We had a great trip down to San Diego for a track meet vs my former school, Cathedral Catholic High School. Our kids competed hard and saw that we have the potential to be a very competitive team this year...of course, we are going to have to work for it and commit/dedicate ourselves to each other. On the way down to San Diego, we stopped at a beach park near San Clemente to eat lunch and there, I told a story about Hernan Cortez, the Spanish Conquistador.
In 1519, Governor Velasquez of Spain told Hernan Cortez to go invade Mexico so Spain could conquer the land and take all the treasure that was supposedly there. The only problem is, Mexico was ruled by one of the biggest empires at that time, the Aztecs, ruled by Montezuma III. Many armies and conquers had tried and failed to defeat the Aztecs at that time period and Hernan knew that it was going to be a tough task. That did not stop him, he gathered around 500 men and sailed for Mexico in 9 ships and 11 horses. On the way to Mexico, his men started freaking out about the upcoming challenge and started doubting...Hernan knew that he needed to do something drastic and remarkable in order to inspire his men so that they could defeat one of the biggest empires in the world.
Once they landed, they anchored their ships and at the beach, Hernan gathered his men around so he could speak to them. His men felt better because they thought that he was going to go over a genius game plan/war strategy that would help defeat the Aztecs so they listened closely. Hernan Cortez said three words and three words only..."Burn the Ships." The men looked at him like he was crazy and they couldn't understand why he wanted to burn the 9 ships that they came on...what if they needed retreat? Regardless of how all the men felt after he had said those three words, Hernan had the men burn all 9 ships down into the sea. Hernan knew that the ships would give them an easy out and that if the men knew that they had no option of retreating, the men would fight harder...at least die fighting for what they believed in. The remarkable part about this story is that Hernan Cortez and his men ended up defeating the Aztecs, killing Montezuma III, and conquering the land.
After the story, I asked all the track kids what their ships were in their lives? What is or are the things that is holding them back from being the best that they could be? We all have ships in our lives that we need to burn in order to achieve greatness, including myself. I asked the girls if their ships were boys...do they need affirmation from boys because they don't feel good about themselves without it? I asked the boys if their ships were girls because they don't feel manly without it? Are boys and girls holding them back from focusing on what's really important in their lives right now? I asked them if their ships were laziness and the fear of working hard, working hard to the point where it hurts...physically or mentally? I asked them if their ships were their addiction to drugs, alcohol, or sex? I asked them if their ships were the fact that they come from a family or neighborhood where success isn't common so they feel like they don't need to or can't go after it...they're okay with staying where they grew up or the lifestyle they're used to? Whatever that ship may be, I told them to burn it!
These kids have so much potential, not just in track & field but more importantly, in school, and as people; but if they aren't willing to burn the ship and die trying, they will never reach what they are capable of reaching. We are all human, we tend to take the easy way out and we tend to go back to what is comfortable...it's those who are willing to push through and burn the ships who achieve greatness, whatever that may look like. I don't care where they come from, what race they are, what their parents did or didn't do, or what they've done in the past, if they want something bad enough and work hard for it, they can get it! But in order to do that, they must be willing to "Burn the Ship", even if it's absolutely terrifying. These kids are the underdogs...they come from a low-income area, they're minorities, and they are surrounded by many negative things but guess what, Hernan Cortez and his men were underdogs as well; look at what they accomplished. That was my message to them.
"Burn the Ship"
No comments:
Post a Comment