Most of us in our lives have a mountain to climb. At some point we ll be faced with something that will test our will. It might not be an actual mountain (to some it may be) but for us its something that looks impossible to overcome at first. Now if you don't have a mountain to climb, life is going to be kind of boring. That means theres nothing in your life to challenge you, and if that's the case how will your best YOU ever come out? When faced with a challenge we either rise to the occasion or fall on our faces. It gives us an opportunity to see what we're actually made of.
Whats your mountain? It might change on a daily basis. Your mountain today might be getting up and running five miles. It might be taking the first step to stop smoking or finally mailing in the college application to start taking steps toward your degree. Whatever the case may be its important to understand how crucial having that mountain in our lives is. This may sound strange to some (except for the people that know me) but I look for new mountains to climb all the time. Right now one of my mountains is playing guitar. Now that might not seem like a huge mountain to some, but if you take a guy who played trombone in middle school and no instrument since and then put a guitar in his hands you'll see what mountain climbing is all about.
I love challenges. I love standing at the base of the mountain, looking up at it and thinking, this is going to be tough. It's a special feeling when you accomplish something that you didn't even think was possible. And at that moment it doesn't matter if a thousand people saw you do it or if you're all alone, you climbed a mountain that you never thought you could, and that's one of the most gratifying feelings in the world.
We live in a society that loves its hero's. Every other movie that comes out in theaters has one, why not be your own. The definition of a hero is the following "a man/woman of distinguished courage or ability, admired for his/her brave deeds or noble qualities". I think the most important word in this definition is courage. That's what you need to climb a mountain. Courage gives you the will to want to face that challenge, no matter how big the mountain is.
"Sometimes in life its not about how you finish, or when you finish, sometimes its just about finishing!"
Failure is not defined by whether or not you reach the top of the mountain, failure is not trying to climb it at all.
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Saturday, November 13, 2010
TIME
Life can be summed up by just using some simple math.
168 hours in a week
672 hours in a month
8,064 hours in a year
And this last number might surprise you just as much as it did me. Say we live until we're 80 years old which is a pretty long life. This is the amount of time we're on this earth.
645,120 hours
That's it. Doesn't seem like a lot does it? At first I was thinking at the very least we'd be on this earth for a million hours. But I wasn't close. Now some people live past the age of 80 and hopefully we all live well into our hundreds but the average life expectancy is around 80 years old. So it poses a good question for us. How are living our lives?? Are we happy? Are we making the most of every day? Are we wasting time feeling sorry for ourselves? Are we waiting for the clock to run out or are we seizing each day that we have on earth?
"Tomorrow will eventually come and yesterday has already passed so concentrate on today and make the most of it"
Me and one of my friends were talking about facebook status's (true story) the other day. If you want to start your day off feeling depressed just read some of your friends postings. "FML" "I hate Mondays" "Work sucks" "Just broke up with my boyfriend/girlfriend I feel so lost" "Wish everything can fade to black" "I hate everyone don't message me". Some of these are obviously cries for help but is life really that bad? I've talked before about how theres always someone in a situation worse than your own, and some of those people are trying to make the most out of the hand they were dealt and improve their situation. Why waste time feeling sorry for yourself? Are Mondays that bad? How about when we didn't have Mondays? When there was no calendar did cavemen wake up one day grumpier than another day? I don't get it and I don't think I ever will. Mondays to me mean I have another day on this earth to improve on the last one.
Now that doesn't mean we don't have bad days, everyone does. But a bad day sometimes turns into a bad week and then a bad month and the next thing you know you're having a horrible year. Don't waste time sweating the small stuff. When you wake up be happy that you just accomplished something that about 145,000 other people didn't do that morning. (that's around the number of people who die each day around the world) I'm positive some of them would love to be in your situation right now.
"There are no guarantees in life except for how you decide to live it."
As we get older we start to reflect back on our lives, we start saying things like "If only i would of did this when I was younger" or "I wish I would of put more time into this". Well what if we started doing some of those things now while we can. You don't have to be 80 to have a bucket list. Start writing down things that you want to do or places that you want to see in your lifetime. I've never been to Europe before and until recently I never really had any interest in going but now I ask myself, how could I not go? I would love to see the history that I've always read about in school and get a chance to experience different cultures. So that one is up on the list.
"Time will make dreams become memories."
Enjoy your life. Even the most difficult times have a silver lining, and maybe that silver lining is that you got a chance to live another day.
168 hours in a week
672 hours in a month
8,064 hours in a year
And this last number might surprise you just as much as it did me. Say we live until we're 80 years old which is a pretty long life. This is the amount of time we're on this earth.
645,120 hours
That's it. Doesn't seem like a lot does it? At first I was thinking at the very least we'd be on this earth for a million hours. But I wasn't close. Now some people live past the age of 80 and hopefully we all live well into our hundreds but the average life expectancy is around 80 years old. So it poses a good question for us. How are living our lives?? Are we happy? Are we making the most of every day? Are we wasting time feeling sorry for ourselves? Are we waiting for the clock to run out or are we seizing each day that we have on earth?
"Tomorrow will eventually come and yesterday has already passed so concentrate on today and make the most of it"
Me and one of my friends were talking about facebook status's (true story) the other day. If you want to start your day off feeling depressed just read some of your friends postings. "FML" "I hate Mondays" "Work sucks" "Just broke up with my boyfriend/girlfriend I feel so lost" "Wish everything can fade to black" "I hate everyone don't message me". Some of these are obviously cries for help but is life really that bad? I've talked before about how theres always someone in a situation worse than your own, and some of those people are trying to make the most out of the hand they were dealt and improve their situation. Why waste time feeling sorry for yourself? Are Mondays that bad? How about when we didn't have Mondays? When there was no calendar did cavemen wake up one day grumpier than another day? I don't get it and I don't think I ever will. Mondays to me mean I have another day on this earth to improve on the last one.
Now that doesn't mean we don't have bad days, everyone does. But a bad day sometimes turns into a bad week and then a bad month and the next thing you know you're having a horrible year. Don't waste time sweating the small stuff. When you wake up be happy that you just accomplished something that about 145,000 other people didn't do that morning. (that's around the number of people who die each day around the world) I'm positive some of them would love to be in your situation right now.
"There are no guarantees in life except for how you decide to live it."
As we get older we start to reflect back on our lives, we start saying things like "If only i would of did this when I was younger" or "I wish I would of put more time into this". Well what if we started doing some of those things now while we can. You don't have to be 80 to have a bucket list. Start writing down things that you want to do or places that you want to see in your lifetime. I've never been to Europe before and until recently I never really had any interest in going but now I ask myself, how could I not go? I would love to see the history that I've always read about in school and get a chance to experience different cultures. So that one is up on the list.
"Time will make dreams become memories."
Enjoy your life. Even the most difficult times have a silver lining, and maybe that silver lining is that you got a chance to live another day.
Saturday, November 6, 2010
RAY
Mentor: A wise an trusted counselor or teacher.
It would be tough for anyone to say in this day and age that they went through life without having anyone they looked up to, or that they've never had someone help them a long the way. I was thinking about all the people throughout my life that have helped me on my own personal journey and have also help mold me into the person that I am today. Most were good influences but some were also bad, and from the latter I learned attributes like mental toughness, dealing with adversity, and believing in myself even when others don't.
Out of all my mentors I have to say that one continues to stick out in my mind. Mentors usually are around in someones life for an extended period of time. Your english teacher in high school, your college football coach, or maybe your first boss. But my first mentor was only with me for about 6 hours. Granted I saw him throughout a year period from time to time but it was only 2 days, 1 in particular that I will never forget and those days ignited a spark in me that has shaped my life and at that time completely changed my path.
As I touched on in earlier blogs, I started playing basketball at the age of 16. Which is a very late age. We train kids right now as young as 8 years old and I'm sure some of them have better skill than I did at 16. No one in my family played basketball so when I decided to start trying I didn't have anyone to show me the ropes. So I decided to be my own coach. I would walk down to the basketball court about 2 miles away from my house and throw the ball at the orange circle (i found out later it was called a rim) and pray that the ball from time to time would go in. Needless to say I didn't have great success doing that right away.
One Saturday during one of my "shooting sessions" it started to drizzle a little bit. I had a 2 mile walk home in the rain anyway (this was the age of pay phones, no way to call mommy to come get me) so I decided I might as well stay and continue to shoot. Across the street from the park I was shooting at, were some houses and behind them woods. Literally like out of a movie my first basketball mentor came walking towards the court. He introduced himself and said his name was Ray. He asked me if I would mind if he showed me a couple of things. I couldn't believe it!! After I got over the fact that Ray magically appeared out of the woods, I couldn't believe he was going to actually show me how to play.
"Theres no shame in asking someone for help that has traveled the road you have yet to discover"
Ray was probably in his mid thirties at that time, he was a 5 foot 10 Asian guy, and completely different looking than the guys I watched playing on T.V. For the next 2 hours Ray showed me everything he knew about shooting. He told me that I had to flick my wrist down when I shoot, how to hold the basketball, he talked to me about different basketball terminology. I found out that when I spaztically dribble to the basket and jump to put it in its called a "lay up". I was amazed how much patience he had with me. I knew I wasn't good and he did to but he praised me for every little thing I did right. He never said anything negative when I did mess up, he just showed me the right way to do it.
After me and Ray worked out I practically glided home. I had this old run down hoop that I tried to put up in my driveway and when I got back I continued to work on what Ray had showed me. Over and over I could hear his voice as I shot, missed, watched the ball roll down the hill and ran after it. I repeated that process for another 2 hours. I was hooked, I had someone that believed in me. I wanted to learn everything I could about the game of basketball but more importantly I wanted to make sure that when Ray saw me next time he could tell that I've been working on what he showed me.
About a week went by before I saw Ray again. He could tell that I've been working on what he showed me and he had the most genuine smile on his face as I tried to show him that I was. It's probably the smile that teachers have when a kid thats struggling works really hard and gets an A, or when a coach has a player that he never thought would make it on the team, and the next year he or she does.
Sometimes people come in and out of our lives at the perfect time. I think the combination of Ray's patience and my desire to learn is what made it work. For Ray to do such a selfless act for someone he had never met says a lot about the kind of person that he is. That push made me want to get better and in turn set me on a path that I might not of discovered until later on, if ever.
"Your impact on this world should be measured not by how much money you made but how many people you affected in a positive way."
I only saw Ray about five more times after that. It was usually in a pick up game, and every time I would see him he would tell me how much I had improved since the first time we met. Granted I knew that I still had a long way to go but for him to say that meant a lot to me, and also made me strive to get even better. As the years passed I found out that Ray was a mailman in the area, and that he also lived right down the road from the court (which explained how he just appeared out of nowhere)
After I got out of high school and went to junior college, my basketball game started getting a lot better. At this point I had a number of people that I came across that had helped me with my game at some point or another. But I always found myself thinking about Ray and our first lesson. When I received a full scholarship to play at a four year college Ray again was on my mind. About a week after I got the scholarship I was in the mall, as I was walking I looked and saw Ray walking right towards me. I couldn't believe it. I hadn't seen him in 4 years and here he was right in front of me a week after I just signed a full scholarship to play the sport he first taught me. I introduced myself right away (even though he remembered me) and told him all about the scholarship. I was so excited I don't know how much of my sentence was even coming out the right way. He smiled just like he did when we first met and told me, "I knew you would make it".
As I thanked him again and started walking away I wondered if he knew the impact that he had on my life. I had no idea if he fully understood what those few sessions did for me. My life now consist of coaching and training kids. I do what Ray did for me every day. Sometimes parents are amazed with how much time I put into working with their child no matter what his/her skill level is. A big reason is that I will never forget that someone did the same for me, and that person will forever be in my heart because of it.
Maybe one day one of the kids I work with will say that I was the reason that they got into coaching or training kids. Or maybe they'll just see me in the mall one day and thank me for changing their lives. I couldn't think of anything more rewarding than that.
"When you re gone what legacy will you leave behind? Did you spend your whole life helping or wanting to be helped"?
It would be tough for anyone to say in this day and age that they went through life without having anyone they looked up to, or that they've never had someone help them a long the way. I was thinking about all the people throughout my life that have helped me on my own personal journey and have also help mold me into the person that I am today. Most were good influences but some were also bad, and from the latter I learned attributes like mental toughness, dealing with adversity, and believing in myself even when others don't.
Out of all my mentors I have to say that one continues to stick out in my mind. Mentors usually are around in someones life for an extended period of time. Your english teacher in high school, your college football coach, or maybe your first boss. But my first mentor was only with me for about 6 hours. Granted I saw him throughout a year period from time to time but it was only 2 days, 1 in particular that I will never forget and those days ignited a spark in me that has shaped my life and at that time completely changed my path.
As I touched on in earlier blogs, I started playing basketball at the age of 16. Which is a very late age. We train kids right now as young as 8 years old and I'm sure some of them have better skill than I did at 16. No one in my family played basketball so when I decided to start trying I didn't have anyone to show me the ropes. So I decided to be my own coach. I would walk down to the basketball court about 2 miles away from my house and throw the ball at the orange circle (i found out later it was called a rim) and pray that the ball from time to time would go in. Needless to say I didn't have great success doing that right away.
One Saturday during one of my "shooting sessions" it started to drizzle a little bit. I had a 2 mile walk home in the rain anyway (this was the age of pay phones, no way to call mommy to come get me) so I decided I might as well stay and continue to shoot. Across the street from the park I was shooting at, were some houses and behind them woods. Literally like out of a movie my first basketball mentor came walking towards the court. He introduced himself and said his name was Ray. He asked me if I would mind if he showed me a couple of things. I couldn't believe it!! After I got over the fact that Ray magically appeared out of the woods, I couldn't believe he was going to actually show me how to play.
"Theres no shame in asking someone for help that has traveled the road you have yet to discover"
Ray was probably in his mid thirties at that time, he was a 5 foot 10 Asian guy, and completely different looking than the guys I watched playing on T.V. For the next 2 hours Ray showed me everything he knew about shooting. He told me that I had to flick my wrist down when I shoot, how to hold the basketball, he talked to me about different basketball terminology. I found out that when I spaztically dribble to the basket and jump to put it in its called a "lay up". I was amazed how much patience he had with me. I knew I wasn't good and he did to but he praised me for every little thing I did right. He never said anything negative when I did mess up, he just showed me the right way to do it.
After me and Ray worked out I practically glided home. I had this old run down hoop that I tried to put up in my driveway and when I got back I continued to work on what Ray had showed me. Over and over I could hear his voice as I shot, missed, watched the ball roll down the hill and ran after it. I repeated that process for another 2 hours. I was hooked, I had someone that believed in me. I wanted to learn everything I could about the game of basketball but more importantly I wanted to make sure that when Ray saw me next time he could tell that I've been working on what he showed me.
About a week went by before I saw Ray again. He could tell that I've been working on what he showed me and he had the most genuine smile on his face as I tried to show him that I was. It's probably the smile that teachers have when a kid thats struggling works really hard and gets an A, or when a coach has a player that he never thought would make it on the team, and the next year he or she does.
Sometimes people come in and out of our lives at the perfect time. I think the combination of Ray's patience and my desire to learn is what made it work. For Ray to do such a selfless act for someone he had never met says a lot about the kind of person that he is. That push made me want to get better and in turn set me on a path that I might not of discovered until later on, if ever.
"Your impact on this world should be measured not by how much money you made but how many people you affected in a positive way."
I only saw Ray about five more times after that. It was usually in a pick up game, and every time I would see him he would tell me how much I had improved since the first time we met. Granted I knew that I still had a long way to go but for him to say that meant a lot to me, and also made me strive to get even better. As the years passed I found out that Ray was a mailman in the area, and that he also lived right down the road from the court (which explained how he just appeared out of nowhere)
After I got out of high school and went to junior college, my basketball game started getting a lot better. At this point I had a number of people that I came across that had helped me with my game at some point or another. But I always found myself thinking about Ray and our first lesson. When I received a full scholarship to play at a four year college Ray again was on my mind. About a week after I got the scholarship I was in the mall, as I was walking I looked and saw Ray walking right towards me. I couldn't believe it. I hadn't seen him in 4 years and here he was right in front of me a week after I just signed a full scholarship to play the sport he first taught me. I introduced myself right away (even though he remembered me) and told him all about the scholarship. I was so excited I don't know how much of my sentence was even coming out the right way. He smiled just like he did when we first met and told me, "I knew you would make it".
As I thanked him again and started walking away I wondered if he knew the impact that he had on my life. I had no idea if he fully understood what those few sessions did for me. My life now consist of coaching and training kids. I do what Ray did for me every day. Sometimes parents are amazed with how much time I put into working with their child no matter what his/her skill level is. A big reason is that I will never forget that someone did the same for me, and that person will forever be in my heart because of it.
Maybe one day one of the kids I work with will say that I was the reason that they got into coaching or training kids. Or maybe they'll just see me in the mall one day and thank me for changing their lives. I couldn't think of anything more rewarding than that.
"When you re gone what legacy will you leave behind? Did you spend your whole life helping or wanting to be helped"?
Saturday, October 30, 2010
CHILDHOOD DREAMS
Think back as far as you can, do you remember your parents or teachers asking you the question, What do you want to be when you grow up? What was your answer back then? And more importantly are you doing what you've always wanted to do? Now don't get me wrong as you grow older and learn more about the world your views change on what you think is a good career and also what you want to accomplish in your life. They're not to many 25 year olds that still want to be a superhero (some but not many).
One of the things that amazes me about children is their ability to dream with their eyes open. All of us (including animals) dream when we go to sleep, but when we wake up we go back to "reality".
Children on the other hand are always dreaming, even after they wake up.
When you ask a child what he or she wants to be when they grow up, their answers can go anywhere from
a normal job (nurse,doctor) to an outrageous one (lion tamer,superman) but no matter what theres a level of confidence and certainty that when they get older that's what they'll be doing. And in a lot of cases theres no talking them out of it!
I had dinner with some friends the other night and we were talking about doing what you love every day in terms of a career. One of my friends has always wanted to be an umpire for major league baseball. At the moment he's working a regular 9 to 5, but when I saw his face light up as he talked about being an umpire I immediately thought, why aren't you doing this now? This is what you were meant to be!!
As we talked more about it I realized that as we get older we allow things to keep us from doing what we're passionate about. Not enough money, girlfriend/boyfriend doesn't agree with it, its to far away, what if I fail? These are all self imposed obstacles. We get in our own way. When we're younger we don't have any obstacles because we truly believe that we can do whatever we dream of.
So what do we do? We wait. We wait for the perfect situation to happen. We wait for all the stars to align to make sure theres a zero chance of failure. We wait to finally get out of our relationship with our boyfriend/girlfriend/husband/wife so we can start living the life we want. But what if its to late by then? What if the window of opportunity has already passed? Then what?
"Time will make dreams become memories act now"
Career wise I'm the luckiest man on the earth and every day I wake up I tell myself that. I get up and coach basketball and train kids everyday. When I was younger I didn't dream to be anything because I didn't find what I loved until my junior year of high school and that's when the "active dreaming" began. That's when I said to myself, I want to do basketball for the rest of my life. When you opened my notebooks there were pictures of a guy shooting hoops (mostly stick figures i cant draw to save my life) or just the word basketball and my jersey number.
I knew for a fact that I couldn't sit in an office all day and work. I wouldn't survive, I probably couldn't live more than a month that way. I think about coaching basketball and it's amazing to me how much money some of these upper echelon coaches make. Compared to these guys i've been doing my job for the last 7 years practically for free and I love every minute of it.
If bills weren't an option, could you wake up and do your job every day and live a happy and fulfilling life for free? Or would you get out of there so fast your name plate would still be on your desk as you sprinted towards the door?
"Waking up doesn't mean that your dreams are over, it just means that now you can physically work towards making them come true."
We over complicate enough things in our lives already, our dreams shouldn't be one of them
One of the things that amazes me about children is their ability to dream with their eyes open. All of us (including animals) dream when we go to sleep, but when we wake up we go back to "reality".
Children on the other hand are always dreaming, even after they wake up.
When you ask a child what he or she wants to be when they grow up, their answers can go anywhere from
a normal job (nurse,doctor) to an outrageous one (lion tamer,superman) but no matter what theres a level of confidence and certainty that when they get older that's what they'll be doing. And in a lot of cases theres no talking them out of it!
I had dinner with some friends the other night and we were talking about doing what you love every day in terms of a career. One of my friends has always wanted to be an umpire for major league baseball. At the moment he's working a regular 9 to 5, but when I saw his face light up as he talked about being an umpire I immediately thought, why aren't you doing this now? This is what you were meant to be!!
As we talked more about it I realized that as we get older we allow things to keep us from doing what we're passionate about. Not enough money, girlfriend/boyfriend doesn't agree with it, its to far away, what if I fail? These are all self imposed obstacles. We get in our own way. When we're younger we don't have any obstacles because we truly believe that we can do whatever we dream of.
So what do we do? We wait. We wait for the perfect situation to happen. We wait for all the stars to align to make sure theres a zero chance of failure. We wait to finally get out of our relationship with our boyfriend/girlfriend/husband/wife so we can start living the life we want. But what if its to late by then? What if the window of opportunity has already passed? Then what?
"Time will make dreams become memories act now"
Career wise I'm the luckiest man on the earth and every day I wake up I tell myself that. I get up and coach basketball and train kids everyday. When I was younger I didn't dream to be anything because I didn't find what I loved until my junior year of high school and that's when the "active dreaming" began. That's when I said to myself, I want to do basketball for the rest of my life. When you opened my notebooks there were pictures of a guy shooting hoops (mostly stick figures i cant draw to save my life) or just the word basketball and my jersey number.
I knew for a fact that I couldn't sit in an office all day and work. I wouldn't survive, I probably couldn't live more than a month that way. I think about coaching basketball and it's amazing to me how much money some of these upper echelon coaches make. Compared to these guys i've been doing my job for the last 7 years practically for free and I love every minute of it.
If bills weren't an option, could you wake up and do your job every day and live a happy and fulfilling life for free? Or would you get out of there so fast your name plate would still be on your desk as you sprinted towards the door?
"Waking up doesn't mean that your dreams are over, it just means that now you can physically work towards making them come true."
We over complicate enough things in our lives already, our dreams shouldn't be one of them
Saturday, October 23, 2010
SACRIFICE
It's hard to find an exact definition of the word sacrifice. It can mean so many different things. From "a loss incurred in selling something below its value" to "surrender or give up or permit injury or disadvantage to". The actual definition can sometimes get lost in translation. None of the definitions that I discovered were the kind of sacrifice I wanted to write about. Then I came across a poster with a picture of a chess board, and on that board was a single white pawn (the most disposable piece in the game of chess) and in front of that pawn was every chess piece in black (from pawns to the most powerful chess pieces) and on the poster the word sacrifice was underneath it with these words:
"Your role may be thankless, but if you re willing to give it your all, you might just bring success to those who outlast you."
Now that stuck with me more than any definition that I could look up in a dictionary. In the poster the pawn knows that for the greater good he has to be sacrificed, and may set up an opening not for him to win but the other pieces on his side to. That's a powerful image. In my life I have been faced with so many situations where I've had to sacrifice for the greater good of others.
Growing up in a single family home with 4 siblings I was fortunate to be able to see sacrifice on an every day basis. Some people might think, why do you feel fortunate for growing up that way? My response to them would be, because it shaped who I am today. It made me appreciate every little thing that I was given, and also appreciate the people who gave it to me.
I was brought up in a "no whiners allowed" household. How could I complain about not wanting to take the garbage out when my mom just came home from her third job? How could I possibly gripe about not getting the best pair of sneakers if I knew for me to get them one of my brothers might have to go without?
I wouldn't trade my upbringing for anyone elses in the whole world. Because it made me realize that sometimes sacrifices have to be made for the better of the family and that message has stuck with me throughout my life.
Now there are different levels of sacrifice. Me giving up on getting a new pair of Nike's is not the same as the sacrifice that Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi went through but its still a selfless act. These days it seems like everyone feels a sense of entitlement. I deserve to be a CEO of a fortune 500 company or I deserve to land this job just because I showed up. Not a lot of people want to go through the sacrifice it takes to be successful.
In college my big sacrifice was not going to parties and getting drunk every night. Now anyone that knows me knows that I ve never been into drinking and have never done a drug in my life. When I started playing basketball I knew that to accomplish my goal (which was to play professionally) I couldn't waste time doing things that would not only hurt my game but also possibly get me in some trouble. So when my friends would go to parties I'd go to the gym and workout. The next morning I felt great while some of my teammates were still trying to justify why they accidentally wet the bed, again.
Your sacrifice can be something small or something that's on a greater scale. If you re trying to lose some weight your sacrifice might be driving past the golden arches and not right to them! If you re trying to make a sports team it might mean sacrificing some of your social life to put in extra work at the gym. Maybe you re in a relationship and your girlfriend or wife might want to go see a "notebook" type chick flick and you'd rather watch Rocky 6. No matter what the case is you're making a sacrifice.
"Figure out what you want, and then ask yourself if you're willing to put the blood, sweat, and tears in to get it"
If you can look in the mirror and say I'm doing everything in my power to reach my goals then theres no reason to hold your head down if for some reason you don't accomplish them right away. If you're not maybe your not sacrificing enough to make it happen, or maybe you're just waiting for it to happen for you, if its the latter then you have a long road ahead.
"Your role may be thankless, but if you re willing to give it your all, you might just bring success to those who outlast you."
Now that stuck with me more than any definition that I could look up in a dictionary. In the poster the pawn knows that for the greater good he has to be sacrificed, and may set up an opening not for him to win but the other pieces on his side to. That's a powerful image. In my life I have been faced with so many situations where I've had to sacrifice for the greater good of others.
Growing up in a single family home with 4 siblings I was fortunate to be able to see sacrifice on an every day basis. Some people might think, why do you feel fortunate for growing up that way? My response to them would be, because it shaped who I am today. It made me appreciate every little thing that I was given, and also appreciate the people who gave it to me.
I was brought up in a "no whiners allowed" household. How could I complain about not wanting to take the garbage out when my mom just came home from her third job? How could I possibly gripe about not getting the best pair of sneakers if I knew for me to get them one of my brothers might have to go without?
I wouldn't trade my upbringing for anyone elses in the whole world. Because it made me realize that sometimes sacrifices have to be made for the better of the family and that message has stuck with me throughout my life.
Now there are different levels of sacrifice. Me giving up on getting a new pair of Nike's is not the same as the sacrifice that Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi went through but its still a selfless act. These days it seems like everyone feels a sense of entitlement. I deserve to be a CEO of a fortune 500 company or I deserve to land this job just because I showed up. Not a lot of people want to go through the sacrifice it takes to be successful.
In college my big sacrifice was not going to parties and getting drunk every night. Now anyone that knows me knows that I ve never been into drinking and have never done a drug in my life. When I started playing basketball I knew that to accomplish my goal (which was to play professionally) I couldn't waste time doing things that would not only hurt my game but also possibly get me in some trouble. So when my friends would go to parties I'd go to the gym and workout. The next morning I felt great while some of my teammates were still trying to justify why they accidentally wet the bed, again.
Your sacrifice can be something small or something that's on a greater scale. If you re trying to lose some weight your sacrifice might be driving past the golden arches and not right to them! If you re trying to make a sports team it might mean sacrificing some of your social life to put in extra work at the gym. Maybe you re in a relationship and your girlfriend or wife might want to go see a "notebook" type chick flick and you'd rather watch Rocky 6. No matter what the case is you're making a sacrifice.
"Figure out what you want, and then ask yourself if you're willing to put the blood, sweat, and tears in to get it"
If you can look in the mirror and say I'm doing everything in my power to reach my goals then theres no reason to hold your head down if for some reason you don't accomplish them right away. If you're not maybe your not sacrificing enough to make it happen, or maybe you're just waiting for it to happen for you, if its the latter then you have a long road ahead.
Saturday, October 16, 2010
GOALS
A person without goals is a person without direction. When you have goals you have something that keeps you motivated to stay on the path that you're on or motivates you to choose a new path that works for you. Goals can be however big or small you want. It can be anything from getting a new job by the end of the year or making sure that you finally start the term paper that is due tomorrow. Whatever your goals may be its important to have them.
When you do make a goal its important that you make it specific. Saying to yourself that you want to be a millionaire isn't enough. How are you going to go about being a millionaire? Whats your plan of attack?
Do you believe that you can accomplish it.? Next you need to write it down somewhere so that from time to time you ll be able to see it. Lastly you need to ask yourself a very important question
"Are you willing to put the work in to achieve this goal"?
Working with kids, the first thing I ask them is what their goals are for basketball. Some say that they just want to make their high school team, others say that they want to play in college, and some have even said that they want to play professional basketball. Once I know what their goals are it gives me a good idea how hard they should be working to achieve it.
If your goal is to get a new job how hard are you actually looking for one? Are you up every day scanning the classified ads, or are you sitting back and waiting for that job to find you? Be proactive in making things happen in your life. It sounds simple enough so why don't we do it? That's a question you have to ask yourself. Whats holding you back from accomplishing what you want out of life? A better question might be do you know what you want out of life? And if you do then go get it! How long are you going to wait before you start your journey?
"When your goals are your own and not someone elses they feel that much better when you complete them."
This quote I feel is another important key in making your goals come true. Don't let anyone make goals for you that you don't want yourself. Only you can live your life, so only you should be able to determine what goals you're willing to tackle and which ones you aren't.
Be honest with yourself, make your goals specific, write them down, put the work in, and most importantly make them your own.
When you do make a goal its important that you make it specific. Saying to yourself that you want to be a millionaire isn't enough. How are you going to go about being a millionaire? Whats your plan of attack?
Do you believe that you can accomplish it.? Next you need to write it down somewhere so that from time to time you ll be able to see it. Lastly you need to ask yourself a very important question
"Are you willing to put the work in to achieve this goal"?
Working with kids, the first thing I ask them is what their goals are for basketball. Some say that they just want to make their high school team, others say that they want to play in college, and some have even said that they want to play professional basketball. Once I know what their goals are it gives me a good idea how hard they should be working to achieve it.
If your goal is to get a new job how hard are you actually looking for one? Are you up every day scanning the classified ads, or are you sitting back and waiting for that job to find you? Be proactive in making things happen in your life. It sounds simple enough so why don't we do it? That's a question you have to ask yourself. Whats holding you back from accomplishing what you want out of life? A better question might be do you know what you want out of life? And if you do then go get it! How long are you going to wait before you start your journey?
"When your goals are your own and not someone elses they feel that much better when you complete them."
This quote I feel is another important key in making your goals come true. Don't let anyone make goals for you that you don't want yourself. Only you can live your life, so only you should be able to determine what goals you're willing to tackle and which ones you aren't.
Be honest with yourself, make your goals specific, write them down, put the work in, and most importantly make them your own.
Saturday, October 9, 2010
OTTO KUMETZ
Last year for the first time since November 17, 1979 I went to visit my fathers headstone. I have no idea what possessed me that day to finally try and find my father but like a lot of things in my life sometimes I "just go for it" and figure out the rest later on.
My whole life I have heard hundreds of stories about my father. I was very young when he passed away so I grew up not knowing if the memories I had of him were my own or influenced by a story my mom or one of my older brothers told me. Nonetheless I gathered that he was a great man. My father was a police officer in the city of Passaic (where we lived at the time) and walked the beat. Back then police officers would actually walk around and get to know the people in the neighborhood, and this is where my fathers "greatness" went into action. Besides being about 6ft 2 and 260lbs of all muscle my father stuck out in other ways, he was fluent in spanish, treated people fair, and cared a lot about kids.
He started a program for kids in the city of Passaic to have a way to stay off the streets. It was called "Doin it in the park". Kids would come and play different sports, they d have music playing, give out free lunches, and help people that might not have the means to survive without some assistance. His work in the community was to the point where even to this day the city of Passaic presents a Bobby Thomas award to the officer that does exemplary work in the community.
"When you re gone what legacy will you leave behind? Did you spend your whole life helping or wanting to be helped"?
I've always wondered why we never went to visit my fathers headstone, but I never asked my mom. I felt like she must of had her reasons. Knowing my mom like I do, I assume it was because she wanted to remember my father how he was. So growing up it wasn't discussed. My oldest brother Robert was 17 when my father passed. He's technically my half brother which to me just means we didn't grow up in the same house. He has done a great job filling in some of the blanks for me and It's always amazed me how similar I have become to the man that I barely knew. My way with kids and from what I ve been told the way I interact with people no matter their race, religion, etc is a lot like my dad.
So this one day I decided that I will go alone (not great at being emotional, especially in a group setting) and find my fathers headstone. I didn't know what I was going to say, I wasn't sure if I'd cry (at that point I haven't cried in more than a decade) I just knew that I would go and I guess whatever was meant to happen would happen. When I got to the cemetery there were a lot of thoughts rushing through my mind. My mom and brother went a long time ago to visit (i was away at college) and they weren't sure of the location of the headstone. So when I got there I went inside and talked to the person working and asked if they could look up where my father was buried. It took me an hour to find him, the one thing that I wasn't aware of is there was not headstone for my father. I had no idea, I wasn't told, and I kept going back and forth between the cemetery and the office to get directions. Finally the guy working (who must of thought I was a little on the slow side) revealed this information to me.
He told me that my father was right next to a headstone that read Otto Kumetz. So that's who I went to look for. The name just stuck with me as I walked in the rain. First it was the name Otto which is obviously not the most common name in the list of 100 best baby names. Then it was the thought that this was the person that has been next to my father since his death and will be forever and that's what hit me the hardest. I found Otto Kumetz a short time after I received my last set of directions and saw the space to his left and realized I was looking at where my father was buried. I didn't cry, I just stood there, part of me was angry at Otto for having a headstone and my father not having one. I wondered if Otto knew who he was next to. If he had any idea how great of a man my father was, and out of nowhere I got choked up and a tear came down my cheek. I only stayed for about 20 minutes or so (once I found my way) I mumbled something to my father, got in my car, and started driving home.
On the ride back I turned off the radio and thought about my dad and also Otto. They are roommates for eternity and I know that if my dad ever met Otto they d be friends. It seems like my dad just had that way about him. I got home and looked for Otto online and found some things about an artist etc (obviously with no clue if it was the Otto I was looking for) I'm planning on going down again at some point to say hello to both my father and Otto.
I feel like we don't have a lot of time on this earth, and our parents usually have about a twenty five year head start on us when we arrive. I consider myself so lucky to of had my mom for this long, and despite not having my father around my siblings and I grew up with a lot of love in our house. I don't think a day should go by that you don't tell your parents you love them, because one day you wont be able to.
My whole life I have heard hundreds of stories about my father. I was very young when he passed away so I grew up not knowing if the memories I had of him were my own or influenced by a story my mom or one of my older brothers told me. Nonetheless I gathered that he was a great man. My father was a police officer in the city of Passaic (where we lived at the time) and walked the beat. Back then police officers would actually walk around and get to know the people in the neighborhood, and this is where my fathers "greatness" went into action. Besides being about 6ft 2 and 260lbs of all muscle my father stuck out in other ways, he was fluent in spanish, treated people fair, and cared a lot about kids.
He started a program for kids in the city of Passaic to have a way to stay off the streets. It was called "Doin it in the park". Kids would come and play different sports, they d have music playing, give out free lunches, and help people that might not have the means to survive without some assistance. His work in the community was to the point where even to this day the city of Passaic presents a Bobby Thomas award to the officer that does exemplary work in the community.
"When you re gone what legacy will you leave behind? Did you spend your whole life helping or wanting to be helped"?
I've always wondered why we never went to visit my fathers headstone, but I never asked my mom. I felt like she must of had her reasons. Knowing my mom like I do, I assume it was because she wanted to remember my father how he was. So growing up it wasn't discussed. My oldest brother Robert was 17 when my father passed. He's technically my half brother which to me just means we didn't grow up in the same house. He has done a great job filling in some of the blanks for me and It's always amazed me how similar I have become to the man that I barely knew. My way with kids and from what I ve been told the way I interact with people no matter their race, religion, etc is a lot like my dad.
So this one day I decided that I will go alone (not great at being emotional, especially in a group setting) and find my fathers headstone. I didn't know what I was going to say, I wasn't sure if I'd cry (at that point I haven't cried in more than a decade) I just knew that I would go and I guess whatever was meant to happen would happen. When I got to the cemetery there were a lot of thoughts rushing through my mind. My mom and brother went a long time ago to visit (i was away at college) and they weren't sure of the location of the headstone. So when I got there I went inside and talked to the person working and asked if they could look up where my father was buried. It took me an hour to find him, the one thing that I wasn't aware of is there was not headstone for my father. I had no idea, I wasn't told, and I kept going back and forth between the cemetery and the office to get directions. Finally the guy working (who must of thought I was a little on the slow side) revealed this information to me.
He told me that my father was right next to a headstone that read Otto Kumetz. So that's who I went to look for. The name just stuck with me as I walked in the rain. First it was the name Otto which is obviously not the most common name in the list of 100 best baby names. Then it was the thought that this was the person that has been next to my father since his death and will be forever and that's what hit me the hardest. I found Otto Kumetz a short time after I received my last set of directions and saw the space to his left and realized I was looking at where my father was buried. I didn't cry, I just stood there, part of me was angry at Otto for having a headstone and my father not having one. I wondered if Otto knew who he was next to. If he had any idea how great of a man my father was, and out of nowhere I got choked up and a tear came down my cheek. I only stayed for about 20 minutes or so (once I found my way) I mumbled something to my father, got in my car, and started driving home.
On the ride back I turned off the radio and thought about my dad and also Otto. They are roommates for eternity and I know that if my dad ever met Otto they d be friends. It seems like my dad just had that way about him. I got home and looked for Otto online and found some things about an artist etc (obviously with no clue if it was the Otto I was looking for) I'm planning on going down again at some point to say hello to both my father and Otto.
I feel like we don't have a lot of time on this earth, and our parents usually have about a twenty five year head start on us when we arrive. I consider myself so lucky to of had my mom for this long, and despite not having my father around my siblings and I grew up with a lot of love in our house. I don't think a day should go by that you don't tell your parents you love them, because one day you wont be able to.
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