Tag: courage

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. 

“…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.)

The Pail.

“Towards the end of my tenure in youth football, I bought a pail, gathered some dirt and shared with the kids the idea of “rubbing some dirt on it”. A way to get past the aches and pains in all forms that accompany football and life.

The pail was set on the practice field and by the bench at each game for whomever needed or wanted some.

Seems like we can all use some dirt at some time in our life.

Below is my post to them: “

You might have noticed a pail sitting by my bags and equipment boxes today.

In that pail, lay some of the most fertile soil around. Dark, rich, 100% Lemke Park dirt. At one time, it could have been home to corn, wheat  or soybeans.  Perhaps even hay. 

But now, it grows the best piece of grass in all of Mequon-Thiensville. Even to this day, a farm of sorts if you will. Where some of the best young men and football players in the state  are grown. So it stands to reason, that because both – grass and football players – grow so well out there, there must be something about that dirt. 

Not just organic. 

But truly medicinal in nature. 

Sure we have ice packs, tape, pro-wrap, pads and band-aids. 

But we also got that dirt. 

In that pail.

So the next time things don’t go your way, there are moments of anxiety, disappointment and just plain fear, take some. 

If you find yourself making more than your fair share of mistakes and feeling sorry for yourself, help yourself to a pinch. 

Have bruises on top of bruises?   Aches ?  Pains ? Scrapes? Boo boos? Or just plain worn out ? 

Grab a handful and apply some to where it hurts. 

Just think of what that grass goes through; getting walked on, run across, torn up, scuffed, staked, driven over, flooded and frozen each winter. And yet, it still just wants to keep coming back. 

Sort of what young men and football players are meant to do too. 

So when those times come – and they will – you need some. I will make sure the pail will be there. Filled with that  dark, rich, 100% Lemke Park dirt. 

Soil that is home to the best piece of grass in town. 

And all of you.  

The finest young men and football players around.