Tag Archives: love

Or you.

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Doing my best isn’t about some personal quest for perfection. That has absolutely nothing to do with this particular lesson.

Doing my best is the debt that I owe to others first, and to myself, second.

By doing my absolute best, I am showing others how much I value them; how much I love them. I am telling them in no uncertain terms that “you deserve the absolute best of me”.

You shouldn’t ever get this confused with commerce. For doing your best for others isn’t an interpersonal transaction; a “quid pro quo”. Giving others your best is never about expecting to get or getting anything in return. Giving your best to others is what you are made to do. It is the right thing to do, both for them and for you.

In doing my absolute best, I am also confirming the level of my own personal standards. It is a way of affirming what I know to be true; that I am meant to be extraordinary. The best possible version of myself. 

By making a personal commitment to do my absolute best, I can be at peace with my effort; win or lose, succeed or fail. I can “look in the mirror” and see someone I respect for giving it their best. 

By no means does this mean that I have to like the outcome. If I don’t, then I just need to work harder to do my best next time.It serves to reinforce in my heart, that my effort was the best I had to offer, when I needed to offer it.

The value of doing your best has ramifications far beyond the immediate. It sets the tone going forward, becoming synonymous with your name and your character. It precedes you everywhere you go.

By doing your best, you help ”coach up” others to aspire to always do their best. In the process, you learn what it takes to live and breathe that mindset. You gain a level of comfort operating within a personal universe marked by high expectations, dedicated to striving for optimal performance and pursuing excellence.

Once you get there, you wouldn’t want it any other way.

For them. 

Or you.

Harmony

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“The outer conditions of a person’s life will always be found to be harmoniously related to his inner state…Men do not attract that which they want, but that which they are.”

― James Allen, As a Man Thinketh

So I do find a great deal of validity in the words of Mr. Allen.  

Though he speaks primarily from the first person perspective, there is an element of the Third person in all he says.  He does seem to speak through Him to us  even when he or we do not realize it.  But I digress… 

We are only able to attract what we want, through what we are. 

If we fail from a character sense, make poor choices, lay blame on others, the  world around us and pretend to be something we were never intended to be, we will attract similar beings, situations and reality.  All because we choose to settle.  Assume a convenient path.  What  makes things comfy.  And all that enables us to avoid the truth.  By being that which we are. 

But then again, what about the impact of making good choices despite the push back from your past, others and the expectations of the herd?  Or the effect of accepting responsibility, holding oneself accountable and ignoring the opinion of the masses?  Choosing to accept what you know  to be true about yourself regardless of conventional wisdom?  And pursuing a path not less chosen but never attempted  by you?  Again, being what you are.

If you choose the latter, you WILL attract the forces of affirmation and what it is you wanty.  You will become what you are, because you have fully acknowledged yourself, discerned how you can grow into that being  and see where all of those difficult choices will ultimately take you. 

We can only attract what we see in ourselves.  To that I can attest. 

So hear what the wise old mooses have to share.  

 Lean into  what you know to be your truth regardless of the cost. 

Embrace the challenge. 

Push forward. 

Be all that which you are. 

Then see what comes your way. 

Harmony.

“anonymous”

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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.

“Team Together”

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“Standing at Hoop Camp watching my boys scrimmage. I overhear the coach in the huddle say “team” and the players say “together”. Makes my heart ache but at the same time fill full. If that’s possible😕‪#‎teamtogetherforever‬ — at Homestead High School (Mequon, Wisconsin). – Kira Chekouras Testin

Sometimes, an individual will come along that is the embodiment of a message. 

Living a life – as conveyed through their thoughts, words and deeds – that is meant to share and teach some essential and lasting truths. 

And individuals of that magnitude possess mass.  And it is the specific gravity of them and their purpose that inevitably draws others toward them.  

Like Coach Chekouras.

Both he, and what he still stands for – resonates.  

Perhaps this is what Kira felt today at basketball camp.  

….“cause Coach was there.  

His message  was certainly still reverberating through those coaches and campers.

Now someone once said that “every act creates a ripple with no logical end”.  

A statement, I believe, is  intended to describe the impact good – from a single point of contact – can exert on the world around it.

So just imagine the good of this individual.  An impact of lasting resonance yet today. 

Through not just one, but now, generational points of contact.  

Years, and years and years apart. 

Ripple, upon ripple,  upon ripple, upon ripple.    

Coach lived that message.  And even today, he yet lives within it.

Remaining to this day, its embodiment.  

Just ask those campers.  

For it resonates within all of them.  

“Team Together”. 

(Coach Chekouras entered eternal life in 2006. I came across his daughter’s reaction to the players response at a Hoops Camp, and shared this initially in 2015. I came across it and thought it worthy of a re-share.)

  .  

Saints

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“Something I shared with all back in 2017. Came across it tonight and thought it good to share again. This made me misty eyed, but he still makes me smile. “

To set the tone for this day and his homily this evening, Father Matthew sought to describe the essence of a saint. Part of which resonated with this author.

“Someone that does what they do, the way that they do it”.

Rick Hader left this world today.

All too soon. And the hurt is palpable. But it is All-Saints Day. He has a chance to play to a much larger crowd, in a storied venue. Doing what he does. The way he does it.

I had the honor of blocking for him in college as a Siwash. He was All-Conference as a running back, and All-American as a role model, man and friend if you ask me. (Rick is #44)

He was just as gifted running between the tackles and catching the ball coming out of the backfield as he was cracking us up. The voices, faces, mannerisms and making his teeth squeaky clean with only an index finger were recurring bits in the dorm, on campus and in the huddle.

He found great joy in making us smile, laugh and forget about things for only a little while.

Now, 37 years later and aided by some hindsight, I now realize he was building his schtick there at Knox College. And creating his persona.

For Myron Noodleman was right there with us all along. But it was just Rick.  Doing what he did. The way he did it.

I would encourage you to take a few moments and read about this national nerd.

It details a wonderful life’s journey from Park Ridge to Broken Arrow. Starting as a janitor, to being a beloved high school math teacher and becoming a diamond doofus.

An All-American role model, man and friend to many that found great joy in making thousands upon thousands of people smile, laugh and forget about things for a while.

Go deeper, between the lines and you will come to know them  both as I. A match now made for heaven. A pair with the guts to listen, heed their calling and fearlessly follow it. And from what I understand, all the way to the end.

Your departure has left a big hole in the lives of many. But there are warm and lasting memories enough to fill it back in, bring a smile to the face, some laughter for the heart and offer many a respite from things for a while.

Just Rick and Myron doing what they did. The way they did it.

Saints if you ask me.