Never take them for granted. They are a dying breed.
“Never take for granted that kid who always shows up.
The kid who brings it, despite how he or she is feeling, every time.
The kid who is bought in and committed to the process over the long haul.
The kid whose parents don’t make excuses for them.
They are a dying breed.”
-Ray Zingler on Twitter
In the highly competitive sports world our kids are growing up in, it’s easy to pay attention to the anomalies, the outliers, the ‘freaks’ if you will.
The kids who don’t have to work as hard because it just comes naturally to them.
It’s easy to see and compare your kid (or yourself) to those other kids and wish you had it that easy.
Sadly, this drives an inferiority complex and leaves droves of kids and parent’s in today’s world asking themselves, “what’s the point?” This may be before or after attempting to run to greener grass.
But then you have those kids.
The kids who despite the comfort associated, defy the modern notion.
The kids who always shows up, morning, noon, or night. You ask them to be there, and barring the missing of a limb they are there. It’s easy to get comfortable with these kids because the concept of them not being there is so foreign.
The kids who bring it, despite how they are feeling, every single time. Good days, bad days, healthy days, sick days, it doesn’t matter. These kids are going to bring effort and their dead level best on that given day, every day.
The kids who are bought in and committed to the process over the long haul The kids who trust you. The kids who believe in you because you believe in them. The kids who aren’t buying in for this week or next, but the kids who are committed to the process all the way to the end.
The kids whose parents don’t swim in the bullshit. The kids whose parents don’t coddle them or affirm excuses that lead to learned laziness. The kids whose parents understand the value of showing up consistently, working your ass off no matter what, and committing oneself to something bigger than themselves.
You know who I am talking about. There are (very) few of them running around your local schools, but they are there.
Never ever take those kids for granted.
While the outliers may appear to be “winning” now, it’s those kids, the masters of the mundane who end up winning the real game.
The game of life.
They are the real outliers.
