We don't have to. We get to.
With 2016, over, my wife and I started to reflect on the year that was. While this year did not start out ideally professionally and I decided to take a break from coaching, my wife and I moved into a great condo, just blocks from the beach, bought a puppy that has brought us endless amounts of joy and entertainment to our lives, we both decided to start our own businesses, and finally, we were blessed with the greatest gift of all, a healthy baby boy born on December 27th. Before our son was born, I was fortunate to attend a church service a couple weeks before Christmas. The theme of the sermon was to be grateful for all that we have been given, regardless of how mundane or challenging it is. The priest kept replacing “we have to” with “we get to.” This is my New Year’s Resolution.
So often, I have taken much for granted and complained about many things that did not go the way I wanted. I look at my coaching tenure at Bishop. It was a challenging and frustrating time for me. I lost more games in my two years there than my five years coaching high school basketball combined. My time coaching at Bishop was filled with defeat and disappointment. Nothing during that time was ever good enough. Looking back, my attitude should have been different. Now, I am not saying that I should have been okay with losing. That is just not who I am. However, I should have reveled in the moment and been thankful for everything I was given. I was able to create a living doing something that I have loved doing since I was five years old. Not too many people have the opportunity to do this. Every day, I was able to teach the game I love and help young men develop as people. I should have been much more grateful for the opportunity.
As parents and coaches, it is easy to lose sight of how fortunate we really are. Our kids are lucky to have access to all kinds of sporting activities, resources, and coaches. It could be so much worse. Growing up, although I loved playing basketball, at times it was a chore. There were days I hated going to practice, running sprints, or putting up an extra 500 shots. What I didn’t realize is that my playing days were limited and I would give almost anything to go back to that time and play one more game. Additionally, there are millions of children around the world that would give anything to run sprints in a gym with new shoes or have the time to shoot 500 shots. My New Year’s Resolution is to live in the moment and be grateful for every opportunity I am given. What I mean by this is, rather than looking at work as something I have to do, I am going to be grateful that I get to go to work. Rather than looking at dishes as something I have to do, I am going to be grateful to have meals in which I need to clean up after.
I want to challenge you to live in the moment as a parent, person, athlete, etc. while being grateful and humble for everything we have been given. This doesn’t mean being satisfied with where you are at, but being cognizant of how fortunate we really are.
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