expending unparalleled levels of effort and persistence. Exerting uncommon character and leadership. Aspiring to the highest standards of attitude and attention.
To finish.
To relentlessly pursue excellence.
And succeed.
By setting a tone that rings true to your vision alone.
Where your foot lay at the line of scrimmage Friday under the lights or Sunday evening during sprints in the fieldhouse. Where the mesh can produce a drive sustaining gain or series ending fumble. How a sharp break on a route can stymie a defender instead of providing an interception opportunity. Why pad level and leverage will always overcome size. And precise pursuit angles eclipse an explosive offense.
One would think that given those game changing possibilities, more personal focus and investment would be granted those details.
The inches.
I can say with the utmost certainty that if you cannot attend to them now, in the present, you will never be able to call upon them when you choose to define yourself in that one moment.
So to better understand the inherent gravity of details, I challenge you to consider this:
If a detail by itself is but an ounce – then embracing one, mastering it, incorporating it into how you live and finally making it a part of your being – becomes a pound. Not just in terms of pure weight. But mass. How you increase your width, depth and breadth. As an athlete. And as a person.
In effect, the mere ounces you choose to carry, overcome and own will in time translate into pounds of impact, pressure and “want to”.
A force for good that you can exert upon a challenge or chosen endeavor. To the extent that you can essentially roll over a challenge. Capture a goal.
Or, crush an opponent.
Now this assertion has absolutely nothing to do with any known math or science; only the inversely proportional and lasting impact experience has shown me to be true.
That creating the self discipline to attend to the details will in time assure the success of one’s pursuits.
A great many things have been said and written about Hawks.
“They are often seen as messengers or guides of the divine, suggesting perhaps that one is being watched over and protected.
Their sharp eyesight is symbolic of the ability to see things from a broader perspective so as to gain greater clarity and wisdom in one’s life.
Being powerful birds, their presence can inspire courage and strength in the face of challenges. A hawk can be a sign that help or support is on the way. “*
Here are the Ozaukee Hawks; the 2025 Special Olympics Basketball State Runners-Up!
They won their regional, hung on at sectionals and gained an at large berth for state, and then overcome a dispiriting game one at Osh Kosh to place second in their division, in all of Wisconsin SO basketball the weekend of April 12th and 13th.
A closer knit team is not known to this coach. They stayed together on and off the court. Watching over and protecting each other.
The way they played, the effort they gave and how they treated each other gave witness to their ability to see things from a broader perspective so as to gain greater clarity and wisdom in their lives.
And when things got tough and challenging, ones presence and grit just happened and came to inspire courage and strength in their teammates to face adversity.
A Hawk was the sign that help or support is on the way and I will be there for you.
On the court.
And, in life.
Well done Hawks!
Well done indeed!
Borrowed from Google when seeking definition of a Hawk. Some changes, but their verbiage for the most part.
...my temporary assignment. 