Monday, March 4, 2013

Robin Roberts, Coach K, sinkholes...and getting unstuck


I am a writer who hasn't been writing much lately. There are many reasons...and none which sound even remotely valid right now.

But today I am inspired. So here I am.

Inspired by physics, Robin Roberts, my coaching friend Linda, a sinkhole...lots of inspiration!
I didn't dislike high school physics. But what Mr. Ellis didn't explain was the role I have on the energy inside and outside my body. Just wasn't covered in the curriculum. But now I understand better. Now I get that everything is energy, and that I can influence it.

Sound freaky? It really isn't. Abraham Lincoln said most people are as happy as they make their minds up to be. That is positive energy at work. Same with your grandmother saying you would feel better if you smiled instead of pouted. "Lighten up" and "downcast" are very literal descriptions  of our ability to control the energy around us. Think about it.

Robin Roberts has inspired me since her days at ESPN. She ignores the  "black female" barriers and pushes forward. ESPN anchor, ABC morning news reader, Good Morning America host - all easy compared to "two time cancer survivor" and "bone marrow transplant patient." But she pushes on with grace and class and faith. She pushes on, knowing that life is uncertain and cancer is indiscriminant. What choice does she have but to keep dreaming.
Linda Kalafatis is one of the all-time winningest coaches in NCAA softball history. More than that, she committed herself, her heart to her program, her girls, the university. And in May 2012, a day after her team ended the season with 31 wins, she was unceremoniously fired. Life happens like that sometimes. Unexpected. Unfair. But she pushes on. What choice does she have but to keep dreaming?

How about you...what challenges are you facing?

If you have been tracking with me for any time, you know of a long financial struggle caused by litigation. I have learned far more about our country's judicial process than I ever wanted to know. Sometimes it has caused me to get stuck.

Has that happened to you? Have you ever become frozen by a circumstance in your life?  Has it become hard to push on because your dreams seem to be lost?

Yeah, me too.  I have allowed it to affect every corner of my life, acted as if I have no control, as if my dreams are gone.

Then a sinkhole snapped me out of it. If you don't watch the news, you may not have heard about a sinkhole in Florida swallowing a house. A man, asleep in his bed one minute, lost in the Earth the next minute. Death happens like that sometimes. But this piece is not about prophesying doom. It is a call to move. It is a call to LIVE.

Back to physics...I don't have control of the tectonic plates under me, or of other people, or of the court system which has wreaked havoc on my life.

BUT but but...I do have control of me. I absolutely can affect the energy around me. I can decide what I draw to me and what I don't allow. I can trust the One who created all energy, who can cause favor to fall on me, who knows how many hairs are on my head and can see the end from the beginning.

I can acknowledge the challenges but not let them have control.  How about you?

I can take one small step hen another then another, ignoring the screaming voices saying it can't be done. How about you?

I can push on toward my dream. What choice do I have?

Will you join me...can we do it just for today? There are sinkholes everywhere - let's be inspired to take just one step today.

DEAL?

We will talk again soon...
BP :) 

2 comments:

Amy said...

I seem to feel as though each day there's an opportunity to take a step that wasn't possible yesterday. I'm grateful for small steps, though I sometimes get frustrated and impatient to "get there already." But each step is a revelation, a lesson, a blessing, a gift.

Beth said...

Thanks, Amy!