Know the rules, ask good questions...

Playing sports as I grew up we lived in a culture where whatever the coach said was gospel. Sure, we asked questions from time to time, but for the most part we just did what he told us to do. In fact, when I began coaching years later, I remember having to get a hold of my coach to ask him the ins and outs of what I needed to do to help athletes be successful. It was really the first time in my life where I had good solid conversations about finding out why we do what we do.

Fast forward to today’s youth, and young people in general, it is a much different culture. There are a lot of questions and it doesn’t matter what industry that you are in, people are going to want to know why you do what you do. And a lot of people that consult with me say they get very frustrated with this “new way of doing life.” I remind them that putting focus on such thoughts will only lead to more frustration.

Young people are going to ask questions, and we need to get used to it, and find out how we can help them understand the importance of following rules, which is ultimately for their own good and life growth. I just started reading through the Bible again, as I do each year, and there was an excerpt from a little-known and not very popular book, one that has a ton of great lessons if people would only read it. Here’s what it says:

“If you walk in My statutes and keep My commandments, and perform them, then I will give you rain in its season, the land shall yield its produce, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit. . . . I will walk among you and be your God, and you shall be My people.”

 ~Leviticus 26:3–4, 12

God puts it out there, plain as day… follow His commandments. But for some reason, like many of the young people I coach today, the Israelites decided to not listen. They had a nasty habit of not just asking good questions, but also downright abusing God’s grace and love to the point where they couldn’t help but gravitate back towards a life of sin. 

I think a lot of us are the same way today. I realize that back when I used to play sports, as long as I was listening to what the coach told me to do, I was doing pretty good. But it was only when I decided to ask too many questions and think that I knew a better way did I start to trip up and make mistakes. So I guess my question is: What are the rules that you have trouble following? My prayer is that in your pursuit to ask good questions, you do not forget that there are others out there that know more than you and if you grab a hold of them, and follow their advice, you might just be better off. Find those people, and never let them go.

Praying for you,

MO

Attitude matters...

I was never the biggest or fastest athlete. In fact, I was always one of the guys on the other side of the spectrum. Which means, I had to work twice as hard just to be as good as the rest of some of the competitors. I remember my swim coach telling me one time, “By the time you enter the water and surface for your first stroke, you are already losing the race.” Ouch! But hey, a good coach will help an athlete live in a world of realism rather than to be stuck in the fantasy world of idealism. It was a great lesson for me to have learned, and early. I decided that I would work harder.

I have been coaching young people for several years now. And I have some of the same conversations with my student athletes. Some of them are not the most talented, or the biggest or fastest even. But what each of them has is the opportunity to give her very best. One of my favorite quotes from John Wooden is, “It is not the will to win that matters, but the will to prepare to win that matters most.” Holy cow!

There is a lot of stuff in life to complain about, and most people do. But what I have made a point to do in my coaching is to help my student-athletes enter each training day with the best attitude possible. With so much else going on in life for each of them, it is a small miracle just to get them to focus on the practice sets of the day. I’m not saying that they always have to act fake and pretend that they are loving life, but consciously making an effort to enter each day with the proper attitude can make or break them for both for today, and eventually over the course of a season, or even multiple seasons.

Right now my church is going over a multiple week series on the following verses:

"Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honourable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” ~Philippians 4:8-9

There is so much to unpack in just these couple of verses that if anybody chose just one of the words above that Apostle Paul is talking about, it would seriously be a game changer in that person’s life. So I guess my question is, do you think about any of the above qualities? And if so, what would this mean for your life, and the way you choose to live? My prayer is that you think about qualities and traits that would make you better, and strive for one or two of them.

Praying for you,

MO