Cocoon to Butterfly.... Well butterfly might be doing too much

After my first post, I received a message from a players' parent. It was very touching and meant more than she will ever know. Within the message she put, "Basketball limited your ability to reach the masses....".  Well after I thanked her for her words of encouragement and wiped some tears from my eyes, I really started to analyze what she put.

Ok commercial break, I am a Virgo. It is in my nature to analyze everything about 50 times, and then go back and analyze it some more. Now my friends and family would say that has nothing to do with my sign, more that I am a neurotic control freak, but wow blaming it on my sign sounds much more positive, wouldn't you agree?


Ok back to the regular scheduled program. Is it that the sport and career that I loved so much actually could be the thing that was limiting me? Keeping me in a box and controlling my freedom to fight for what I wanted to fight for, speak what needed to be spoken, and to lead the way I wanted to lead?

Now before I start, I do not think coaching is negative at all. I love being a coach and loved my experiences as a coach. I have met the best people in the world in my career, and will continue with that path. But you do have to have the right fit, have the right amount of freedom, and have the support of the people around you. That makes all the difference in the world. So it wasn't basketball that was limiting me, it was dependent on the program.

However she was correct, I could not reach the masses where I was. If you are in the right programs, you are given the freedom to help others outside of your program. The university, athletic director and colleagues will see the value and support your message. Coach Wooden for UCLA, Coach K from Duke, Coach Dungy from Indianapolis Colts all were able to reach the masses with their emphasis on building character rather than just worrying about the wins because people around them understood and appreciated the value in that. I, on the other hand, not so much. I was the only one who cared about my message, and more importantly that did not fit within their agenda. (Still not sure what the agenda is.)

My message was on education and character, I will go further into detail later. So I am at a fork in the road and I can choose to either continue to focus on basketball, or I can focus on what I think is lacking in athletics from CYO to college graduation. Hmmm.... I think I will focus on the latter.  And while I was debating this decision I have had a lot of signs from the Heavenly Father pointing me in a specific direction. And one of the signs, is a song, the link is enclosed in this posting. If you have the time listen to it, read the words and see if it inspires a change in you. We all have a calling, an intrinsic passion for our purpose and I have found mine. Basketball was/is a tool in order to build it, shape it and give me a platform in which to emphasize it, but now as my players' parent pointed out, it needs to reach the masses.


Check out the video for the song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wUrqFkR7QlI