Life ain’t easy. But, at the end of the day, if you can look in the mirror and respect yourself, and people can tell you that you handled yourself with grace and honesty, it is a good day.
I wrote the above in the aftermath of my business closing in 2014. It came back to me recently, so I have taken that as a cue to take pause and consider it.
It was a dark time when I wrote this. I was having feelings of failure and of having let down a lot of people—my family, my athletes, the athletes’ parents, and, of course, my employees. I had to take a good long look at myself and evaluate who I have been and who had I become during that period of time. At times, I disappointed myself and others. Overall, I did my best.
Our lives are not evaluated as whether we succeeded or failed. Are lives are measured by what we do with the hand we are dealt. Every day is a decision—to act with grace and honest or not. This is integrity. This is character. The choice is one that we alone can make.
We can blame society. We can blame our upbringing. We can blame our education (or lack thereof). We can blame our circumstances. In the light of day, however, responsibility for our actions fall wholly on the one in the mirror.
Be your best today; be better tomorrow.
Carpe momento!