Own The Day

In the year. He is rich who owns the day, and no one owns the day who allows it to be invaded with fret and anxiety. Finish every day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities, no doubt crept in. Forget them as soon as you can, tomorrow is a new day; begin it well and serenely, with too high a spirit to be cumbered with your old nonsense. This new day is too dear, with its hopes and invitations, to waste a moment on the yesterdays.    -   Ralph Waldo Emerson

 

With Love,

Coach K

The Race

 My good friend Dave a marathon runner with the body of a linebacker would regularly run 3 hour marathons.  He was so competitive that he would expend all of his energy in an effort to win or post his best times. He inspired me to complete one myself.  Who wants to run 26.2 miles!

He was part of local running group in the Princeton, NJ area with a mix of runners with varying degrees of talent.  One of his buddies just wanted to finish his runs, especially a 26 mile marathon. Well they both were entered in the same race and Dave went out with a blast but hit the wall or ran out of gas later in the race.  His buddy was eating candy bars late in the race just trying to keep his energy up so he could finish.  Would you believe it his friend who was a an hour slower finished the race, while Dave was gassed and had to drop out. 

His friend had a lovely quote that Dave shared with me and that I remember to this day.  Just like the tortoise and the hare,

"The race does not always go to the swiftest, but those that keep on running."

How true and what a great metaphor for life also.  We get so worked up at the slightest bit of adversity that sometimes we stop running, moving, or living. Just keep going finish the race. Time passes so quickly.  And when you look back on that adversity, oftentimes that mountain is just a small hill that you easily climbed on the way to winning your race.

 To your health!

 With Love,

Coach K

From Adversity Comes Strength

Napolean Hill, the author of Think and Grow Rich, wrote that from every negative or adverse experience comes an equivalent benefit.  Another way of saying look for the good in everything.

We all know that's easier said than done, especially as parents.  You find out how truly vulnerable you are in life when you have children.  You want to do everything to shield them from life's rough patches, you want to soften the blow when life deals one of those unfair "why me" moments.

We recently experienced one of those very moments just this past week at our son's lacrosse game.  As  senior captain on the team, he was looking forward to enjoying a great season with his friends and teammates.  While the team was playing its second game of the season, Alex was blindsided by a vicious check that left him unconscious and fractured his jaw.  Our baby was broken. Season over.

I watched in disbelief as the play unfolded, and after what seemed like a time delay of 5 minutes but was more like 5 seconds, hopped the fence to be by his side as he lay motionless and unconscious on the field.  All the thoughts well up inside of you, "Is he going to be OK,  Is he paralyzed,  Is his neck broken".  After about two minutes with his eyes rolling back in his head, he regains consciousness and begins moving,  he's still unsure of where he is or what happened but I can at least exhale. I kept telling myself he's fine, he's fine while the tears, anger, and frustration all welled up inside me. How do you explain to him that this makes any sense or is fair after he's invested so much time and energy just to play his last high school season.

After leaving the hospital with the diagnosis of the broken jaw and hearing the news that his mouth would be wired shut for 4-6 weeks, you try to move forward.  Look to the future. You try to turn the page on the senselessness, violence, and that the entire play and act was unnecessary.  You try to reason with yourself, your son, and your family that injuries are part of sports and that things like this happen, but deep down they don't happen to you, they don't happen to your baby.

Times like this is where we earn the big bucks as parents. When we ourselves our rattled, we must turn our fear into fortitude.  When Alex was in the emergency room afterwards, his coach and teammates came to visit and were truly amazing in lifting all our spirits. The simple act of saying that you care, that you are not alone, is inspirational.

We as a family are all a little broken now, but with the help of family, friends, coaches, and teammates we will heal. The positives are a little hard to see now but I know they're out there. As we look for the silver lining, it may be simply that the injury could have been much worse, that he will heal, recover and be good as new.

With Love,

Tom Kaufmann
Coach K