I picked up a book called
How to be Interesting by Jessica Hagy and started reading it and found it to be quite interesting and also an important perspective to take on. I figured I could make it into series of blog posts called LIFE! Enjoy!
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When I read this quote, I thought about it figured this could be something I focus on in the days going forward. Sure, I think I've been passionate about things, I've worked hard, I've spent time, but I am not sure how hard I have fought to defend and stand up for the things I love, for the places I love and the people I love. I think about all the history lessons I have taught over the course of my life and their willingness to give up so much to get what they believe in, their passions, and their loves. Am I willing to go as far? Am I willing to overcome the obstacles in my way? What am I truly willing to sacrifice.
Last year, I saw some of this fight in the amount of time and energy (physical and mental) that I spent trying to defend the rules of our league, fighting on behalf of what was right for my athletes. When asked by an opposing coach, "you must have really wanted it." I thought to myself later on, it wasn't the idea of earning a title or an accolade but the idea that I wanted to defend all of my athletes who are apart of a program that I love. Something I have poured my heart and soul into in hopes that they would get every last ounce of what they deserved. It made me think, should I have been fighting this hard for other things in my life?
Thinking back, I feel that there were times when I was much too passive, hoping that things would work out, rather than doing all I could to make things work. In hindsight, I can see that regardless of whether or not it works out, you don't live with any regrets. Can I do more for my family, my friends, and for everything I hold sacred?
I guess when it's in the past, you can always wonder, but to keep myself from wondering in the future, maybe it's time to go to the mattresses. (Guess where this quote is from!!) Maybe it's time to stand up for what I believe and for what I love, even if I know that failure is inevitable, simply knowing that I did all I could will be all worth it.
I tell my athletes to do it all the time ... leave it all out there ... and maybe it's time that I carry that same lesson from the playing fields to life. Sometimes we're so passive waiting for things to happen and while you don't want to overdo it, sometimes, when you love something enough, you just got to take that leap of faith and put all of yourself into it to defend what you love ... as the pain will probably be much less than wondering what could have been.