Every Day is a Good Day

Since yesterday was Good Friday, I figured it would be appropriate to share a story. This story is one that has shaped who I am today and who I will continue to be in the future.

In the spring of 2010, I was selected by the NCAA to go to Indianapolis to attend the Career in Sports Forum. The NCAA Career in Sports Forum was a four day event through which selected student-athletes (400 from all NCAA Divisions) will explore and be educated on careers in sports, with a primary focus on collegiate athletics. This forum was provided to participants at no cost. However, for me, I was missing out on baseball since it was held in the spring.

Through the use of dual tracks, I was able to choose to examine the key functions of a coach or administrator within sports. I chose administration since baseball was not offered. (They said it was due to the sport being in season.) At the forum, we covered foundational skills such as communication, networking, recruiting, managing culture, transitioning, and budgeting, academics, compliance, facilities, life skills, marketing and promotions, and sports information.

At the forum, they also had a number of guest speakers. It was one of these speakers that changed my life. It wasn't so much the speech that got me. It was a question after the fact. Needless, to say he had faced high pressure situations and many years of failure. Who doesn't when they are coaching at such high profile schools? So after his speech, I thanked him for talking with us and I asked him, "How have you dealt with all of the adversity and failure?" Now, you have to realize that I had dealt with my fair share of failure during this time. Two arm surgeries and the feeling that I would never contribute to my baseball team was weighing heavily. With this thought in mind, I had to ask him for advice. 

His response was like any other great educators... He asked a question back.

"Have you ever had a bad day?"

As you can imagine, I was caught quite off guard. I said with very little confidence, "Yes..."

He replied, "Well... you wouldn't make it on my team." 

I went from being caught off guard to downright dumbstruck. I think he realized that too because he went on to explain. 

He said everyone has bad seconds, minutes, hours, class period, or even games, but no one should have a bad day. He that we all have the ability to change our attitude. He said its a matter of what am I going to do to fix it.

The gentlemen finished by asking me again, "So, have you ever had a bad day?" 

I said, "No." 

It was then when Coach Ty Willingham proceeded to shank my hand and say, "Welcome to the team." Then we walked away. (Talk about a drop the mic kind of moment!)

As I stood there, I thought long and hard about what he said. I have the ability to change and fix it...  



From then on, I have been able to use this to motivate me through all sorts of challenges and failures. Bad moments are going to come. They are inevitable. I do though have the power to change how I deal with them. Everyday I have something to be thankful for. Whether it's the roof over my head or food on the table, I am thankful and the day isn't all that bad. 

There have been some times where this was tough. The surgery my grandfather had or the final weeks of my wife's pregnancy. Everyday I tried to remain positive. Ultimately, it worked. I was able to see things clearly and see all things through to the end with greater energy and joy. 

Now I have told this story to my classes over the last couple of years. I also tell them that attitudes are contagious; make yours worth catching. This point is so true! I asked them if they have ever gone home and they were already mad or someone in there family was mad. It wouldn't take long for one person to set off the other and now we have a house of angry people. 

I always tell my students to come to me if they have any problems. They need to get it off their chest and realize that my room is a safe place. If anything, they can forget about there trouble for the hour. If I do my math correctly and I make them forget how mad they were for one hour, then they have not had an entirely bad day... and I will for take that any day. #RiseTalk

Addition: 4/20/2014 Easter

I found it fascinating today that our pastor mentioned that every day should be a good day. Pastor Dean talked about how even if we feel only 90% or even 60%, we should be thankful for that 90 or 60% of great health. He said, "Each day is a resurrection; each day is a new day." Don't live day to day closing in on death. Live each day with joy and celebration for that Christ has blessed us with. This man did... 

Forgive and Heal

Last week I had a once in a life time opportunity fall directly into my lap. It was one that I will never forget.

I had the opportunity to visit Grace College and hear a Holocaust survivor tell her story. It was by far on of the most humbling experiences of my life. I was invited to go hear her on a Friday, read this survivor's book on a Sunday, and went to hear her presentation on Tuesday. I was beyond excited to go and see her (hopefully meet her).

Eva Mozes Kor was only 10 years old when she was placed in Auschwitz. While everyone else around her was heading for certain death, she managed to will herself and her twin sister through countless disturbing experiments and exercises during their captivity. Eva and her twin sister were under the supervision of Josef "The Angel of Death" Mengele.

In short here is her story...

After just a few weeks, Eva and her family were packed into a cattle car and transported to the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp. After 70 hours without food or water, Eva and her family stepped onto the selection platform at Auschwitz.

After just a few minutes, Eva and her twin sister were separated from her father and two older sisters. She would never see them again. Soon after, the girls were approached by an officer yelling, "Twins! Twins!" When her mother said that Eva and her sister Miriam were indeed twins, they were taken from their mother, whom they also never saw again.

Eva and Miriam became part of a group of children used as human guinea pigs in experiments under the direction of Dr. Josef Mengele. Approximately 1500 sets of twins were subjected to these experiments, and most died as a result. Evan Eva herself became deathly ill. Mengele would give one twin up to five shots every other day of various illnesses and drugs. He would then measure the effects compared to the healthy twin. Eva was so sick she was near death, but she lived and helped Miriam survive.

Approximately 200 children were found alive by the Soviet Army after the liberation of the camp on January 27, 1945. Eva and Miriam Mozes were among them. After everything that had happened to her, exactly fifty years to the day of the camp's liberation, Eva Mozes Kor publicly forgave Mengele and all Nazis for their crimes. She was actually at a document signing at Auschwitz when she made her public statement of forgiveness. How could anyone forgive those cruel individuals? How could she forgive those who stripped her of her family and her innocent childhood? This concept is mind blowing to me!

Eva describes the power she now had over her perpetrators. She had the amazing power to forgive. Her power was not one that harmed another or gave someone else something of value. Eva's power to forgive the Nazis was her way to heal herself from the nightmares of her haunted past. She said that an incredible weight of suffering was lifted and she felt strong. Offering her forgiveness (to those whom did not deserve such grace) healed Eva, but it did not mean she would forget.

She will forgive and not forget... She will forgive and heal. She isn't healing the pain of others, but she is healing her pain. So powerful. As hard as it to rap my mind around the fact that she has forgiven such cruel individuals, she firmly believes and honestly showed the audience (of 2,500 plus) that she was a thousand times better for it.

If she can forgive the Nazis that systematically killed over six million Jews, why can't I forgive anyone that has trespassed against me?

I will forever be grateful to my cousin Cheryl for inviting me to hear Eva speak. Due to her kindness, I was able to inform my classes about the seminar. I had four students make the half hour drive to Warsaw. I'm not going to lie, the experience was doubled when I saw that I had students there too. All we could talk about the next day in class was Eva Kor and her amazing story.

In the end, I was able to listen to an amazing 80 year old Holocaust survivor and gain a completely new view on life. I also had the honor to meet her. After standing in line with my cousin, we were able to get our books signed. When she signed it, she wrote nice and big, "Forgive and Heal". #RiseTalk

Find out more about Eva Mozes Kor:

http://www.candlesholocaustmuseum.org 

https://www.twitter.com/EvaMozesKor