Wise OR Stupid Decisions (Part 1)

"Wise OR Stupid Decisions?"

(Part 1)

Today I want to start a discussion concerning several things that have been very noticeable in the news over the past few years - particularly in the world of sports. It seems to have "exploded" over the past few months and been brought to "center stage".

It seems that there has been an "over abundance" of news concerning young men that have been making some really STUPID decisions with their lives!

Now, again, before I get started let me clarify a few things:

1. Yes, most of us -if not all of us - have made really bad and sometimes stupid decisions in and with our lives! Please don't take this as a person trying to sound like they have not seen the "stupidity monster" evident in his own life!

2. Yes, it IS possible to still live a very successful and productive life even after making a stupid decision! It does NOT have to mean that your life is ruined forever! (There is a KEY to making this happen that I will discuss in another podcast/blog entry on this topic still to come.)

3. But, at the same time, we MUST understand that there ARE some people that DO ruin their lives and NEVER live the successful and productive life that they could have lived if they had only made wiser decisions. Again, this usually happens because they failed to pay attention to the KEY that I mentioned in #2.

I didn't really get very far in my discussion of this in today's podcast so I won't go over or past that in this blog entry - but I will give you some of the same "background" situations that spurred my thoughts in this area. Again, I will not use names but you will still likely be very familiar with most - if not all - of these situations.

Example #1: First of all, I did a little extra research on this topic and found out a little extra information that actually starts before I realized it did with this one example. This actually began in 2003 when this college football player for a team in the Big 10 conference filed a false police report about some items he said was stolen from him. They weren't. It was all false. This resulted in him being suspended for the 2003 football season with this college team so he decided to sue the NFL to allow him to enter the draft for the 2004 season - the problem was that he was too young according to NFL rules. He initially won the suit but then it was later overturned. Another problem with this was the fact that he had hired an agent which then disqualified him for playing any further in college and, now, he had to wait until the 2005 NFL draft to have a chance to play football once again. When it came time for him to "show his stuff" to the scouts he was less than impressive. However, he was still signed by one NFL team but was cut in preseason.

Here's the really, really sad part - On January 1, 2006, the young man robbed two people with a .45 caliber handgun, the same night that his college team was playing in a bowl game - one in which he COULD HAVE been involved. In September 2006, he was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison, but could apply for early release after three and a half years.

Example #2: In November of 2009, three college football players from an SEC school were arrested for an incident that stemmed from an attempted robbery outside a convenience store near campus. A powered pellet gun was recovered in the players' car after they were stopped by police. I couldn't find the actual results of what happened with this case, but I do know I heard talk of how at least one of these young men had a very promising career waiting for him in the NFL and that now all of that was likely gone. I DO know that there were charges filed and that there will be legal problems for these three young men for some time to come.

Example #3: Four basketball players from this same SEC school mentioned in #2 were pulled over for speeding and then arrested when guns and drugs were found in their vehicle and charged with gun possession and other counts on January 1, 2010. Obviously, there is still much to come with this situation but the impact to the basketball future of these young men is now definitely up in the air and uncertain - not to mention their personal lives.

Example #4: A prominent NFL player was sentenced to two years in prison in the summer of 2009 after carrying a gun into a night club and having it accidentally fire, wounding him in the leg. This player had been in a Super Bowl game in 2008 and now sits in prison.

Example #5: A prominent NBA player has been suspended without pay indefinitely and now faces legal issues after bringing and displaying several guns to his teams locker room on Christmas Eve, 2009.

Example #6: The most well-known golfer in the world at this time has seen his career collapse - at least temporarily - after news of marital infidelity with several women came out following an early morning automobile accident right outside of his home in late November, 2009.

I DO understand that the sixth example is different than the other five, but it is still BIG NEWS and still shows the major IMPACT of making stupid decisions.

I guess I feel the need for a couple of more clarifications before I close this blog entry for today (again, I don't' want to go further with my thoughts that I did in today's podcast) to make sure you don't misunderstand what I am doing here.

I am not "picking on" anyone or any particular university, etc. PLEASE UNDERSTAND THAT! These are some of the MAJOR news stories that have come out in the world of sports over a very recent and short time span - THIS SHOULD GET OUR ATTENTION - shouldn't it?

I think we can all be in agreement that, in each of these situations, some very STUPID decisions were made. What will happen for each of the people involved in these situations? It depends.

It will all depend on what decisions and choices that make next.

Bottom line - LIFE IS A CHOICE. CHOOSE CAREFULLY!

Join me tomorrow as I continue this discussion and, as always...

"Make it an AWESOME day! (Who else is going to do it for you?)"

Mike

Dance in the End Zone!

The topic for this blog comes from my Wednesday podcast - and we call Wednesday, "WIDE OPEN Wednesday".

This phrase has a great connection to the topic for today as well. Here's the bottom line to be thinking about when you hear or read the phrase, "WIDE OPEN"...your day is WIDE OPEN before you and it's WIDE OPEN for you to do with it as you will!

It's true! Yes, I do know that there are many thngs that can happen during our day that are out of our control. But, again, we DO have control over how we react to those things and also the impact that it may have on our day, week and life. The day is, indeed, WIDE OPEN before you.

It's not always to remember that, is it? It's not always easy to act in a way that demonstrates belief in that principle. It does take effort!

When I was in High School playing basketball, I can remember many times in practice or even in a game how the coach would fuss at us if we didn't play very good defense. I especially remember how it applied to me when someone on the opposing team would drive down the lane for a lay up! Why? Because I played in the middle and, usually, was responsible for stopping them. When this would happen the coach would say something like, "My goodness guys! I could drive a Mac truck down that lane!"

Now obviously, he was exaggerating just a little, but he was pointing out that the lane was "WIDE OPEN" for the opposing team and it allowed them to have success.

As I watched Monday Night Football the other night I enjoyed seeing Felix Jones (yes, a former Arkansas Razorback! - Go Hogs!) have success running the ball. However, even though Felix is very talented and very fast, he couldn't have success without others BLOCKING for him, MOVING people for him and CREATING a WIDE OPEN lane or "hole" for him to run through.

We must do what is necessary to give us that "wide open" situation in our own lives. I believe that listening to positive podcasts (yes, like mine)and reading positive things like you are doing with this blog are the things that "BLOCK" for us and create the holes for us and present the principle of "WIDE OPEN" in our day.

Here's something else though. Sometimes an offensive line can open up a hole for a running back and the running back doesn't take advantage of it. Why? He doesn't "see" the hole! This is especially true of those times when the hole that is opened up is only there for a split second and not very big. You will hear commentators talk about a player that has the ability to "see the hole" and to "hit the hole". That's what they are talking about - those players that have the ability to SEE the OPPORTUNITY to make FORWARD PROGRESS due to that opening.

"PROGRESS IS NOT CREATED BY CONTENTED PEOPLE" - Frank Tyger

I appreciate my friend, Jim Ferguson (by the way, Happy Anniversary to Jim and his wife!) for sending this quote to me. It's powerful and it's true!

Yes, we need to appreciate what we have. Yes, we need to be thankful for our families, our homes, etc. Being happy and peaceful does not necessarily mean that we have to be content to the point that we cease to look for the "WIDE OPEN" opportunities in our lives!

We can again see this idea played out in the sporting world. Many times - and this is true in just about ANY sport - a team will have the lead as they near the end of the game and they will become very conservative in their approach to the game. They cease playing to win and begin to play to "not lose". And, many times, the very thing that they try to avoid (losing) is exactly what happens!

They became content with a lead instead of pushing forward for what was available to them. How sad that is to see for a true fan but it is even sadder to see that played out in life.

Successful running backs - for example - are those that are not content for a gain of five yards but work and struggle and fight for an additional two, three or more yards.

Now, in case you think I'm talking about living a life of "it's never enough" - that's not what I'm talking about. Let's make this real simple. Let's say you decide that you are content with what you have right now. That's great, right? Sure it is! However, the fact is that, for most people, in order to even maintain our present lifestyle we must STILL go back to work tomorrow and do our best. Why go back? Why try to do your best? Why try to gain a promotion?

You see, all of these things point to the fact that we must ALL continue to work toward this level of peace and joy in our lives.

This has really turned out to be a blog full of sports analogies - and yes, here comes another one!

I love games played on real grass! I love it when, due to rain or snow, the field gets messed up and muddy and the players uniforms actually LOOK like they are playing football! When this happens, due to the fact that most of the action takes place in the middle of the field (the "trenches") the field becomes a mess there! It becomes hard for the players to keep their footing which makes it especially hard for any running back that tries to run in that mess!

So, what does a smart coach do? He tries to organize plays that will get that running back to the outside - away from the muddy mess in the middle of the filed - where the footing is more solid and where he can get to the "WIDE OPEN" area of the field!

You will even see this played out when the filed is NOT a mess. Perhaps the play was designed for the running back to go right up the middle. You will see the talented running backs (the ones that "see the hole") many times hit the wall of players there, realize that the hole is not there and then "bounce out" away from that mass of players and then get to the "outside" to the "WIDE OPEN" part of the field and many times get a lot of yardage or even score a touchdown.

WE MUST DO THIS IN OUR OWN LIVES many times! Hey, listen friend - we need to open our eyes and realize that sometimes we have to get out of the rut and out of the "muddy mess" that we keep stomping around in and CHANGE DIRECTION! We need to open our eyes and see that, sometimes, we must do something different and try to get to that "WIDE OPEN" part in our lives.

Wanna' know a secret? It's there every single day! But, you have to see it. You have to want it. You have to seek it and you have to desire it!

Last night as I was listening to a CD I heard a guy say, "Champions play in the end zone."

I like that! The champions are the ones that have found a way to "see" and then "hit the hole" in order to get to the "WIDE OPEN" area of their lives!

And, my friend, that champion lies within YOU!

Oh, and when you get to that end zone? DANCE, my friend, DANCE!

What a celebration!

Remember - today is WIDE OPEN for you so, with that in mind...

"Make it an AWESOME day! (Who else is going to do it for you?)"

Mike