The Power in your Words

I was privileged last week to attend the 89th birthday party of Coach Bert "Chig" Ratledge.  Coach Ratledge was my high school football coach and a huge influence on my life, but more on that later.

Attending this event was the glitterati of Loudon High School football.  Bruce Wilkerson, UT All-American and former Green Bay Packer.  Marlon "Bubba" Brown, in the Clemson Football Hall of Fame.  My teammate and friend Lonnie Hawkins, who looks like he could still play.  Gordo Watson and Jackie Lefler, stars from the 60's. 

I looked around the room and I wondered to myself "what am I doing here, among all these football legends?"  I mean, I played football and all and I was pretty decent but I didn't belong in this group. 

But I knew all along why I was there and why I seem to be one of Coach Ratledge's favorites:  Nobody in that room took more away from the game of football than I did.

Nobody there learned the lessons that the game provides so abundantly more than I did.  The rewards of hard work. The dedication that it takes to be good at something.  The persistence that pays off if you maybe aren't as talented as the next guy.  What commitment truly means.

The pursuit of excellence.  The willingness to extend yourself, to go beyond what you think you are capable of. 

All of that and more.  And I took those lessons and built a life and a career on top of them.  Every success I've had can be linked directly back to my football days.  And Coach Ratledge.  I know that sounds a little over the top but it's true.

I was an underachieving high school sophomore with absolute zero self-confidence when Coach Ratledge told a practice visitor that "he can be a good one if he works at it."

He can be a good one if he works at it.  That has been my life's mantra. 

Not really sure what to do with myself in college (it was enough to my parents that I simply attended college), I had knee surgery, met my first physical therapist, and dedicated my college career to becoming a physical therapist.  Hard work ensued with more than a few all-night study sessions.

I opened a private practice in 1981 when that sort of thing was almost unheard of.  Again hard work, persistence, and dedication were necessary ingredients to develop what became Appalachian Therapy Center. 

An over-riding desire to be good at what I do coupled with confidence in myself has helped me be pretty good at being an athletic trainer and physical therapist.  Those lessons were learned on the football field.

So here's what I hope is the take home message from all this:  Teachers, coaches, youth ministers, scout leaders...pretty much anybody that comes in contact with teenagers...never underestimate the power of your words. 

Be forevermore positive, uplifting, encouraging.  Help those young people learn that it is OK to reach for the stars.  The "real world" approach isn't to squash those dreams but it is essential to teach them the ingredients to success--hard work, sacrifice, dedication, persistence.

Thank you for my dreams and happy birthday, Coach Ratledge.  You had a heavy hand in any positive influence I might have been in my life.