Tag: commitment

That of life.

I have long contended that football is the game of life.  Being a player, like all of you, I am familiar with the challenges, discomfort and anxiety that can come with it.  

The challenges of overcoming an opponent or task bigger than you think are. The discomfort that comes along with such a seemingly endless physical, mental and emotional effort whether it be practice or game.  And the anxiety that accompanies not knowing the exact outcome of your work, being unsure you are doing it exactly right, fearing you are not enough and God forbid, you make a mistake. 

Speaking from a common experience, if you play football, you are already living outside of your comfort zone.  In football terms being a resident of the O-Line, some of you are at the first level.  Others have moved towards the second.  Still fewer, the third.  And yet to be conquered, is the 4th level.  

On extremely rare occasions can one go from one to four.  That’s like a lottery ticket.  Perhaps you can get to level three from one, if things are just right.  But more often than not, you cannot skip steps, avoid work and wish your way into achievement.  You need to work your way up and through each one to reach level four.  The end zone.

You see, if you want to achieve the things you truly value and aspire to, you have to get used to being uncomfortable.  Not just in the fall.  But the year round.  You have to commit and fully invest in embracing that sense of being challenged, some sense of discomfort and the anxiety that may accompany being unsure what is going to happen.  

Again, speaking as a football player like you, living out of your comfort zone turns out to be the best place you can be.  It promotes growth, confidence, perseverance, faith  and a chance to become all you were meant to be.  Whether it is school, your first job, college or pursuing your passion, you cannot go from level one to four.  You must find work and make your way up that field, whatever it is.

Doing the things that ultimately take you to life’s end zone.  

So that being said, let me offer a challenge.  

For whatever reason, this one play causes a great deal of angst and worry.  Most likely because it doesn’t give you a definitive assignment like the other plays.  It just calls on you to all move towards the play as one, sealing off the LOS and moving to the second level. Vague I know.  But you run it to perfection against cans in practice.  But against bodies, you shrink, second guess and cringe about making a mistake.  

How about getting out of your comfort zone on this one?  

Better yet, get out of it for the whole game. 

Embrace the challenges, discomfort and anxiety.  I bet you will find that endzone more than a couple of times in those four quarters.  And when all is said and done, you will know that you gave it your all no matter what.  That in itself counts as a win.  

Stands to reason you could go 2-0 on Friday then. 

And keep the winning streak alive in the weeks, months and years to come if you learn the value of being uncomfortable. 

Think about it. 

As you work your way towards another end zone. 

That of life.

Hath no cares.

The resolved mind hath no cares. 

George Herbert (1593-1632) British poet. 

This isn’t to say that one should proceed without due diligence and your head up once you are resolved to a course of action. Rather, being resolved brings with it a sense of independence from the limitations and clutter imposed by indecision, waffling and second guessing. There be “no cares” in that you know where you are going, and how you are getting there. 

And nothing will sway you away from that course.

So make it your mission, to not only discover something special each day, but also to rediscover something special within yourself as well. Two things that are only made possible if you are fully present and seize the moment. With both hands. 

When you let go, and then go “all in” your resolve  releases this exquisite level of energy. You set the tone, creating this powerful brand of momentum. One just made for overcoming the inertia of the day. Loosening its grip. Making it relent. And surrendering to your will. 

As your hold on these moments increases, new possibilities emerge. Opportunities once hidden now become visible.   As you proceed fully present and seize each day, you will be actively molding the future. Your future. For what you resolve to make of the present will eventually determine what is yet to come.  

Think about it. 

There will be no ambiguity in what lies ahead. No gray areas. For the thoughts, words and deeds you are choosing at this very moment help to shape the very next. Always in motion is the future. Your future. Its direction is largely your call. 

With resolve, be fully present. 

Let go. 

All in. 

Seize the moment.

Create your future. 

With resolve. 

Hath no cares. 

Manure

We are farmers.

We spend a lifetime occupying our own plot of land. There may be droughts, there might be bumper crops.  But in the end, when it comes time to harvest, the yield is entirely on us.

Now of course, every farmer goes about his business as they are made.

Certain ones may  find ways to extend their growing season beyond that of their neighbor.  Methods will vary from plot to plot.  Some automate while others will choose  “old school” and harness a horse.  An engineered,  hybrid approach will suit one while taking an organic, “back to the earth” approach will become  a better fit for others. Ultimately, you have to be your own farmer.  Be true to yourself.  What may flourish for others may be just weeds for you.

Though seasons, methods,  crops and yield may differ  from field to field, being farmers we all soon share one common trait; expertise at spreading manure.

It may provide a temporary  sudden burst of excitement, color and growth.  It may assuage fear, anxiety or insincerity.  But with the next rain or two, a heat wave or cold spell, it dissipates, burns-out or becomes a stagnant mass, losing both  impact and intensity. Continual applications of manure might make you feel better, but can merely distract you from the truth.

And ruin a crop.

To  make the things  you truly want take root and flourish in your plot requires some discernment.  Patience. Courage. And honesty.  So get to  know every inch of your  acreage. Walk the fence lines over and over and over again. Learn the lay of your land.  Pry up those rocks that work their way out of the ground.  Dig up the stumps.  Know the predators.  Cut back the brush and pull out weeds that can begin to invade, choke and overtake your land.

And spread less manure.

Embrace the nature of your  soil.  Its texture, smell and even taste was made for you. Learn  what grows well and understand what crops will  enrich, invigorate and bring that piece of ground  to an uncommon level of abundance. You cannot grow the same thing year after year and expect the same yield.  In time, the yield  will drop.  The soil will become starved.  And all of a sudden, what was once your staple – will no longer produce.  Your land will become barren.

Spreading more manure won’t bring it back.

So as you begin to blossom, identify the crops that  grow with little effort or attention, harvest them religiously, build up your stores and share the abundance with others.  Attend to the crops that have been planted with the best of intentions but never seem to take root. Get them to grow.  Move things around from season to season.  Rotate. Mix.  Match. Find ways to make all of them thrive together.  Improve your soil, make things truly grow. One  bumper crop after another. Season after season.

Then, as any good farmer does, go easy on the manure.

“anonymous”

If I may beg your indulgence a bit, I have a love story of sorts.  Inspired in part by “anonymous”.

If you love the game:

     “…then life truly began when the season started.”  

Team dinners are the best sit down meal of the week.  

Hudl is your preferred form of social media

Bruises are your favorite fall colors

Wearing white to out of town events is still permissible after Labor Day

Tape has become your socks 

You accessorize with ice packs

Eye black brings out your cheekbones

And the hitch in your giddy-up later in life is still your source of pride and joy. 

If you love the game:

Having the opportunity to practice the day after a game is as big a deal as playing under the lights on Friday nights.  

Scout team is the ideal way to contribute. A golden opportunity to make the team maximize its potential and achieve its goals. 

A role on special teams may be your ticket to change the course of a game – or season – through superlative effort and will. 

If you love the game:

Then no matter what – A or B, JV or reserve, starter, or finish out the rout – “just get me on that field. “

Being wedded to a position will never supplant being bonded to a unit or the team.

Still being there for them though hurt casts a lasting impression.  

You can’t be hung up on the division.  Just play on in college.  

If you love the game: 

Embrace the blessings and needs of being a member of a large, multigenerational, extended family 

Depend upon the friends you found in the weight room, during speed and agility, at morning misery, during two a days, and with your back to the goal line.  

They are here for you now – and most likely will be later on in life. 

If you love the game: 

Stop an errant “brother”, diffuse a bad situation, console a friend in need, and raise another up even if you are down.

Invest.  Time given freely to another is a precious gift. 

Smile the most when accolades and attention for your team and teammates are delivered.   

Be humble; you are but one in a long line of fine athletes that came before – and will follow you. 

Commit.  Relentless effort, stellar character and extraordinary leadership regardless of your role is the best way to honor that big family.

If you love the game: 

Honor all of this for what it truly is; a rare and fleeting privilege.

Lean in.  A challenge of this magnitude – to work harder than you ever have at something, and then, work even harder than that  – is an extraordinary opportunity.  One that needs to be accepted with genuine and lasting gratitude.

Let go.  Giving up all of you for something bigger is a life-changing event.

If you love the game: 

Trust.  That all of them will honor the sacrifices you make on their behalf in kind. 

Respect.  Everyone has something in them that can make this team like no other – before or after. 

Affirm.  Prove their genuine worth to you through your thoughts, words and deeds. 

 Be accountable.  Yes, to the ones with the whistles.  

But more so to your partner in the weight room.  Those sharing morning misery. The one next to you on the bus.  Your teammates doing up-downs.  Your unit when you huddle.  The three-tech on the line of scrimmage.  And that guy next to you right here, right now.  

If you love the game: 

Make it about all of them by leaving all of you on that field.  

Because if you can love the game this much, then because of you, they will love the game too. 

Thanks for the inspiration,  “Anonymous”

I love it.

“…grace under pressure”

Courage. Perseverance.  Intestinal fortitude.  Grit. 

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.)