On Fridays I like to share experiences I’ve had during the week with patients and in my personal life that I’ve found significant. I like to share them in hopes that you might find value in them and have something resonate with you in your life.
Something that made me proud. Last Friday my son suffered a freak injury in his football game, a dislocation of his right patella (kneecap) after someone crashed into the back of his leg. Fellow players were horrified at the sight of it, and I knew something was very wrong by the angle I saw his leg at. I got to him just after the medical personnel did, expecting the worst.
What you would expect to see was someone writhing in pain, frustrated (he’d just been called up to varsity as a sophomore), panicked, etc. Instead, my son was completely calm, polite, and rational. Even when his kneecap was forcefully put back in place he did not yell or react. In fact, after I was asked if we wanted an ambulance to remove him from the field, he asked if he could still play the remainder of the game instead!
You never know how you will react when you are under pressure/and or something terrible happens. My son inspired me with his toughness and cool head as the injury happened. Since that time, he has continued to impress me with his mental, physical, and spiritual strength dealing with the loss of his season and road to recovery. Every quality I have ever sought to teach him or which I’d hoped he would develop; he has demonstrated in this challenging situation, and I could not be prouder.
An analogy I like. I love the Rocky movies and draw inspiration from them constantly. At the end of each movie, Rocky will always triumph after overcoming adversity to do so. Everyone wants to have that type of “Rocky moment” in whatever they are trying to achieve. The problem is that while people want to be Rocky at the end of a movie, they are unwilling to be the Rocky that trains until he is exhausted, comes back after a loss, or gets beat up for fourteen rounds before pulling out a win in the 15th. The point is, the sweetest successes in life usually only occur after you’ve suffered, endured, and overcome a great deal to achieve them.
Something I related to. I heard someone say recently, “don’t pray to stay safe, pray to be dangerous.” I immediately wrote that down because it embodies something I genuinely believe in. When we sit around worrying and living in fear of anything/everything that can happen to us, we are not in control. We are on the defensive and not making proactive moves or choices. Rather, we are being reactive.
My personal belief is that life is meant to be played on offense. In other words, we aggressively pursue the best possible outcomes for ourselves and those we care about. This doesn’t mean everything goes perfectly but it allows us to be in better control of our results. Whenever possible, seek to be the strongest, most assertive form of yourself as opposed to the meek, passive, and scared version. It will make all the difference.
Something I do each day. I have a series of things I do each morning to prepare me for the day. These are meant to allow me to face each day with minimal stress, maximum focus, high energy, physical, mental, and spiritual strength. This process I like to refer to as “putting on my armor.”
For me, this entails getting up early, drinking at least 20 ounces of water first thing, checking on finances for my business and family, enjoying a cup of coffee, intense exercise (lifting weights and/or running), eating a healthy breakfast, showering, spending at least a few minutes with each member of my family (I like to see them laugh and/or smile at least once each), having a to-do list ready, and then saying a prayer. Years ago, I would start my days in a rush, and they would often quickly go off the tracks. Now, I “put on my armor” daily and I have very few days that I am not able to manage productively.
Some quotes I love.
“A mistake repeated more than once is a choice.” – Paulo Coelho
“Maturity is working through your trauma and not using it as a never-ending excuse for poor behavior.”
“A bottle of water can be .50 cents at a supermarket. $2 at the gym. $3 at the movies and $6 on a plane. Same water. Only thing that changed its value was the place. So next time you feel your worth is nothing, maybe you’re at the wrong place.” – Kobi Simmons
“Your words start to lose value when your actions don’t match.”
Want more?
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