The Price of Confidence

Johnny Manziel did the improbable last football season....he won a Heisman trophy as an undersized underclassman. Since achieving this great feat against all odds he has received nothing but criticism. That's how things work in this day-and-age of published opinion. He's too small, he's too reckless, he's immature, he's cocky.

People will state: If I had his talent, I would be in my dorm room studying.

How do you think he got his talent?

You don't have his talent because you were unwilling to work hard enough to earn it: when people said you were too small, you believed them. When people got up in your grill, you backed down. You didn't have the unflappable self-confidence to fight back!

Mark May the self-appointed guard of the flame of football tradition was incensed by Johnny Football's antics on Saturday. The little man was talking smack and scoring touchdowns at will. No, he can't do that....Mark May never could...and we wonder why there is a generational divide.

Admittedly, I would bench my son or daughter if they taunted another player. They are 5 and 8. When they are twenty being chased on the world's largest stage by people three times their size, I would be relieved to see them standing up-right. At that point, the right to celebrate is theirs.

We all grow up at our own pace. Very few of us have to do it on television amid millions of skeptics with arms folder. What we share with Johnny Manziel is the fact that we face our doubters every day. Far more people will line up to criticise your effort than those who will celebrate your achievement.

Be honest: it feels good to prove people wrong.

When he noticed how the guests picked the places of honor at the table, he told them this parable: “When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited. If so, the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, ‘Give this person your seat.’ Then, humiliated, you will have to take the least important place. But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, ‘Friend, move up to a better place.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all the other guests. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

- Luke 14:7-11

Don't Forget to Remember!

Dave