Haters Love The Sidelines

I've been a youth sports coach for several years. I've coached a number of successful teams: sometimes we win sometimes we lose. Wavering focus and the direction in which the ball bounces are unpredictable. What is always predictable is that the sidelines/bleachers will be filled with people who have not volunteered their time to help but are full of opinions as to how to manage the game. The easiest thing to do is to never devote yourself to anything but pretend you know everything. Why commit yourself to trying and failing if in your single opinion world you can be judge and jury...? With the shame of inability comes the opportunity to criticize others.... because they will never witness your incapability.

There is nothing we take more pride in than our children so seeing them fail is one of life's great pains. You can hug your children and thank them for trying or condemn their imperfection... Those who disguise their imperfection by expecting their children to be perfect face only one conclusion:

Sooner or later they will see through you and no longer respect you. 

What an infinitely sad concept to tackle.

The Responsibility of Leadership
There is no greater privilege than to be given the ability to lead others. The privilege of leadership is abused more often than honored. We assume it our right to denigrate those of lesser titles. We build a hierarchy in our mind and treat people according to their rank. We kiss the ass of those less inventive and destroy the ideas of the more-ambitious.

Leading people is a function of servitude.   

The Truth About What Matters
If you look back upon that meeting in which you blew your cool, the time you yelled at your child or the indignity you showed a laborer; you will discover a consistency:

You lost your judgement because you forgot what really matters. 

Every person has two things:
1. Undeniable Core Beliefs
2. An Ego

The reactionary aspect of Human Nature will get the best of you from time to time and you will stray from your core beliefs. You may embarrass yourself, lie, cheat and/or steal.

The good news is that you can always make up for your reactions by being a person of action. When you unfold your arms and get in the game, your actions speak louder than your words.

Skill vs Interest   
You can want with all your might to be a rock star but if you cannot play guitar, you'll need to learn how. Wanting isn't nearly enough. There are things on this earth we simply were not meant to do. In contrast, just because you are good at something doesn't mean you have to dedicate your life to it.

I've seen people who were trained their whole lives to be athletes only to learn that they hated sports. It wasn't their choice to be great, their heart was not connected to their effort.

Our life is a pursuit of happiness. We cannot convince ourselves that we are fulfilled simply because we are serving a lot in life that someone else has assigned to us.

It's never too late to leave the sidelines and get into the game!

Don't Forget to Remember,

Dave