Be More Than Just an Athlete

Lex, the best compliment that I have ever gotten about you was when a basketball coach talked about how good you were, not just as a player, but as a person.

People tell you all of the time how good you are.  And I hope you appreciate that and I hope that it brings you joy because we KNOW how much passion you have for sports and how much time, energy, sweat, and tears you put into it.  You deserve to be recognized for your talents and you should forever be thankful for the gifts that God has blessed you with and you should be proud of the fruits of the hard work you put in.

But this coach pulled me aside and talked about how good your character is and how good of a person you are.  He said that a lot of times when you have a player who is obviously better than anyone else in the gym, that athlete's character is not the best in the gym.  They can show boredom and they don't always listen and pay attention to the coach and especially the details because they think they are better than that.  They can be rude and impatient with others who struggle to learn.  They can be kids who just aren't fun to coach.  But he said that you are none of that.  You are engaged and locked into every word and every drill.  He said that you kept eye contact the entire time that he was teaching.  He said that you compete as hard as anyone to win, but you are humble and gracious in doing so.  You were patient during instruction and patient, kind and helpful to those who were struggling.  You are who you are because you are tough, you are determined, you are humble.  You are passionate about what you do and you are driven to be great at what you do.  You are who you are because you have great character and you work hard.

As much as you love sports, you should always strive to be more than just an athlete.  You should strive to be the best PERSON that you can be.  Selfishly, the better the person, the better the athlete.  Character drives your work ethic and integrity which drives how good you will be.  Unselfishly, we should always look for ways to make the world around us better.  We are not in this race of life alone - we share our journey.  Always try to be the best person that you can be, and you will find joy, peace, happiness, and prosperity.  It won't be without adversity.  

There will be a lot of tough times in sports and in life.  But if you don't things the right way, you will always bounce back, you will learn from your lessons, and you will come back better than before.