Living Deliberately

                Today I had an intramural basketball game. I’ll try to keep a long story short, but we won, largely due to the effort of one of my teammates in playing terrific defense and shutting down our opponent’s best player. After the game, I was thinking about this friend of mine, and the lifestyle that he embodies. You see, he’s not especially tall, not especially strong, and doesn’t have the build of someone who looks like they should be an incredible athlete. To be blunt, he drew the short straw in the genetic lottery for athletic genes.

                But the thing about this friend of mine is how well he has managed his best resource: his willpower. At some point in his life, he decided that he wanted to be good at sports, and so he put in the time and effort to get into good shape. And on the court, he knows he’s not the most talented, nor the most athletic, yet he makes himself absolutely invaluable because he will work harder than anyone else on the court. He leverages his athleticism to the maximum and runs circles around everyone else, winning crucial hustle-plays, and as proved tonight, making him a crucial cog on a winning team. He’s a terror to play against and the best ally one could ever ask for in the sporting arena.

               

                I want to be him. I love the way in which this friend has decided what he wanted, and done it. His formula is that simple; decide and then do, but yet the way in which he executes his plans is masterful. It gives me hope to watch him flying around the basketball court. For me, he embodies my hope that the mind really can win over the protests of a lazy body, that deliberate change is possible, and that I can achieve my goals.

                After reflecting on the show that Ethan put on tonight, I’ve been changed. There is a higher level of living. It is possible to pivot course in a second, deliberately decide to move in a different life direction and be forever changed. How can you and I settle for anything less than greatness, when we know that such greatness is inside of us? I’m going out to live deliberately, starting now. That’s where true joy and true inner satisfaction is.