I was running late to church today--literally running late as I wanted to run before starting my day. Ron kindly got the kids ready for church and I followed ten minutes later. Once entering the high school auditorium where we meet I scanned the back of about 200 heads and could not find my husband. Fortunately, one of our pastors, who happens to be 6'10" and a former pro Washington Redskins football player was standing next to me. I whispered to him to help me locate Ron...within seconds, Troy had identified Ron from his elevated perspective. The moment I asked Troy to help me I discontinued my futile search, I knew Troy's angle would be effective. Even when he pointed me toward Ron, I still had not visually located him, but I had a distinct feeling of trust that Troy's guidance was accurate. I am thankful for the perspective friends, children, pastors, and coaches give me in my life.
It must be football Sunday, because Tony Dungy, former head football coach of the 2007 Super Bowl champs, spoke next through a website venue called "I Am Second." The website, "I Am Second," features sports figures, celebrities, and everyday people with their stories of success and disappointments as well as the influence of their faith during these moments. Last week featured NASCAR great Darryl Waltrip, I could listen all day to his southern drawl. This week Tony Dungy.
Dungy makes a profound statement within the course of his 8 minute coaching biography that how we respond to failure and disappointment in life says a lot more about us that how we respond to winning and success. This struck a chord with me; as an adult with limited competitive experience, my general conduct and sportsmanship development has at times been slow, embarrassing and difficult. I have learned more from watching high school basketball players assist their opponents up off the ground the past few weeks than I ever did in my youth. I hope, by introducing my kids to a variety of team sports and athletics, they will be stronger as adults in the game of life. Being stronger means accepting disappointment and failure with an attitude that, although things don't always work out the way we plan or hope for, there is still value and growth in the pursuit and effort.
My daughter played in a small tennis tournament this weekend, her first true match play. She won two matches on Friday, felt great, she lost on Saturday and momentarily had that onset of disappointment and tears. Handling the wins was so easy, and it was easy for me to congratulate her. Accepting the loss was decisively different and clearly an area we both need to develop. Coach Dungy, "How you respond to failure and disappointment says a lot more about you than how you respond to winning and success."
I was thankful to hear Dungy's video today, timely intervention from a higher perspective. Most of us would view Dungy as a successful head coach, however he states clearly he decided long ago that the game of football would not be the most important thing in his life. Football is too unpredictable and life is too valuable to be measured in view of wins and losses. The theme today was to consider how often we let disappointments, failure, or even just the small details of life (home repairs, dental work, dog hair) overwhelm us so that we miss the bigger picture of a much grander story; Coach Dungy would say a story even bigger than winning the Super Bowl. For those interested, I will attach the Youtube version from Tony Dungy's, "I Am Second." Thank you for reading.
Next blog: Pilates Roll-Ups...The Good and the Bad! (I planned to write about roll-ups today but my plans do not always develop as intended...thankfully!)
It must be football Sunday, because Tony Dungy, former head football coach of the 2007 Super Bowl champs, spoke next through a website venue called "I Am Second." The website, "I Am Second," features sports figures, celebrities, and everyday people with their stories of success and disappointments as well as the influence of their faith during these moments. Last week featured NASCAR great Darryl Waltrip, I could listen all day to his southern drawl. This week Tony Dungy.
Dungy makes a profound statement within the course of his 8 minute coaching biography that how we respond to failure and disappointment in life says a lot more about us that how we respond to winning and success. This struck a chord with me; as an adult with limited competitive experience, my general conduct and sportsmanship development has at times been slow, embarrassing and difficult. I have learned more from watching high school basketball players assist their opponents up off the ground the past few weeks than I ever did in my youth. I hope, by introducing my kids to a variety of team sports and athletics, they will be stronger as adults in the game of life. Being stronger means accepting disappointment and failure with an attitude that, although things don't always work out the way we plan or hope for, there is still value and growth in the pursuit and effort.
My daughter played in a small tennis tournament this weekend, her first true match play. She won two matches on Friday, felt great, she lost on Saturday and momentarily had that onset of disappointment and tears. Handling the wins was so easy, and it was easy for me to congratulate her. Accepting the loss was decisively different and clearly an area we both need to develop. Coach Dungy, "How you respond to failure and disappointment says a lot more about you than how you respond to winning and success."
I was thankful to hear Dungy's video today, timely intervention from a higher perspective. Most of us would view Dungy as a successful head coach, however he states clearly he decided long ago that the game of football would not be the most important thing in his life. Football is too unpredictable and life is too valuable to be measured in view of wins and losses. The theme today was to consider how often we let disappointments, failure, or even just the small details of life (home repairs, dental work, dog hair) overwhelm us so that we miss the bigger picture of a much grander story; Coach Dungy would say a story even bigger than winning the Super Bowl. For those interested, I will attach the Youtube version from Tony Dungy's, "I Am Second." Thank you for reading.
Next blog: Pilates Roll-Ups...The Good and the Bad! (I planned to write about roll-ups today but my plans do not always develop as intended...thankfully!)