Over the weekend I had the chance to attend the celebration of the 2015 season of the CMU Volleyball team. It doesn't go unnoticed by me that this wasn't a given. After all, I had been released by the CMU Athletic Department at the conclusion of the season once our head coach resigned his post. The new coaching staff, led by Mike Gawlik, extended the invitation. They didn't have to. It was a classy move only to be topped by his ask that I say a few words to the team at the event when I arrived. Again, classy.
Not having prepared anything in advance I let the moment take me and trusted that whatever came out, it would be right for the moment. When you speak from your heart and from a place of love and gratefulness, you really can't go wrong.
After I faced the crowd and fought back the sentimental tears that have a tendency to overtake me, I told a story that seemed right for the moment. I heard it a long time ago on from Wayne Dyer. He was walking along a beach in Hawaii where he spent the final years of his life. As he tells it, he came upon a women who was looking to move there with her family. She asked him what the people were like. Wayne asked her what the people were like where she was coming from, she beamed about the people in her community. "They're great, people help one another out, they're interested and care about your success, it's like a big family," replied the woman. Wayne simply replied, "that's pretty much what you'll find here," and continued on. A while later on the walk he came upon another woman who asked the same question. Wayne again asked her what the people were like where she lived. "They're not nice, everyone is in each other's business, no one stops to help or cares at all how you're doing," replied this woman. "Well, that's pretty much what you'll find here," he said before he carried on.
The story is about perspective. Everything in your life, every person, situation and circumstance you find yourself in is about you and the way you see things.
I asked the players to move forward, work hard and demand that their teammates work hard and to be the very best version of theirselves everyday. Isn't this what athletics and life should be all about? To do things you never thought possible, you will have to seek the uncomfortable. That banquet, as great as it was to be there, was extremely uncomfortable for me. The reward of seeing and getting to hug and laugh with those players one more time made it worth it times a million. It seemed the least I could do was to implore them to live up to their awesome potential as I had done many times before.
Everything in your life, every person, situation and circumstance you find yourself in is about you and the way you see things.
So it is for everyone, so it is for me. I have chosen to make my journey the fault of no one else. I have chosen to make the best of every situation I am in. I am grateful for my circumstances, regardless of outcome. It is my hope that my choice of response inspires the players I used to see everyday do the same.
I grew a little over the weekend. I hope I helped them grow a little too. We all grow in little moments.
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