Today, at our last practice of winter break, I gave a talk to the team about something that we all need to hear, understand, and live out. The talk was about having a passion, being passionate about something in your life that is positive and productive.
Passion - a strong or extravagant fondness, enthusiasm, or desire for anything. That is what it says on D in the dictionary and that is true, but I see it as something you are willing to SACRIFICE for, whether it's time, money, effort, and most important, heart. Without sacrifice, it can not be a passion.
Kids at Bernstein need to find a passion for something, whether it's going to college, being the best athlete they can be, playing sports in college, making it out of the neighborhood they grew up in, or whatever it may be. If you don't have a passion for something or somethings, you are going to let anything and everything bring you down and hold you back. When you are passionate about something, you will do whatever it takes to get it and NOT do anything that will stop you from getting it.
I was fortunate enough to have a strong passion for things as a 9th grader in high school; I wanted to go to college, be an All-State football player, and get a football scholarship offer from a University. I held on to these things I was passionate about and never let go of them during high school. Kids wanted me to do drugs, get drunk, ditch classes, and live a life of empty pleasures but because of my goals that I was passionate about, I stayed away from them...I lived in the weight room, I got good grades, I never missed a practice and sacrificed my time, effort, and heart to attain my dreams. Four years after I found out about my passions, I went to college on a football scholarship and was named an All-State Running Back in the state of Washington. I have no regrets whatsoever and I am living a fulfilling life now because of the choices I made in high school.
RIGHT NOW, if you are passionate about something, pursue it and be willing to sacrifice whatever it may be to get it. If you don't know what you're passionate about, think about it and figure it out because if you don't, you will fall for anything (drugs, alcohol, ditching classes, bad relationships with girls/boys, etc). If they can find passion now and learn how to hang on to them, then the ultimate outcome will be them becoming passionate husbands/wives and fathers/mothers. That is my ultimate hope for these kids, that they'll love their wives/husbands and their kids with passion and learn to sacrifice themselves for their future families. If they can do that, I think they can have a healthy marriage, something we're not used to seeing in Bernstein's neighborhood.
To end the talk, I told them that since I'm not in high school anymore, I found a new passion in life. That new passion was THEM, I am and will continue to sacrifice myself and all that I have for them so that they can be successful and live a life that is worthy! As we continue with the preseason workouts and the regular season, I hope and pray that the kids at Bernstein will learn to live life with PASSION.
"Nothing great in the world has ever been accomplished without passion" - Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel
