Stay the Course

I was reading ESPN today (at work...don't judge me, lol) and I came across an article that hit really close to home (you can click on this link to read it -----> ( CLICK ME ).  The article is about redshirt ("redshirt" means that during his first year of college, he practiced but never played in a game and still has four years of eligibility to play once his "freshman" year is over) freshman James Johnson.  James is leaving school because he feels like he isn't getting enough playing time on the basketball court.  This happens to a lot of freshman every year but in the past decade or so it has become common place for freshman to see immediate action.  This hasn't always been the case though.

How this story relates to myself is that I transferred from my original college (Morgan State University) after my freshman year to another school (Frostburg State University).  As I stated earlier, freshman (at that time, the mid 90's) really didn't see a lot of playing time, any if at all.  I was fortunate enough to start though, as a walk-on freshman at a D-1AA now the Sub-Division level.  My situation was a little different though.  I left Morgan because after starting the entire year I was told that Division 1A players were transferring in and I would have to compete for my spot all over again...needless to say I wasn't too happy to hear this.  I thought that the school "owed" me something and would "show" them what they were missing after I transferred.

The point I'm trying to make here is that in life difficult times will arise and you have to stay the course.  I should have stayed at Morgan and played just as hard my sophomore year as I did my freshman year.  I feel as if James should do the same because the grass is NOT always greener.  I thoroughly enjoyed my time at Frostburg and made some life long friends there, but I definitely didn't display any kind of H.E.A.R.T by leaving.  In fact I showed the opposite.  I displayed fear and the sense of quitting.  I have no idea what thoughts are running through James' head, but I hope that he reconsiders and realizes that quitting now will more than likely set a precedence for the rest of his life of running away from adversity.  I learned that lesson the hard way and eventually stopped that trend.

Always remember, bad shit happens in life.  You can either try to run away from it, or face it and try to make the best out of your situation.  Bad situations are only as bad as you allow them to be.

P.S. I'm not a UVA fan, I just hate to see anyone quit...

Tim Gavin

I tend to write most of my blogs about H.E.A.R.T when it pertains to sports, but in my opinion, life AND sports are the same thing.  You prepare to play, play to win and sometimes you lose.  But then again, sometimes you win.  Although statistically speaking you always have a 50/50 chance of winning or losing, preparation, skill, team, your opponents and various other factors come into play to create a derivative of this common known statistic (the 50/50 thing).  This brings me to the guy you see in the picture above you....Tim Gavin.  Without a doubt one of the people I have ever known to have one of the biggest if not most genuine and caring and tough H.E.A.R.T.

Attitude:

When people think of the word "attitude" they generally think of it in a negative sense.  I can see that, but in reality, your attitude is the only thing in this world that you can truly control.  You can't control your body temperature, emotions (don't lie to yourself) or peoples opinion of you.  But you can control your attitude.  If you think positive thoughts long enough, you will trick yourself into being positive (although it may be brief).  Timmy has been through some of the crappiest situations I have ever seen a person go through and he still keeps his head.  He may not be as happy as when the situation was more cheerful, but he's not an ass to be around.  Every time I was down in the dumps, I could always call on Tim to bring some sort of levelness to the situation.  The world could be going to hell in a hand basket and Tim would be cooler than the Fonz on a blind date.

Resilience:

The resilience level of Tim Gavin is incredible.  I think it's one of his greatest attributes.  Timmy is a very sharp individual although he's not been know to get straight A's (for the record, neither have I...moving on).  Tim accomplished something that most college students don't...HE GRADUATED.  Not only did he do so, but he did it with limitations that were beyond his control.  Did he allow this to be an excuse and just say, "ah who cares about school?"...no.  He dug in his heels and he worked his ass off to graduate.  I personally knew how hard he worked to graduate, that's why it was so important to me to watch him walk across the stage and get his diploma (I was living in Seattle at the time, Tim graduated from a western Maryland university).  He never gave up on his dream (since H.S. to teach P.E. and possibly coach) and all of his hard work paid off.

(Tim Gavin during a timeout coaching the Towson Generals)

Toughness:

Toughness does not necessarily mean how mean and bad ass you are, it can also mean how mentally tough you are as well.  Without getting too personal into Timmy's life, let's just say that he is a Maryland guy.  His entire family is from Maryland, his lovely wife Sarah's family is from there and all of their friends...are from Maryland.  When Timmy graduated he had to teach in Virginia and then moved onto teaching in West Virginia.  His passion was teaching and coaching, but he was only able to do this in these two states.  A much lesser individual would have most likely quit and moved back.  Tim stayed the course though.  Even though the situation looked bleak and he, his wife and unborn baby (who is now born and she's adorable...what up Casey!) probably would have had to stay in West Virginia, Tim kept on grinding to get back to MD.  All of his hard work paid off because he's now back in Maryland.  If he wasn't as tough as he needed to be when it was required, who knows where he would be today.

I know this post sounds extremely biased, and maybe it is, but I love this guy and his H.E.A.R.T is bigger than most people I have ever known.  He doesn't quit, cry or whine and completely genuine.  I haven't met a single person who doesn't like him, would do anything for him or believe that he wouldn't give you the shirt off of his back.

Brain vs. H.E.A.R.T

In the human body there are two vital organs that you need in which to survive (well, really there are a couple more than that, but for argument sake, we're just going with these two).  You have the brain which controls basically EVERY function and action in the body and you have the H.E.A.R.T which pumps blood (if we were a car this would be the oil) throughout said body.  Both are very important to survival, but only one is essential for truly living.

The Brain

The human brain controls everything that is found in the body.  This is a fact that we all know.  But we also know that the brain can die while the human body is kept alive with machines.  Although we know this, many people still put an emphasis on how important it is (it really is, I'm NOT downplaying this fact) without acknowledging that people "survive" everyday without it.  The human brain can also play tricks on you.  It can make you see, hear and feel things that don't exist...like fear.  Fear is an emotion that cripples people daily from achieving goals that they want to pursue.  Maybe you want to start a business, or ask specific person out on a date.  You probably want to try out for a sports team, write a book or run in a marathon.  Fear will seep in and tell you that, "you can't do that, that's stupid, you'll fail".  This all stems from your brain.  You have to constantly fight against this negativity to keep moving forward (or START moving forward). 

The H.E.A.R.T

The human heart pumps life throughout the body every time it contracts.  Think of yourself as a machine or a car.  If you don't change the oil, you are going to have SERIOUS problems.  The machine/car breaks down and it either dies or it costs a ton of money to get it fixed.  With a little maintenance, your H.E.A.R.T (machine/car) will run smoothly.  If the brain dies, the body can still be kept alive with machines.  If the H.E.A.R.T dies, it has to be replaced or the entire body dies...period.  This is where motivation fits in.  Motivation is the ignition that gets you motor going to get the machine/car started.  Without motivation, you truly are dead.  You do not accomplish anything and you are stuck in the same position you were yesterday, last month and the year before.  Your H.E.A.R.T will not play "tricks" on you, but it does need a tuneup every now and then so you can keep striving for your goals.

Conclusion

Don't EVER let your brain override your H.E.A.R.T...ever!  Your H.E.A.R.T runs the show and that's real.  When your brain wants to talk that crazy ish, that's when you need to dig deep and let it (the brain) know that your H.E.A.R.T is bigger and badder (someone always is) and you won't be stopped until they put you in the dirt.  You may not achieve everything you want to do in your lifetime, but you NEVER will if you give up and allow your H.E.A.R.T to give and die.  Please believe that.  I hope this finds you in time and that you continue to play the game of life with H.E.A.R.T!