~~ John Wooden
My husband, Kevin, helps coach our oldest son, Steele's, baseball team. Steele's team is a truly gifted group of athletes. And, quite frankly, a group of really terrific young men.
They have always been a dominant force on the baseball field. But as wonderful as they are on the field, what they do off the diamond is even better.
They enjoy doing charity work together during their off-season. And they always have the sweetest spirit about doing it.
Like I said, Very special group of boys. :)
Well, in the middle of last year's season, the boys found themselves very disgruntled and perplexed over their poor performance in a couple of ball tournaments.
The boys were really beating themselves up over the losses. And as a mama, it was heartbreaking to watch them get so down on themselves.
Kevin felt desperate to help pull them out of this "mental slump." He decided to send a few emails during this time period to help pump up the boys....and bring them back to who they really were: A fierce and competitive team, comprised of a group of great friends.
Each of these emails that Kevin sent had a particular message and moral that he hoped would resonate with the boys.
I was reading a few of them today and thought I'd share them every now and then as many of them apply to life, as well as to baseball.
This particular one he wrote is good for anyone who feels like life is passing them by....or maybe someone who feels that others seem to be getting all the breaks in life.....OR someone who tends to keep the "wrong score" with those around them.
*Anyway, I hope this resonates with you like it did me. And remember when reading this that it was intended for a group of young teen baseball players. (But apply it to your life in any way you see fit.) ;-)
Kevin wrote:
In life and in sports, there will almost always be someone that is better than you, whether it is running, hitting, throwing, math, reading, a nicer car or nicer clothes, etc. You have no control over how good the other person is or what material things they have so it is a total waste of time and energy to focus on that. Instead, focus on yourself and the things that ARE in your control.
What you can control is whether or not you are doing everything you can to be the best that you can be. Are you the person that only practices hitting at scheduled batting practices? Or are you the person that takes what he learns at practice, and works on it on his own? If you're struggling in math, do you just do the assigned homework or do you do extra math problems until you've mastered it? These are things that are in your control and only you can make the choice to be the best that you can be. This mindset will result in true success.
Coach Wooden says in his book, "True success is attained only through the satisfaction of knowing you did everything within the limits of your ability to become the very best that you are capable of being. Success is NOT perfection. PERFECTION is what you are striving for, because perfection is an impossibility. However STRIVING for perfection is NOT an impossibility."
If you have done this, regardless of the final score, you HAVE attained success.
Coach Wooden went on to say, "The score cannot make you a loser when you've done your best; it cannot make you a winner if you've done less than your best. The 'score' that matters most is the one that measures your effort....and ultimately, only you know the score. You lose, you feel bad....sometimes very, very bad. But a much worse feeling is knowing that you haven't done everything you possibly could have done to prepare and compete."
This concept applies to sports, but more importantly, it applies to everyday life, as do a lot of lessons we learn from sports. So, every morning wake up and make the choice to be the best that you can be that day...the best son, the best brother, the best friend, the best citizen, the best student. Do this day after day and you will accomplish great things in your life.
Nick Saban, love him or hate him, is obviously a great coach. He once said, "People assume that everyone is trying to be the best they can be. I believe most people are okay with just getting by and being average."
Which person are you? Are you average?
Coach Kevin
***What a lesson, huh? Think about it.......We are actually in control of our own destiny. And the success is not really the end result, right? Our success is the "striving part"...doing our best everyday to be the best us we can possibly be.
Gotta love it.
Gotta live it.
Gotta believe it.
Now get out there and control your destiny! ;-)
Teri
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