It’s #marchmadness, which means most of us have husbands or kids that are wrapped up in every game and the outcome. The whiteboards are written, the brackets are made, and every game is waited on with baited breath.
In the spirit of the season, I thought I would incorporate some of the best quotes from Basketball Hall of Famer, Coach John Wooden. I’m always inspired by the coaches who can take a kid and turn him into a team player in youth soccer or middle school football, or take a gangly high schooler and turn him into a all-county star. The college coaches who can turn him from boy to man…or even a professional athlete. These team leaders often take kids from the worst parts of town with the most broken families and turn them into champions…And that kind of result is something every parent wants to know how to achieve. So in honor of coaches that have inspired me all along the way– please enjoy the following:
Success is never final…failure is never fatal…it is courage that counts.
As a parent, I think truer words were never spoken. We can never declare our success final– I mean– what would be the measure? The guarantee? What about our failures? Should they define us as moms and dads? Can they keep us down? In the end, it is the courage to continue trying that truly counts. We will have successes– the toddler will learn to pee pee on the potty or actually stay in their bed. The middle schooler will show kindness towards someone who deserves a solid punch. The wayward teen will graduate and learn their lesson from the speeding ticket. All the while, it is our courage to continue trying, praying, teaching, believing, speaking life (or doling out consequences) that will make the entire effort a success. And personally, I don’t know of any job that takes more courage than parenting.
Never mistake activity for achievement.
Man…so true. I’ve got kids who look busy all the time but they don’t get a bleeping thing done. When I catch them in that whirly-dervish of accomplishing absolutely nothing, I take the opportunity to share this little gem. A person can be busy their whole life and at the end have nothing to show for it. Let’s take them time now to teach our kids how to find satisfaction in a job well done– accomplished with intense effort and to the best of their ability– so that they won’t spend their lives busy doing nothing.
If you don’t have time to do it right, when will you have time to do it over?
This is a simple one to teach kids. Always in a rush to get something done, sometimes our kid’s results are less than impressive. Start teaching this little “wooden-ism” early. It’ll stick. And hopefully reduce the do-overs in your day.
Be more concerned with character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are.
Someone once told me that character is who you are when no one is looking. It’s the quiet, small or sometimes even huge acts of bravery, kindness, and/or generosity that someone commits when they think no one sees. It’s the glass of ice water a child leaves on the counter when I’ve been outside all morning working in the yard. The dollar they put in my non-profit part of my wallet. The way they turn down my bed even after I have lost my cool. It’s the envelop of money slipped into a single moms purse that no one will veer know you left, the trash can you emptied at the event even though you weren’t a volunteer… You get the idea. Teach it and model it for your kids. This one is a two decade endeavor…but when they catch it, it’s beautiful.
If your not making mistakes, then your not doing anything. I’m positive that a doer makes mistakes.
We tend to beat ourselves up pretty bad for our mistakes…and this should not be. I’ve made so many mistakes as a wife, mom, friend, writer, and in my business that I couldn’t even begin to recount them. But I have been busy doing. Working. And if I focused on any one stupid or embarrassing mistake instead of the incredible work we get to do, I’d be paralyzed and useless in the many facets of my life. As a parent, as a professional, as a member of society– we will make mistakes. Just make it right the best way you know how and get about doing again the best you can.
It’s the little details that are vital. Little things make big things happen.
As a new mom, I wish I had known this. The dishes, the diapers, the endless picking up of toys. The practices, the homework, the doctors and orthodontist appointments…they all add up to something pretty incredible. And 24 years into this whole marriage and family thing I can honestly say that the repetitive, mundane, and small things everyday are what make up an incredible life and family. Don’t disdain them. See the little things as the bricks in the cathedral you are building.
You can’t let praise or criticism get to you. It’s a weakness to get caught up in either one.
Young moms, please hear me. Your mom, your mother in law, your older neighbor…they all have either incredible praise for you or awful criticism. The kind that stings for a week. Let me give you some solid advice: don’t get let it bother you. Enjoy your chiuldren. Pray to God for wisdom in how to raise them. But don’t get wrapped up in seeking other’s approval for how you parent or you’ll miss enjoying those fleeting days of childhood. And trust me…the days seem long but the YEARS FLY BY. Enjoy every minute of sweet snuggles now.
And enjoy #marchmadness with your family by adding a little bit of Coach Wooden wisdom into your life!
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