Out of the Actions of Youth

Out of the Actions of Youth

I have the opportunity to coach several young athletes.  I find that the lessons I am learning from them are exactly the ones I need.

For example, one of the things I always preach is that making a mistake is not nearly as important as how you react to the mistake.  Tonight, I saw that lesson at work.  One of our young athletes, L, who is clearly the best athlete on the team, took an in bounds pass and scored a layup immediately in the opposing team's basket. L's history is one of getting down on herself when she makes a mistake.  Not tonight.  That layup brought the other team within 2 points of us with 1:42 left.  All Miss L did over the next minute and forty-two seconds is to score 6 points, have an assist and 4 steals.  Her layup made the score 21-19 in our favor.  The final score was 33-19.  L definitely let her response to the mistake far over ride the mistake.

Now, this brings up a couple of questions.  Have I made any mistakes lately?  And, how have I reacted to them?

My answers, in order of the questions, are; yes and OMG.

Amazing things not only come out of the mouths of babes.  They show up in their actions as well.

And, the next question is, "Well, Coach Papa.  What are you going to do now?"

I guess I am going to have to face up to some of my mistakes and decide how I am going to react to them.

Is it possible that you need to do a little soul searching as well?

Don't let me stop you.  And, don't wait for me to write down all of my mistakes for the world to see.  I am going to decide my next step on how to react to each of them.  Then, I am going to attach each of my mistakes to a helium balloon and send them away on the next stiff breeze.  After that, I am going to go watch my teams play another game so I can learn another life lesson.

Have a Wonder Filled Day,

Coach Papa