Coaches Corner~Happenings

While optimism has its perks, we do not always get the result we want.  Not getting what we want is daunting and requires us to find a way to keep living until it surfaces.  My pastor once wrote a book entitled, “What To Do Between ‘I Believe and I receive’ and its content ought to be noted.  We are able to withstand nearly anything for one second, right, so we need only approach misery or disappointment one second at a time.  After one gets a certain age, it is clear that all things work out in some way and even if it doesn’t, we all die sooner or later.  That may seem morbid but it really is good news.  When you consider all the pain agonizing and suffering we do needlessly, knowing it all eventually ends no matter what we do is comforting.  As a boy when I was punished by getting a ‘beatin’ it seemed the pain would never go away but it did go away eventually.  Dealing with panic attacks for more than 8 years and now living without them convinces me that all things end in time and makes it very clear that the time spent agonizing is only useful because it got me from there to here.  And being here is a lot of fun.

Enjoying the journey is more than just a cute saying.  And as an extraordinary coach, you had better enjoy the journey so that you client will enjoy it too.  If all things work together for good, then we must get very good at re-framing everything.  In coaching the operative question is always, “What’s next?” And it can work in all areas of life.  I spend some time in social media and have developed some relationships with people that do not always think the way I do.  I have developed my thinking over the years and understand this process and have a much better handle on life than I used to.  I see comments from people I admire and wonder what they could be thinking.  I even have the nerve to become annoyed at times and wish they would be more like me.  The journey they are presently on looks a lot like my own journey did some years ago and it is almost predictable that they will come around.  By come around, I mean they will come to the same conclusion I did.  That conclusion borders on the fact that we can think about whatever we want to think about and we alone bear that responsibility.  Just because I am there does not mean others do not have the right to make their own journey.  I am getting much better at the old adage, “Live and let live.”  All I really must do is to wait and greet them with gladness when they finally get there.

I suppose there is a certain amount of arrogance associated with such an attitude.  When I consider that the person who is offended is the one responsible for the assessment of arrogance, I feel much better about things.  So what if I am perceived as arrogant?  It is a very valuable asset in this case for it saves a lot of heartbreak anxiety about what is going to happen.  Once you realize that all you feel results from what you think, you choose to think different thoughts.  The sky is not falling….it is not going to be horrible…..and you will find another job and a sweetheart nicer than the one you just lost.  More than anything the idea of prayer makes us okay with whatever we are dealt.  Even in the case of our children, we must be willing to weather the storm until they get to the other side.  Berating, and chastising and brow-beating might make you feel like you are doing something but there is more than talk to the saying “Love covers a multitude of sins.”  When the offense comes we must be ready.  When we are called to watch someone get bruised, we must we willing to watch them heal.  It is this mindset that is most helpful to the coach who is not getting the results she or he wants right now.  Get in the habit of staying until the end of the game because you never know what story to tell if you were not there for the win.

If you have learned anything here or had a new thought, I would appreciate your sharing this blog. And always, I end the way I always end.  Until the next time, have yourself a good time.