Opportunity or Burden?

I’m from that generation of people who grew up in the 60’s that were prone to question everything.  We questioned authority.  We doubted our parents.  And we protested the government (sometimes just for being the government).

It seems we were anti-everything.  Anti-war.  Anti-haircuts.  Anti-fashion.  Anti-establishment. 

Television wouldn’t show Elvis from the waist down because he wiggled to much.  George Carlin came up with his seven words you couldn’t say on TV.  James Dean led a cultural revolution. 

And then the Beatles appeared on the Ed Sullivan show and it really got crazy.  Everybody had long hair.  Everybody protested.  Everybody listened to loud music. 

I was the editor of our high school newspaper and pretty much every issue I snuck in something about the Vietnam War.  It got me called to the principal’s office a couple of times although today it was surely mild. 

The problem was that people that I knew were getting killed and, well, the war wasn’t real popular in my neighborhood.  Poor kids from rural areas got drafted and sent to the front.  Then as now, I was for the soldier but against the war.

Later I got picked up (not really arrested) at an event where we were protesting the completion of the dam on the Little Tennessee River, building what is now Tellico Lake.  I remember that tiny snail darter well.  I knew families that were being forced off farms that had been in their family for generations.

And a beautiful, free-flowing stream was being dammed up to build a resort community that was beyond the means of the people that lived there.  (If you can’t tell, I’m still bitter about that one.)

I was a good kid but I do remember one night when I was arguing with my dad about my music being too loud.  It probably was.  And that my hair was too long.  It really wasn’t. 

But one authority figure that I never questioned was my high school football coach.  His name is Bert “Chig” Ratledge and he turned 90 not too long ago.  He was Coach Ratledge then and he’s Coach Ratledge now.  I can recall hearing his friends call him by that nickname but I considered that blasphemy.

When I went to his 90^th birthday party and heard one (and only one) of my peers refer to him by his nickname, I was greatly disturbed.  Coach Ratledge earned my respect many times over.  He was one of the first people that truly believed in me.  And even though his health has declined, he is still the same person and I would still run through a brick wall for him.  Such is the influence that our coaches have over young folks. 

Coaches have a huge responsibility as they mold and direct their young charges.  Good ones acknowledge and accept that responsibility.  The best ones welcome it as an opportunity. 

For your own kids, seek those coaches that embrace the mantle of that responsibility.  Those coaches that have the best interest of your child and every child at heart.

Then step aside and let them do their job.

Be More than a Spectator

I haven’t watched much World Cup.  Well…none, really.  It’s not that I don’t find it interesting—I actually find it fascinating.

I mean, here’s a sport that is easily the number one sport in the world.  The most participants.  The most spectators.  There’s something special about it, not simply because the rest of the world is soccer crazy.  The international flavor and unabashed nationality make it quite a spectacle.

But I won’t be watching.  It really doesn’t have anything to do with the faked injures that seem to happen in every game (although the athletic trainer in me would be furious if I had an athlete that flopped like that and I ran on the field thinking the worst).  It’s just that it isn’t in me to sit and watch sports much.  Like almost never.  The Super Bowl?  Maybe.  The NBA finals?  Not this year.  The World Series?  It depends.

The Tour de France is going on right now and although I love everything about the bicycle, I won’t be watching much.  When Lance Armstrong was competing, I was glued to my TV set.  Not so much now.  Maybe it was the drugs and scandals and all that but it doesn’t hold quite the draw for me that it once did.  I would rather ride my bike than watch others do it. 

I guess I’m just not much of a spectator.  Never have been.  For many years, I watched my own kids play sports.  When they were younger, I was often their coach.  At first, I wanted to leave that to others.  But there was such a need and the other coaches were just dads like me (or moms) so I jumped right in.

It turned out to be quite rewarding.  I probably got more out of it than the kids.  I hope that I was fair to all and treated everyone equally.  Actually, I know that isn’t true.  I was harder on my own kids than I was on my own.  One embarrassing photo has me scowling at my daughter.  She was probably 8 or 9.  She didn’t deserve that.  She never did. 

I find myself watching grandkids now.  I am much more detached.  I take great joy in just watching them.  Not watching them win.  Not watching them score the winning goal.  Just watching them find joy in sport and movement.

At the youngest ages, the absolute most important thing about sports is that the kids learn to love to move.  The very best player at 6 is not necessarily the very best player at 16.  And we know without a doubt that early sports specialization is a very bad idea for a ton of reasons.

Early specialization increases the injury rate, increases the burnout, and hurts the development of their athleticism.  You want your kids playing lots of different sports.  Again, the emphasis should be on movement.  Active children become active adults.

As for me, I have always preferred to be in the game.  I love my time on the sidelines but I’m working then and part of the team.   I’m not sure what I will do when I do finally give it up.  I don’t think I can sit in the stands.

So where’s this going?  Just this—don’t be a spectator in life.  Don’t let your sports participation be watching the NFL on television.  You don’t have to play on a team or anything like that—just stay active.  Walk, jog, dance, ride a bike, paddle a canoe, something…anything.

Impossible is Nothing

I had the opportunity to speak to a group of physical therapy professionals last week at our national association’s annual meeting.  A friend and I had presented at the same meeting last year on “Finding Your Purpose in Life.”  Our follow-up to that one was this year’s “Impossible is Nothing.”

First, let me say that I don’t have all the answers.  I’m still asking questions.  I truly believe Proust’s advice to beware of the person that has found the Truth.  Instead, embrace the person that seeks the Truth.  I’m not talking about your religion—I won’t go there.  I’m talking about the other mysteries of life.

I have to say that I have lived a blessed life.  I never went hungry growing up.  There was always food of some kind on my table.  I always had a roof over my head.  I was able to attend college and marry a wonderful girl that still puts up with me after 42 years. 

I have a wonderful family, great friends, a job I love, and good health.  But I do know that my life has had its obstacles, many of which I have overcome. 

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about my dad’s heart condition.  What it meant to me growing up was that there weren’t a lot of things that I got to do with my dad.  And those things I could do were sedentary.  It was more like him watching me do things.

I remember arriving at high school and dreaming of playing football but being told that I wasn’t big enough or fast enough or athletic enough.  Later in high school, I was told by a teacher that “my kind” didn’t go to college.   And then the too-often repeated story of my high school guidance counselor who encouraged me to go to TV repairman school, despite being offered college scholarships.

The reality is that no one in my family had ever gone to college.  Other than one cousin, it took another generation for that to happen again.  And the obstacle of paying for college was very real for us. 

I was told I would never get into physical therapy school.   I changed majors half way through college and let’s just say that my academic performance at that point was well south of stellar. 

But I made it all work.  Just like today, I used dogged persistence to make myself a decent football player.  By dedicating myself to the classroom and studying like I had never studied before, I became a good student.  By working throughout college, at one time holding down three part-time jobs, I was able to graduate twice from college without debt. 

I was admitted to physical therapy school and I do believe I’ve done OK in my 40+ year career.

A friend of mine likes to say that “Obstacles are opportunities.”  Somebody tells you that you can’t?  Prove them wrong.  Use it as motivation.  Look for those Opportunities when faced with Obstacles. 

Too small, too slow, too big, not good enough?  Then examine yourself, decide what your weaknesses are, then turns those weaknesses into your strengths. 

Don’t let anyone define who you are or who you can become.  And don’t let your dreams be so small that you have no trouble achieving them.

No.  Dream big.  Change the world.  And don’t let anybody tell you that you can’t.