Building Character

Let’s Be Awesomer!

I’m certain that the title of this post will give English teachers and grammar high brows out there some major heart burn, however, a lot of dictionary resources, including Wordnik, recognize it as an urbanized word that is occasionally used in trendy vernacular now days.  I just figured that as long as we’re working on being happier, we might as well go for upping our awesome quotient too!

(Official NBC Olympic Logo) 

On the heels of watching so many incredible Olympic feats performed in Russia last month, and now seeing the athletic prowess of so many college basketball players in the NCAA championships–I often marvel at the physical and mental stamina required to be able to excel beyond the seemingly “normal” limits of human endurance!  My interests are also drawn to the backstories of diligence and perseverance they develop despite the sometimes critical scrutiny of their ability to perform!  The truer measure of a person is often defined in more poignant terms when he or she is away from the public arena.  Regardless, of the environment, self motivation and caring support from others are key factors!

(Courtesy HLN News)

This story about Adreian Payne and his young fan, as the headline states, is “hands down” the most touching to make the news during this season’s NCAA championships!  It’s a classic tale of what can be accomplished when you do your best to hone great skill and talent with equal amounts of heart and humility!  The relationships developed will last long after the discussions of playoff brackets have ended!

Although our personal “playing fields”, so to speak, may differ vastly from those already mentioned, I think we can all agree that everyone has challenges that must be faced with a certain degree of fervor and finesse in order to achieve our various obligations and goals in life…helping us be AWESOMER!

Becoming Awesomer–A Personal Story!

I hope you won’t mind indulging me as I share a personal story of athletic triumph of sorts, that had a significant impact on me…

At the beginning of his sophomore year in high school, my son, Jake, was lifting weights in the boy’s gym when he was approached by the wrestling coach to join the team in the light weight category.  Now Jake’s first love is baseball, but he knew that there weren’t too many open positions that year on the baseball team, so he decided to do wrestling.  The fact that Jake never participated in his junior high school wrestling program, which was almost unheard of for anyone wanting to compete on a high school level where we lived, didn’t seem to faze him too much.

Jake trained hard and stayed long hours at the gym, in addition to keeping good grades in his other classes.  Jake also had to monitor what he ate each day so he could stay within a pound or two of his competing weight class.  As a mom it was hard to watch some of those first tournaments.

During Jake’s junior and senior years, his wrestling skills improved and he won quite a few tournaments, but wasn’t necessarily favored to qualify for the state championships!  Then, as fate would have it, for Jake’s final qualifying match, he ended up being paired up against the guy who was considered an easy “shoe-in” to win his weight class at the state tournament.  All I knew is that his opponent (wearing the dark brown) stood a full foot taller than Jake!

Jake came away the unlikely victor at his wrestling match, qualifying him to compete in the state championships his senior year of high school!

As parents, we all know that the backstory to any of our children’s successes is that aside from the ample amounts of love and support we give them, the caring influence of good coaches, teachers, church leaders and friends, who work hard to help your child develop their inner conviction to be the very best they can be, should never be underestimated!

I also know for a fact, that the encouragement of their siblings is one of the most important driving forces behind many of my children’s accomplishments!

One neat example of this was when my two younger children, Jake and Mandi, went on a rock climbing excursion…

…climbing a steep crevice in the City of Rocks, Mandi couldn’t seem to find the right foot holds to get up the rest of the mountain…yeah, my family’s crazy like that!?!

Jake eventually jumped in and with equal amounts of kind encouragement and “get your butt going” –they were able to scale the mountain to the top!

To this day, even with so many miles separating them, my children continue to look to each other as a great support system for helping them each achieve the “awesomer” version of themselves!  That does any parent’s heart good!

What I’m learning now is…

As much as we love our children, realistically, we have to be OK with the fact that we are just one of many key players that provide the needed support and encouragement in their lives so that they…   

What are some ways you encourage your children to succeed and do their best?    

–Mary

Also, with spring finally making a consistent appearance, coming up next week will be the first of a few new features to be showcased regularly–yeah!