The Wolves Within - A Second Helping PSA

All opinions expressed in the blog are solely my own. The blog is not an official publication of any City of Melrose organization. 

The stretch run. The end of the school year is just around the corner. That means free time and free will. 

Character and Competence

Bill Walsh wrote, "Champions behave like champions before they are champions." Our behavior defines us. 

This isn't new. Consider the expression, "You pays your money and you takes your choice." Here are the origins (from AI): 

The expression "You pays your money and you takes your choice" (or chances) first appeared in print in the British humor magazine Punch in 1846, specifically in a cartoon titled "The Ministerial Crisis" on page 17 of the January 3 edition. The cartoon depicts a showman telling a customer, "Which ever you please, my little dear. You pays your money, and you takes your choice."

This actually restates words from Aristotle. "You are what you repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit." 

Worries for Coaches  

Coaches care about players and their families, their academics, and their development. After families, nobody is a bigger fan of your children than their coaches. What do they worry about? 

• Relationships - "You lie down with dogs and you get fleas." Choose your friends wisely. 
• Chemical health (alcohol and other substances)
• Safety - driving or being in a car with a bad or distractive driver (e.g. texting and driving)

Your parents, coaches, and fans were also once adolescents. The phrase "there is nothing new under the sun" comes from Ecclesiastes 1:9 in the Old Testament of the Bible. The verse states: "What has been will be again, and what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun." 

Even simpler, "Been there, done that." Good people make poor decisions. 

Writing Your Narrative

We don't control so much - our attitude, choices, and effort. "Control what you can control." Actions have consequences. Literally hundreds of people have died taking selfies. Write your narrative, not your obituary. 

Lagniappe. Can you edit your behavior?